July 10th, 2019
Writer-producer-director-photographer Rachel Lears teams with writer-producer-editor (and spouse) Robin Blotnick and producer Sarah Olson on advocacy doc “Knock Down the House,” now streaming on Netflix following a world premiere in January at the Sundance Film Festival. A direct response to the election of Donald Trump, Lears follows the grassroots campaigns of a quartet of political newcomers: Cori Bush in Missouri, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, Paula Jean Swearengin in…
June 26th, 2019
Nisha Ganatra’s “Late Night,” featuring Mindy Kaling as both star and screenwriter, tackles a wide range of challenging topics. Toxic masculinity, white privilege, gender inequity, tokenism, quota-based hiring, and intra gender conflict and competition are a few of the areas under examination in the writer’s room and surrounding milieu of the multiple Emmy-decorated talk show hosted by Emma Thompson’s Katherine Newbury. Newbury’s vehicle faces waning ratings and the…
June 19th, 2019
Martin Scorsese embraces the prankster spirit of a longtime inspiration/subject in “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story.” The confounding testimony is as much mockumentary as documentary, combining new interviews and gorgeous archival footage into an entertaining put-on. Not everyone, and not even every Dylan fan, will go along with the tall tales, but amidst the japes are several of the most riveting live performances of Dylan’s career. “Rolling Thunder Revue” is not,…
June 12th, 2019
Joining several recent titles that consider, among other things, gentrification and race in the San Francisco Bay Area, Joe Talbot’s feature directorial debut is left of the dial compared to the frequencies of “Blindspotting” and “Sorry to Bother You.” All three of these movies express complex emotional connections and relationships (“You can’t hate something if you didn’t love it first”) with the beautiful and infuriating dimensions of home and place in times of rapid…
June 5th, 2019
Forty years ago this week, the release of “Alien” added a seminal text to the American movie library. Mixed reviews would, with time, give way to admiration from scholars and critics articulating what early adopters recognized from the first: Ridley Scott’s elegant, observant masterwork combines pinpoint design, allusive writing, and patient direction into a hall-of-fame nightmare. Exemplifying the ne plus ultra of the “old dark house” formula, “Alien” occupies a place at…
May 29th, 2019
“Booksmart,” Olivia Wilde’s great feature directorial debut, is -- like several of the very best teen/teensploitation/coming-of-age comedies -- about many things. But the one that resonates most is contained in the ancient maxim regarding the deceit in appearances. Both the filmmaking, which repurposes a healthy checklist of genre chestnuts in a consistently fresh package, and the journey of best friends and graduating high school seniors Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and Amy (Kaitlyn…
May 22nd, 2019
Impossibly beautiful lead performers underline the YA fantasy aspects of Ry Russo-Young’s translation of “The Sun Is Also a Star,” based on Nicola Yoon’s bestseller. Russo-Young’s sharp handling of the 2017 adaptation of “Before I Fall” indicates her bona fides in the contemporary teen genre, but the filmmaker struggles to locate the intensity and urgency that fueled her previous feature, despite a plot with a built-in imperative. As star-crossed (potential) lovers…
May 15th, 2019
Fargo-based filmmaker Matthew Myers recently remarked that director Stefon Bristol was, among other things, paying his bills by driving for Uber until production began on “See You Yesterday,” Bristol’s exciting debut feature. Myers produced the movie with Jason Sokoloff and Spike Lee, a professor to Bristol in the graduate film program at NYU. Bristol, who made a short version of “See You Yesterday” as his thesis film, collaborated with Fredrica Bailey on the original script.…
May 8th, 2019
The spring semester is coming to a close for college students across the FM area. For MSUM film production students, the semester culminated in a public screening of the short films they’ve spent the last several months creating.
MSUM’s annual senior seminar film showcase is one of the area’s premiere film screening events – and it’s full of original, locally produced work from promising young creatives. This year’s showcase opened last Friday, May 3rd, to a full house of…
May 8th, 2019
If you’re from the Midwest, then you’ve probably heard about the tragic disappearance of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling in the fall of 1989. An unsolved case for 26 years, the story of Jacob’s kidnapping during a routine bike ride with friends in St. Joseph, Minnesota was the nightmare of countless parents and a horrifying reality for Jacob and his parents, Jerry and Patty Wetterling.
The case remained a mystery until 2016, when Danny James Heinrich was arrested for possession of…
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By Bryce Vincent Haugen By his own account, Edwin Chinchilla is lucky to still be in the United States. As a 12-year-old Salvadoran, he and his brother were packed into a semi with a couple dozen other people and given fake…
February 28, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.March 1, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.1883 Stutsman County Courthouse State Historic Site504 3rd Ave. S.E., Jamestown, NDThe 1883 Stutsman County Courthouse and the 164th Infantry Remembrance Association are joining…
February 21, 6-8 p.m.Turtle River State Park, Arvilla, NDEnjoy a self-guided hike in the picturesque woods of Turtle River State Park. The trails will be lit with luminary candles. After the hike, warm those bones by the fire at…
By Sabrina HornungThe quote, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command” from George Orwell’s iconic novel “1984” has come up in conversation more times than…
By Ed Raymond‘Dakota Attitude’ should be read by all North Dakota studentsI have been meaning to write about this book by James Puppe for several years, but the world has been in such a mess I thought I should write about …
By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…
By Rick GionSince the much-dreaded Covid years, there has been much ebb and flow in the Fargo-Moorhead restaurant scene. In 2025, that trend continued with some major additions and closings. Let’s start the New Year on a positive…
Saturday, January 17, doors at 7:30 p.m.The Aquarium above Dempsey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe Slow Death is a punk supergroup led by Jesse Thorson, with members and collaborators that include members of The Ergs!, Dillinger…
By Sabrina Hornung There's a certain kind of magic to the Fargo Theatre. It’s a place to escape to for the small fee of the price of admission. It's a place of shared communal joy (or any other kind of shared emotion for that…
By Jacinta ZensIt may sound cliché, but the 90s in Minneapolis were pretty magical. Underground punk and hip-hop shows occurred weekly, zines were all the rage, colorful, exquisitely executed graffiti started popping up everywhere…
Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…
By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…
By Ellie Liverani In January 2026, the 2026-2030 dietary guidelines for Americans were released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They are supposed to be revolutionary and a “reset” from the previous ones.…
January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…
By Vern Thompson Benjamin Franklin offered one of the most sobering warnings in American history. When asked what kind of government the framers had created in 1787, he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Few words…
