November 18th, 2024
By Greg Carlson
Certain to be included on a sizable number of 2024 best-of lists, Johan Grimonprez’s striking “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” is essential viewing for political history and jazz music aficionados. The ambitious essay-style documentary experience, clocking in at a hefty (but never dull) 150 minutes, connects the dots linking the 1961 assassination of Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba to a grand narrative pulling together race, power,…
November 13th, 2024
By Greg Carlson
Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner “Anora” is one of the year’s best. Fans of the formidable filmmaker might not claim that the beautifully crafted melodrama, which can turn on a dime between outrageous comic farce and heartbreaking humanist plea, is necessarily a better movie than “The Florida Project,” but “Anora” is of a piece with the grand thematic arc of Baker’s filmography. Memorably, the director dedicated the Cannes honor to…
November 4th, 2024
By Greg Carlson
The brilliant cinematographer Ellen Kuras makes her narrative feature directorial debut with the long-gestating biopic “Lee.” Reuniting with Kate Winslet, with whom she worked on “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Kuras explores the career highlights of model turned World War II photographer Lee Miller, whose images of Buchenwald and Dachau are among the most immediate and gripping concentration camp photos of the historic record.…
October 28th, 2024
By Greg Carlson
Caroline Lindy expands her short film “Your Monster” to feature length with mixed results. The movie premiered in the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival in January, but makes for a thematically appropriate Halloween season experience for romantics and theater kids seeking a not-too-scary fantasy. Despite the somewhat exaggerated and limiting appellation tagging her as a new “scream queen,” star Melissa Barrera comfortably steps…
October 21st, 2024
By Greg Carlson
The unsurprising reality that director John Crowley offers absolutely nothing new should not — and will not —deter fans of the weepie from purchasing tickets to “We Live in Time.” The opportunity to see the impossibly appealing domesticity and sparking chemistry of Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield as a fantasy couple faced with a double dose of ovarian cancer implores us to get out our very best embroidered hankies and buckle up for a ride on…
October 17th, 2024
By John Showalter
It’s that time of year again: October, the so-called “Spooky Season” where people partake in everything macabre. From costume parties to scary movie marathons, folks can’t get enough chills leading up to Halloween. However, for one locally hosted podcast, the spirit of Halloween is a year-long affair. “We Watch Shudder” is the passion project of JD Provorse and Michelle Roller.
“We met many years ago at, I believe, the Red Raven,…
October 14th, 2024
By Greg Carlson
German filmmaker Nora Fingscheidt’s adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s 2016 memoir “The Outrun” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January to mostly favorable reviews. Star Saoirse Ronan’s performance attracted the most acclaim, but praise was also bestowed on Yunus Roy Imer’s impressive cinematography, which paints the fierce beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands as a character equal to Ronan’s Rona, a woman in her late 20s…
October 7th, 2024
By Greg Carlson
“My Old Ass,” the title of Megan Park’s sophomore feature, probably didn’t do the movie any favors at the box office, but it is as spiky and forward as protagonist Elliott, an 18-year-old caught between adolescence and adulthood. Currently finishing up a theatrical run following a world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Park’s movie is a bittersweet coming of age tale that blends romance, melodrama, and even a touch of science…
October 1st, 2024
By Greg Carlson
The epic ambitions of Coralie Fargeat’s sophomore feature “The Substance” are trumpeted by its whopping 141-minute running time, a length that may please body horror aficionados and exhaust the less patient. Demi Moore is brilliantly cast as Elisabeth Sparkle, a longtime media personality and aerobics segment host whose cruel boss (an absolutely repulsive Dennis Quaid) fires her in favor of a newer and younger ingénue. A devastated Elisabeth…
September 30th, 2024
By Greg Carlson
Chris Wilcha’s excellent documentary “Flipside,” now available to rent on major streaming platforms following a successful run of film festival appearances, is essential viewing for Gen X pop culture hounds and any artists who have abandoned more creative projects than they have finished. Despite a thriving career as a director of television spots for major corporate clients, Wilcha confesses a familiar conundrum for so many film and media…
_(1)_(1)__293px-wide.jpg)
_(1)_(1)__293px-wide.jpg)
_(1)__293px-wide.jpg)
__293px-wide.jpg)
_(1)_(1)__293px-wide.jpg)
Press release Celebrate Dinosaur Day on Thursday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum (612 E Boulevard Ave. in Bismarck). This free, family-friendly program is open to all ages. A…
By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu The Northwest Blade, from Eureka, South Dakota, published a wonderful story in August 2020. It’s called “Granddaughter keeps Grandmother’s precious chamomile seeds,” by Cindy…
Sunday, October 19, 10 a.m.Buffalo River State Park, 565 155th St. S., Glyndon, MNHosted by the Red River Valley Chapter of Herbalists Without Borders at Buffalo River State Park for a fun fall day full of flora. (Say that three…
By John Strandjas@hpr1.com Yes, we know, everywhere you look, the world situation is mental. It’s almost inescapable just how tenuous life’s circumstances are. And how they are mostly — pretty much entirely — out of our…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill we be banging or whimpering at the end of the American empire?T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” accurately portrays the end of most empires in his first lines: “We are the hollow men/…
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 Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The multiple meanings of the title location in Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s “Bone Lake” cover the sex and death spectrum that will flummox Diego (Marco Pigossi) and Sage (Maddie Hasson) as…
By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…
Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…
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…
Press Release As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, Essentia Health is highlighting an innovative — and recently expanded — program that brings early breast cancer detection services to rural communities. Essentia’s mobile…
By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…
By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…
