Cinema

Seeing the World

March 7th, 2016

WARNING: The following review reveals key plot information. Read only if you have seen “The Witch”

Near the thrilling, ecstatic conclusion of first-time feature director Robert Eggers’ “The Witch: A New-England Folktale,” our young protagonist Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), having endured unspeakable horrors, demands that family goat Black Phillip, a possible vessel for the Devil himself, converse with her. The resulting exchange, a pulse-quickening negotiation that maneuvers…

‘Iron-Jawed Angels’ on International Women’s Day

March 7th, 2016

In observance of International Women’s Day, March 8, the North Dakota Women’s Network (NDWN) will host a special screening of the historical Women’s Suffrage film, "Iron-Jawed Angels" at the Fargo Theatre.

According to Shelly Carlson, event coordinator and a long-time member of the NDMW, this film was selected because the group wanted a film to highlight an important time in women’s history, in honor of both Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. “Iron-Jawed…

Documentary Looks at the Amazing Life of Norman Lear

February 27th, 2016

As sharp and entertaining as the man it examines, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” is a substantive chronicle of one of the most influential television creators/producers in the history of the medium. While some degree of hagiography is inevitable on the heels of Lear’s 2014 memoir “Even This I Get to Experience,” the filmmakers handle several delicate and/or controversial public and private themes important to Lear’s biography.…

There will be blood

February 26th, 2016

Really bad movies can be a really good time. And when it comes to so-bad-it’s-good films, it’s hard to beat the 1982 movie “Pieces.” How much fun is it to watch an insane serial killer trying to create a human jigsaw puzzle using body parts, and college students — specifically young co-eds on the tennis team — are his main target.

According to Randal Black, who is one of the people behind Grindflick’s Movie Night at the Aquarium series, “Pieces” is a “strange, singular…

Sickle and Sandal in “Hail, Caesar!”

February 18th, 2016

By Greg Carlson

In the days leading up to the nationwide release of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s “Hail, Caesar!,” clickbait slideshows far and wide competed to sort the oeuvre of the siblings. This week, “Slate” culture blogger Gabriel Roth filed a short article laying out a six-point theory to answer his title question, “What Is It About the Coen Brothers’ Movies That Makes Everyone Want to Rank Them?” And now that the film has been met with the kind of public indifference…

MJ’s magic the topic of second Jackson doc by Spike Lee

February 11th, 2016

photo cred Kerwin Devonish courtesy of the Sundance Institute.

Spike Lee’s second documentary on one of the most unforgettable, electrifying, and controversial superstars of the 20th century doesn’t compare to the filmmaker’s finest nonfiction features. But the cumbersomely titled “Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall” celebrates an exciting transitional period in the performer’s life with plenty of visual and auditory fireworks.

o-produced with the endorsement and cooperation of MJ estate co-executors John Branca and…

Kaufman and Johnson invite you to stay at a special hotel in “Anomalisa”

February 4th, 2016

WARNING: Do not read until after you have seen “Anomalisa”

Like so many of the curious, distinctive places imagined and created for his films, the universe of Charlie Kaufman’s “Anomalisa” is simultaneously familiar and strange, recognizable and alien, inviting and terrifying.

Based on Kaufman’s 2005 play, the film adaptation is co-directed by Kaufman and stop-motion practitioner Duke Johnson, and has the distinction of being the first R-rated movie to receive an Academy…

Leo and the Bear: “The Revenant”

January 29th, 2016

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Leading all Oscar challengers with a total of twelve nominations, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “The Revenant” has to overcome a few daunting statistics reported by prognosticator Scott Feinberg in order to win Best Picture. Feinberg notes that only one movie in the last fifty years (“Titanic,” which, coincidentally starred Leonardo DiCaprio) snagged the top prize without a screenplay nomination. Additionally, “Braveheart” was the last film to collect…

Fire! The Go-Go Boys load the cannon in “Electric Boogaloo”

January 24th, 2016

Mark Hartley’s “Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films” sprays viewers with an Uzi-like barrage of film clips, trailers, promo reels and talking heads to spin the tale of 1980s powerhouse schlock heavyweights — and cousins — Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. A competitor and companion to Hilla Medalia’s “The Go-Go Boys,” which, Hartley notes with some glee, beat “Electric Boogaloo” to market by three months, the feature documentary captures the…

Three-time documentary challenge finalists make “A Perfect Record”

January 21st, 2016

For the third consecutive year, local filmmakers Greg Carlson and Tucker Lucas have made the top 12 of the International Documentary/Film Fusion Challenge (IDC), an annual contest for short format documentary films. This year, they placed for their seven-minute documentary, “A Perfect Record,” featuring Fargo Record Fair founder Dean Sime.

Carlson is an associate professor in the Communication Studies and Theatre Art department at Concordia College and is also the director of film…