May 25th, 2016
Now that summery weather has arrived, people are thinking about vacations, but travel remains both expensive and increasingly inconvenient. Movies, however, provide instant low-cost mini-vacations from troubles of the real world. The tropical south-seas island settings of two recent Blu-ray releases from Kino make ideal escapes from the familiar ND-MN environment and provide vivid glimpses of indigenous cultures. Last December new restorations of the film classics “Moana With Sound”…
May 25th, 2016
As an unapologetic admirer of all things Prince, I for one was pretty grateful that “Under the Cherry Moon” was a radical departure from “Purple Rain.” Several years before “Graffiti Bridge” offered a sorta/kinda sequel to the 1984 smash, Prince – with enough earned clout and power to essentially do whatever he wanted to do – sent Mary Lambert packing (a shame) and busted out a black and white quasi-period fantasy that chilled the blood in most critics’ veins and…
May 20th, 2016
Two often-overlooked classic noir thrillers featuring stars in atypical roles are available on Blu-ray this month from Kino, one coming next week (May 24) and the other released May 3.
An out-of-work vet with some psychological problems accepts a job as chauffeur for a wealthy gangster, and soon becomes dangerously involved with the gangster’s beautiful wife. The basic premise of “The Chase”(1946) adapted by Philip Yordan from a novel by Cornell Woolrich, is a standard outline for…
May 20th, 2016
“Money Monster” is Jodie Foster’s first feature directorial effort since 2011’s curiosity “The Beaver,” blending elements of social satire, bomb vest thriller, and conspiracy drama – all of it unfolding in close to real time. Stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts, reuniting in roles they can manage while asleep, play cable TV host Lee Gates and director Patty Fenn of the titular investment/infotainment spectacle. The two, along with the rest of their crew, are forced to…
May 19th, 2016
“We Are the Only People We Know” is a documentary film project, helmed by former Fargo resident, Ella Rowe. The documentary will provide intimate portraits of artists battling addiction. According to the project web site, viewers will be “invited into the lives of select individuals, who will allow us to take a very real look at the day to day realities of the creative mind in recovery. We will travel with them, holding their hand through the painful recollections, crying with…
May 11th, 2016
May (sometimes April or June, depending on the weather) is traditionally the month that drive-in movie theatres reopen for the season in towns still lucky enough to have one. Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks have been without drive-in theatres for over a quarter-century, and the final remaining North Dakota drive-in closed four years ago in Williston. However, there are still a few surviving in Minnesota and South Dakota.
Their heyday was the 1950s and 60s and their most popular programs…
May 11th, 2016
Following the death of Prince on April 21, 2016, televised and theatrical screenings of “Purple Rain” were among the first and most potent opportunities for public expressions of grief. While unavailable on Netflix and HBO Go, the movie was scheduled by MTV and VH1 immediately, and several multiplex chains, including AMC, Carmike and Marcus, booked limited engagements of the cinematic phenomenon.
Originally produced on a budget of 7.2 million dollars with no guarantee of full studio…
May 7th, 2016
Three-dimensional movies remain a significant portion of today’s Hollywood releases, but younger viewers may need to be reminded that 3-D was both popular and effective well over half a century ago.
Fans of 3-D can rejoice that within the past six months two restorations of vintage 3-D science-fiction/horror films have come out on feature-packed 3-D Blu-ray editions. While neither is particularly a “classic” film, both have excellent 3-D and fine picture quality, as well as a…
May 6th, 2016
“Green Room,” writer-director Jeremy Saulnier’s follow-up to the taut and terrific revenge thriller “Blue Ruin,” is one of the year’s best, an elegantly crafted nightmare directed with savvy and smarts.
The simple logline – a touring punk quartet runs afoul of a gang of murderous, racist skinheads – belies the level of craft Saulnier brings to what could so easily be another Old Dark House/And Then There Were None genre exercise. In my 2014 review of “Blue Ruin,” I…
April 29th, 2016
The first words I wrote for the High Plains Reader covered Prince’s December 8, 1997 Fargodome concert. Editor John Lamb knew I was a big fan, and asked me to say something about the show. John’s gesture meant a great deal to me, and my work for HPR has been an important part of my life ever since that memorable winter.
Purple-blooded followers of the Minnesota Vikings know that their devotion is anything but easy, and after the Revolution disbanded and especially into the new…
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By Bryce HaugenNot everyone detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is an undocumented immigrant. After a Jan. 12 scuffle at a local Walmart, Tim Catlett, a resident of St. Cloud, Minn., was held at the Bishop…
By Kooper Shagena Just off of I-94 and Highway 83 on State Street in Bismarck, an abandoned Kmart sits behind an empty parking lot, watching the cars roll on and off the interstate exchange. It has been standing there quietly since…
Saturday, January 31, mingling at 6:15 p.m. and program at 7 p.m.Fine Arts Club, 601 4th St. S., FargoThe FM Symphony is getting intimate by launching a “Small Stages” chamber music series and it's bringing folks together via…
By John Strand If you are reading this editorial and you too are worried sick about the state of our country, keep reading. Maybe we can inspire each other. It was near closing time. We were discussing our values crisis. So this…
By Ed RaymondA mind that snapped, cracked, and popped at one hundredI wasn’t going to read a long column called “Centenarian: A Diary of a Hundredth Year” by Calvin Tomkins celebrating his birthday on December 17 of 2025…
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 Greg Carlson There is a great scene in the middle of Kelly Reichardt’s excellent movie “The Mastermind” when protagonist James Blaine Mooney (Josh O’Connor) is chastised by criminally-connected wheelman Jerry (the…
By Jacinta ZensThe Guerrilla Girls, an internationally renowned anonymous feminist art collective, have been bringing attention to the gender and racial imbalances in contemporary art institutions for the last 40 years. They have…
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 Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com At the beginning of the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Grinch is introduced as having a smaller than average heart, but as the movie progresses, his heart increases three…
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…
