April 16th, 2015
By Suzanne Hanson
Spring is a time when we look forward to the future and plant the seeds for growth, which is no doubt why it seems a natural fit that we celebrate Earth Day every April 22.
According to Earth Day Network, Earth Day was founded by a group of students in New York in 1970 as a means to draw attention to pressing environmental concerns and the need for proactive public policy and change.
Nearly half a century later, we’re not doing so hot, or rather, quite the opposite. We…
April 15th, 2015
Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy engineers a jaw-dropping feature debut in “The Tribe,” a stylistic tour de force that juxtaposes the gorgeousness of cinematic execution against the horror of the narrative’s unrelentingly grim subject matter.
Set in a Ukrainian boarding school for the deaf, “The Tribe” follows new student Sergey (Grygoriy Fesenko) as he receives an education in the institution’s real subjects: theft, assault, prostitution, exploitation and murder. Unbroken,…
April 15th, 2015
Jean-Luc Godard, one of the pioneers of the French New Wave filmmaking movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s, is now in his 80s, but still making movies that are no less daring in “breaking the rules” of traditional cinematic techniques to express his ideas in new ways.
His “Adieu au langage” (“Goodbye to Language”) won him his first Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and earlier this year it won the U.S. National Society of Film Critics Award for Best…
April 8th, 2015
Gabe Polsky’s “Red Army” skates by as swiftly and forcefully as the larger-than-life hockey personalities it closely examines.
Flipping the American “Miracle on Ice” narrative on its head, Polsky’s sharp, attentive documentary invites viewers to see the dominant Cold War rink soldiers of the Soviet Union’s national team not as Ivan Drago-esque automatons, but rather as hard-working young men just as proud of their country as the kids who played for Herb Brooks on Team USA.…
April 8th, 2015
A recently-restored version of a beloved science-fiction classic came out on Blu-ray last month from Twilight Time in a limited release of 5,000 units.
“First Men in the Moon” (1964) was a groundbreaking film based on a groundbreaking book by H. G. Wells written more than six decades before men finally did walk on the moon.
Historian-philosopher-author Herbert George Wells is best remembered for writing five sci-fi novels, or “scientific romances,” as they were called when…
April 3rd, 2015
Gender, class, marriage and parenthood receive a good working over in Ruben Östlund’s hilarious “Force Majeure,” a gorgeously photographed dream/nightmare vacation travelogue that smartly deploys a human-versus-nature leitmotif to situate the First World problems of its protagonists within a conversation about control, self-control and our lack thereof. More preoccupied with the variety of ways in which males can come undone when their sense of masculinity is challenged than it…
April 1st, 2015
“Welcome to Leith” is a new documentary, which premiered at the Sundance and SXSW film festivals, that shows the story of white supremacist Craig Cobb moving to Leith, N.D. and the town’s subsequent attempts to removed him, in real time. Directors Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker received incredible access to the situation as it unfolded. Cobb’s most explosive moments were caught…
April 1st, 2015
Next week is the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War. For over a century, numerous films have treated various dramatic aspects of the subject, some of the more famous ranging from “The Birth of a Nation,” “Gone With the Wind,” “The Red Badge of Courage,” “Glory,” “Gettysburg” and the recent “Lincoln.” Several have also fictionalized to various degrees the exploits of notorious Confederate guerilla William Quantrill and his raiders. One of the…
March 25th, 2015
Oscar-winning documentary feature “Citizenfour” is a you-are-there record of the National Security Agency’s global and domestic surveillance program revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013, and what it lacks in cinematic panache it more than makes up for in jaw-dropping urgency and bomb-blast power.
Alan Scherstuhl astutely points out that the movie is “a must-see piece of work even if, in its totality, it's underwhelming as argument or cinema.” The movie earns its…
March 25th, 2015
From March 19 through 22, I attended the 35th, and final, annual Cinefest convention of film lovers in Syracuse, NY, along with over 700 other people. Specializing in films hard to find outside of archives and private collections, it has become increasingly difficult to find theatres that can run archival 35mm film prints, and new digital restorations rarely have copies made on the 16mm film format that has been the festival’s mainstay since it started in 1981.
The festival still…
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By Winona LaDukewinona@winonaladuke.com The business of Indian Hating is a lucrative one. It’s historically been designed to dehumanize Native people so that it’s easier to take their land. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man,”…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com The onion calendar is an old German folk tradition used to predict levels of moisture each month throughout the coming year using salt, a knife, an onion and a little bit of patience. Donna and…
Sunday, January 19, 2-6:45 p.m.Sanctuary Events Center, 670 4th Avenue N, FargoIt’s a taste of Chinatown in Fargotown, an exciting cultural celebration filled with captivating performances including dragon dancers, vendors,…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com I’m really sick of the “Nobody wants to work anymore” narrative. Like, really sick. I can’t hide the eye rolls and I don’t even try to hide them anymore. In fact, I feel like they’ll…
By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comMaybe we will have a transgender insurrection at the capitol on Jan 6About 3.18 million years ago an adult female chimpanzee eventually named Lucy (after that famous Lucy in the Beatles’ song…
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 Gionrickgion@gmail.comPhoto by Rick Gion To say the least, this election season was a doozy. Anxiety was high for many on both sides of the political aisle. To calm down and settle the nerves, a comforting meal is…
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By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Local band Zero Place has been making quite a name for itself locally and regionally in the last few years. Despite getting its start during a time it seemed the whole world was coming to…
By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The Paris-born filmmaker Mati Diop made a major splash in 2019 with the fascinating feature “Atlantics,” which received the Grand Prix at Cannes. A supernatural reimagining inspired by her…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comIn 1974, the Jamestown Arts Center started as a small space above a downtown drugstore. It has grown to host multiple classrooms, a gallery, performance studio, ceramic studio and outdoor art park.…
By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…
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 Josette Ciceronunapologeticallyanxiousme@gmail.com What does it mean to truly live in a community —or should I say, among community? It’s a question I have been wrestling with since I moved to Fargo-Moorhead in February 2022.…
By Faye Seidlerfayeseidler@gmail.com On Dec 5, the Turning Point USA chapter at North Dakota State University hosted an event called BisonFest. This event featured Chloe Cole, a former trans kid, known for detransitioning and…
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By Curtis W. Stofferahn, Ph.D.Curtis.stofferahn@email.und.edu In June, two events markedly contrasted the difference between two different visions of agriculture: precision agriculture and regenerative agriculture. The dedication…
