Various Locations, October 14–16Emphasis in the title should be on “stories,” not “travel.” Orlean has indeed been everywhere—some will recall a fictional version of her played by Meryl Streep in Adapation, in which she trails an orchid hunter through Florida swamps—but My Kind of Place is no ordinary travel writing. For one thing, these tales … Read more
David O. Russell has a knack for sending the characters in his films to hellish, but often somehow hilarious places. In the shamefully overlooked Three Kings, a group of soldiers journey into an Iraqi village on a dangerous mission to pillage gold. Flirting With Disaster sends Ben Stiller to find his birth parents, who turn … Read more
South Park geniuses Trey Parker and Matt Stone offer up a timely political satire that takes aim at sanctimonious right-wing bloo-blobs and smug Hollywood liberals alike. (In other words, the duo hates the war in Iraq, but they also hate George Bush, Michael Moore, and John Kerry.) The fact that their film takes the form … Read more
Joanne Woodward made a fine career out of split-personality material (see Sybil), and this historic, Academy Award-winning performance started it all. Woodward’s Eve White was based on the true story of a dreary Southern housewife suffering from “spells” of memory loss (we dare you to call in sick on Monday with a “spell”). Unable to … Read more
Now it its fifth year, the Sound Unseen film festival hasn’t wavered from its original mission to bring rare films about music to the Twin Cities. Hello?! End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones? ABBA: The Movie? Yes, please! In addition to a stellar lineup of new films, the year sees the return … Read more
What is it about an Ingmar Berman retrospective that says “autumn”? Sure, there’s Autumn Sonata (a humdinger with Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Bergman in her final role), but the cinematic giant also made Winter Light, The Virgin Spring, and Smiles of a Summer Night (not to mention Summer Interlude)—all of which will be screened, along … Read more
Seems like over the past couple of decades we’ve learned to appreciate regional foods, regional parks, even regional shopping malls (thanks MoM!). Why not celebrate darn good movies home-grown in the heartland—or any of the other distinctive regions that make up our country’s vast interior? That’s how the Central Standard Film Fest came to be. … Read more
Suffering from battle fatigue this election season? Chin up! There’s succor if you know where to look. One outstanding example is the series of “Real People” ads by documentarian Errol Morris, in which Republicans talk about why they’re not voting for the incumbent (they may not air in our state, but they’re online at MoveOnPAC.org). … Read more
This was Sarah Kane’s final play prior to her suicide in 1999 at the age of twenty-eight, and the title refers to the apocryphal time at which most suicides take place. Kane rose to prominence in London as a kind of theatrical counterpart to that city’s “YBA” art scene: Her first work, Blasted, received an … Read more
Theater buffs will remember the staged reading of Bel Canto at Penumbra Theatre a few years back—and they might also recall that American Theater magazine named Jones as one of its artists to watch in the twenty-first century. As tender coming-of-age stories go (are there any other kind?), this one stands out in its orchestrated … Read more