Listen up folks. Bathing suit season is upon us. We have very little time. As the temperature rises, the threat of exposure increases. Soon we will be obliged to reveal the acres of tender flesh we have been farming lo these past seven months. And ready or not, after Memorial Day, we will hit the … Read more
There can’t be many authors who’ve given their name to a distinct sociological “type.” But so it is with Nick Hornby Man. The British writer of High Fidelity, Fever Pitch, and About A Boy has become a convenient shorthand for a certain kind of feckless modern male. Nick Hornby Man is confused, child-like, self-centered and … Read more
Palm Sunday 6:00 a.m. My clock radio goes off. It is set to a local news station. The spiritual maxim is this: Upon awaking in the morning, give your first thoughts to God. I am beginning to learn that clock radios don’t always enable this practice. Before I can give my thoughts to anything in … Read more
It’s been eight years since the Canadian sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall wrapped up their wickedly funny eponymous TV show. Like a bad Behind the Music episode, it appeared relations were strained, to the point that Dave Foley (who landed on the highly successful NewsRadio) was barely in the troupe’s 1996 swan-song … Read more
Skyways & Icehouses Perhaps you’ve noticed that the Walker has been on the bleeding edge of the museum business–yes, it’s a business. And the good people here in the Twin Cities have been happy to serve as a petri dish for a commercial plan that often involves a delicate balance between populism and serious art, … Read more
Wow, what a name! And an excellent painter as well. Even in these bizarre, cut-and-paste times of new-media saturation, we still crave an old fashioned oil painting with four sides and no pretensions. We’re new to Svendson’s work, but we like what we see. Here, she shows some lush landscapes painted at the southern terminus … Read more
Forget all the stereotypes about foreign flicks. If there’s a movie that proves high action and subtitles can work, this is it. We’re not talking about shoot-em-up, crash-and-bash action, but brisk high drama along the lines of Hitchcock and Mamet. Nine Queens is scripted in a mix of Argentinian argot and Castillian Spanish–so even our … Read more
Woody Allen’s new bi-coastal comedy (take a guess at which big city curries his favor) concerns a tired and temperamental filmmaker who’s on the verge of a big comeback until chronic neuroses, friction with his ex-wife, and disdain for Hollywood convention render him blind as a bat. Any vague parallels to the writer-director’s real life … Read more
There’s a tradition of proud, passionate folk revivalism and hardcore banjo-on-mandolin action in these parts that predates any George Clooney movie you could name. So forget for a moment that this is the year of Grammy-canonized bluegrass. Recognize that devoted and studious musicians all over the Midwest and elsewhere have been laboring for ages to … Read more
Charlotte Church notwithstanding, it seems classical music is still one of the rare showbiz channels where a child prodigy has a better than 50-50 chance of cultivating a long, fruitful, and relatively stable career. Then again, 31-year-old violinist Midori has had her share of detractors over the not-so-many years, alternately criticizing her more eclectic and … Read more