To notice the skatepark building boom, you’d have to know what you were looking for. Driving Excelsior Boulevard through the 169 interchange in Hopkins, it’s eminently easy to miss the chain link enclosure of “The Overpass,” a newborn skatepark sponsored by the city of Hopkins. True to its moniker, the park is tucked into a … Read more
From the air, the river looked innocent enough: A mocha-brown flow etched its way through the forest in lazy S’s. But paddling it was another matter. An unusually dry season reduced the normal torrent to a trickle. The shallow bottom and exposed rapids compelled us to carry our canoes more than they carried us. After … Read more
That glimmer of hope you see on the springtime motion picture horizon could be the return of Robin Williams from his teeth-hurting escapades as Sad Clown of the 90s. Patch Adams, Jakob the Liar, and Bicentennial Man—a cinematic trifecta from Hell. We are thankful Mr. Williams appears to be seeking redemption. In January, the Sundance … Read more
Like Prince and Loni Anderson before him, Hollywood It-boy Josh Hartnett is proving to the rest of the free world that Minnesota can pull its weight on the breakout-sex-symbol production line. As we see in Black Hawk Down and the underappreciated Virgin Suicides, it doesn’t hurt that Josh can actually act. Oddly, his real debut … Read more
With due respect to Dirk Diggler, there’s never been a better film about empty sex and failed optimism than 1975’s Shampoo. As dim-witted hair stylist Warren Beatty dutifully knocks boots with Goldie Hawn, Julie Christie, Lee Grant, and Carrie Fisher, you can almost hear the cynicism of the Nixon era grabbing hold of the American … Read more
Here’s the feel-paranoid hit of the season. Nicole Kidman was originally slated to star in this dark, suspense-filled doozy from director David Fincher, but one too many can-can kicks on the set of Moulin Rouge forced her to back out at the last minute. Thankfully, her replacement is the all-too-scarce Jodie Foster. Fans of the … Read more
What ever happend to alt-rock? By now you’d think lanky white twenty-somethings armed with cheap guitars, drum kits, lightweight keyboards, and the odd sampler would’ve more or less exhausted the possibilities. Think again. In different ways, both Washington state’s Death Cab for Cutie and Washington, DC’s Dismemberment Plan prove there’s still room for growth in … Read more
An anonymous friend recently referred to Alison Krauss as the “prom queen of bluegrass,” and as snarky as that sounds, she oughta take it as a compliment. Already a favorite among fans of credible new-country and sprightly contemporary folk, her profile was raised a few extra notches last year by the unexpected success of the … Read more
Cynics say he’s “pulled a Santana” by collaborating with Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas and a host of other greenhorn superstars—Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, and Lee Ann Womack among them—on his latest album, The Great Divide. But you can’t accuse Willie Nelson of selling out, because his plainspoken country-folk has lost none of its substance in … Read more
In the late 1950’s, when comics like Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, and Nichols & May were storming club stages across the country, turning stand-up on its head, a mumbling, unassuming accountant from Chicago was supplementing his income by writing and performing comedy bits for local radio. His tapes made their way to Warner Brothers, who … Read more