Have ya’all heard about that insane 3-Day Walk thingamajig? It’s a fundraiser for the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in the form of an intense athletic event, not unlike the old AIDS Ride, for which women strap on running shoes and walk twenty miles each day for three days straight. (And many–most–of these women … Read more
The Americanization of Emily, 1964. Directed by the hack Arthur Hiller, written by the decidedly unhackneyed Paddy Chayefsky. Starring James Garner, Julie Andrews, James Coburn, Melvyn Douglas, Joyce Grenfell and one of the great character actors, Keenan Wynn (most famous as Major Bat Guano in Dr. Strangelove). When Paddy Chayefsky died in 1981 of cancer … Read more
Stanley Kunitz, 1905-2006 Kunitz did not go mad, die young or yield to other forms of dissipation, despite tragedies in his early life. For years he made his living editing reference books and teaching at universities. At night he holed up in a spartan writing room where he read, wrote and rewrote until dawn. “Stanley … Read more
–Illustration by James Dankert People have been wondering what happened to Uncle Jumbo. That is, of course, the million dollar question, and a question whose answer apparently lies somewhere far in the man’s distant past. All I can tell you is that something did indeed happen. There’s no doubt about that. And something always seems … Read more
Nothing quite says “Thanks Mom” like a giant fruit peacock. Screw brunch. Seriously, don’t you think you’re pulling a fast one on your Mom by taking her out for brunch? First of all, there’s little or no effort put by YOU personally into the meal. Secondly, by making it the morning meal, it’s like you’re … Read more
“Water”, 2005. Written and directed by Deepa Mehta; music by Mychael Danna and the famous (and unbelievably prolific) A.R. Rahman. Starring Sarala, Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, John Abraham, Manorama, Raghuveer Yadav, Vidula Javalgekar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, and Bollywood stalwart Waheeda Rehman (in a small role). Now showing at the Uptown Theater. Once upon a time, in … Read more
Tonight: Doors Opening: A Symphony of the Dolls. This is the big opening night for The Ritz Theater in northeast Minneapolis after many, many dark years. I toured the space a while back–probably about two years ago. It then struck me as a long, cavernous room. So I’m looking forward to seeing what the Dolls … Read more
I find it so frustrating that I, on occasion, regress into these high-school speech patterns. Perhaps you can’t empathize with this little dilemma, you being so sophisticated. But that’s probably not the case, lest you be social outcast or graduate of SPA. In any case, I find I’m reverting to adolescent patois quite often these … Read more
This persistent image you mention, the masked man in the mirror that you have been routinely encountering in your dreams –I don’t mean to make light of your problems, but certainly you don’t need to pay me to explain something that is so painfully obvious that it is almost an insult to my profession. Please … Read more
I need a helmet to keep the bullshit from flying out of my head I always cringe just a little when I find myself agreeing with Joe Soucheray, but I guess I’m just getting older. Today he has a great column on the DeLaSalle-Nicollet Island NIMBY crowd and their attempted use of historic designation for … Read more