Bonnie is a Dutch girl with a problem: She believes her mother is bonkers. The woman suffers from manic depression, with highs so high and lows so low as to send the family into a tailspin. But when Bonnie’s grandmother, both the foundation and rudder of the clan, is killed in a car accident, the … Read more
Despite every possible setback, The Minneapolis/ St. Paul International Film Festival soldiers on, though with fewer films (which is, perhaps, a blessing). Screenings will include Waitress, the comedy hit of this year’s Sundance film festival; it was also, tragically, the directorial debut for Adrienne Shelley, who was murdered soon after completion of this film project. … Read more
Of all the theater companies in town, none has better taste in classic literature than Ten Thousand Things. Now, the troupe takes on Federico Garcia Lorca’s saucy Blood Wedding. Deeply poetic yet also accessible, this play sets up a gut-punching war between the heart’s passion and the human brain’s limited capacity for reason. Armed with … Read more
Using samples from obscure movies, as well as their own singing, mixing, and instrumentation, Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto construct melodic sound collages and electronic songs so catchy as to be genre defying. On the Massachusetts duo’s 2003 release, The Lemon of Pink, for example, the title track alone contains seamless movements between folk … Read more
Game #69, Home Game #33: Minnesota 94, Portland 93 1. Two Cheers For Wittman, Davis and James I originally wasn’t going to post after the Portland game, if only because I usually only go once on the weekend when the online traffic is down and already posted yesterday after Friday’s loss. But the Wolves pulled … Read more
Game #68, Road Game #36, Seattle 85, Minnesota 82 1. Listless in Seattle I realize the competition is stiff, but last night’s travesty is probably the worst basketball game collectively played by the Wolves and an opponent thus far this season. Without their KG-equivalent, Ray Allen, the Sonics showed every sign of wishing to roll … Read more
Carlos Silva’s performance against Pittsburgh today (3.1 IP, 11 hits, nine earned runs) should make Ron Gardenhire’s decision a whole lot easier. The Twins love Silva, and he’s a first-rate clubhouse character, but given the way he’s pitched this spring, and the way he pitched in what was clearly a make-or-break game for him this … Read more
My recent post on KSTP-TV’s news “package”, which included covering a one-man protest against the City of St. Louis Park’s showing of, “An Inconvenient Truth” followed by Al Gore’s appearance before House and Senate Committees discussing global climate change, brought out the usual suspects making the usual claims. There is this … “You are a … Read more
Easy world, you gave it once– please quietly welcome it back, that hand. –William Stafford, from “Going On” …what is it we are all doing, what is it we are about, pray tell? And why are we gathered here? –Raymond Carver, “All My Relations” What the hell do we want? What is our heart’s desire? … Read more
Once again, it’s a children’s holiday, film-wise, here in our lovely city. Saturday at 10:15, the library‘s showing the lovely Horton Hears A Who (1966) and Sneetches and Zax (1972). Both films are light years better than the horrible, hateful Jim Carrey and Mike Myers vehicles of the past few years. The two cartoons are … Read more