They don’t make shoot-’em-up gangster films like they used to. James Cagney gives a landmark performance as Tom Powers, a Prohibition-era bootlegger based on real-life gangsters Charles Dion “Deanie” O’Banion (Al Capone’s archrival) and Earl “Hymie” Weiss, who gets credit for the infamous grapefruit-to-the-face scene. Beyond that citrus-scented notoriety, The Public Enemy has been praised … Read more
A young, flirty Bette Davis lucks out when Leslie Howard, a wandering intellectual in search of meaning in life, walks into her particular cafe. Greasy food is served, googly-eyed glances are exchanged, and all is oh-so-good and as sexy as 1936 ever got—and then Humphrey Bogart shows up. Playing a gun-toting con on the run, … Read more
Since this is quite possibly one of the most excruciatingly painful movies ever made, would we be able to watch it again, now that it’s out on DVD? Uncertain. Stunningly beautiful, it inspires a host of machinations in the mind of the viewer. If you had the chance to completely erase your most painful memories, … Read more
Sean Penn quietly turns in one stunning performance after another, in complex and riveting films, and still, real popularity eludes him. Or at least his fans refrain from pecking him apart with the so-called love that dogs the Leos and Toms of Hollywood, which is probably just as well. His latest role, as Sam Bicke, … Read more
Once upon a time, the Sierra Club was merely a loose group of happy hikers who didn’t think much further than the next hill. But when David Brower took over in 1952, he brought a sense of urgency and environmental awareness to the organization, which went on to save national treasures like Utah’s Dinosaur National … Read more
Who doesn’t have a bit of a thing for Conor Oberst, the doe-eyed Nebraskan whose angst-ridden, poetic ballads draw comparisons to Bob Dylan and Paul Simon? With fame and success firmly planted on his doorstep (which is now in Manhattan), Oberst, who has made some nine recordings as Bright Eyes, is becoming a more relaxed, … Read more
Who will keep you warm when the moon is high and the nights are long and cold? Pam Houston would recommend a good dog. He might drool, smell a little gamey after a romp in the rain, and eat the occasional flattened squirrel, but he’ll adore you unconditionally and enjoy nothing in the world so … Read more
Penned by the pixie-punk ex-Minnesotan Lisa D’Amour, Nita & Zita re-imagines the story of immigrant sisters turned “international dancers.” Settling into the New Orleans French Quarter at the height of the Jazz Age, Nita and Zita dazzled audiences with their productions that mixed burlesque with contortionist acrobatics. They performed in lavishly ornate flapper-cum-freak show costumes … Read more
Colorado photographer Tom Quinn Kumpf is best known for documenting Ireland in black and white, as if the situation there were ever so simple. His poignant and sometimes funny book Children of Belfast captured the everyday concerns of children growing up in a very screwed-up world. This exhibit, “Dancing Down a Dream,” brings together diverse … Read more
There are so many photographs in the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society that you will never get to see even a fraction of them. There simply isn’t enough time in anyone’s life, and most are tucked away in storage, waiting only for someone on a research mission about fishing lore, or disappeared buildings, or … Read more