Sushi: The Naked Truth, part two.

Bandwagons and gold diggers. Once something’s hot and mainstream it will most likely get exploited. As we all know, sushi is hot, and now it’s come to that stage. How can we make it faster, cheaper, and offer more?! This is the general direction for most new sushi bars. To cut costs, frozen tuna is … Read more

The Joy of Insignificance

Poor Eran Kolirin. When I spoke with the director of The Band’s Visit a few weeks ago, he had been traveling so much that his jet lag kept him from even an hour’s sleep. Then, just minutes before this interview, he managed to whack his head against the door frame of the car that brought … Read more

A Dearth of Hookers and Blow

It has become quite obvious in recent days that loyal service just isn’t rewarded within the legislature anymore. As recently as a handful of years ago, long-tenured legislators and officials would be shown the public’s appreciation through pompous public ceremonies and the occasional backroom smorgasbord of hookers and blow. But Lindsey Lohan’s rates have gone … Read more

All Truth Passes through Three Stages

THEATER & PERFORMANCEThe Language of Love After weeks of rehearsals and rewrites — and even blogging for us in our Just Passing Through blog — local playwright Aditi Kapil is finally debuting two of her works this evening. The first, Love Person, directed by Risa Brainin, isn’t your ordinary love story — about physical attraction, … Read more

Open Thread: Back In the Bucket vs. Toronto

Game #56, Road Game #26: Minnesota 85, Toronto 107 Season Record: 12-44 Well the Foo Fighters were great until they strung a trio of their pop hits together at the encore–the hard rockers were their metier, and the acoustic set, while solid, simply disrupted their stride and made it difficult to settle back into that raging … Read more

The Band’s Visit

"My inspiration can from an image I had in my head," said director Eran Kolirin. "I pictured a tough Arab man—a man in uniform—singing a song that had been trapped inside of him." There is no better way, really, to describe The Band’s Visit. It is a starkly beautiful work that carries all the tension … Read more

Hot Stupid Foreign Nannies

It started like this: My 13-year-old daughter walked into a room where I was reading and my husband was opening a bottle of wine (which she would tell you is what we’re always doing, except when we’re working or yelling at her) and said, "You remember when I went to Karl and Julia’s when I … Read more

Return of the Great White Way

The way it looks now, it’s hard to imagine that Hennepin Avenue was once a Great White Way of cinematic wonder, each downtown block blessed with at least one tempting marquee adorned with blinding lights. In my own early years of moviegoing, I was able to take my pick of many single screen palaces on … Read more

The Three Pointer: The Best Yet This Season

(AP Photo/Jim Mone) Game #55, Home Game #30: Utah 100, Minnesota 111 Season Record: 12-43 1. The Beauty of Teamwork It’s been a long time–certainly a year, maybe two–since fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves have seen this kind of 48 minutes from their ballclub. There have been some really nice wins thus far this season: … Read more

Life is real! Life is earnest!

WINE & DINEJoin Us for Dinner While movies like Ratatoiulle might have us questioning how good a dinner partner a food critic might make, we have to remember it’s merely fiction (the animation helps). The truth of the matter is, a good food critic is simply someone who knows and appreciates good food (and can … Read more