August 2009

August 27, 2009

Local Film "Into Temptation" Opens to Acclaim

It's time to call it a second golden age of Minnesota filmmaking.

The first was in the early 1990s, when Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon were grumping around Wabasha, Christian Slater was finding love in a Minneapolis cafe, the Mighty Ducks were shredding ice in Edina, and the Coen Brothers were leaving a trail of dead from here to Fargo. In the last few years, however, we've had an arguably better crop of movies emerge from Minnesota minds than ever before: "Sweetland," "Juno," "Gran Torino," the yet-to-be-released "A Serious... Read more »

Posted on Thursday, August 27, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 13, 2009

Flash Delta Credit Card: Get Deals at Walker, Guthrie, Etc.

For anyone sore about Delta's takover of Northwest Airlines (and count me among you—seriously, Delta couldn't hold the last plane of the night for one minute in Atlanta on a day when it canceled flights left and right, then made me pay for my own hotel room?), here's a redeeming point: if you chose the American Express Delta Skymiles credit card  when your Worldperks Visa went away, you have a few just-announced perks. Flashing the card at the Walker Art Center or the Mill City Museum gets you two-for-one admission for up to four tickets. And you'll get 20 percent off tickets to the Guthrie Theater. The... Read more »

Posted on Thursday, August 13, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 7, 2009

Best Fringe ever? See these shows and decide.

Word came in early on that this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival was off to a great start attendance-wise, up 19 percent from last year. Now, with just three days left, we've got a pretty good idea why: The shows are more uniformly terrific.

I haven't seen every show, not hardly, but unless the naysayers are holding back the bile (unlikely), or savvy showmen are stacking the decks with friends' friendly reviews (doesn't that always happen?), I've never seen such strong favorable reviews across the board. So if you're looking to hit the best of the Fringe before it fades to black, here are some suggestions from among the most favorably reviewed shows

2 Sugars,... Read more »

August 1, 2009

Road Trip Today: Blues at the Barn

One of the best road trips you can do in the summer is head down along the Mississippi to Red Wing. From there, you can either head across the river to Wisconsin, where Highway 35 carries you south through some of the quaintest river towns this side of Twain. Or you can head west, into the countryside, which is where you may want to go today for Blues at the Barn, Red House Records' day of folks, blues, bluegrass, and other acoustic music at the renowned Hobgoblin Music barn.

Red House, of course, is the venerable acoustic record label based in St. Paul that's holding its own, despite the otherwise dismal fortunes of the music... Read more »

Posted on Saturday, August 1, 2009 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0)