What to do in fargo
Posted By Fargo Reviews / 11th October 2009
Well, it’s fall again, time for the Fargo Theatre to start screening their midnight Friday and Saturday cult film classics. Now, I’m not much iof a cult film buff, and midnight is getting a bit late for me(I’m not as young as I once was or wish I still were), fo I don’t make many of these. But when I do, it’s always a hoot because the audience is usually so into the film and not taking it at all seriously.
This last Friday some friends of mine and I took in Army of Darkness, a cult favorite of most of our entourage.
Army of Darkness is the third in the “Evil Dead” trilogy, began in 1982 with “Evil Dead” by Sam Raimi. There followed “Evil Dead 2,” and then in 1992, the climax, “Army of Darkness.”
The first two movies in this trilogy are klow or no budget standard Grade B horror films. Then, somehow Dino De Laurentis aquitred and produced the finale. This movie had a budget, and it showed. Instead of grainy film, the film quality was first rate. There were many actors and extras and the script and acting was at least professional.
The movie begins with a review of what happened in the first two; at least enough so that the viewer wouldn’t be missi9ng any information needed to understand the -er- plot of the current offering.
The movie concerns a big box store worker played by Bruce Campbell. Somehow, he gets transported back to 13th century England, already a rip off of the sci fi time travel flick “Timeline.” He and his ’73 Oldsmobile land right in the middle of one of the usual English Viking conflicts. What happens to this conflict I’ll leave in case you want to see the movie, and the reest of the story involves Campbell trying to retrieve a magic book that will, among other things, allow him to get home. So there is much adventure, fighting with real characters and animated ones, in which just about every adventure, horror or war story beginning with The Odyssey, and ending with The Lord iof The Rings, is ripped off (hmm, Oh yes, The Lord of the rings was written before 1992).
The two hours and one minute passed very quickly, since virtually every scene was stolen from somewhere else. Maybe not side splitting stuff, but I was amused constantly during the movie.
This movie is strictly for B-grade horror fans, but remember, this is supposed to be cult classic. If movies like this are tolerated by you, as this one was by me, viewing them with a cult audience can be a lot of fun, as it was for me in this case.
Entertainment value: B
Relevance: None at all
Necessity toi suspend disbelief: total.
Posted By Fargo Reviews / 14th September 2009
Released in July and now playing at Century Ten is the animated children’s movie Ice Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs. When I say children’s movie, I mean it: I would say the appropriate target ages would be 5 – 10, although one of my companions was 12, and he seemed to enjoy the movie a lot. There is, of course, the usual humor directed at the adults accompanying the kids, but this movie is a little light on that. Nonetheless, I enjoyed myself, sitting through most of the movie with a bemused smirk on my face.
The animation is terrific, as is the development of the animated characters. The story, which of course I won’t divulge, centers around an Ice Age extended family consisting of a pair of mammoths, one of whom is pregnant, a sabre toothed cat, a sloth and a few lesser mammals. They fall through the ice one day and find themselves in a tropical world inhabited by dinosaurs. They are guided in their journey in this netherworld by a smart character Buck the weasel.
Their journey involves dealing with the unfamiliar world of the dinosaurs and the world of dinosaurs dealing with them. The story(written by Peter Ackerman and Michael Berg) is complicated and well constructed. The adults might enjoy watching it play out.
There are probably lots of Disney-esque messages about family values, accepting who you are and others as they are, as well as some fel good love conquers all ideas. I chose not to think too hard about these issues: I don’t think they were meant to be.
I think most kids will really liike this movie, and there’s enough to entertain most adults. If you like movies like, for example, Bambi, or rather would like to take your children to it, I think this movie an excellent. If you want anything else, go somewhere else.
Story: B+
Animation: A
Relevance: Good question.
Entertainment value: B+
Posted By Fargo Reviews / 11th June 2009
Before the closing of the Royal Trough – er – Fork, a new all you can eat chain had opened in Fargo, called the Golden Trough – er – Corral. It’s located just west of Gander Mountain, east of 45th St and south of I-94. If the two events(the closing and opening) are connected, it’s easy to see why.
The Golden Corral offers a tremendous variety of well prepared dishes, and the served portions are not skimpy. They have every part of the meal in fine diversity. I’m not particularly impressed with their salad bar(I’m not sure that from what I’ ve read in various consumer magazines that eating from restaurant salad bars is a good idea anyway), but I do appreciate the inclusion of fruit in the salad bar.
The specialty dishes vary from day to day, and may include things like Italian Sausage with peppers and onions, liver and onions, chicken prepared several ways, pork steaks, various fish offerings with several choices of vegetables and balked potatoes with several other potato preparations. Their is a grill that offers streak cooked the way you want it, and they’ll show the inside of the steak to make sure it’s done to the temperature you like. Naturally, the steak is inferior to steak house quality, but it is good nonetheless. There is also pizza and a whole steam table of various hot dishes. I agree with their own description of “Awesome Yankee Pot Rost.”
Three is also a large selection of desserts, including ice cream and baked goods. A dinner roll is delivered to your table(you can get more than one if you ask) along with honey butter. This is, to me, the main shortcoming of the buffet. There are no other breads or other choices for butter so, if you’re like me and sugar intolerant, you’re sort out of luck.
Everything seems to be clean, the staff hard working and eager to give quality food and service. The price is around $10. Admittedly the food is not the greatest, but it is good, probably as good as it can get for food prepared in mass quantities. I think it a really good deal, and the only reason I might not there as often as I would like is there is real temptation to take way too much. Oh, unless you go late or early, its very crowded.
Posted By Fargo Reviews / 11th June 2009
Now showing on the big screen at the Fargo Theatre the winner of five Swedish academy awards, a film by 76 year old director Jan Troel.
The movie is another of many “literature on the screen” that so many indies seem to be these days. It is period piece, set in Sweden, beginning in 1907 and continuing through World War One and a little after. An interesting period of history, one tht I’ve always wondered about. Specifically, if World War I was really a world war, then how were the Scandinavian countries, for example affected? Well if this movie is true to the time, they were, so the movie interested me from that perspective.
The movie is essentially about the Larsson family. The father, Sigge(Mickhel Persbrant), is a laborer and a drunk. The story is told as a narrative
by the oldest daughter, Maja, in a large brood of children. The story centers around the trials of the Larsson family and in large part, Sigge’s wife Marta, played by Marta Heiskonen. This is amusing, since Heiskonnen is apparently a Finnish name, and the Marta of the movie is also a Finn.
I loved the depiction of life in Sweden during this time period(the movie begins in Malmo, but moves around, as a drunk would), the early motor cars, the street scenes, complete with street cars. Recall that in that period of history there was a significant socialist or communist movement. Capitalism and Royal power were being called into question. All of these issues are dealt with in a gentle fashion.
The Larsson family is, of course, not wealthy. In desperation, Marta digs out an old camera to sell, and takes it to a camera shp run by the Dane Mr. Pedersen(Jacob Christensen). Instead, Pederson shows her how to use the camera and how to turn a profit doing so. So this is all the meat for the story, which I won’t divulge, but really the film just tells the story of this family during the 15 year of so period. The acting was excellent and the cinematography very satisfactory. However, I must say that I didn’t buy the progression of the disease of alcoholism in Sigge nor Marta as an alcoholics wife. Also, the movie is iin Swedish with English subtitles. The subtitling could have been a lot better.
So, if you like period pieces and/or “literature on the screen” I think you’ll enjoy this one. If cause scenes and violence, or mysteries are your bag, then I think you should look elsewhere.
Story: B
Acting: A
Believability: B
Historical Interest: A-
At the beginning of this review I mentioned the “Big Screen” at the Fargo Theatre. There is also a small theatre attached to the main building called The Fargo Theatre Off Broadway. This is a brand new, modern, theater that seats 99, a good number for movies showing at the Fargo. The seats are comfortable, the sound system good, and there is a very attractive and spacious lobby with old movie posters on the walls. It does not have a separate entrance than the main theater. I look forward to seeing more movies in this venue.
Posted By Fargo Reviews / 8th June 2009
First, about the movie. Sugar is a nineteen year old pitcher from the Dominican Republic, one of the poorest countries even in Latin America, whose real name is Miguel Santos, played charmingly by Atteni Perez Santos(don’t hold me to strict accuracy on that first name). Sugar attends an academy in the Dominican Republic put on by the fictitious Kansas City Knights. Naturally, he is offered a minor league contract by the Knights, to pitch for the Bridgeport Swing, a Class A farm team. There actually is a Swing, but it’s the Quad City Swing. In fact, one of the billboards in the background of one of the baseball scenes advertizes that team. So much for perfect cinematography and continuity.
Sugar is given a home with a straight laced protestant family(take note). So that’s all the background I need to discuss the movie.
Now, there are a lot of Dominicans in the major leagues. This movie ios about some that aren’t. In fact, it’s not really about baseball at all. It’s about culture shock, and Sugar’s ability to adjust, or lack thereof, to life in the United States. Or so it would seem. The plot is too complex, in my view, to make any sweeping generalizations, but, but I think it more interesting the total lack of understanding the kingly Higgins’ show toward Sugar, who does learn English rather quickly(the Higins’ don’t learn any Spanish, even though they have a history of taking Dominicans under their wing.
Well, that’s too much about the story. I don’t want to sway another viewer’s opinions with my own. The movie is slow paced, and the constant interacting of Sugar with other Dominicans, Americans and other hispanics complex and requiring attention. The movie is pretty clean: not much foul language, a little drug use, but it’s not gratuitous: it’s important to the story.
This movie will not appeal to baseball fans looking for a baseball movie. It is not a drug lord movie. It’s just a movie about human relations, more like the movie “Class” than “The Rookie.” If you need adventure or action, this movie is not for you. If you like character studies and studies in human emotions and development, then I think you’d like this.
Acting: B+
Script: B+
Relevance: B+
Posted By Fargo Reviews / 4th June 2009
Tuesday night the 19 on time entries to the Fargo 48 hour film festival were screened in two separate showings, one supposedly at 6:30 and another at 8:15. Both were about an hour late.
19 is a large number for this event. The 48 hour fio\lm festivals is an international event, with the winners at each level advancing a level. According to the moderator, the international body wants 24 films, but 19 was close enough. Good thing, or Fargo would have lost the event, or at least was in danger of doing so.
For those not familiar, teams of filmmakers sign up, are given a genre(eg: romance, comedy, mystery, etc) a character that must appear, in this a pizza shop employee, a name that a character must have, in this case Nick or Nicole Nelson, a prop that must be in the film, in this case a laptop, and a line of dialogue that must be included, in this case “You’ve got to give me something to work with here.”
The teams then have 48 hours to produce a movie within these parameters. There were 19 on time submissions and a few late ones that were shown on Tuesday as well.
Most of the teams were made up of tweens or young adults, so one can imagine what Tuesday night was like. FUN. Loud, raucous with loss of cheering and laughter. Most movies had a pizza delivered by a pizza delivery guy named Nick Nelson. Fortunately for most of us, Sammy’s Pizza, across the street, was closed when the second session was over. As it happens, one of the films was filmed almost entirely in Sammy’s. Another, “Mother’s Day” had one of its three segments filmed in the gift shop at the Red River Zoo. Seems a character was trying to buy a T-shirt for his mother for mothers day. Problem is, his mother didn’t like animals, and the gilt shop had no other types of T-shirts. I mention this to give sort of a flavor of what the films were like. Regardless of the genre, I could classify them all as comedy.
Obviously I cannot review all 23 films that were shown. Bishop: a tale of Gene Harris was a Thriller/Suspense movie. It was actually quite good, with an actual plot with a twist, impressive given the short time allowed, or force, however one views it. This is perhaps a good time to mention that I thought the acting professional, except in a very few instances.
“Gold” was a musical that took place in a pizza parlor. Tremendous audience response and my vote for best in show. “Amlore Pizza” of the Sci-Fi genre was about aliens that delivered Pizza Amore to everyone ordering a pizza delivered. Amore is, as most will know, Italian for love, and that’s what the recipients engage in once they get their pizza. What happens when a pizza is delivered to a man and his dog is left to the imagination.
“The Gospel of Nick Nelson” is about a novelist writing about Jesus’s ministry when a pizza is delivered, and the author and the pizza delivery guy(Nick Nelson, naturally) discuss and change the novel, and finally ask Jesus himself, who sqays he’ll ask his dad.
The inclusion or exclusion of any entry above is not intended to suggest any film over another, except in the one case. I enjoyed the movie “Special Delivery,” which would have my vote as the grossest. I had my adoptive grandsons, ages 7 and 12 with me, and do not think a cat eating semen off a laptop screen was appropriate for them. I think that in the future some mention should be made of the ratings these films might have had they been rated would be appropriate.
I’ve been going to these since they started in Fargo a number of years ago. Each year it gets better, and I hope they continue for a long time. To anyone young at heart and/or with a sense of humor, i recommend these festivals thoroughly. To learn more)in particular who won), go to www.48hourfilm.com/fargo
Posted By Fargo Reviews / 29th April 2009
Now showing at the Fargo, a French offering, “The Class.”
This is an interesting movie about a French high school, and one class in particular as it navigates through the school year. The story, if it is one as opposed to real life drama, which it may well be, as far as I’m concerned, focuses on a French class. The high school is apparently not one with many upper middle class students. If we think our educational system has a diverse bunch of students, just remember that the French Colonial empire once rivaled the British in magnitude. So, we have moslem students, not only black students, but some from Africa and some from the Caribbean, and of course ordinary Franks.
Most of the scenes are set in the French classroom with the teacher trying his best to deal with unruly, disinterested and aggressive students. There are also shots of faculty meetings whee the less than perfect situation. Some of the teachers just want to give up entirely, and sometime I was tempted to agree with them.
I don’t think there’s any real message here, such as Th. fundamentally good or bad nature of adolescents or mankind in general. It’s as though someone just set a camera in a classroom and let it run. I found the depiction of the different student personalities and ethnic groups interesting, although I didn’t particularly enjoy the movie.
If you enjoyed “Blackboard Jungle” or would enjoy “Fast Times at Ridgemont HIgh” only without the humor, then you might like this. If you require any action or dramatic script, it isn’t here(except for brief shoving matches.”
Cinematography: B
Relevance: B*
Storyline: N/A
Posted By Fargo Reviews / 21st April 2009
The Fargo Theatre, as it often does after an awards ceremony, recently had a limited showing of the latest Batman installment, “Dark Knight.” The recent awards ceremony was, of course the Golden Globes.
In this installment Ethan Hawke plays The Batman(how he’s referred to in this movie) and Michael Caine plays his ever present butler. There is no Robin. And, as everyone except those that skip anything to do with movies, the Joker is played by the late Heath Ledger.
I found the movie an action and explosion filled version of a combination of “A Clockwork Orange” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster.” The Clockwork Orange connection is that in both movies, law and order are broken down. There are several instances in Dark Knight where citizens will not call the police or go to a court or police station since it is not safe. Of course, since in the movie Gotham has become Chicago, the fear may niot be far from wrong.
Even The Batman is being sought as a criminal(he certainly does not always stay within the strict confines of the law, but this is Chicago, er, Gotham, so who does?)
In to this crime infested mess enters The Joker, whose agenda is to simply to destroy everything, and District Attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Ekhardt, a white knight, or Daniel Webster if you get my drift. You’ll just have to see the movie to see if you agree with me on this.
The movie consists mainly with a special police task force(presumably honest), Dent, and The Batman pursuing The Joker as he blows up buildings, cars, busses, people, in what is almost a psycho-drama. In the last third of the movie, which some have said is weak, Ledger’s performance is so compelling that I think he deserves the Oscar he most surely he posthumously will get. Lots of chase scenes, The Batman flying down from the tops of buildings, so the movie should be great fun for those that like that sort of thing. Of course, all Batman movies are about the struggle between good and evil, but there are some attempts in this movie to introduce thought producing ideas, involving this eternal struggle as well as raising issues about what motivates some of these characters. I won’t divulge exactly what I mean here: I think if you see the movie, you should think for yourself.
I found the movie a bit boring(once I’ve seen one horrendous explosion, I don’t really feel enthralled by a dozen more) and the psycho drama aspect a bit thin, but I certainly enjoyed myself.
The movie will certainly appeal to Batman fans, fans of chase scenes, and those that like action with a little thought provoking material thrown in. Outside the Batman genre, I think this movie compares somewhat with “The French Connection.”
Acting: A
Screenplay: B
Action: B
Special Effects/CGI: B+
