Calhoun community

Dennis Curley brings the music of John Denver to the Bryant-Lake Bowl in Country Roads: Dennis Curley Sings the Music of John Denver. If you are not familiar with the theater at the Bryant-Lake Bowl, let me tell you that on May 4 I felt like I was sitting in Curley’s living room surrounded by friends and family. This is the magic of John Denver’s music: it connects people to a simpler time and to shared memories. Not to mention that the audience did consist of friends and family of Curley and the four musicians who shared the stage with him—along with people like me, who love the music of John Denver.

The new musical dramedy The Sapphires has been a huge hit in its native Australia for close to a year now. It surprised audiences at the 2012 Cannes (where it was picked up by the Weinstein Company, and after its first screening had a standing ovation) and Toronto International Film Festivals, and even made a brief appearance in Minnesota, last October at the Twin Cities Film Festival. The Sapphires opens Friday, April 5, at the Lagoon Cinema, and its director, Wayne Blair, was in the Twin Cities last month to discuss this true story of four Aboriginal women who traveled from Australia to Vietnam and in other countries to perform for American soldiers.

Since its release in 1957, Jack Kerouac’s “Beat Generation” semi-autobiographical novel On the Road has become an American literary classic. It is also one of those rare novels that seemed untouchable for years to turn into a feature film, documentary, mini-series, television series, or any medium where it could be viewed on either a big theater screen or a big-screen television.

“Come on…be romantically self-destructive with me.”

This quote comes from Kicking and Screaming, Academy-Award-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach’s 1995 debut feature about a group of college students facing life after graduation, dealing with ongoing and hazardous relationships, finding a purpose in the real world, and facing personal crises. This quote could also represent four other Baumbach films screening at the Walker Art Center, as part of the Regis Dialogue and Retrospective Noah Baumbach: Visibly Human. The retrospective kicks off with Kicking and Screaming, on Friday, March 15 and runs through Friday, April 5 with Baumbach and Village Voice chief film critic Scott Foundas, discussing Baumbach’s 18-year career as a screenwriter and director.