Entertainment

Brett Newski & the Corruption: From Vietnam to Lyn-Lake

By Dwight Hobbes, Sounding Off On Sound

Brett Newski & The Corruption, a pretty damned good pop-rock outfit, are coming to the Twin Cities on May 4, launching their second U.S. tour at Cause in Minneapolis, hailing all the way from—you ready for this?—Saigon, Vietnam. Just when you thought you'd heard of everything.

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MUSIC REVIEW | NEEDTOBREATHE at the Orpheum Theatre: Christian music, but not really

By Patrick Dunn, TC Daily Planet

Photos by Patrick Dunn

NEEDTOBREATHE is passionate about everything it takes to be a really good band. You can see it in everything they do from memorable live shows to meticulous songwriting that incorporates rich harmonies, uncommon instrumentation and creative extended jams. The Rinehart brothers, Bear (vocals, guitar, piano, organ, harmonica) and Bo (lead guitar, banjo, mandolin, backing vocals) grew up the sons of a pastor in South Carolina with an assorted mix of musical influences. During their college years, collaborations with Seth Bolt (bass, mandolin, backing vocals) who was a studying to be a recording engineer, and Joe Stillwell (former drummer) resulted in the formation of NEEDTOBREATHE.

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MUSIC PHOTOS | James Blake at First Avenue

By Jeff Rutherford, TC Daily Planet

Photos by Jeff Rutherford

London-based producer James Blake performed to a sold-out show on Wednesday, May 1st at First Avenue in Minneapolis. Those who arrived later, missed a solid set by opener FaltyDL.

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The return of sublime ridiculous perfection: All My Children

By Patrice Johnson, Cultural Construct

September 23, 2011 was a sad day for me. I said last goodbyes to friends, er... characters I'd known since childhood as All My Children went off the air. Yesterday the citizens of Pine Valley returned to my life, this time via hulu and various other online sources.

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Cultural Construct

"I Love to Eat": James Beard tells all at Illusion Theater

By Jeremy Iggers, Iggers Digest

Gary Geiken in I Love to Eat. Photo courtesy Illusion Theater.

Attention foodies: Garry Geiken serves up a delicious impersonation of legendary American foodie James Beard in Illusion Theater's production of I Love to Eat: a love story with food. The one-man show is more character study than drama, but Geiken succeeds in bringing a fascinating character to life. During the performance, Geiken prepares some of Beard's signature onion sandwiches, and a few lucky audience members get a chance to taste them.

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2013 Newport Beach Film Festival: What it's like to be a juror

By Jim Brunzell III, The Optimistic Pessimist

Welcome to the Jungle

The 14th annual Newport Beach Film Festival started April 25 and ends this Thursday, May 2. After the extravagant weeklong festival ends, they will have screened over 350 films, screening at five different venues and at times occupying 12 screens at once. I knew very little about this festival, other than a few key programmers—Max Naylor, Amanda Salazar, Adam Gentry, Jay Winterstein, and executive director Gregg Schwenk—whom I had met in previous years attending Sundance standing in lines, sitting near one another at screenings, and meeting up at parties. (On opening night, I was blown away by the fact there were some announced 500 volunteers that would work over 50,000+ hours, year-round and during the festival to make this event happen!) This past January at Sundance, I was asked to participate at the festival as a jury member and there was no way I was going to say no.

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Remembering John Munger: The best of his writing for the Twin Cities Daily Planet

By Jay Gabler, Front Row Seat

Video by 3 Minute Egg, 2008

Along with the rest of the Twin Cities arts community, I was saddened this week to learn of the death of John Munger, a great talent, enthusiastic supporter, and vibrant presence on the Minnesota dance scene for decades.

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MUSIC PHOTOS | Jason Isbell and Todd Snider at the Fitzgerald Theater

By Ryan Cutler, TC Daily Planet

Photos by Ryan Cutler

On Satuday, April 27, Jason Isbell and Todd Snider played at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.

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Movies that could become blockbusters in the sweet, sweaty days of summer 2013

By Derek Anderson, Tuesday Movie Men

In the days of spring, you can hear them coming. Stand in a movie theater lobby and cock your head to the side just right, and you’ll feel more than hear a rumble emanating from the horizon. Okay, so it’s more likely the sound of movie trailers in nearby theaters that you’ll be hearing and feeling, but isn’t it more epic if the noise comes from the mystical regions of beyond? At any rate, the roar of the summer blockbuster cannot be ignored when April and May spring upon you. For decades the warm summer months have been a time when even on the sunniest of days and the most star-streaked of perfect nights, people have chosen to retreat to the air conditioned caverns of movie theaters. So what compels us to discard perfect outdoor conditions in favor of a cushioned seat in a dark room? The answer: summer blockbusters.

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Tuesday Movie Men

THEATER REVIEW | Theatre in the Round's "Treasure Island" is magical

By Madeline Salmon, TC Daily Planet

Jason Paul Andrews in Treasure Island. Photo © Act One, Too, Ltd., courtesy Theatre in the Round.

Should you choose to see Theatre in the Round’s production of Treasure Island, your evening may go something like this: an usher takes you to your seat, walking you across the treasure map painted on the stage, and the first thing you notice is the smell of wood and smoke. When you take your seat, you realize you never left the set at all, because rigging and seagulls and pirate paraphernalia adorn the walls around you. Then the lights come down, the waves roll, and the story begins. You join Billy Bones in singing “Dead Man’s Chest” in spite of yourself. Soon Jim and the pirates are dashing through the aisles beside you and perching in the balconies above you, and you wonder for a split second if you remembered to feed the cat before going in search of buried treasure.

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