My aspiration to be a critic took seed early on: as a teenager, I wrote movie reviews for my high school paper and launched my Front Row Seat column, which continues to this day in the Duluth News Tribune. Today, I write criticism covering a wide range of media. I’m an alumnus of the National Critics Institute, and a member of the National Book Critics Circle as well as the Minnesota Film Critics Association.
In July 2023, I was pleased to have my criticism honored with a first place Page One award from the Minnesota Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Theater
- Duluth Playhouse comes alive with The Sound of Music (Duluth News Tribune, December 2, 2023). “If you were hoping to spend more time grinning at cute kids than contemplating the horrors of World War II, you’re safe at the NorShor Theatre.”
- Guthrie Theater’s Christmas Carol constrains its characters (The Tangential, November 18, 2023). “Scrooge has literally let his hair down, but this strangely subdued “Christmas Carol” remains firmly stuffed in its nightcap.”
- Playhouse production of Misery shows The Lab’s potential (Duluth News Tribune, Oct. 13, 2023). “The challenge stems from the script, which relies heavily on cloak-and-dagger business that’s tricky to execute in such a tight space with a static stage.”
Books
- Max Boot’s Reagan sees legendary legacy (The Tangential, October 30, 2024). “If Reagan’s triumph as President was to act the part superbly, Boot argues, the ways in which he let Americans down are related to his shortcomings as an actor.”
- Twin Ports Trains traces tracks of local history (Duluth News Tribune, July 18, 2024). “The book quotes architectural historian Charles Nelson describing the crossed-gable station as an example of I. Vernon Hill’s ‘highly aggressive and personal’ turn-of-the-century style. Kind of makes you look at the building a little differently, doesn’t it?”
- Of Dice and Men updated for D&D’s 50th anniversary (The Tangential, March 19, 2024). “The book’s title is all too apt for a game that sold to a very predominantly male audience for much of its history.”
Movies
- Young Woman and the Sea aims to inspire, not surprise (Duluth News Tribune, July 18, 2024). “What’s called for here is some good old-fashioned pluck, served neat.”
- Has The Phantom Menace been redeemed? (The Tangential, May 10, 2024). “George Lucas’s boldest and most farsighted choices can be better appreciated at a remove of a quarter-century.”
- Ranking Best Picture contenders for 96th Academy Awards (Duluth News Tribune, January 18, 2024). “Instead of perpetuating false nostalgia for a past era of risk-taking in cinema, the academy should reward this year’s riskiest bet — and one that’s paid off, whoever the Oscar goes to.”
Music
- “Folk piano” by way of John Cage: George Winston defies musical stereotypes (YourClassical, December 24, 2013). This concert review was quoted in the New York Times obituary for the artist upon his death in 2023.
- Bon Iver headlines poignant show at Bayfront Festival Park (Duluth News Tribune, Aug. 3, 2023). “Vernon’s songs are built on gorgeous soundscapes with piercing moments of emotional clarity, their introversion emphasized by the singer’s varied use of his signature falsetto and electronic voice modulation.”
- The 9 types of horror movie soundtracks (Creepy Catalog, Sept. 22, 2023). “The Suspiria score generally sounds like Goblin took Mike Oldfield’s tubular bells, put them in a shopping cart, and pushed it down the Exorcist steps.”
Television
- The Acolyte opens new era in Star Wars storytelling (Duluth News Tribune, June 4, 2024). “The fact that there are no Skywalkers, Palpatines, or Fetts running around frees the show from the kind of fan-service Easter egging that freighted The Book of Boba Fett.”
- Star Wars: Tales of the Empire will delight dedicated fans (The Tangential, May 2, 2024). “While the episodes are short, the fast-paced Star Wars aesthetic leaves plenty of room for epic sweep alongside detailed storytelling.”
- Holding onto the cracks in Foundation (The Tangential, July 14, 2023). “Only a few minutes into the season premiere, Lee Pace is fighting for his life in a fully nude scene that would be awkward enough if it hadn’t already been shown up by Jennifer Lawrence — who didn’t, unlike Pace as Brother Day, have her naughty bits hidden by careful camerawork.”
Visual art
- An Art of Changes brings a lifetime of Jasper Johns prints back to the Walker Art Center (The Tangential, Feb. 14, 2020). “The eye is immediately drawn to the work, trained to look for meaning and context, only to discover that the latter is detached and the the former is vacant.”
- With Assembly Hall at the Walker Art Center, Theaster Gates creates a space to contemplate culture (The Tangential, Sept. 6, 2019). “‘By saying I’m a potter, I’m actually a fucking philosopher.'”
- Guillermo del Toro is At Home with Monsters in new Mia exhibit (The Current, March 4, 2017). “The new exhibit [draws] you into del Toro’s wide-ranging, seductively creepy imagination — as well as into the imaginations of the underappreciated artists who inspired him.”
Dance
- Minnesota Ballet’s Nutcracker is a Duluth Tale with a fresh approach (Duluth News Tribune, December 11, 2023). “Letting go of some of the traditional trappings felt like a relief.”
- Minnesota Ballet dances with death in Poe (Duluth News Tribune, October 23, 2023). “Poe has a fairly high body count for a ballet, but the production is also teeming with life.”
Food
- Minnesota State Fair 2023: The five most intriguing new foods (Duluth News Tribune, Aug. 25, 2023). “Lutefisk isn’t really something you can review: It simply exists.”
- 10 new Minnesota State Fair foods: Hit or miss? (Duluth News Tribune, Aug. 26, 2022) “The problem with Pickle Pizza isn’t the pickle — it’s the pizza.”
