Twin Cities Real Estate Blog

Much like January, April is mostly a dead month in the film world with one big blockbuster film that'll overshadow the rest. In this case, The Fate and the Furious takes the top spot. It's highly likely it'll dwarf the box office like an all-consuming black hole. If you're like me, and you'd rather do your taxes than watch one more "last ride" where lots of expensive cars explode through a glass window, then you'll want to read ahead. Here are the movies I think deserve a chance over The Fate and the Furious in April. ...

Anime to live action adaptations have a troubled history. Unless I’m forgetting something, I don’t believe there has ever been a successful or well-done adaptation of an anime movie or television show. Of the most recent ventures, Dragonball: Evolution and Speed Racer were both critical and box office failures, and that’s putting it nicely. Ghost in the Shell, then, had quite the mountain to climb to overcome past grievances and honor both the original anime movie while introducing the story to non-anime audiences. While it’s not perfect...

The line to see the Minnesota-based film Wilson grew quickly at the Showplace Icon Theater at the West End in St. Louis Park, hosted by the Twin Cities Film Festival. The excitement was palpable. It’s been some time since a major studio out of Hollywood set up shop to film an entire movie in the Twin Cities. Local actors and crew were excited to see their work on the big screen. According to director Craig Johnson, the film was originally planned to be shot in Oakland, but that location was “cost prohibitive." However, With the help of the “Snowbate” by the Minnesota Film Commission, a reimbursement program...

After the roaring success of Godzilla, the resurgence of the monster movie was officially in full swing, giving studios the green light to release several more remakes and reboots of classic monster films. And while we wait for them to unearth Steve McQueen’s The Blob (crosses fingers), we’ll have to settle for more popular franchises like King Kong. Kong: Skull Island does everything it needs to be a crowd pleaser minus one pretty important piece. It’s heavy on the action and comedy, providing a fun escape to the theater, but the overflowing humor and...

In what is the scariest and most unbelievable story I've heard this month (including Kellyanne Conway's claim that our microwaves can transform into cameras to spy on us), the Pioneer Press reports a Minnesota man launched his car off an embankment, clearing 210 feet of open water, then landing on the ice of Lake L’Homme Dieu in Alexandria. The man — 38 year-old...

Unlike the downtrodden accused on Dateline, Kid Cann (given name Isadore Blumenfeld) had no qualms whatsoever about taking the stand in his own murder trial. That several other witnesses fingered him for gunning down prominent newsman Walter Liggett, didn’t seem to deter him either. Edith Liggett was clad in widow black from head to toe and devastatingly resolute from the witness stand: "He was the man who handled the gun," Edith Liggett said. "I saw him leaning out of the car and grinning as the gun spurted flame. It was Kid Cann.” Only a few steps away, Cann was unfazed, chewing gum nonchalantly. He looked like a bad...

It has been said that in taking great risk, one can reap an even greater reward. Most would assume we would be discussing an investment in the stock exchange or a bet at the high-stakes table. However, I am referring to the investment we make into the lives of our children. Parenthood is one of the most rewarding roles one can hold, yet it encompasses all the great challenges in life. Today, parents are faced with countless decisions for their children. The simplistic days of white or wheat are long gone. We are now learning how to decipher mysterious ingredient labels that are comprised of shelf-life stabilizers, genetically modified ingredients and artificial food dyes (to...

Christopher Nolan has never shied away from bold decisions, creating unique cinematic effects like Inception's mind-bending hallway scene, casting oddball actors like Heath Ledger as The Joker, and telling stories in mostly non-linear and splintered fashions. In the past, his creative instincts have led him to great success both critically and financially. Now, he's making another bold move, and no it's not casting One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles (though, that is head scratching), it's creating a PG-13 war movie. Most war movies before the late 1960s have been given either a G or PG rating and the tone of many of those films instilled a sense of pride, honor,...

Xeroxed copies of brackets are pinned to cubicle walls across America in anticipation of the start of March's annual "Madness." Amateur office bookies are collecting five and ten dollar bills from last minute entrants, each of whom believes they can employ their personal method of bracketology to foresee the hidden upsets and ultimately "win the pool." March Madness is a tradition with which even the most casual hoops follower has become familiar, but this year the Big Dance could be a bit more dramatic for fans of college basketball located here in Minnesota. For the first time since 2013, there's a team from our state on the dance card. [caption id="attachment_1312852"...