Monday news and reviews

Movies/Television

Kate Winslet, mommy dearest

The actress goes down another revolutionary road, playing one of fiction's more compelling heroines.

- NEAL JUSTIN, Star Tribune

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Talking with Tom McCarthy, director of "Win Win"

His third feature as writer/producer/director, Win Win, a dramedy, again shows McCarthy to be a natural.

- Jim Brunzell III, TC Daily Planet

Music

Volcano Choir at the Cedar Cultural Center, 3/25/11

Their 55-minute set was one of the best sounding shows I've ever heard at the Cedar, with the music sounding immaculate no matter where you stood in the intimate confines of the club.

- Erik Thompson, CIty Pages

How to make your very own Hood Internet show at the Varsity Theater

I'm still a major proponent of the Hood Internet, but especially at $12 a ticket, I'd recommend saving your money, downloading their five mixtapes, and listening at home. You won't miss much.

- Sarah Heuer, TC Daily Planet

Sims and Astronautalis dive deep at the Triple Rock

Astronautalis--as he reminded us--holds a degree in theater, and like the members of Doomtree, his is a wry, literate, allusive style of hip-hop.

- Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

Stage

'Arms and the Man' settles for charming entertainment

REVIEW: Shaw's early farce on war and society gets a broadly comic production at the Guthrie. It's pleasant enough, but doesn't seem likely to linger in head or heart.

- Graydon Royce, Star Tribune

'Avenue Q' wends way to humor and depth

Don't let the puppets fool you. This is not a show for kids. But for those with a fairly high tolerance for rough play and (gleefully and lovingly) shattered childhood icons, "Avenue Q" is the right address.

- Dominic P. Papatola, Pioneer Press

At the Guthrie Theater, "Heaven" is a place where entirely too much happensThe show is the theatrical equivalent of a commemorative 9/11 plate: you can't fault the intention, even if the execution is kind of tacky.

- Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet

At the Guthrie Theater, "Arms and the Man" lays down

The Guthrie Theater's current production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man is like a pop-up to center field: it connects, it flies by, and it lands, but in the end, you haven't necessarily touched any bases.

- Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet