Tag: film

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Name That Film

Jamie McDonald, British actor and part-time cowboy.


Editor’s Note: Below is a short interview with Jamie McDonald, England’s lone bull rider, conducted after the main event. Click here to watch a short video of McDonald’s trip to Burke.


What do you call a movie about a brand new cowboy making his first bull ride? Jamie McDonald, the British newbie at the Burke Stampede Rodeo, is looking for ideas.”Please ask your readers to write in with suggestions and we’ll credit any winners in the film,” he says. We asked him a few questions in the hopes that his answers might stir your creative juices.

1. What does it feel like to get that first bull ride behind you?

I felt riding a bull for the first time was much like meeting your girlfriend’s parents for the first time: potentially dangerous, never as bad as you think and you’re very glad when it’s over.

2. What was the name of the bull, by the way?

I never found out the name of the bull but retrospectively I think I’ll call him Alex, someone I was at school with. He was also big and hairy and gave me a hard time.

3. What brought you to Burke?

We chose Burke because of the Suttons and their incredible hospitality. Zach spoke with several people about where to go and it was Billie’s kindness and willingness to help our project that made us pick Burke. And we’re sure pleased we did — what a reception.

4. What surprised you most about the weekend rodeo and the town?

We were blown away by the level of hospitality we received, not just from the Suttons but all over. Riders, new and old, were more than willing to help us out and extend some words of wisdom about bull riding. Justin Hathaway in particular was a great find for us and he helped us an enormous amount.

I was also surprised how beautiful South Dakota is; maybe it’s your intention to keep it a secret, but you should advertise that more. It’s stunning countryside.

On the flip side, I was amazed how bad I was at singing. I thought I was good until then.

5. Any advice for someone who’s never been to a rodeo?

For those riding for the first time, like many things, it’s so much mind over matter. If you are too scared, you hold on too loosely and you will get thrown around harder. The stronger you are, the easier it is, so be strong. Also, when you are thrown off, don’t hang around. Run.

Also, if you go to South Dakota, never ask a ranch owner how many cattle he has. It’s not exactly good bovine etiquette.


When McDonald is not riding bulls, he’s busy thinking up new adventures. (He’ll take suggestions on that, too.)”Right now I’m in Alaska typing this from a tiny plane heading into the wilderness to try and see some grizzly bears — so right now I’m all about bulls and bears. It’s almost like I’m working in finance,” McDonald says.

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Running Wild Premieres in South Dakota

“It’s never too late to act on our passion,” says filmmaker Suzanne Mitchell. It’s a sentiment she learned from Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary founder, Dayton O. Hyde. He’s the subject of her feature length directorial debut, Running Wild.

Mitchell first learned of the cowboy in 1992, while producing a two-hour special celebrating 20 years of People Magazine. A small article about Hyde caught her eye as she flipped through past issues of the popular glossy. It chronicled his efforts to rescue wild horses, most on their way to slaughter plants. At age 62, Hyde had left his Oregon ranch to purchase more than 11,000 acres of land near Hot Springs to give hundreds of wild horses a home.

Mitchell spent five days filming at the sanctuary, while Hyde regaled her with stories of his past.”We had to reduce the segment to 3 minutes,” says Mitchell,”but I felt he deserved a feature film.” The pair crossed paths again a few years later when Mitchell worked with Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple on the ABC special, New Passages.”It was about how the WW II generation was redefining themselves,” says Mitchell. Hyde made an excellent subject for the topic, but again his segment was brief and left Mitchell wanting more.

She got her chance when new high definition cameras made it possible to shoot quality footage at an affordable price. In 2002, Mitchell began production on the documentary with Kopple as executive producer.”Barbara said if you don’t start it, you will never finish,” says Mitchell.”I am so glad [Dayton] is still around to celebrate it.”

The cinema vÈritÈ was pieced from 120 hours of footage shot of Hyde at the sanctuary he still operates. Now 88, Hyde has been appearing with Mitchell at screenings in Utah, Arizona, Florida, and California.”People are seeing this film and realizing that if one cowboy can make a difference, so can I,” Mitchell says proudly.”Whatever your dream is, you can act on it.”

You can join Hyde and Mitchell for a screening of the film at Icon Event Hall + Lounge this Sunday, April 21, in Sioux Falls. A portion of proceeds from the VIP reception will directly benefit the Wild Horse Sanctuary. A screening is also planned for Wednesday, May 1, at the Black Hills Film Festival in Rapid City. View the trailer here.

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It’s Fright Time

By Ken Blanchard

Allow me to write something actually useful. I am incurably fond of spooky stories. As a result, Halloween is my second favorite holiday. I find nothing better on that dark evening than sitting down to a good horror movie while waiting for microgobblins to ring the doorbell. Movie industries across the globe pump out a vast river of shadow and gore every year, most of it not worth the time it takes to push the play button on your remote. If, however, you share my taste for the macabre and you are looking for something that won’t inspire you to go after the director with a real chainsaw, I have some suggestions.

At my blog I write an occasional Halloween movie guide. Here I offer a list of thirteen very good movies for the grim holiday, in no particular order. I have provided links to detailed reviews posted on the blog. If you have Netflix instant watch, you will have a lot of these at your fingertips.

  1. Bubba Ho Tep. This is my favorite movie. Bruce Campbell plays an aging Elvis (or Elvis impersonator) stuck in a retirement home. Along with a black guy who thinks he’s JFK (played by Ozzie Davis), Elvis battles a life-sucking mummy wearing cowboy boots. Trust me on this one: every element of this film is superb.
  2. The Ring/Ringu. Both the American version of the film and the original Japanese version are examples of high art in the genre. A journalist races against time to find the secret of a tape that curses anyone who watches it. It is based on a novel by Koji Suzuki.
  3. Pulse. Avoid the American version and go for the subtitled Japanese original. This is a truly creepy story of a world invaded by gobbling ghosts. It mixes themes of the loneliness and ennui of modern civilization with the Asian notion that our world is only a thin film over a much darker and sinister reality. Warning: this is not a film for the easily depressed.
  4. The Eye. This is an exquisitely beautiful, eerie and sad film from Hong Kong. A woman receives a cornea transplant that carries with it the ability to see both ghosts and approaching disasters. Again, avoid the American version.
  5. Let The Right One In. This film is a very original interpretation of the vampire tale from Sweden. A bullied young man befriends a girl who is, let us say, not your ordinary playmate. The original is recommended, but the American version, Let Me In, is a slavish copy and for that reason just about as good.
  6. Troll Hunter. A very fine, very unexpected movie from Norway. It is one of the recent crowd of found footage movies, all of it shot by the characters in the film. The shots of wet highways cutting through Nordic valleys are worth the watch. The fairy tale beasties are astonishingly real.
  7. Paranormal Activity. Another found footage film and perhaps the most successful. Here is a bit from one of the comments left on my blog review:”Holy cow! My wife and I are from Atlanta and we saw this movie tonight. She will not go to sleep or walk through the house without me. She covered her eyes more than one time and almost walked out of the movie. I DO NOT get scared easily and found myself almost not wanting to watch in fear of what’s going to happen when the lights go out.”
  8. Demon Knight. A Tales from the Crypt movie. An heroic demon hunter wanders the world with the secret that keeps all of us safe from the darkness. I love this movie.
  9. Death Note. Another Japanese masterpiece. This one is several hours long on two DVDs. It is really a mystery in form with a heavy supernatural element. If you have got the time, have I got the film.
  10. Absentia. The subtitle to my blog review is a hint:”A Dark and Flawless Modern Fairy Tale.” This is one of the most inventive and genuinely evocative horror films that I have seen in years. If you were never scarred by The Three Billy Goats Gruff when you were a kid, well, that’s about to change.
  11. The Cabin in the Woods. Suppose for a moment that every horror movie ever made is in fact a depiction of real events. This recent movie, co-written by Josh Whedon, explains precisely why these events are necessary to save life on earth. It is about as clever as a movie can get.
  12. Tremors. Another brilliant monster movie. If you are having troubles with gophers or earwigs, this will make you feel much better.
  13. Halloween. You can’t do much better than the classic John Carpenter original. A fine cast and good storytelling fit right into the mood of the day. I would also add that this film has one of the best last lines in modern cinema.

‘Tis the season to be scary. Any of the above will entertain you on All Saint’s Eve.

Editor’s Note: Ken Blanchard is our political columnist from the right. For a left-wing perspective on politics, please look for columns by Cory Heidelberger every other Wednesday on this site.

Dr. Ken Blanchard is a professor of Political Science at Northern State University and writes for the Aberdeen American News and the blog South Dakota Politics.



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A Cool Collection

Scenes from Platte’s past are now available for online viewing, thanks to the South Dakota State Historical Society. They partnered with the National Film Preservation Foundation to preserve and share short silent films by Lawrence H. Cool, a Platte resident in the 1930s. The snippets of Charles Mix County activity include a visit from Governor William J. Bulow, the construction of the Lake Platte spillway and a parade through town. (If the float banners are to believed, Geddes was in big trouble.)

View these slices of life at the South Dakota Digital Archives.

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Beresford’s Big Screen Debut

By John Andrews

A film shot in rural Union County makes its debut at this weekend’s Reel Dakota Film Festival in Sioux Falls. Prairie Sonata is based on a social club that met in Beresford for over 70 years.

In 1934 Elvera Kinkner was newly married and living on a farm near Beresford. It was the heart of the Depression, and times were difficult, so she sought a way to connect with other farmwomen. She founded the Gofer Fun Club, later renamed the Friendly Hour Club.

Their meetings included discussions about cooking, sewing, crafts and other projects. Lunch was served on the hostess’ finest china. Dues were modest — just a dime in the early years, but were later raised to 25 cents, which the members used to donate to local charities.

In 2007, after 73 years of regular meetings, Elvera Kinkner decided to disband the club because just one of its remaining four members was still able to drive a car. But the minutes from each meeting were preserved in a series of spiral bound notebooks. Kinkner’s grandnephew Tom Jacobson, a Los Angeles playwright, read them and wrote a play called”The Friendly Hour” based on their contents.

West Coast filmmakers took notice and began plans to turn the stage production into a film. Crews spent time filming in Beresford during the summer of 2010. The result is Prairie Sonata, a 22-minute film about a woman named Wava, who is in love with her friend’s husband, Walter. When Walter dies, the women seek ways to repair their relationship. Kinkner’s daughter, Caryl Crozier, has been a close adviser during production and even plays her own grandmother in the film.

Prairie Sonata has been well received so far. It won the audience favorite award at this year’s Moondance International Film Festival in Colorado. Crews hope to return to South Dakota during the summer of 2012 and resume filming. They want to turn the short into a feature length film.

The Reel Dakota Film Festival runs through Sunday at the Washington Pavilion.