A Prairie Home Companion is a 2006 American ensemble comedy movie. It was directed by Robert Altman. It was Altman's last movie before he died in November 2006. The movie is a fictional story of behind-the-scenes activities at the long-running public radio show "A Prairie Home Companion".
A long-running live radio show is in danger of being canceled by the new owners. The company owns both the radio station "WLT" and the theater where the show is broadcast. The movie takes place on the night of the show's last performance. The show has two visitors. The first is an angel calling herself Asphodel (Virginia Madsen). She comes to comfort the people who work on the show and to escort one of them to the afterlife. The other visitor is "the Axeman" (Tommy Lee Jones). He is the representative of the new owners who arrives to decide whether the show should be canceled. He makes it clear that the show is not what he considers modern popular programming. Although he too is escorted by the angel, the show is shut down anyway. In an at the end of the movie, the former cast members are reunited at Mickey's Diner. Their conversation pauses as they are joined by Asphodel.
To receive insurance for the shoot, Robert Altman had to hire Paul Thomas Anderson. He was a "backup" director who could take over if Altman could not work, The movie had the working title "The Last Show". Principal photography started on June 29, 2005, at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota. That is where the radio show is broadcast from. Filming ended on July 28, 2005. The movie was the second major picture to be filmed in Minnesota in 2005. (The first was "North Country", starring Charlize Theron and Harrelson,)
The Fitzgerald is a rather small building. Because of that, the movie makers thought about using other stage theaters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. With some effort, the necessary movie equipment was crammed into the structure. The basement was also used for sets due to lack of space. Set design had to make the show more visually interesting. Fake dressing rooms were used in the movie. The movie's production designer noted that Keillor's actual dressing room is "about the size of a very, very small bathroom". Mickey's Diner, a downtown St. Paul landmark, is also in the movie.
On November 1, 2005, the "Star Tribune" reported that an early screening in New York City for movie distributors resulted in a heavy bidding war. Picturehouse bought the rights. Company president Bob Berney, "aiming to capitalize on the name recognition of the 31-year-old radio program, recommended that the title revert to "A Prairie Home Companion". 'At the screening, Garrison said that to broaden the movie's appeal, they were thinking about changing the name to "Savage Love", so we may have an argument there,' Berney said."
"A Prairie Home Companion" opened the 2006 South by Southwest movie festival on March 10. It then premiered in St. Paul, on May 3, 2006, at the Fitzgerald Theater. The movie's stars arrived in ten horse-drawn carriages. Brian Williams of "NBC Nightly News" did his newscast from neighboring Minneapolis, Minnesota, that night so that he could attend.
Critics' general reaction to the movie was favorable. It got an 81% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave the movie four out of four stars. He wrote, "What a lovely film this is, so gentle and whimsical, so simple and profound". Ebert later added the movie to his "Great Movies" list.
Michael Medved gave the movie one and a half stars out of four. He wrote, "The entertainment value stands somewhere between thin and nonexistent" and "[it may be] the worst movie ever made that pooled the talents of four (count ‘em – four!) Oscar winners".
Desson Thomson from "The Washington Post" said that while the movie had its strengths, it was weaker than it should have been.
Meryl Streep won the Best Supporting Actress Award from the National Society of Film Critics for her role. Altman was also posthumously nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Director.
The movie had a successful limited release in the United States. It grossed $20,338,609 in the United States. It grossed $25,978,442 worldwide.
The movie's DVD was released on October 10, 2006. Special features included deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes documentary, and commentary by Altman and Kline. "A Prairie Home Companion Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" was released on May 23, 2006, by New Line.
Christina Lake (British Columbia)
Christina Lake is a lake in British Columbia in Canada. It is near the Crowsnest Highway. It is about east of Grand Forks, north of the United States border. The lake is named after a daughter of a Hudson's Bay Company officer.
The Trans Canada Trail, Dewdney Trail, and the Kettle Valley Railway Trail all merge near the lake. The Gladstone Provincial Park covers the northern half of the lake. The Christina Lake Provincial Park is at the southern part of the lake. Both parks have public beaches along the lake.
Canada women's national soccer team
The Canada women's national soccer team represents Canada in international women's soccer. It is directed by the Canadian Soccer Association. The team has played in several FIFA Women's World Cup and Olympic women's soccer tournament games. In the 2012 Summer Olympics soccer tournament, the team won third place.
National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (abbreviated as NLL) is an indoor lacrosse league in North America. It has five teams in the United States and four in Canada. Its season is during the winter and spring. Each team plays 18 games during the regular season.
The following teams are in the league, which is divided into two divisions:
Toronto Rock
The Toronto Rock is a professional lacrosse team in Toronto, Canada. It is part of the National Lacrosse League's East Division. The team was started in 1998. During the 2011 NLL season, the Toronto Rock won the league championship for the sixth time. They are tied with the Philadelphia Wings for the most league championships.
Liam Davison
Liam Patrick Davison (29 July 1957 – 17 July 2014) was an Australian novelist. He taught creative writing at the Chisholm Institute in Melbourne. He won awards for such as "The Age" Book of the Year Award and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award. He sometimes wrote reviews for "The Australian" newspaper.
Davison was born in Melbourne. He was married and had two children.
Davison and his wife were on board the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 when it was shot down on 17 July 2014, killing all people on board. He was 56. The flight was meant to go from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia but was shot down near Hrabove, Ukraine. He and his wife were among the 36 Australian citizens and residents killed.
Henry Hartsfield
Henry Warren "Hank" Hartsfield, Jr. (November 21, 1933 – July 17, 2014) was an American NASA astronaut and test pilot. He was also a United States Air Force officer and astronaut. He spent over 480 hours in space. He was best known for being on board the Space Shuttle "Columbia". He was also a commander for the "Discovery" and "Challenger" missions.
Hartsfield was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He was married and had two daughters.
Hartsfield died from problems caused by back surgery on July 17, 2014 in Houston, aged 80.
Shigeru Ban
In 2014, Ban won the Pritzker Prize.
Richard Meier
Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect. He is known for his geometric designs and for using the color white in his buildings. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, some of his more iconic buildings include the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art and the Getty Center in Los Angeles.
Sequoyah
Sequoyah was a Cherokee man. He invented a syllabary (alphabet based on syllables) for his people. Before that, they did not have an alphabet for their language.