I hate to call “The First Omen” unexpectedly well-crafted and a little bit surprising, even. But for an essentially unnecessary prequel to “The Omen,” the 1976 hit about one satanically-minded child, two unfortunate parents and three sixes, its virtues point to an auspicious feature debut from director and co-writer Arkasha Stevenson, a former Los Angeles Times photojournalist with an eye for sinister beauty.

That word “unexpected” doesn’t speak well of my occasional pre-judginess. I try not to pre-judge any movie, except an Eli Roth movie, and look where that got me: “Thanksgiving” turned out to be worthwhile! In a more considered vein, so has “The First Omen,” full of splurchy callbacks to various hangings, impalings and characters from the Richard Donner hit but with a visual confidence and personality of its own.

Rome doesn’t hurt, although in “The First Omen” it certainly doesn’t help young Margaret (Nell Tiger Free of the M. Night Shyamalan Showtime series “Servant”). An American with a troubled childhood, she’s a novitiate soon to take the veil thanks to her American sponsor, the high-ranking cardinal played by Bill Nighy. Much of the narrative, written by Stevenson, Tim Smith and Keith Thomas, unfolds in the confines of the orphanage to which Margaret has been assigned. The fearsome and very obviously secretive Sister Silva runs the place, and with that role taken by the great, gravel-voiced Sonia Braga, and with the disgraced Irish priest (introduced in the first “Omen”) played by Ralph Ineson, that’s a helluva pair of basso profundo voices, nicely suited to unholy menace.

The story’s 1971 setting introduces a host of societal upheavals that have hurt church attendance worldwide. Without giving the game away, “The First Omen” imagines what a powerful subset of Catholic leadership might resort to in order to get lapsed believers back into the pews and praying for their lives. Haunted by visions of demons, Margaret keeps an eye on the orphanage’s designated problem child, Carlita (Nicole Sorace), a similarly plagued loner. Is she the devil’s child?

“The First Omen” underwent some trims involving graphic footage of childbirth, of a sort, filmed forthrightly by director Stevenson but in ways, at least as recut to avoid an NC-17 rating, that aren’t the usual sort of horror movie fodder. Never mind the double standard: I’ve seen far more disgusting screen violence in R-rated movies made by men, in male-driven stories. Gynecological body horror remains a final frontier for some viewers. Roman Polanski did a lot with inference and suggestion in “Rosemary’s Baby,” five years before “The Exorcist” married crassness with piety and made a dubiously influential fortune.

“The First Omen” hardly qualifies for landmark or pantheon status. But it’s a movie that maximizes all its elements with some panache. Stevenson, editors Amy E. Duddleston and Bob Murawski and cinematographer Aaron Morton save the explicit gore for crucial sequences. Not everything tracks or comes together in “The First Omen”: Father Brennan’s expository dump regarding the church’s plans to retain power feels rushed and confused; some of the narrative and visual references to the ’76 film don’t do much for the one we’re watching. Even so, it’s a pretty tense experience.

It also has an off-center way into the main narrative, involving Margaret’s initiation, before taking the veil, into Rome’s nightlife. Her impishly sexy roommate and novitiate plays host and Maria Caballero, who plays her, is spectacularly expressive in close-up. As Margaret, Free works more unassumingly, but effectively, and there’s a pretty stunning moment when she undergoes a physical transformation (certainly mostly) without any digital effects assistance. It’s a long take, without cutting for shock emphasis. It works. And that kind of directorial instinct is most welcome.

“The First Omen” — 3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for violent content, grisly/disturbing images, and brief graphic nudity)

Running time: 2:00

How to watch: Premieres in theaters April 4

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

 

When Corbb O’Connor’s school-age son has a medical appointment, he has two choices as a visually-impaired parent — a 20-minute ride in a ridesharing vehicle like Uber, or a nearly two-hour trip on public transit in each direction to transport his child to and from school.

If Uber leaves the market, “my life’s not going to be over with,” said O’Connor, a Highland Park resident and president of the National Federation for the Blind. Still, “that’s a whole day off.”

With Uber threatening to roll out of the Twin Cities metro on May 1, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey joined dozens of representatives of the hospitality industry and advocates for the elderly and disabled on Monday to urge the Minneapolis City Council to compromise on recently-mandated wage increases. “When we do this policy, we have to do it right,” Frey said. “These decisions have consequences.”

The Minneapolis council could take up a reconsideration vote on Thursday, the results of which may have deep implications for St. Paul and the eastern suburbs.

Impact of losing rideshare services

Uber has said that unless the wage increases are overturned, the company will pull out of the metro area entirely next month, which would be a particularly hard blow to restaurants and concert-goers, sports fans and members of the disability community, who in many cases rely on ride-hailing apps to access medical appointments and other services.

Lyft, the other major player in the ride-hailing market, has said it will maintain drivers in the Twin Cities after May 1, without completing trips that begin or end in Minneapolis.

Among more than 50 attendees at Frey’s press event in downtown Minneapolis on Monday was Jonathan Weinhagen, president and chief executive officer of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, who said he’s receiving questions from major event planners and site selectors on a daily basis.

Some have told him they’ll likely focus instead on Indianapolis, Austin, Texas, Boston and other competing markets until the transportation turmoil settles down.

“We’re being told we may not be considered: ‘You’re being taken off the shortlist,’” he said.

Concerns about visitor confusion and the potential impact on concerts, conventions and sporting events were echoed by officials with the Metropolitan Airports Commission, Hospitality Minnesota and the Intercontinental Hotel, as well as counterparts across the Mississippi River.

“This is an unfortunate example of local government action having negative implications outside its borders,” said B Kyle, president and chief executive officer of the St. Paul Area Chamber, in a written statement on Monday. “I hope the Minneapolis City Council will compromise before May 1, but if they do not, the state should step in. As we work to revitalize downtown St. Paul, we can’t allow these fantastic destinations — from the Science Museum to the Ordway to Wild and Saints games — to become more difficult to access.”

Compromise

Frey said he has presented the Minneapolis council with a range of wage options based on a new state study that found that raising wages to $1.20 per mile and $0.34 per minute would bring driver earnings in line with the Minneapolis citywide minimum wage of $15.57 per hour while also covering added benefits.

Lyft, in a recent letter to the Minneapolis City Council, has said it was open to compromise at an even lower level outlined in the study — $0.89 per mile and $0.49 per minute — which would cover the minimum wage and expenses like vehicle maintenance. The Minneapolis council last month overrode Frey’s veto and stuck to newly-adopted minimums of $1.40 per mile, $0.51 per minute.

“It wasn’t close,” said Frey on Monday. A call to Minneapolis Council President Elliott Payne was not immediately returned on Monday.

“The mayor has been clear and consistent in his push to both increase driver pay and ensure rideshare services continue operating in Minneapolis,” reads a written statement from Frey’s office. “The mayor would support a rate of pay increase in line with the recently released statewide study and is asking the city council to send him an ordinance that he can sign into law – one that reflects the data in the state’s study.”

Some skeptics believe the two ridesharing companies are bluffing and are unlikely to roll out of Minneapolis, which is likely their largest Midwest market after Chicago. However, the companies once pulled out of Austin, Texas for a year until the state governor stepped in to create uniform statewide rules around driver credentials.

Lyft, Uber alternatives

A handful of start-up ridesharing companies, including some that have established a footprint in other states, are gearing up to offer services in Minneapolis and St. Paul, but Frey noted it’s unlikely that any of them will soon bring the volume of Uber and Lyft, which employed some 8,000 drivers in the metro.

And, finding drivers may be the easy part. Uber and Lyft built up their services over more than a decade, getting around language barriers and other uncertainties of the traditional cab industry with state-of-the-art satellite mapping technology, driver rating systems, driver background checks, contactless payment and other consumer guarantees.

None of that has come cheap. As of December, Uber is said to have more than $9 billion in debt on its balance sheet, according to industry analysts.

O’Connor, of the National Federation for the Blind, noted that unlike Uber and Lyft, some start-up rideshare apps have been developed without input from the blind and disabled, and without sufficient testing, making them incompatible with smartphone apps for the visually impaired.

Among possible new entries into the Twin Cities market, a Woodbury entrepreneur hopes to launch MOOV, and the chief executive officer of Austin, Texas-based Wridz said his company will roll into the market, whether Uber and Lyft depart or not.

Driver-owned platform

A coalition of drivers has formed the Minnesota Uber-Lyft Driver Association, which is using online fundraising to launch a driver-owned rideshare platform with support from the team that built Co-op Ride in New York City.

“Let Uber and Lyft leave,” reads a statement from the association, which announced on Saturday it had signed up more than 1,500 drivers in the previous week.

“At this point the major barrier is funds,” wrote labor organizer and co-founder Erik Forman, in an email to supporters this weekend. “If we can get to $35k in donations, I think we can inspire foundations or investors to provide the rest of what we need.”

In an interview last month, Randy Wang, founder of San Francisco-based Wingz, said his company had not previously considered the Twin Cities market. Wingz, which launched in California as an airport service, has transitioned to the “NEMT” market — non-emergency medical transportation — focused on bringing customers to and from medical appointments, often backed by Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Wingz, which has a sizable presence in Georgia’s NEMT market, plans to expand into Arkansas and Tennessee.

“These would all be on the medical side, exclusively,” Wang said. “Minnesota hasn’t been on our radar, but we’re definitely eyeing the news. If we had to meet the new requirements, we probably could pull it off, but haven’t really looked into it yet.”

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Winston DeLattiboudere was in front of bright lights and cameras again on Monday, but a group interview with local media members paled in comparison to his March appearance on the NBC game show “Password.”

The Gophers assistant football coach was partnered with late-night host Jimmy Fallon versus Jimmy Kimmel and another guest player, with Keke Palmer as host.

DeLattiboudere, a former Gophers defensive lineman, had played the word-association game at home with friends, but after advancing through a few rounds of video auditions, he got a little star struck when filming across from the comedians and in front of a studio audience in Los Angeles.

“I’m looking at them like, ‘OK, don’t mess up, don’t mess up, don’t mess up,’ ” DeLattiboudere shared Monday from the Gophers’ Larson Football Performance Center.

DeLattiboudere and Fallon lost, but they did provide some comic relief. In one online promo, Fallon says “bread” in a supposed French accept, looking for the word “baguette.” But Winston appeared to get hung up on the impression and answers “Dracula.”

In the edited cut-up, Kimmel turns to his female parter and says, “I think we are going to be OK.”

“It was an awesome experience overall, but I wish I would have came home with the win,” DeLattiboudere said. “That’s what I’ll say: I’m competitive by nature.”

DeLattiboudere’s wife, Shelby, saw a social media plug asking if people wanted to be on TV. She commented, “of course.”

Someone with NBC direct messaged her asking if she knew any coaches; she didn’t have to look far.

“All of a sudden she tells me I need you to be on this Zoom,” DeLattiboudere said. “OK. I will be on this Zoom and you are going to be playing ‘Password’ against these people.

“I thought it was a scam — whole entire time. … But my wife is asking me to do it. I don’t want to argue with her right now, so I’m just going to keep on going. The first round (audition) turned to the second round turned to the third round.”

Then he got the call to be on the TV show, but he was instructed to keep it quiet. “The one person I did have to tell was coach (P.J.) Fleck, but he kept that secret for me,” DeLattiboudere said. “He held it down.”

DeLattiboudere, 26, has climbed the coaching ranks since playing for the U from 2015-19. After stops at Charlotte, Oregon and Akron, He was hired as the U’s defensive line coach in January 2023. The Baltimore native has been named to best young coaches’ lists, and in January, he was promoted to Gophers’ assistant head coach.

“Coach Fleck called me into the office; we had a very long discussion and conversation,” DeLattiboudere said of his offseason promotion.. “Right before I walked out, after he let me know the good news, he was like, ‘Look at you. You were just running around out there in pads, now you are the assistant head coach.’ … It was a really cool mentor-mentee, kind of like a father-son moment.”

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Minnesota lawmakers are working through a number of modifications to the law Gov. Tim Walz signed last year legalizing recreational marijuana in the state.

There are dozens of mostly technical changes in the works at the Capitol. But there’s a hardy debate over the process for giving social equity applicants a leg up in getting cannabis business licenses.

The bill legalizing the use of marijuana for Minnesotans 21 and older created a new state agency tasked with licensing businesses and overseeing a legal market. It gives higher priority to social equity applicants — those that were disproportionately held back by the prior criminalization of marijuana due to their race, community or other attributes.

The law also mandated the expungement of misdemeanor marijuana offenses, and that’s starting to happen.

Native American tribes currently have the ability to sell marijuana, and some are well down that path. But other than in the sovereign nations, DFL lawmakers are trying not to change their tune on when people will be able to walk into dispensaries.

Licenses

Charlene Briner, interim director of the Office of Cannabis Management, told a Senate panel last week that her office anticipates firming up the rules in early 2025. She said the office would try to start to issue contingent licenses for various parts of the growing and selling sooner. A preapproval window could begin this summer.

“However, I want to be very explicit: those early licenses do not allow people who are awarded those licenses to touch the plant because we do have a health and safety and consumer safety concern,” Briner told the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee. “So, we wouldn’t want people operating without rules enforced to make sure that we have those protections.”

Bills lawmakers are advancing would forego a point system to score applicants. Instead, Minnesota would enter qualified applicants into a random lottery to decide who gets business licenses. That change could shield the process from litigation that’s occurred in other places and slowed the retail ramp-up.

DFL lawmakers remain optimistic, at least publicly, that the introduction of a retail market will go smoothly.

Rep. Nolan West. (Courtesy of the candidate)

But Rep. Nolan West of Blaine — one of just five Republicans who voted for the bill last year — said DFL lawmakers’ “obsession about social equity” is taking up all the bandwidth.

“Because [the] black market is the whole problem with prohibition. It makes it more dangerous,” he said. “People are using it anyway, let’s get them in a safe and regulated market. [That] should be the No. 1 priority, but it’s not.”

He calls the timeline of an early 2025 launch to sales “laughable” because so much still needs to happen.

New ideas

There are still new ideas coming up.

Last week, Sen. Susan Pha, DFL-Brooklyn Park, introduced legislation to designate two seats on the Cannabis Advisory Council for people ages 18 to 25. She had a youth-led advocacy group with her that said young people need to be part of the conversation.

Sen. Susan Pha (Courtesy of the candidate)

Pha said there are states that legalized cannabis years ago that are still adding improvements to their laws.

“I really see these as adding to improve the current policy that we passed last year, which was absolutely great,” Pha said. “But we know there are gaps and we know there’s things we still have to add to it.”

One part of the law passed last year that seems to be moving ahead quicker than expected is the expungement of more than 60,000 misdemeanor records as early as next month. The judicial branch has until May 13 to object to any of those expungements.

A separate board is already at work examining more-serious, marijuana-related convictions that could be wiped from records after review.

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