Arts
Oscar picks: What will win? What should win?
The 84th Academy Awards are this upcoming Sunday and many Oscar pundits have started making their predictions on various websites. Having been a fan of the Oscars since elementary school, I’ve already tried my hand at predicting the winners and for the most part, I’ve done a decent job in previous years at naming the winners in advance. This year, I’ve not really attempted to pick the winners, but there are individuals and films I’ll be rooting for on Sunday night.MORE »
Book reviewers explain it all, Part 1: What's the purpose of book reviews?
Last week I had a short and soft lead-in for this week’s column, and because this subject has really been on my mind a lot lately, I want to introduce it again. It used to be that when I thought of book reviews, they were just something that magically appeared. They showed up in print, or online, hailing from the brain of all-knowing giants whose main purpose in life is telling the masses what books to read, or what books to stay away from. I imagined that the book review business as whole held authors to a social standard—a line that was dictated by the canon and always obeyed. However, as I got older and closer and closer to the literary world (I still have a long way to go), it occurred to me that I was totally wrong.MORE »
WEDNESDAY PICK | A park pops up at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
You shouldn't need an excuse to pay at least one seasonal visit to the Minneapolis Insitute of Arts—did you remember that it's free?—but for those who need an additional push, the MIA has transformed its central atrium into a "pop-up park": a lush little oasis of flora and fauna (the fauna being you). It's all fake, of course: this is art, not life. But in the grey days of February, sometimes an imitation of life is better than the real thing.
THEATER | "American Idiot" rages against the machine
"Every generation sends a hero up the pop charts," sang Paul Simon. And every generation, in due time, selects a couple dozen of its most agile young representatives to take to the stage and dramatize its defining struggles in the form of musical theater. The Baby Boomers had Hair, Gen X had Rent, and now the Millennials have their own generational pageant in the form of Green Day's American Idiot.MORE »
SATURDAY PICK | "Beautiful Thing" with the music of the Mamas and Papas
The plot of Theater Latté Da's newest production Beautiful Thing is nothing too scandalous these days: two teenage boys who unexpectedly fall in love. Still, the topic comes during an emotionally relevant time. It wouldn't be Theater Latté Da without music though, specifically that of the Mamas and Papas which is weaved throughout the story, with localite Emily Schwab singing Mama Cass. Beautiful Thing opens on Friday at The Lab Theater and runs through March 18. MORE »
Beauty and solidarity: Exhibit and presentation celebrate strength and culture of Oromo women
A new photography exhibit and cultural presentation at Augsburg College’s Foss Center on February 24 and 25 aims to show the strength, beauty and endurance of Ethiopian women who have joined in solidarity and peace despite many obstacles. Through photographs and talks by the artist and two Oromo women from Ethiopia, the presentation will shine light on both the deep challenges and strength of women in East Africa.MORE »
Finding balance with the "IZUN/MIZAN" film and dialogue series
If the new Reese Witherspoon rom-com isn’t cutting it and you’re looking for films with some bite, you might want to check out IZUN/MIZAN. Plus you won’t be cursing yourself for wasting your hard-earned cash on a Reese Witherspoon movie (IZUN/MIZANis free, but please donate at the door if you can).MORE »
THEATER | "Buzzer" hits it at Pillsbury House Theatre
Racist. That's what white people call black people who dare to mention race these days. At least that's what we see in the comment sections of Daily Planet articles and in response to our posts on social media. "There is no circumstance under which 'white' fill-in-the-blank would be acceptable," wrote one commenter on a Facebook post about a black art trivia competition. "Hypocrisy at its finest."MORE »
WEDNESDAY PICK | "The Sports Show" is in season at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
These days, it's hard to imagine a sporting event as a "casual leisure activity," what with all the pain, angst, and drama that the competition breeds. The new exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts explores just how—through television, video, and digital technology—sports became the spectacle of mass participation it is today. And believe it or not, sports is more than just eating pork rinds, drinking beer, and burping on the couch; the works of art on display at the MIA "communicate a broader social, political and cultural significance."MORE »
TUESDAY PICK | Don't call it a comeback: Del Fuegos at the Varsity Theater
"She's the one who would have taken me to my first all-ages show," sings Juliana Hatfield in "My Sister" (1993). "It was the Violent Femmes and the Del Fuegos, before they had a record out, before they went gold." That would have been about 30 years ago now; the Boston garage rockers led by brothers Dan and Warren Zanes started playing together in 1980, hit it beer-commercial big in 1984, and broke up in 1990. Last year the Del Fuegos got back together for the first time since the breakup, and their reunion tour stops at the Varsity Theater on February 28. Catch 'em while you can.MORE »
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