This week’s picks
Thursday, April 16
To borrow a term from El Guapo, there are a plethora of sweet films at this year’s Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, which opens today. The Daily Planet’s Erik McClanahan and Jim Brunzell have guides to help you avoid sugar shock.
Friday, April 17
In the Minneapolis arts scene, this weekend is brought to you by the letter B. Today’s top picks involve blood, Black Blondie, and Bedlam. (Then there’s Burnet…see Monday pick, below.)
Saturday, April 18
Even more b-vents: The Beat! Barron! And an A for ARP!
Sunday, April 19
If it was B-Week last week, it’s D-Day today as the one and only Rasta Bard, David Daniels, performs with the Talkin’ Roots Crew for the very last time.
Monday, April 20
About that Burnet show: It’s called Deep North, and it’s by a guy named Chris Larson who likes to shoot and freeze things. (Don’t we all?)
Tuesday, April 21
Together at last: Jeremy Iggers and Tish Jones! They’ll be sharing a storytelling stage at the Open Eye Figure Theatre, while elsewhere in Minneapolis Laura Fulk’s models strut the runway.
Wednesday, April 22
Tonight, the acclaimed film A Sense of Wonder, about the final year of naturalist Rachel Carson’s life, is showing at the Bell Auditorium, the Twin Cities’ coziest little Art Deco venue.
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Daily Planet arts roundup
Is the local African music scene suffering even as our population of Africans explodes? In his profile of Siama Matuzungidi, IBé Kaba says yes. Meanwhile that cagey local singer/songwriter Martin Devaney—who’s getting less cagey all the time—shares yet another 25 things you might not know about him. (For example: he likes pedal steel and Ira Glass.) Finally, HowWasTheShow’s David de Young posts video of several participants, including winner Andrew Lynch, in the recently-held Rift Magazine 36 Hour Songwriting Contest.
People under the age of 30—or even under the age of 40—may not remember the mythopoetic men’s movement, but it was a big deal in the 80s, as men who were largely sympathetic to feminism but wanted to take pride in their own gender gathered in the woods, beat drums, and read the books of Minnesotan poet Robert Bly. He’s now the subject of a conference at the U; Lydia Howell has the scoop.
Also, the Minnesota Book Awards are coming up, and we’ll be publishing reviews of many of the finalists. This week: Melissa Slachetka praises Potluck Paradise (though she has some words about its unwieldy binding) and teenage homeschooled 19th-century-literature scholar Cyrus Wolff reviews Twelve Long Months, a young adult novel by The Loft’s education director.
If Beyond Borders whetted your appetite for international cinema, you’ll be overwhelmed with the riches featured in this year’s Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival. We have a wide-ranging two-part preview for you, as our writers Erik McClanahan and Jim Brunzell weigh in with their views on what to see and what to skip. Also, for no particular reason whatsoever, we republished an essay by blogger Max Sparber on The Explosive Generation, a movie (not) starring William Shatner.
Stratford-Upon-Avon may have the Bard (though they don’t really, since he’s six feet under), but we have the Rasta Bard—who’s alive and well, though his Talkin’ Roots Crew is soon to be defunct. We’re also, a few months from now, going to have a new play that all started when Elisa Korenne wrote a song about a man who eats lightbulbs.
What the hell is Mosaic on a Stick? Steve Wagner tells you—and he manages to do so in fewer than 300 words. Dwight Hobbes needs a couple more to do justice to the “elemental visions” of painter Heather Garcia. Finally, Jamie Thomas, whom you last heard from when she profiled a man who paints upon nude women (he promises he’s going to start doing men soon—but they’re so dang hairy!), will get you hot and bothered once again with her profile of local designer Laura Fulk. (Bonus: A list of Minnesota Fashion Week highlights!)
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Jay Gabler (jay@tcdailyplanet.net) is the Daily Planet’s arts editor.
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