The Year's First Weekend Signals Good Things to Come
Cristina Córdova
FILM There Will Be Blood
The latest from director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia) is rumored to be a front runner for the best-picture Oscar, but that’s highly unlikely. There Will Be Blood is magnificent, epic, and utterly bizarre; films this weird never win the big one. Based loosely on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil!,There Will Be Blood features Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano as an oil man and a preacher, respectively, at odds over money, faith, and oil rights. These actors perform like serpents fighting to swallow the film whole and there is vast pleasure in watching them coil around one another in mortal combat. With an equally audacious score by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood (he summoned Stravinsky’s screeching violins), an impressive cast, and startling direction, Blood is the boldest Western since Sam Peckinpah walked the earth. —Peter Schilling
Starts Friday at the Uptown Theatre, 2906 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-825-6006; $8.25 (seniors and children $5.75).
MUSIC Bill Carrothers’ Armistice Band
Jazz pianist Bill Carrothers was born in Minneapolis in 1964 and, even as a tyro getting his artistic bearings, elevated the local jazz scene with his cerebral gravitas (No one, for example, untangled the Gordian knots of altoist Lee Konitz better than Carrothers in concert.) While his best-known disc is probably Duets with drummer Bill Stewart, his masterpiece is the two-hour epic, Armistice 1918,which won the Charles Cros Award (the French equivalent of a Grammy) in 2004. It opens with the innocent pop songs of the pre-World War I era, such as “Hello Ma Baby” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” and then wends through a wellspring/maelstrom of affecting originals and period-covers, brimming with impressionistic details regarding, as Carrothers put it in his liner notes, “the call to battle, separation of loved ones … night raids, rum rations … the disillusionment with ideals and finally the silence of Armistice Day.” Many of the original musicians will join Carrothers for this extraordinary U.S. premiere, including cellist Matt Turner, percussionist Jay Epstein, and vocalist Peg Carrothers. Rounding out the ensemble are bassist Jean-Philippe Viret, drummer Dre Pallemaerts, and bass clarinetist Jean-Marc Foltz. —by Britt Robson
Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m., Artists’ Quarter, 408 St. Peter St., St. Paul; 651-292-1359; $15.
Native Pianist Plays Ballard
When we think Native American music, we tend to think drumming circles and unblended monophony. Some of us — familiar with Buggin Malone and Cochise Anderson — might even think hip-hop. But few of us ever think classical music. Few of us stop to consider George Quincy, Jerod Tate, R. Carlos Nakai, or even Janika Vandervelde. And though his compositions are performed by major symphony orchestras across the globe, few of us consider acclaimed Quawpaw/Cherokee composer Louis Ballard. Well, start considering him, people. Consider him Saturday as his work is performed by another nationally recognized Native musician, classical pianist Tim Hays (HoCak). Enjoy this rare opportunity and stay for a post-concert dialog with the artist. Proceeds will benefit the Two Spirit Press Room and the
International Two Spirit Gathering.
Saturday at 7:30 p.m., All God’s Children MCC, 3100 Park Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-824-2673; suggested donation of $10.
We don’t get a lot of gospel here in the cities, so let me toss in this last minute event: Mama Digdown will serve up some hot New Orleans gospel with hard-hitting brass band music this Saturday (9 p.m.) at the Nomad World Pub (501 Cedar Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-338-6424). For only $5 you’ll cleanse your soul!
ART Closing this Weekend: Nuestra Frida
Taken up by fans, feminists, malcontents, ideologists, and ax-grinders, Frida Kahlo has become much more than an artist over the last couple of decades.Yet somehow she is also often presented as less than an artist. In conjunction with Walker Art Center’s Kahlo exhibition, Grupo Soap, an alliance of artists who share a Hispanic heritage as well as robust senses of occasion and humor, will give its take on the Frida phenomenon. Last year the group produced four-by-eight-foot woodcuts printed by steamroller for a Día de los Muertos show. A poster for a2001 show featuring the artists as luchadores (Mexican wrestlers) still hangs on walls all over town (the show was good, too). So expect their efforts to restore Kahlo as a complex artist and Mexican citizen as well as an iconic sufferer—Our Lady of a Thousand Coffee Mugs—to be both serious and facetious. —Ann Klefstad
Friday and Saturday from 12-6 p.m., Grupo Soap del Corazón and Art Jones Gallery, Casket Arts Building, 681 17th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis.
If News From the Moon sounds like a children’s story you might want to read, then you’ll especially enjoy the new exhibit at Rosalux. Both Jennifer Davis and Amy Crickenberger Oeth show a childlike quality in their work that emphasizes life’s simple joys. This is definitely not one of those slick, all-dressed-in-black art shows — you won’t spend the next three weeks trying to climb out of the abyss. No, this will be a lovely show, with beautiful images, sweet images, images that will appeal to you on an emotional level and still leave you feeling good. I once said I would want Davis’ images bedecking my child’s nursery. I hold to that.
Opening reception Saturday from 7-10 p.m., Rosalux Gallery, 1011 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-396-3947; free.
PERFORMANCE Another Year, Another Party in the Rec Rooom
The celebration isn’t over just yet, folks. This Saturday — and every Thursday through Sunday for the rest of the month — Lorna Landvik will be throwing a Party in the Rec Room comedy bash. Join the local author and actor for a fully improvised evening of comedy mayhem, replete with made up characters.
Saturday at 7 p.m., Bryant Lake Bowl, 810 West Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-825-3737; $15.
TV PARTY The L Word Season Premiere
Will Alice lose her mind? Will Helena wind up in the slammer? Will Shane cheat on Paige? Do you have any idea what I’m talking about? If not, then it’s time to step it up and rent the first four seasons of The L Word, so you won’t be lost on Sunday when the new season begins. (See, now you know what to do all weekend.) Fittingly, our lovely local "L" bar will be hosting a party for the premiere. Can you think of a better place to see it?! Gay or not, you’ll want to hear the comments flying back and forth during commercials. Jana Shortal, from KARE 11 News, will serve as guest emcee, so maybe she’ll have some interesting insight of her own. You’ll have a chance to win L Word-related prizes, and everyone will walk away with an advanced copy of Season 5, Episode 2.
Sunday at 4 p.m. (screening at 7 p.m.), Pi, 2532 25th Ave. S., Minneapolis; $5 suggested donation (V.I.P. $35 for reserved seating, waitress service, one drink, and your annual HRC membership).
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