BOOKS
We Really Are as Dumb as Vonnegut Suggests
Bottom line: We lovely, brilliant people — however lovely, unlovely, brilliant or unbrilliant we may be — continually refuse to acknowledge our own stupidity and, therefore, perpetually threaten our own existence. There’s just no denying this. We continue to destroy our environment. We continue to exhaust our resources. And we continue to ravage each other and ourselves. This is nothing new. It wasn’t even new when Kurt Vonnegut began spelling it out for us in beautifully chaotic — to the point of perverse, some might say — stories back in the ’60s. Sure, it may have been a while since you’ve read his 1963 Cat’s Cradle — perhaps you never did — but you can still reap the rewards of tonight’s Books & Bars discussion and explore an important and relevant bit of American culture. Really, don’t let a little insecurity stand in your way; this is a good time, an engaging time, and time well spent. Of course, if you’re just one of those people that can’t handle being "unprepared," then you best stay in tonight and start reading Daniel Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness, so that you’re ready for next month’s meeting. (But why settle for schnapps when you can have whiskey?)
7 p.m., Bryant Lake Bowl; 810 West Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-825-3737; free.
FILM
King Corn Nation
Leave it to Hollywood to make corn absolutely horrifying. In the ’80s
there was Children of the Corn; now there is King Corn, screening tonight and tomorrow night at the Oak Street. And although King does not depict demon children
killing off their parents and paying homage to a corn god who lives
among the ears, it is perhaps even more disturbing because it is a
documentary. To clarify, however, I am by
no means denying the fact that there may well be bloodthirsty corn gods
somewhere in Indiana. In fact, King Corn does seem to ever-so-slightly suggest this. The documentary chronicles two friends, Ian
Cheney and Kurt Ellis, fresh out of college at Harvard, as they travel
back to Iowa to learn just how much the most productive and subsidized
grain in America has taken over our nation — with potentially disastrous
effects. One has to wonder, of course, if corn, which has successfully
infiltrated almost every food product in our nation, should now be part
of our cinematic experiences as well. But King Corn puts corn in a
healthier place, out of our diet and into our movies. —Kate McDonald
7:30 p.m., The Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis, 612-331-3134, $8.
DVD RELEASE
Two-Lane Blacktop
This ’71 film could simply be described as an homage to guys behind the
wheel. James Taylor plays the Driver. The Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson is
the Mechanic. Laurie Bird is the Girl. Together, they motor along Route
66 in their ’55 Chevy. Along the way, they meet Warren Oates’s GTO and
begin to race—with virtually no dialogue, no crazy editing to speed up
the proceedings, and no danger or derring-do. Just driving, man. But
Two-Lane Blacktop (and its makers) ran into a world of trouble.
Although it was a critical favorite—Esquire even promoted it on the
cover as its movie of the year—the film was a box-office bomb. Taylor
and Wilson would never star in another movie. Bird defenestrated
herself eight years later. And director Monte Hellman never made
anything worth seeing again (e.g. Silent Night, Deadly Night 3). —Peter Schilling, Jr.
THEATER
Star Wars Meets Sweet Will Shakespeare
It is perhaps slightly embarrassing that I know more about Michael Pennington as Moff Jerjerrod, commander of the Death Star in Star Wars, then I do of Michael Pennington, award winning member and leading actor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. However with Sweet William (now on a short and exclusive run at the Guthrie), Pennington attempts to make even his most juvenile fans (like me) as widely versed in Shakespeare’s life and works as they are with the crewmembers of a fictitious planet destroying space station. His one-man show (which has gotten rave reviews in the United Kingdom, including 4 out of 4 stars from The Guardian and The Times) serves as a Shakespearian crash course of sorts. The show not only includes the most famous scenes of Shakespeare’s plays but also then provides analyses of them. Pennington then weaves some of the playwright’s personal history into the mix for good measure. The result is a sweet, succinct work, just fascinating enough to make one momentarily forget about Pennington’s shady and less Shakespearian Return of the Jedi beginnings. —Kate McDonald
7:30 p.m., Guthrie Theater’s McGuire Proscenium Stage. 818 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis. 612.377.2224. $25 – $45.
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