Author: Cristina Córdova

ART
Art of the Catacomb

Death, life, ritual, individual identity within the broader scope of the human condition. What else is there to talk about? Feel like talking a bit? Maybe just sit and admire — sit, look, listen. Inspired in part by the Paris Catacombs, Art of the Catacomb, a collaborative project between Denise Rouleau and Mark Roberts, opens today. You’ll see various forms of work in all scales, from several inches to over eleven feet. Catacombs. Mummies. Clay. Sculptures. Labyrinth. Colors. Forms. A collection of images and idea with which we’re all seduced, a mission to inspire and haunt. This is some serious business. Don’t miss it. The exhibit opens today and runs through November 9th, but the opening reception is this Thursday, October 18th (6:30 p.m.).

Noon to 5 p.m., Nina Bliese Gallery, 225 S. Sixth St., Suite 100, Minneapolis; 612-332-2978.

MUSIC
Raise the Black Flag

Taunt me. Lose respect. I’m a sucker for Henry Rollins. (Am I dating myself?) He may be an aging fool at this point, but I love him. I had the rare pleasure of seeing him with his original band, Black Flag. (I say original, but in fact I don’t know that he wasn’t in 50 bands before this.) Oh, Black Flag: “Walking through a world of lies / With a heart made out of stone / I looked deep into my eyes / And I knew I was alone.” Fuckin’ Henry Rollins! Excuse the language, it may not bode well for certain email blockers, but… fuckin’ Henry Rollins! It’s appropriate here. “I try and try / but I can’t seem to pry my mind from the gutter / gutter brain pushin / FILTHY thoughts / dirty hands workin / diggin nails.” Oh, yeah. “Let your fingers do the walking. Let your fingers do the walking.” Sorry, I lose myself. Go if you like. I’d be a shame to miss it. I had the honor of seeing him again in the 80s, in New Haven, Connecticut, and hanging out with him a while after the show. And let me tell you — the man is unique. That’s all I can say. And that face, that hard face.

6 p.m., First Ave., 701 First Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-332-1775; $22.

FILM
Devastatingly Empty, Handsomely Chic

How do I begin with the last shot of a movie? How can I not? The Passenger has the greatest last shot of any movie ever made. And this is the greatness of Antonioni — that in every film he makes you wander through the desert, groping desperately for any shred of hope for his characters, for you, sitting alone in the darkness of a movie theater, hoping for some divine answers to justify the pride of the characters on screen. And none ever come. No characters have ever looked so beautiful as they sink into the abyss of modern existence. With this film, Antonioni expresses everything you don’t think there’s enough room to say, everything festering inside you, every sharp instinct, retort, comeback, that ends up cloaked in a burlap coat of political correctness, sensitivity, and general consideration for human beings — everything you want to say, but are not allowed to. In L’Avventura, he disappears a woman and taunts us with a hope for answers, for a simple explanation for a disappearance. Fellini may have been the master of semi-surrealist, idiosyncratic, self-indulgent Italian cinema, but it was Antonioni who brought chic to existentialism. No one ever made existential angst look so good, so fashionable. This week began the Antonioni Tribute at the Oak Street. Don’t miss tonight’s showing of L’Avventura. Baby, if you can look so good, who cares that you’re nothing.

7 p.m. & 9:15 p.m., Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; $8 (seniors $6, members/students $5).

Please, Oh, Please, Don’t Let Them Take My Film Noir and Popcorn away!

The Parkway has a new look and feel. No more holes and stains on the screen. No more crappy mono sound. No more filthy seats and musty walls. No more of that “special” Parkway smell. Now it’s time to give the place a another chance and enjoy some of their fabulous film offerings. Tonight marks the beginning of their Monday film noir series. You can’t beat that! Femme fatals, dubious heroics, shadows and light, and fragmented images. Oh, my! Tonight’s kick-off features The Killing — with both Kiss Me Deadly and The Big Sleep coming down the road. Don’t miss these incredible classics. And please, people, come out and support these great efforts, otherwise we’ll keep losing classic cinema venues. And that would just be atrocious.

The Killing

Before Stanley Kubrick dedicated himself to creating “serious” films that viewed humanity with a cold, clinical eye, he made The Killing (1956), a tense little noir about a racetrack heist. Sterling Hayden stars as the mastermind who sets the pot to boiling, and leads a cast of some of the best character actors ever to crawl out from under Hollywood’s rocks. Elisha Cook Jr. plays a henpecked husband whose mouth is his undoing. Horse-faced Timothy Carey and pro wrestler Kola Kwariani are on hand to add some needed color. Pulp novelist Jim Thompson’s dialogue is a model of hardboiled efficiency. And Kubrick’s editing, which fixed the piece into a nonlinear maze, went on to influence a number of filmmakers, most notably Quentin Tarantino. –Peter Schilling Jr.

Parkway Theatre, 4814 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-3030; $6.

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
Dead City

What’s with the general death theme today. Well, we certainly are fascinated with it, and it is approaching All Hallows’ Eve. The Red Eye Theater opened its season this month with the Twin Cities premiere of Dead City, and tonight is the last pay-what-you-can show. It’s no surprise, with such a title, that the play is set in New York City. Don’t get me wrong. I love New York (and I don’t mean that lovely young lady on the reality TV show by the same name). Let’s just say if you can’t see it, then at least you understand it smells of death. Why see this play? It’s simple: It take place 100 years to the day after James Joyce’s Ulysses. How can one help but love Sheila Callaghan when she writes in relation to Joyce. What balls! What beauty! Someone give her my number.

7 p.m., Red Eye Theater, 15 W. 14th St., Minneapolis; 612-870-0309; pay-what-you-can.

SHOPPING
Sleek and Chic

OK. So what’s up with this? I received an email from Sepia saying, “Farewell to our Twin Cities friends.” What does this mean? Are they closing? Are they traveling? What’s up, folks? I have to admit, I haven’t made the necessary effort to get these questions answered, but I will tell you this: Go there today, and for the next couple of weeks, and you’ll get 30 to 50 percent off all their merchandise. As if that weren’t enough, you can enjoy the complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres. Whatever it is, it sure feels like a celebration to me. Gotta love my people.

4-8 p.m., Sepia, 210 6th St. S.E., Suite 100, Minneapolis; 612-379-0309.

SPECIAL EVENTS
National Coming Out Day

Feeling a little repressed and in the closet? Today is the perfect day to step on out. This afternoon, OutFront Minnesota will join dozens of Twin Cities businesses and organizations in celebrating what may be the most difficult and important act a GLBT person can do: coming out. The afternoon will feature inspiring messages by Open Arms of Minnesota Executive Director Kevin Winge, University of Minnesota Office for Equity and Diversity Vice President and Vice Provost Dr. Nancy “Rusty” Barceló, and Quorum Scholar Joe Wright. Come out and get some encouraging words, or simply go and offer some much-needed support. Ignoring what’s behind those closet doors doesn’t do any of us any good. I mean, we really don’t need to be generating any more Larry Craigs now, do we?

Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-335-6000; $45.

Pillow Fight Minneapolis

After last year’s Pillow Fight success, droves of us have been anxiously awaiting tonight’s sequel. Grab your least favorite pillow and head out the door. It’s time to let off a little steam, get whacked upside the head a few times, and end the evening in laughter. Don’t let your age hold you back. This event is for everyone; and the longer it has been since your last pillow fight, the more you probably need this. Don’t fret; there are plenty of rules in play to protect you: soft pillows only, light swings, no glasses, and no swinging anything but a pillow. Spectators are welcome, but how lame is that?! I guess you can help clean up. Everyone is encouraged to bring garbage bags for this purpose. If you can’t quite figure out why you’d need them, check out these photos from last year’s pillow fight. (Thanks to MNSpeak for the link.)

Friday at 6 p.m., Outside the Walker Art Center (grass circles), 1750 Hennepin, Minneapolis; free.

FILM
Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Cate Blanchett reprises her role as Elizabeth I, virginal queen of England. As usual there’s all sorts of innuendo about her hunger to get shagged by this or that prince or pirate. This time, England is under threat of Spanish invasion, and who should come to the queen’s aid but Clive Owen’s lusty Sir Walter Raleigh, eager to plunder both the Armada and her highness’s treasure chest (and we’re not talking doubloons here). The acting, as in the original Elizabeth, is robust and slightly silly; everyone appears to be on the verge of smirking. With the same strong production and costume design as the first Elizabeth, The Golden Age should be superb entertainment. –Peter Schilling Jr.

Friday-Sunday at 2:10, 4:45, 7:20, and 10 p.m., Lagoon Cinema, 1320 Lagoon Ave., Minneapolis; 612-825-6006; $8.25.

THEATER & PERFORMANCE
The Deception

Its 2006-07 season was chock full of chestnuts, but now, finally, Theatre de la Jeune Lune opens its new season with an original production. The Deception is an adaptation of Pierre de Marivaux’s La Fausse Suivante, a dark eighteenth-century French comedy in which a young woman disguises herself as a man so that she can better learn about her new love. On discovering his true nature, scheming, lying, and hilarity ensue. Adapted by artistic director Dominique Serrand and longtime collaborator/acting ace Steve Epp, The Deception premiered in California this summer to positive reviews, so count on classic Jeune Lune fare: a bold, stylish adaptation rendered with vigorously physical performances. –Danielle Kurtzleben, photo by Dominique Serrand

Saturday at 8 p.m., Theatre de la Jeune Lune, 105 N. First St., Minneapolis; 612-333-6200; $30

BOOKS & AUTHORS
Twin Cities Book Festival

The stalwarts at Rain Taxi once again put together this full day of lit love for the seventh annual Twin Cities Book Festival, which is now firmly entrenched as an autumn tradition and a welcome respite from the paralyzing onslaught of seasonal affective disorder. Think of the day as a sort of Renaissance Festival for bibliomaniacs. You probably can’t get a turkey drumstick or a unicorn painted on your face, but there will be the usual convergence of writers, publishers, book artists, and used-book peddlers, as well as readings, discussions, and events for kids. This year’s roster of authors includes novelists Chris Abani and Diane Williams, poets Laura Moriarty and Bin Ramke, and graphic novel writer/editor Andy Helfer. –Brad Zellar

Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Minneapolis Community and Technical College, 1501 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; free.

ART
Bruce Tapola: Paintings for Germans, Sculpture for Snobs

If you’re going to be in Rochester for your annual colonoscopy, brighten the occasion with a trip to the Rochester Art Center to see the always interesting work of Bruce Tapola, Minnesota’s most famous somewhat-obscure artist. Venues ranging from esteemed institutes of art (in Milwaukee and Minneapolis) to a rented U-Haul parked in front of the Walker Art Center have spread his fame. Recent outings in Miami and Minneapolis, and a collaborative installation with his wife and daughter called I’m With Stupid, have enabled Tapola to further develop his broad range of media-inflected moody imagery. Here he again hammers on the closed gates of American culture, with his ambivalent cry: “I love you! I hate you! I love you!” –Ann Klefstad

Saturday at 8 p.m., Rochester Art Center, 40 Civic Center Dr. S.E., Rochester; 507-282-8629; $12 (members $10).

A Lovely Union of Food and Art

The only thing better than good art, is good art combined with good food and drink. Barbette and Placement Gallery figured this one out and have joined forces to present a series of new exhibitions at Barbette every other month. This Sunday marks the official opening with a reception featuring artist John Schuerman. Join Shuerman for complimentary snacks and happy hour prices on beverages as you peruse his work about his reckoning with nature, consciousness, and the unknown. According to Shuerman’s own artistic statement, “This kind of art renders the unnamed, and language follows, creating new levels of consciousness, which in turn produces new art.”

Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m., Barbette, 1600 West Lake Street, Minneapolis; 612-827-5710.

If you yourself are an artist, head over to the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory on Sunday morning (8 to 10 a.m.) for a special Artist and Camera event. Marjorie McNeely Conservatory will be open before public hours to allow artists and photographers a chance to bring in tripods and easels, which normally are not allowed. The cost is $5.00 per person.

WEB SHOW “AUDITION”
Bring That Awful Gift to the Mall of America

We’ve all gotten a gift at some point in our lives that has left us wondering, “What the hell were they thinking?” Now, you finally have a chance to make it work to your advantage and maybe get a few questions answered in the process. Comedian, writer, and political satirist Lizz Winstead is looking for people for a new web show she’ll be hosting for Lifetime. Yes, I know it’s Lifetime, but I promise Meredith Baxter won’t be anywhere nearby. I mean, it’s Lizz Winstead, right? If Lifetime is calling on Winstead to host a show, it’s because they’re looking to do something a little different here. The show, Gift Intervention, will come in 6 minutes snippets, each show exploring the thought behind a horrendous gift, with both the recipient and the giver present. That’s right, folks, Winstead will be doing a little gift intervention here to get to the bottom of the matter. So take your bad gifts down to the Mall of America this weekend (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.), along with an awesome story, and see if you can get your six minutes of fame. If nothing else, it’s a great opportunity to meet a stellar woman.