rakemag

You’ve heard the rumors: Deep in the bowels of TPT’s St. Paul studios, former governor, pro wrestler, and Navy SEAL Jesse Ventura is preparing for his debut as an MSNBC television host. Sadly, the launch date of the Ventura show (and the triumphant return of our favorite public servant and bloviator) keeps getting postponed. What … Read more

MIT physics professor Lightman is best known for Einstein’s Dreams, a brilliantly elliptical series of spare, magical-realist vignettes which explored what it would be like if the laws of physics worked differently—what-if tales not so much science fiction as brief essays on the limits of human nature. He switched gears for The Diagnosis, a National … Read more

He may be one of the most prominent Indian writers around today, but Sherman Alexie doesn’t play to the expectations of either white or Native American audiences. Though he almost always writes about characters who are, like himself, Indians from the Seattle/Spokane area, he feels no obligation to the traditions of identity politics and aims … Read more

A few months ago, Zadie Smith wrote in the New York Times about being an extra in a PBS screen adaptation of her autobiographical debut novel, White Teeth. It was a touching piece in which the writer acknowledged the shortcomings of her novel, and the bizarre experience of being an extra in the movie of … Read more

The truth of the matter is that we’ve blown off Aquatennial for years. Crowds make us nervous, and we certainly don’t need the imprimatur of City Fathers (or Mothers) to enjoy its most bountiful amenity—our lakes and rivers. And yet, Aquatennial has gotten so big that at least one affiliated event is actually drawing national … Read more

One could approach Oak Street’s July retrospective as an aesthetic exegesis of the changing modes of cinematic expression in the mid-century heyday of the Hollywood studio system. One could seek evidence of unique directorial styles finding voice in an artistic medium defined strongly by the visions of the moneymen on top. Alternatively, one could just … Read more

The Walker’s concurrent exhibit on boxing makes a serendipitous theme for this year’s installment of our favorite local open-air arts event. The sweet science has always been a favorite subject in American filmmaking—you could put together a series many times longer than this six-week run without coming close to running out of watchable fare. The … Read more

Writer Alan Moore (Watchmen, From Hell) and illustrator Kevin O’Neill crafted the somewhat geeky premise of a Victorian-era Justice League in the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Mina Harker, the femme fatale from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is appointed to assemble a few literary titans to foil the nefarious plans of the late Sherlock … Read more

Here are two mid-50s films from French director Alain Resnais, both struggling to come to terms with the deep psychic wounds of World War Two. Hiroshima, a collaboration with French novelist Marguerite Dumas, uses the story of the love affair between a French actress and Japanese architect as jumping-off point to explore grief and survivors’ … Read more

It took us a couple of viewings before we grasped Wings of Desire’s quiet beauty, but it’s since grown to become one of our most beloved films, one we’ve seen a dozen times over the last decade. German director Wim Wenders’ story of angels silently witnessing human joys and sorrows is constructed like poetry, meditative … Read more