Category: Article

Various Locations, October 14–16
Emphasis in the title should be on “stories,” not “travel.” Orlean has indeed been everywhere—some will recall a fictional version of her played by Meryl Streep in Adapation, in which she trails an orchid hunter through Florida swamps—but My Kind of Place is no ordinary travel writing. For one thing, these tales may range near and far, from Bhutan to Midland, Texas (hometown of Dubya), from a trailer park outside Portland, Oregon, to the African music scene in Paris—but they are not in the least prescriptive. Instead, the places Orlean writes about emerge as characters as vivid as any of the humans who inhabit them. One would expect nothing less, after all, from one of our foremost literary journalists (most of the pieces here were published in the New Yorker and Outside). October 14: Bound To Be Read, 870 Grand Ave., St. Paul; 651-646-2665; www.boundtoberead.com. October 15: Amazon Books, 4755 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-821-9630; www.amazonfembks.com. October 16: The Bookcase of Wayzata, 607 E. Lake St., Wayzata; 952-473-8341; www.bookcaseofwayzata.com

David O. Russell has a knack for sending the characters in his films to hellish, but often somehow hilarious places. In the shamefully overlooked Three Kings, a group of soldiers journey into an Iraqi village on a dangerous mission to pillage gold. Flirting With Disaster sends Ben Stiller to find his birth parents, who turn out to be hippy acid dealers; and Spanking the Monkey involves a boy’s realization that he’s attracted to his mother. Always dark, always smart and funny, and always addressing big emotional truths, Russell looks to have topped himself here. Albert Markovski (Jason Schwartzman), an environmentalist battling a Wal-Mart-like discount store, hires a team of “Existential Detectives” (Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman) to get to the bottom of some puzzling coincidences. A deadpan Tomlin asks: “Have you ever transcended space and time?” Responds Schwartzman, only slightly puzzled: “Uh, time, not space.” Jude Law, Naomi Watts, and Mark Wahlberg round out the cast.

South Park geniuses Trey Parker and Matt Stone offer up a timely political satire that takes aim at sanctimonious right-wing bloo-blobs and smug Hollywood liberals alike. (In other words, the duo hates the war in Iraq, but they also hate George Bush, Michael Moore, and John Kerry.) The fact that their film takes the form of a boffo, Bruckheimeresque blockbuster filmed entirely with wooden puppets (but not Melanie Griffith and Ben Affleck) is just icing on the cake. Think of this surreal cinematic offering as an attempt by the kings of potty humor to knock piety off its moral high ground. Or you could take them at their word when they call their finished project “A dumb [blankin’] puppet movie.”

Joanne Woodward made a fine career out of split-personality material (see Sybil), and this historic, Academy Award-winning performance started it all. Woodward’s Eve White was based on the true story of a dreary Southern housewife suffering from “spells” of memory loss (we dare you to call in sick on Monday with a “spell”). Unable to explain or recall having bought sexy expensive dresses, she’s shipped off to see a shrink by her threatened husband. Through hypnosis two more personalities emerge, including the racy playgirl Eve Black, whom hubby, naturally, cannot abide.

Now it its fifth year, the Sound Unseen film festival hasn’t wavered from its original mission to bring rare films about music to the Twin Cities. Hello?! End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones? ABBA: The Movie? Yes, please! In addition to a stellar lineup of new films, the year sees the return of audience favorites like M80, Hop-Fu: Superninjas, and the Wesley Willis documentary. In particular, the celebration of Minneapolis music films this year promises a rich mélange, from the much-deserved retrospective of Chuck Statler’s pioneering music videos to LikeHell: The Movie; Paul Westerberg’s Prozac-fueled tour documentary Come Feel Me Tremble; new work from Phil Harder paired with a live orchestra; and the local premiere of The Last Word, starring Rake columnist Mary Lucia, and John Munson and Matt Wilson from the Flops. We recommend the most-bang-for-your-bucks $60 pass to all films and concerts. www.soundunseen.com

What is it about an Ingmar Berman retrospective that says “autumn”? Sure, there’s Autumn Sonata (a humdinger with Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Bergman in her final role), but the cinematic giant also made Winter Light, The Virgin Spring, and Smiles of a Summer Night (not to mention Summer Interlude)—all of which will be screened, along with a dozen more of the Swede’s best works. Bergman dwelled on the kind of big questions surrounding love, death, faith, sanity, and reality that would swamp lesser artists in a morass of pomposity or incoherence. Time and again (that’s another thing, filmmakers just don’t crank ’em out at this rate anymore), he delivered deep films distinguished by an essential simplicity and honesty. Maybe that’s why this series seems timely: If the best movies offer nourishing food for thought, then this is a harvest feast to fatten you up for the long cold winter ahead. 612-331-3134; www.mnfilmarts.org

Seems like over the past couple of decades we’ve learned to appreciate regional foods, regional parks, even regional shopping malls (thanks MoM!). Why not celebrate darn good movies home-grown in the heartland—or any of the other distinctive regions that make up our country’s vast interior? That’s how the Central Standard Film Fest came to be. For its third year, offerings include the highly anticipated documentary, Wellstone!; Dirty Work, a film about three men who perform nasty jobs we’d prefer to ignore (like embalming); and Nightingale in a Music Box, a super-smart thriller set in Chicago. Don’t miss what must be considered an extravaganza of previously, and shamefully, untapped cinematic talent. 125 Main St S.E., Minneapolis; and 3951 Central Ave N.E., Columbia Heights; 612-343-3390; www.centralstandardfilmfest.com

Suffering from battle fatigue this election season? Chin up! There’s succor if you know where to look. One outstanding example is the series of “Real People” ads by documentarian Errol Morris, in which Republicans talk about why they’re not voting for the incumbent (they may not air in our state, but they’re online at MoveOnPAC.org). Another is Flags, a play by the famously pseudonymous Jane Martin; after commissioning it, the Guthrie wisely pushed up its production so that it could be seen in our swing state before the election. In a sense, Martin sets her play in real time: It’s the month before the 2004 presidential election, and a Vietnam vet is grieving the death of his son in the Iraq war. When he and his family hang the Star-Spangled Banner upside-down—a signal of distress—it provokes a heated confrontation. Is this a family of heroes, or are they enemies of the state? Is true patriotism loving your country and its ideals, or supporting the current leadership? See Flags with a Republican you love—or anyone who has a relative in the military. 1501 S. 4th St., Minneapolis; 612-338-6131; www.mixedblood.com

This was Sarah Kane’s final play prior to her suicide in 1999 at the age of twenty-eight, and the title refers to the apocryphal time at which most suicides take place. Kane rose to prominence in London as a kind of theatrical counterpart to that city’s “YBA” art scene: Her first work, Blasted, received an eponymous treatment when one critic described it as “a disgusting feast of filth.” 4.48 Psychosis, no less controversial, has been characterized as a multilayered description of what it’s like to be pulled toward ceasing to be. The Royal Court Theater, Britain’s leading national company, brings its acclaimed production to the Guthrie Lab for its U.S. premiere. A first-date play? Probably not. Maybe a last. 700 N. 1st St., Minneapolis; 612-377-2224; www.guthrietheater.org

Theater buffs will remember the staged reading of Bel Canto at Penumbra Theatre a few years back—and they might also recall that American Theater magazine named Jones as one of its artists to watch in the twenty-first century. As tender coming-of-age stories go (are there any other kind?), this one stands out in its orchestrated clash between the raw reality of city life and the world of operatic music. Set in Massachusetts in 1978, sixteen-year-old Benjamin Turner wears his heart on his sleeve while trying to deal with the impact of wishes coming true in all their terror and beauty. His tale is woven together with music from contralto diva Marian Anderson and Jimi Hendrix. 3501 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-825-0459; www.puc-mn.org/theatre