The Rake Magazine

Category: So Little Time

  • The Band's Visit

    "Once, not long ago, a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many people remember this. It wasn’t that
    important." So begins The Band’s Visit, an understated little film from Israeli
    director Eran Kolirin. When no one is at the airport to meet the eponymous
    band, the musicians, dressed in baby blue police uniforms and lugging their
    instruments through the village streets, are forced to split up and crash at
    the homes of the bemused inhabitants. But like many unimportant moments in our
    lives, The Band’s Visit is really about those quiet minutes spent connecting
    with fellow human beings, sharing observations, memories, pain, suffering, and,
    of course, love-moments we remember forever. There is little to say about this
    beautiful picture other than that it succeeds marvelously at making us feel
    profoundly happy, a feat that eludes almost every movie out there. ‘

    Edina Cinema, 3911 W. 50th
    St., Edina; 651-649-4416.

  • La Bohème

    What better way to spend your Valentine’s Day than
    taking in La Bohème, a silent, melodramatic classic at the beautiful and, dare
    we say, sexy Heights Theater. This 1926 film, based on the Puccini standard,
    has all the usual suspects: the tragic
    Mimi, a consumptive, and her jealous lover, the Bohemian poet Rodolfo. Their
    love affair and eventual separation unfolds in all its emotive glory to the
    luscious sound of the Wurlitzer organ. Lillian Gish, then one of the cinema’s
    brightest stars, personally chose the great King Vidor to direct, and the
    result is a beautiful and touching movie that will send you and your beau home
    in each other’s arms.

    Heights Theater, 3951 Central Ave. N.E., Columbia Heights; 763-788-9079.

  • Our Man in Havana

    Unavailable on DVD in the U.S., this 1959
    British noir classic reunites director Carol Reed and writer Graham Greene, the
    sly duo who gave us The Third Man and The Fallen Idol, also classics. Here,
    Alec Guinness plays James Wormold, a British vacuum cleaner salesman stationed
    in Cuba who is enlisted as a spy for
    Queen and country. Concerned that he is going to lose this prized position,
    Wormold concocts a story about secret rockets, using vacuum cleaner circuit
    diagrams to fool the British Secret Service into believing he’s onto a Russian
    missile scheme. Shot entirely in Cuba-Castro’s government was, at the time,
    eager to encourage a film that portrayed a corrupt Batista regime.

    Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis;
    612-822-3030.

  • What Is It?

    What is it? Debuting for the first time in
    Minnesota and unavailable on DVD, What Is It? is Crispin Glover‘s 2005
    directorial debut (lately he played Grendel in Beowulf). The movie is described
    by its director as "being the adventures of a young man whose principal
    interests are snails, salt, a pipe, and how to get home as tormented by an
    hubristic racist inner psyche." Starring Michael Blevis, a young man with Down
    Syndrome, and Mr. Glover as a deus ex machina in a fur trenchcoat and flowing
    locks, the film also features a fellow in blackface, a bevy of naked women in
    elephant masks, and snails aplenty. What is it? Armed with slideshow and
    commentary, Glover will be on hand to explain. No one under eighteen will be
    admitted.

    Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-331-3134.

  • Functional Sculpture: Furniture from the Upper Midwest

    When
    IKEA opened here a couple of years ago, critic Glenn Gordon contributed a fine
    piece to this magazine that carefully and wittily assessed the design quality
    and craftsmanship of the Swedish behemoth’s furniture. Now Gordon has put
    together (with co-curator Laurel Bradley) his own showroom of sorts, with
    furniture makers, sculptors, and industrial designers from Minnesota,
    Wisconsin, and Michigan. Of course, these are tables, cabinets, desks, and
    lighting of a whole different order, ranging from the ultra-modern designs of
    Thomas Oliphant, Blu Dot, and George Mahoney to more traditional work from
    Linda Sue Eastman and Clifton Monteith‘s contemporary take on the folksy
    bent-willow tradition. You won’t find any pancakes with lingonberry sauce, but
    the show in itself is worth the trip to Northfield.

    Carleton College Art Gallery, 1 N. College St.,
    Northfield; 507-646-4469 or 507-646-4342.

  • Arts of Japan: The John C. Weber Collection

    This
    show was organized by the National Museums in Berlin, and comes to Minneapolis
    via Boston. Weber, for his part, is a New Yorker-a doctor who’s no doubt made a
    splash among collectors of Japanese art, having assembled what we’re told is a
    world-class collection of objects-ranging from the twelfth century to the
    twentieth-in just ten years. Ninety-five of those works make up this show:
    scrolls and painted screens, lacquered bottles and ceramics, kimonos and
    Buddhist calligraphies. In other words, pace yourself for this one.

    Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis; 612-870-3131.

  • Paul Shambroom: Picturing Power

    Shambroom,
    our fellow Minneapolitan, is not a trendy name in contemporary photography, but
    he’s revered by insiders: In one recent book surveying 121 heavy hitters in
    this medium, more space is devoted to him than to any other. One reason for
    that might be his dedication. Shambroom doesn’t just address a topic, be it
    nuclear weaponry or municipal government—he becomes thoroughly immersed,
    conducting mountains of research, traveling across the country, and taking
    years to create a series of images. None of that effort is wasted: His
    photographs are by turns majestic and menacing, eerie and absurd. This survey
    brings together, for the first time, work from Shambroom’s most important
    series: Factories, Offices, Nuclear Weapons, Meetings, and Security. Picturing
    Power     will travel to Columbus, Atlanta, and Long Beach. I’d add that it’s also
    worthy of a stint at MoMA in New York, where another local photographer
    recently had a survey (see “Also Noted”).

    Weisman Art Museum, 333 East River Road, Minneapolis; 612-625-9494.

  • Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes

    Just
    as the Ash Can School turned to burgeoning cities for subject matter in the
    early twentieth century, suburbia has proven captivating to artists over the
    past few decades. But while many of them have tended to look outside city
    limits with a skeptical, ironic, or even condemning eye, this exhibit,
    organized around homes, stores, and roads, aims to go beyond stereotypical
    views. Among the works from some thirty architects, photographers, sculptors,
    and videographers, one favorite is Stefanie Nagorka, a sculptor who visits Home
    Depot stores, plucks materials for her pieces from the shelves, and assembles
    them right in the aisles or parking lot. Other artists look at the
    people-besides mom, dad, and 2.5 kids-living in all those tract houses (some of
    them are porn stars); propose revamping dead malls and big-box stores; and
    steal shots of suburbanites as they zoom around behind their steering wheels.

    Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7622.

  • RE: Generations, Legacy & Tradition

    Don’t
    let the title fool you. This exhibit showcases innovative, contemporary takes
    on traditional American Indian art forms. It’s a chance to see work by Kevin
    Pourier     and Dwayne Wilcox, whose horn carvings and ledger drawings garnered
    attention at two earlier, similarly themed exhibits, Impacted Nations and
    Changing Hands II: Art Without Reservation    ; included as well are newer names
    like beadwork artists Douglas Limon and Todd Bordeaux, quilter Gwen Griffin,
    and hide painter Alaina Buffalo Spirit.

    Gallery Hours: Wed.-Sat., 12 p.m.-6 p.m., Ancient Traders Gallery, 1113 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis;
    612-870-7555.

  • Foo Fighters

    If
    you want to piss people off, claim that Dave Grohl has written and performed more
    great music than Kurt Cobain. It’s true: While his stuff may never be as
    transcendent as Cobain’s, the Foo frontman and ex-Nirvana drummer has soldiered
    on in superior fashion since Cobain’s ’94 suicide, delivering a remarkably
    consistent string of quality discs. (One by One is the lone clunker among the
    seven Foo records.) The latest, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, ranks
    with the first disc on In Your Honor as the band’s finest work, containing the
    Foo hallmarks of dynamic crescendos (a whisper-to-a-scream capability to rival
    Aerosmith); gritty, punk-pop hooks; underrated, passionate vocals; and the
    occasional affecting ballad. Plus, in whatever incarnation Grohl slaps
    together, the Foos have always been able to deliver the goods in an arena-sized
    venue.

    7:30 p.m., Target Center,
    600 First Avenue North, Minneapolis; 612-673-1600.