ART & ACTIVISM
Solutions Volume 2 Showcases Innovative Design, Art, Activism
Back in May, I recommended the first Solutions showcase as a great way to channel your creative energy and transform gripes into proposals. Now, it’s time for Solutions Volume 2, where leading edge designers, architects, artists, and activists — “solutionists” all — will present their work, 6-minutes and 40-seconds at a time. What will they cover is so short a time, with 20 rapid-fire slides apiece? — “do it yourself bio-diesel vehicles, urban camouflage street art, sustainable architecture and humanitarian design, Minnesotans rebuilding the Gulf Coast, transformative homeless theater, artistic street culture for urban youth, and sustainable sexuality.” Whew! Problems we’ve been facing for many lifetimes solved in under seven minutes. Gotta love it!
Friday at 7 p.m., Studio 1414, 1414 Marshall St. N.E., Minneapolis; 612-638-1888; $8.
DANCE
Ugly
Contemporary dance seems an unlikely vehicle for exploring our culture’s obsession with physical perfection, what with all the buff beauties prancing about. But that didn’t stop local choreographer Matthew Janczewski from assembling an impressive cast of collaborators to help realize his heartfelt, movement-based rebuke of superficiality — in fact, it’s his most ambitious project to date. The evening is set to the dissonant sounds of pioneering electronic music composer Morton Subotnick. Direction is by Peter Rothstein, founder of Theatre Latte Da and director of the Guthrie’s recent production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives. The result is a dance in three acts. The first is a baroque, very formal piece about keeping up appearances. The second, a dystopian vision called “Disco Technology,” deals in the false identities created for romantic pursuits (playwright Kira Obolensky lends a bogus online dating profile). And in the deconstructionist third act, the façade comes tumbling down. –Christy DeSmith
Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin, Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; $25 (members $21).
FILM
My Kid Could Paint That
In 2004, director Amir Bar-Lev first approached the parents of young
Marla Olmstead with the idea of making a documentary of her extraordinary talent. Over the course of a year, this four-year-old girl from Binghamton, New York, sold nearly $300,000 worth of abstract paintings, was covered by news outlets from around the world, and then, on 60 Minutes, had her reputation sullied by accusations that her father was the real artist, or at least an over-imposing coach. Bar-Lev’s masterful My Kid Can Paint That leaves viewers questioning what they see, and pondering the nature of modern art, parenting, and the role and responsibility of the media. –Peter Schilling Jr.
Lagoon Cinema, 1320 Lagoon Ave., Minneapolis; 612-825-6006.
I, of course, will be heading out to see the long-awaited Wes Anderson flick, The Darjeeling Limited, at the Uptown Theatre — Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman bonding in the desert. Yay!
Get a Sneak Peak of Pu-239
Let’s put it this way: when George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh decide to back a project, you know it must be worthy. As executive producers of Pu-239 (along with Peter Berg), the two put some serious faith into Scott. Z. Burns’s writing and direction. Why? Well, Burns has a few notches on his own belt. He wrote The Bourne Ultimatum screenplay and produced An Inconvenient Truth. Now, you can enjoy his dark thriller. Set in 1995 post-Soviet Russia, Pu-239 follows actor Paddy Considine on a wild ride to provide for his family when he finds out he’s dying from radiation exposure. Sure, you can always wait for the official HBO Films premiere on Saturday, November 17th (8 p.m.), but then you won’t get to meet Burns in person after the show.
Friday at 7 p.m., The Historic Heights Theatre, 3951 Central Ave. N.E., Columbia Heights; free with reservations, call 651-644-1912.
Of course, you can also meet him the following morning, see some film clips, and hear him talk about his latest endeavor.
Saturday at 10 a.m., Minneapolis Community & Technical College, Rm. L3000, Whitney Hall, 1501 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 651-644-1912; $15 (members, students, and seniors $10).
BIKES AND BEERS
Homie Fall Fest
If you’re one of those people who can actually booze it up on a bike, then you absolutely must get out those wheels this weekend. From the looks of it, it might even stop raining for a day: mostly sunny on Saturday with a high of 68. Perfect. Are you an early riser? Be at the CRC Coffee Bar at 9 a.m. to ride to Hell’s Kitchen for breakfast. If you’re not exactly a morning person, fuel up at home and join the crowd at Liquor Lyle’s for a noon departure. You don’t have to be a hardcore cyclist, and it won’t hurt to be a hardcore beer enthusiast. Here are some photos from last year.
Saturday at 11 a.m., Liquor Lyle’s, 2021 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-870-8183.
SPORTS
Yes, It’s a Sport — It’s the Minnesota Roller Girls
The time has come. Yes, sir. Saturday is the Minnesota Roller Girls home season opener, which means big time fun and festivities. Oh, yeah, and hot girls on skates! Watch the Dagger Dolls play against Nebraska’s No Coast Derby Girls, and the Garda Belts play the Cincinnati Rollergirls. The first 200 people to show up will get a free Roller Girls t-shirt. Or if you prefer, don your Halloween costume for a chance to win a special prize. There’s a pre-game happy hour at Station 4, with a free shuttle to the game. And the Roller Girls invite you to “get your party on” with them after the game at their O’Gara’s after party.
Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (doors at 6:30), Roy Wilkins Auditorium, 175 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul; 651-265-4800; $8-12.
HOLIDAY EVENT
Ha Ha Ha Ha Halloween – Eeeeeeeiii!
As much as I like the “idea” of haunted houses, as much as I respect real haunted houses, let’s face it, the typical Halloween haunted house is cheesy as all get-out. I know it’s all about exploiting our fears and all, but can’t we do it in style? Apparently so. And where better to do it than in the Soap Factory’s soon-to-be-legendary creepy 100-year-old warehouse basement. This is no typical haunted house experience — unless you’ve experienced the real deal. This haunted house is artist-designed. With hand-held lanterns for light, and a mere three friends at your side, you can grope your way through the haunted basement, buried bodies, and other frightful designs of artist Chris Pennington.
Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., Soap Factory, 518 2nd St. S.E., Minneapolis; $10.
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