MUSIC
If Life Gives You Lemonheads, Make Lemonade
Yes, it’s true: The Lemonheads are still around and playing. Actually, they’re back together again, is more like it. The ’80s alt-rock band — best known for their 1992 cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s "Mrs. Robinson" — reformed two years ago after a seven year break. Why? Well, who knows, but it seems to be working for everyone else, so why not? After all, they were only high school students when they formed in ’86, so it’s not like they’re desperate old fogies grasping at their past. Come to think of it, Evan Dando is the only original member anyhow (despite his "past" drug addictions); the band went through quite a few musicians in its round-one decade — and they seem to be on a similar path, featuring a number of guest musicians at live performances. Who will it be today?
7 p.m., Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-604-0222; $20.
MORE MUSIC
Holiday Dysfunctionality — Mann-style
Aimee Mann’s breathy and blisteringly blatant songs about love and heartbreak do not exactly conger the conventional feelings of holiday cheer and merriment — which is precisely why I find her so delightful. Imagine, then, my disappointment when I realized she was coming to town, not to add to my dysfunctional dislike of all things festive but to engage in a celebratory holiday performance. Holiday concerts don’t drum up bar stool ballads and songs of love struck drug addicts but instead of jolly fat men in suits and mistletoe. I might be nearing grinch-like status on this one, but this is not the kind of material I find synonymous with good rock and roll. However, in addition to a little Mann-style Xmas, she promises to perform many of her popular non-holiday favorites and other unique festive songs with local performers such as Adam Levy and Nellie McKay. And for the true Ebenezer Scrooges among us, she apparently also does a pretty mean Grinch rendition, so I might have to take back my bah-humbug on this one. —Kate McDonald
7:30 p.m., Guthrie Theater, Wurtele Thrust Stage, 818 S. 2nd St., Minneapolis; 612-377-2224; $37.50.
FILM
P.S. I Love You
Ok.
You know that moment, that stream of moments two years into a "new"
relationship, when you look at the back of your lover’s head as he (or
she) sits as his (her) computer, ignoring you, and you shut your eyes
and fall back into your pillow, daydreaming, reaching to embrace the
love, trying to imagine your life without him (her)? You drift for a
while, perhaps even break a smile, and then it happens: you imagine him
(her) dying — the devastation, the agony, the self-indulgent blackout,
in which your lover becomes the only flame, the only light, the only
source of heat — and you, a withering fool. Through this lens, in this
dream, his (her) every imperfection is obscured by your loss. Your lover
is perfect. Your love is perfect. The pain is perfect. (You would be
perfect, but you are only pain — perhaps that’s perfect.) Now, take the
dream, and put it down on paper, embellish it, push it, polish it, and
put it up on screen. This is what writer/director Richard LaGravenese (Freedom Writers) has done with his latest endeavor, P.S. I Love You,
starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. Only LaGravenese — clearly a
hopeless romantic by nature — dangles the story o’er the precipice of
the imagination, with gifts from beyond. That’s right, before the
protagonist’s lover dies he sets up a series of gifts — including
letters, trips, and instructions — enabling him to guide his lover back
to happiness from beyond. Ah, yes, only in films… like in dreams.
Isn’t that the point?
7:30 p.m., The Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak Street SE, Minneapolis, 612-331-3134, $8.
Vernie
If local filmmaker Jason Wallace ever denies that his
film Vernie was created without the Lifetime Network in mind, he has to
be lying. The film, which revolves around a brain cancer patient’s dying wish
to have a baby with his best friend, seems made for the network and
indeed a three-year popular run on the channel proves it. Well, now you
can bring the heartbreak home on DVD, and there is a party this evening to celebrate the release. Come enjoy the free food and drinks, and no doubt some of that free
Lifetime melodrama.
7 p.m., Picosa Restaurant, 65 Main Street SE, Minneapolis; free.
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