FILM
WARNING: For the Truly Fearless Only
Looking for some seriously disturbing subject matter to digest this evening? If you liked the film 8MM, with Nicholas Cage — or you’re just a freaky snuff fanatic, in general — then you’re in for a big treat tonight. As part of the summer preview series, Fearless Filmmakers is offering a sneak preview of SNUFF: a documentary about killing on camera this evening. The film, directed by Paul Von Stoetzel, explores the dark reality of snuff films, and how they “bring together such unlikely bedfellows as pornography, news media, war, horror-films, and serial killers.” Think you can handle it? There’s only one way to find out. Take advantage of this one-time-only opportunity to see the film before its festival run, and meet the filmmakers for a question and answer session. If you make it through the horror, be sure to join the local film community at Stub and Herbs for the official after party, and enjoy the free food and drinks, and live music by DJ Omen, as you unwind.
7:30 p.m., The Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis; 612-331-3134; $9 (students $7, MN Film Arts members $5). After Party at 9:30 p.m., Stub and Herbs, 227 Oak St., Minneapolis; free.
BOOKS
Jonis Agee: The River Wife
by Brad Zellar
Jonis Agee has always been a fascinating study, as well as refreshingly free of literary conceits and pretension. She has a distinctly Midwestern, blue-collar sensibility, and is fearless (or perhaps heedless) when it comes to her subjects; this is a woman, after all, who somehow managed to publish a collection of stories built around automobile racing, and that topic provides plenty of apt metaphors for Agee’s fiction: breakneck speed, unexpected twists and turns, and spectacular flameouts. Her latest novel, The River Wife, released just last week, is a gothic family saga set in Missouri’s Bootheel region, and features, among other plotlines and hard-boiled entanglements, river piracy.
7:30 p.m., Magers & Quinn Booksellers, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-4611.
THEATER & PERFORMANCE
A Guthrie Experience Showpiece
Each year, the Guthrie Theater invites actors from advanced acting training programs across the country to participate in the Guthrie Experience for Actors, a nine-week program of classes, workshops, rehearsals, and activities designed to hone their skills. Tonight (though Monday), as one of the culminating activities of the 2007 Guthrie Experience, 14 actors from this year’s program will present a special showpiece for the public. Guthrie movement artist Marcela Lorca directs the collaboration by playwright Julie Marie Myatt (author of Boats on a River and The Sex Habits of American Women), and is assisted by 1998 Guthrie Experience for Actors alum, actor/director Randy Reyes (Boats on a River and Theatre Mu’s Circle Around the Island).
7:30 p.m., Dowling Studio, The Guthrie Theater, 818 South 2nd St., Minneapolis; 612-377-2224; free, but tickets are required.
FESTIVALS
Legos, Fire Sculpture, and Ice Cream
by Danielle Kurtzleben
For anyone who has pondered, “What is art?” Or perhaps, “Can I make art out of Legos?” Or even, “Can I stroll through the park, experience local art, AND eat free ice cream tonight?” Yes on all counts, my friend, tonight at the Bancroft Midsummer Festival, sponsored by the Center for Independent Artists, a local non-profit that supports local artists of all stripes. Enjoy the Legos, painting, fire sculpture, live music, slam poetry, dance, sing-alongs, and all sorts of other exhibits to stimulate your senses. And, of course, stay to bask in the joys of a good outdoor neighborhood gathering (and, like I said, free ice cream from Pumphouse Creamery).
6-9 p.m., Bancroft Meadows Park, 42nd & Bloomington, across from the Center for Independent Artists; 612-724-8392; free.
MUSIC
Poeticize Yourself
OK, here’s a real secret. Apparently, I’m not even supposed to tell you about it, though I can’t quite figure out why (and I’ve never been very good at doing as I’m told anyhow — especially when it makes no sense to me). Prince fans, hip-hop fans, music fans in general, head over to Trocaderos tonight for a Prince Tribute Show with Sign of the Times and, better still, EduPoetic. The latter, EduPoetic, serves up an original blend of spoken word with hip-hop, jazz, blues, funk, and gospel. Hell, with a name like that… just go educate yourself, my friend. Poeticize yourself. And if all else fails, just stare deep into the drummer’s eyes. I guarantee you’ll be transported.
9 p.m., Trocaderos Nightclub & Restaurant, 107 3rd Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-465-0440.
Other music options this evening include the Scribble Jam at Foundation Nightclub, and Hugh Masekela at the Dakota.
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