The Wake

If you remember back to 2004, you might recall that a few photos leaked from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Humiliation, shock and embarrassment were felt nationwide as we looked on in horror, watching our American values destroyed by a few amateur digital photos. While we were busy trying to forget, Errol Morris was just starting to get his hands dirty, investigating and tracking down the elusive soldiers central to the controversy for his new documentary Standard Operating Procedure (which opens Friday May 23 at the Landmark Lagoon Cinema).

Oscar award-winning documentarian Errol Morris sits down with The Wake to discuss his new documentary on the photos from Abu Ghraib.

WAKE: You must be pretty passionate about the events at Abu Ghraib to have made a documentary like “Standard Operating Procedure.”

Errol Morris: Well, …

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With the future of healthcare looming ominously over every presidential debate, it is with sheer hopefulness that one mutters the idiom “laughter is the best medicine.” For students graduating this summer and leaving the warm embrace of their insurance policies, laughter and liquor may be the only two medicines available. Luckily, the ACME Comedy Company in Minneapolis serves up plenty of both – and every Monday at open mic night, the laughs come free.

While some open mic nights may be as painful as a trip to the dentist, ACME’s format allows only three minutes to all newcomers. This means more comedians, more laughs, and less awkward silences. The lineup is also organized so that first-timers perform at the beginning, leaving the more experienced comedians for the end. With a never-ending supply …

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Photo by Ben Lansky

April 19 is not a day to celebrate a historical figure or a particular religion. April 19, ladies and gentlemen, is a day devoted to the appreciation of independent record stores. It is the day known as Record Store Day. We all know the great saga of the rise and fall of 45’s, 78’s, records, cassette tapes, and CDs. Like many music fans, I find that these tangible musical resources have much more to offer than impersonal and detached mp3s and digital music files. It is hard to believe that some day we may not be able to peruse the shelves at the Electric Fetus, enjoying the sound of CD cases clicking up against …

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The opening mallet-matted drum roll of Scott Walker’s solo debut is an extremely telling introduction. It instantly becomes clear that this pop album is to be both a heroic and tragic epic. Similarly, glancing upon the portrait of Walker that covers his 1967 Scott is an equally epiphanic experience. Upon a glance or a listen, Scott Walker is clarified to be a deceptively upbeat dark horse of sixties pop. “Man behind the music” clichés however, do not apply to walker. Whereas fellow morbid rockers like David Bowie and Lou Reed create characters that parallel their music, the orchestrations on Scott are glistening, albeit mediated, representations of his true being. Walker and his music are thus two sides of the same tragic hero.

Like all good teen idol crazes, Walker curls his blonde hair. His mod-revival …

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Vampire Hands - Me and You Cherry Red

Lock up your children because Vampire Hands are coming to get you! While visions of gaunt, bony creatures shrouded in cloaks and pining for blood are probably filling your head, there is no need to panic. Seriously, stop the mad dash for the garlic and listen. Really listen, because Vampire Hands is one of the most promising bands on the Minneapolis music scene right now and are sweeping the nation with their infectious new release Me and You Cherry Red.

With a name like Vampire Hands, slow and heavy tunes reminiscent of death and despair flood the imagination, but the first track off of Cherry …

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A tangled mess of men masked with green military-issue bags crowd the hall. An American soldier stands proudly with his arms crossed, resting on his puffed chest behind the pyramid of contorted bodies. Another soldier, leaning toward the camera, bares an unsettlingly cheeky grin as if she were completely removed from the demented scene.

The photos taken during the fall of 2003 at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have given an entirely new and disturbing meaning to the clichéd idiom, “a picture tells a thousand words.”

Starting with these disconcerting photos, (270 to be exact) acclaimed filmmaker Errol Morris set out to capture the story outside the frame in his documentary Standard Operating Procedure. The film has already won the Silver Berlin Bear Award at the …

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In the same spirit as the Oak Street cinema on campus, Parkway Theatre in South Minneapolis seeks to preserve the independent atmosphere and culture of the one screen cinema. In fact many of the patrons and employees from the Oak St. cinema have moved to the Parkway across town.

Barry Kryshka, a former Oak Street employee, commented on the Oak’s financial plunge as he ripped up my ticket stub behind a card table box-office saying, “We’re just trying to bring some of that spirit back.” Kryshka is the coordinator of the Monday Night Movie Series at the Parkway, a celebration of old movies and the old traditions that are particular to “one screen movie houses.” Stephanie Molstad, another former Oak employee, believes in the one screen film house and its ability to bring …

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Despite Minnesota Film Arts’ financial and institutional problems, the 2008 Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival will continue as planned. Running April 17 through May 3, the festival promises local citizens a wide selection of cinema’s finest films, from acclaimed international films to award-winning American independent films. More than 150 films will be screened during the festival, and below are just a few that you might want to look out for. For more information on tickets and showtimes, and for a complete list of the films, visit http://www.mspfilmfest.org.

Beauty In Trouble
This is a new Czech drama from Jan Hrebejk, director of the Oscar-nominated Divided We Fall In Beauty. A woman takes her two children and moves into a crowded apartment with her mother and stepfather. There she meets a charming older …

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Big Star - #1 Record

The debut LP of the Memphis Tennessee power-poppers Big Star could be one of the greatest records you’ve never heard. In fact, this beautiful album review could easily be filled with paragraph after paragraph of the numerous artists and rock and roll outfits that have been shaped and influenced by the record’s prose. Teenage Fanclub, Elliott Smith and the Replacements are just a few of the more recognizable followers of Big Star’s genius. Released in 1972, Big Star’s #1 Record has become a crafty cornerstone to the world of forgotten pop gems.

#1 Record boasts the combined song writing efforts of Alex Chilton and Chris Bell. Although these two songwriters straddle noticeably different …

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Photo by Ben Lansky

The red and white glow of the Oak Street Cinema marquee has been welcoming cinema stars and audiences for over a decade, but after two years of financial struggle, it seems the beloved movie house is likely to be sold to investors to make way for retail development and housing.

“It is really a financial reality,” said Stephen Zuckerman, president of Minnesota Film Arts (MFA), which owns the Oak. “The theater would need a lot of changes, and we just don’t have the money to do it.” MFA and a group of developers who own property near the theater are currently negotiating the sale, but nothing has been finalized.

“Nothing is ever done until it is done,” said …

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Illustration by Jeremy Sengly

Director Darren Lynn Bousman’s first film after Saw III will include everything his fans expect of him. Attractive people will be tortured and their attractive body parts will fly left and right. There is something surprising about the film, however. It’s a musical.

This April sees the release of Repo! The Genetic Opera, the latest addition to the ongoing wave of new movie-musicals. It is still a rarity, but becoming increasingly more common. Since Chicago walked away with six Oscars in 2002, audiences have witnessed the revitalization of the movie-musical. Last year alone saw the release of Hairspray, Once, La vie en rose, Across the Universe, Enchanted and Sweeney Todd, among others; …

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Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

Having a song as popular as Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” can be both a boon and a bane for a band. While lots of people might still be talking about “Crazy,” Danger Mouse and Cee-lo have moved on. Their new album The Odd Couple, with tracks like “Going On,” reflect their evolution. Like the song, which is definitely one of my favorites, almost every aspect of the album seems to point towards DJ Danger Mouse and Cee-lo moving on to the next thing. Both are contemplative and catchy and are sure to get your booty shaking.

For those of you who are not familiar with Gnarls Barkley’s first album St. Elsewhere, for …

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Illustration by Ben Alpert

After months of stressing out and working hard, the prospect of staying in Minneapolis and relaxing sounded like the perfect spring break for me. It was going to be completely stress free, nothing but watching some movies, playing a few video games, and doing some reading. Most importantly, my minimalist spring break was going to mean being able to pay rent and eat for the rest of the month. It seemed like a fantastic way to spend a week. Unfortunately, by the time I got half way through the five hour extended edition of The Lord of the Rings, I realized I didn’t like sitting around as much as I had thought. I desperately needed something …

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Photo by Jared Dayley

If you’re reading The Wake and attending the University of Minnesota, but haven’t heard of the band Low, you should probably get your hearing checked. The Duluth natives have been international representatives of the diversity of Minnesota music. Front man Alan Sparhawk and bassist Matt Livingston’s newest side project, Retribution Gospel Choir, released their debut march 18th. The Wake managed to get ahold of Sparhawk for an interview to discuss the Retribution’s ambitions and how they differ from Low.

Wake: Let’s start it out with an easy one.  Why have the words “gospel choir” in the title of your band when your music is anything but gospel?

Alan: I guess I just couldn’t get that phrase out of …

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The Kinks - Something Else By the Kinks

Raymond Douglas Davies is a clever man. As the chief and nearly unchaperoned hit maker for the prolific UK outfit the Kinks, Davies has dabbled in some of the most catchy, interesting and clever rock and roll in the genre’s six decades. Continuing the trend of gentle guitar tones and lyrical satire found on previous Kinks work, Sir Raymond compiled the bulk of the Kinks’ 1967 masterpiece Something Else by the Kinks.

Opening with one of the album’s gems, the up-tempo rocker titled “David Watts,” Davies immediately reveals his sneaky brilliance. Obscured by a boogie-woogie piano and a creeping snare tempo lurks the satirized …

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