The Wake

The marquee of the Varsity Theater had one word written on it in early June: Sweat. Further inspection of the advertisement would tell a passerby that “Sweat” is the title of Cory McLeod’s “unmediated glimpse into the lives of sex workers, minus both glamour and stigmatization.” Those curious enough to buy a ticket found themselves on a tour of a fictitious escort service, a tour guided by two sex workers named Brooke and Claire. Low lights and bossa nova music set the scene for writer and director Cory McLeod’s Minneapolis debut. “Sweat,” which has had successful runs in the South African cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg, is based on conversations that the writer had with prostitutes in South African brothels. “One thing I had to do was be quite persistent. It …

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Hacking flesh, a dense and labored sound. A machete is raised into the air. Silhouetted in the light, the blade is coated with blood, hair and tiny pieces of flesh baked on from hours in the hot African sun. As it comes whipping down there is a shrill cry. The blade penetrates perhaps below the shoulder, wedging itself so deep that it requires a quick jerk to release it. Rarely does the machete do the job on the first blow. Again the knife is raised and lowered, but this time it hits bone, like nails along a chalkboard. It is almost finished. One more strike to the back of the head and the girl is gone. Was she six, seven, or maybe nine? It is hard to tell in her severed state. What was …

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There are bad thrillers and there are good thrillers. And then there are good thrillers that manage to be socially relevant at the same time. I’m very pleased to tell you that “The Interpreter” falls into the last category.A Secret Service agent (Sean Penn) is assigned to investigate when a U.N. interpreter (Nicole Kidman) overhears a plot to assassinate the president of a fictional African nation. Is the plot coming from a rival from his country looking to change the power structure? Or is there more involved? The current president is accused of the genocidal killing of his own people, arming young boys and sending them out to kill (seen in the chilling opening scene). Could the assassination plot actually be a political ploy to divert attention from the slaughters?As far as thrillers go, the …

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At a time when pharmacies are akin to candy stores, appealing to those sent by their shrinks to help cure any and all ailments from anxiety disorders to Zoloft addictions, and the majority of teens getting high are doing so with the help of their parents’ prescriptions, “What the Bleep Do We Know?” searches for answers to life’s problems in other ways than pill-popping. Director William Anrtz’s first film focuses on issues surrounding existentialism and why we are the way we are. The part-documentary, part-fictional drama, part-animation genre mix promises that this film is one of the more original ones you will see this year. The fictional story follows Amanda, (Marlee Matlin), who suddenly finds her world unraveling after she encounters the all-mysterious “rabbit-hole” of the stuff of quantum physics. Interspersed among the drama are …

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Photographer Angie Buckley has warped the space-time continuum in her show “The In-Between,” now at the Larson Art Gallery in the St. Paul Student Center. Buckley takes the photographic past and brings it to the present, while manipulating the faces and spaces that make social and ethnic backgrounds. Buckley uses atypical techniques to bring social identities to the forefront of art. The gelatin silver prints play with scale and composition, as well as reality. For example, in “Blending” the portraits of two young men hover in the foreground of the New York cityscape. The viewer can see the buildings and waterfront because the faces have been cut away, leaving gaping holes for the Twin Towers to show through. The photograph suggests these men are part of the landscape, and who they are is linked to …

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Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai’s 1991 film “Days of Being Wild” is set in 1960, but 2005 audiences will relate to the characters’ longing for intimacy when the movie hits the Oak Street screen next week.“Days of Being Wild” follows charming but irresponsible York through his courtships with two unfortunate women and his resentful relationship with his adoptive mother who refuses to reveal the identity of his birth parents.York’s dissatisfaction with life is a virus that infects everyone he meets. He finds Su Lizhen, a pretty and quiet young woman, minding the counter at her sleepy concession-stand job. But soon after she falls for one of York’s clever pick-up lines, Lizhen is wound up in a malcontented daze.Unable to live up even to Lizhen’s lowered expectations, York picks up Mimi, a bratty nightclub dancer …

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Bodies swayed with a trance-like rhythm at First Avenue on April 17 as Medeski Martin and Wood collectively jammed their way into a frenzy. MMW like to test the boundaries of jazz and funk, walking a tightrope of music and noise, and they never fail to deliver a spectacular show. Playing a venue like First Ave. allowed the trio to reiterate the fact that they craft a good groove like no one else.With his Hammond organ, electric piano, synthesizers and baby grand Steinway, John Medeski has a wide palette of sounds to show off his talents. Drummer Billy Martin is an expert not only of the drum set, but also of hand percussion, shakers, tambourines, bells and trinkets from around the world. Bassist Chris Wood, who switches between upright and electric instruments, creates grooves …

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The University is about to get in on the film festival action. Thursday, April 21, marks a historic beginning for amateur filmmakers as Minnesota Programs Activities Council hosts its first-ever student film festival at Coffman Union Theater. The festival was born out of need, says MPAC committee member Justin Scott. “On such a huge campus with so many students there [had] to be people interested in this.”MPAC tried to host the film festival last year, but started planning too late. At the beginning of this year, however, MPAC decided to make it a priority, Scott says. This year the festival is open only to university students, but over the next few years may grow to encompass surrounding colleges and universities, he says. The films are judged by a three-member panel composed of film …

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After the brutal beating and subsequent death of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in October of 1998 — a death that made Matthew’s a name a household one synonymous with words like “hate crimes” and “homophobia” — playwright Moisés Kaufman and other members of the Tectonic Theater Project traveled from New York City to Laramie, Wyoming and surrounding areas to interview those who knew Shepard and knew of him. They also interviewed those who watched as their humble, all-American town — a town in which the mantra of “live and let live” is engrained within many citizens, suddenly was thrust into the harsh glare of the national spotlight. Shepard’s death forced many of those same citizens to come face to face with the murdered as well as the young murderers whom …

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Chicago’s blackened thrash metal band Usurper contend with the likes of Manowar and 3 Inches of Blood for the title of most metal band in the universe. They have been inducing headbanging in the underground since 1992 and have released five albums, most recently Cryptobeast on Earache Records. Recently I spoke to guitarist Rick Scythe.The Wake: Where do you rate Cryptobeast amongst Usurpers five albums?Rick:Right up there at the top.The Wake: What distinguishes Cryptobeast from other Usurper albums?Rick: A few things… first of all the line-up. We have 3 of the four original members from our debut album and a new killer vocalist as well as a second guitarist since 2000. The second thing is the songs. These songs are built for the stage, it is total over-the-top extreme Heavy Metal. Many songs have big …

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Dinnertime approaches daily, like a swinging pendulum. The when and where may vary for everyone, but the eating hour will always rumble its way into your day. It is this crucial time that has your stomach asking, “how will you fulfill my needs?” while the rest of you debates whether or not you desire the same old dinner. Such thoughts inevitably lead to one conclusion: it is time for a change, and time to eat out!Furthermore, after perusing the restaurant districts you will probably reach two more conclusions: One, you will likely want to eat Asian cuisine instead of fast food; and two, the many Far East options in Dinkytown have the potential to leave even the cleverest person in an internal, cuisine-seeking conflict. It was but four months ago that I faced a similar …

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Hippocrates once said, “Let food be your medicine.” That’s all well and good, as long as the food doesn’t taste like smoked crap rubbed in cod liver oil which leads to a series of gagging reflexes. Such is an apt description for the salmon salad now featured, for what I would assume to be a very limited time, on Subway’s menu.When I think of Subway, I picture that girl in high school who dressed in the 1980s style, off-the-shoulder shirts as soon as she found out it was popular, and who, consequently, didn’t have an original bone in her body. That is Subway. Subway has been hopping on the trend wagon and adapting their menu to every food craze Americans can chew on. The low-fat (7 subs under 6 grams of fat), the low-carb (wraps …

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On a rainy evening, I don’t look forward to going outside for my cigarette. But at First Avenue, waiting for the Shins to come on stage, I go outside. I smoke a cigarette. I smoke another. The photographer and I came early, to get a good spot for photos. I glanced in my wallet to see how much beer I’d be able to drink before the opening act started in an hour an a half. Enough, I thought.After a while, I inevitably end up here in the grey drizzle, smoking, glancing at my watch, talking to friends I didn’t expect to see. I inhale, fingers pressing the cylindrical cigarette, lips tense, as a man slowly walks across the street in front of me, seemingly oblivious to the oncoming traffic. As he approaches the other side …

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If only comics could save the world. We would be laughing our way to a higher moral existence and Dan Piraro, creator of the nationally syndicated comic “Bizarro,” would be our savior. We may not be there yet, but little by little, Piraro contributes to change with the help of his tongue-in-cheek mischief and humor. The University of Minnesota saw this first hand when Piraro came to speak Thursday, April 14, at Willey Hall. “An Evening With Dan Piraro: Bizarro, Cartoons, and Compassion” was sponsored by Compassionate Action for Animals, a local group devoted to educating university students, faculty, and staff about vegetarian and vegan lifestyles and the prevention of animal cruelty. Piraro himself is a vegan and often uses his comic to comment on animal rights, consumerism, the environment, politics, and the nuances of …

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Not but one weekend ago I found myself in a reeling conversation at a Polka dance with George and June Krekowski. George stated, “Yeah we can’t do the Polish hop so good anymore, but we can still do a few Waltzes, and that’s pretty good at our age ya know.” To them and many others Polka and other dances were a way of life and as George mentioned, the Polish hop diminishes in those who can participate in it year by year. The assumptions of the dance relating to German and Polish folk along with large quantities of beer are not too far fetched. As far as I have observed and with those I have spoken, those who continue this tradition are indeed of this heritage, amongst others, and at least …

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