The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, April 6, 2016 — 5A
‘Copy’ reveals true
genius of late Ephron
By SOPHIA KAUFMAN
Daily Arts Writer
It was a family mantra passed
down through the matriarchs,
starting with Jacob Bernstein’s
grandmother:
“Everything is
copy.” In this
documentary
tribute
to
his
mother,
Nora
Ephron,
Bernstein
profiles
Ephron’s
professional
life
as
a
journalist,
screenwriter
and
director,
using both her
own
words
and those of others close to her.
“Everything is Copy” reveals
nothing extraordinary, but it
is a treat to hear the profound
respect that Ephron’s friends and
coworkers had for her and her
influential work.
Before
she
created
the
touchstone titles “Sleepless in
Seattle,”
“When
Harry
Met
Sally” and “You’ve Got Mail,”
Ephron was a journalist. In
“Everything is Copy,” Gay Talese
says one can’t always tell with a
daily paper how strong of a writer
someone is; but once Ephron
started writing essays, everyone
began to take notice. Her editor
at Alfred Knopf talks about how
she broke through a lot of glass
ceilings. She launched herself
into the intellectual stratosphere
of New York City with her
writing for Esquire Magazine,
especially with her essays during
the growing women’s rights
movement, introducing people
to feminism with succinct and
sparkling essays that were easy
to digest.
The quippy remarks from
everyone who admired Ephron
reflect her own writing. She could
be acerbic — “she had a razor in
her back pocket,” says one — but
she also refused to mask any
sympathy for her subjects when
she felt it. The love felt for Ephron
and her work shines through in
the interview segments. Steven
Spielberg says making Ephron
laugh was like winning an Oscar.
“She understood love, I think,”
reflects Meryl Streep.
“Everything is Copy” follows
Ephron’s career chronologically,
but it is intercut with other
figures — Lena Dunham, Gaby
Hoffmann, Reese Witherspoon,
Rita Wilson — reading some of
her essays out loud. Those shots
are black and white and simply
framed,
giving
viewers
the
time and space to fully focus on
Ephron’s words.
The entire documentary is
littered with sharp, clever, biting
remarks that Ephron has said
throughout the years, — on the
air or to journalists — spicing
up Bernstein’s narration. Her
gift for turning a phrase is made
strikingly obvious. She cuts off
one talk show host who is trying
to defend Julie Nixon — about
whom Ephron had written —
shrewdly guessing that he nurses
a soft spot for her. He admits it,
smiling, asking if she doesn’t, and
she adamantly replies, “I think
she’s a chocolate covered spider.”
Later on, when asked what
makes Tom Hanks (“Sleepless in
Seattle”) and Meg Ryan (“When
Harry Met Sally”) the king and
queen of romantic comedies, she
says, “Two great brains, and the
fact that they look like they’re
from the same food group.”
The documentary focuses just
as much on Ephron’s personal
life as it does on her professional
career, perhaps because she used
her own life as material for her
screenplays. The story of her
divorce is intercut with shots
from the film adaptation of her
novel
“Heartburn,”
directed
by Mike Nichols. Nichols talks
about how Ephron dealt with
being “publicly cuckolded,” an
experience not many people
survive. The awe in his voice is
apparent when he relates how
she did it.
“She moved to the Gottlieb’s
house, cried for six months, and
wrote it funny. And in writing
it funny, she won. And betrayed
women all over the world knew
it, and cheered.”
There’s
a
montage
in
the documentary of all the
interviewees being asked if they
knew she was sick towards the
end of her life. Every single one
says no, even those working on
“Julie and Julia,” the film with
which Ephron had the closest
working
relationship.
Nora
Ephron died of leukemia at the
age of 71, very rapidly. Her death
is portrayed as a shock to the
entire populace of New York
City. There’s a montage of clips
from different news sources
and channels sharing the news
of her death, demonstrating her
transnational influence.
“Everything
is
Copy”
would’ve
been
stronger
if
Bernstein
had
abstained
from
projecting
his
own
psychoanalytic interpretation of
his mother’s decision to keep the
news of her sickness from people
onto her story. But the last word
of the documentary is “pie,”
followed by a lazy jazz number
that fades in and out as the end
credits roll. It sounds strange,
but it works. It’s the last thing
that Ephron said she would miss
about life in her final book, “I
Remember Nothing and Other
Reflections.”
A-
Everything
is Copy:
Nora
Ephron,
Scripted
and
Unscripted
HBO
Last Friday night, I set my
alarm with one mission in mind:
to finish Saturday’s run before
Ann Arbor’s 45th annual Hash
Bash began. It was still dark
when
I
set
out
the
next
morn-
ing,
but
I
happily
took sleep
depriva-
tion, cold
fingers
and
scat-
tered snow
showers
over streets saturated with mari-
juana.
Before I offend any Hash Bash
attendees, here’s a disclaimer:
I very strongly (and maybe
unfairly) despise weed.
Part of my hatred stems from
the act of smoking itself. Like all
runners, I prize my lungs. The
idea of inhaling something that
could harm my breathing makes
me anxious. (Full disclosure:
I was the kid who coughed
obnoxiously whenever I passed
someone on their cigarette break,
convinced that secondary smoke
would give me lung cancer.)
When I first encountered
marijuana
in
high
school,
being a “stoner” was a persona.
Smoking weed was relaxing, my
classmates said. To “judgemental
me,” they were lazy. And out of
shape. I dismissed marijuana
enthusiasts as gluttonous and
sluggish — kids who were always
on the sofa, hacking up a lung,
Doritos in hand.
And yet, some defied the stoner
stereotype. And they continue
to defy it: they’re stellar cross
country
runners,
swimmers,
skiers, cyclists, rock climbers.
Somehow,
(despite
several
health risks from marijuana
found in published studies) they
rank among the best in their
competitive fields.
Who
are
these
athletes?
People like Clifford Drusinsky,
an
venerable
triathlete
who
eats an energy bar laced with
20 milligrams of THC (the
chemical found in marijuana)
before a three-hour bike ride.
Or Avery Collins, a 23-year-old
ultrarunner from Colorado who
recently ran a 100-mile race in
Hawaii. In an interview with
the Wall Street Journal, Collins
explained his training regimen:
he typically runs about 150 miles
weekly and consumes weed four
or five times each week as well.
Rather
than
smoking
the
plant, Collins uses a vaporizer,
eats weed edibles and rubs a
marijuana-infused balm on his
legs, which helps numb physical
aches from his ultra-distance
runs. Similarly, by ingesting a
little weed before he runs, Collins
controls for nausea (which is
crucial for a long run) and helps
with the mental challenges of the
sport. The marijuana occupies
his mind, which reduces anxiety
and dulls the tedium of miles.
It also helps him sleep. As
Collins explained in the article,
“You’re running for 17 to 20 hours
straight, and when you stop,
sometimes your legs and your
brain don’t just stop ... Sometimes
[marijuana] is the only way I can
fall asleep after racing.”
Collins isn’t alone in his post-
running ritual. In an interview
with Runner’s World, Jeff Serber,
a 42-year-old runner from Los
Angeles, called the plant his
painkiller of choice — especially
after two hip surgeries, a hernia
surgery, and severe arthritis
in his toe. He told Runner’s
World, “You can take an Advil,
which will help the swelling and
inflammation, but it’s also very
taxing on your liver ... I can’t do
[prescription
pain
medicine]
and function as a normal human
being.”
Serber continued, “As a weed
smoker, I can function.”
The issue of “functioning” is
what typically divides athletes,
scientists and physicians (not to
mention the rest of society) on the
marijuana debate. Even as weed
becomes increasingly legalized
in states — prompting magazines
like Outside to investigate, “Can
Pot Make You a Better Athlete?” —
many people are understandably
hesitant to add marijuana to their
workout routines, regardless of its
supposed benefits.
Can weed be healthy? Few
scientists have studied the effects
of marijuana on fitness, but many
athletes have recently “come
out of the cannabis closet” to
describe their experiences. What
we do know is that THC binds
to the cannabinoid receptors in
our brains, which are the same
receptors activated when we
experience a “runner’s high.”
Whether
our
cannabinoids
are hijacked naturally through
exercise or synthetically, through
marijuana, the “high” we feel is
marked by “sedation, analgesia,
mild happiness, the loss of the
sensation of time and a loss of
worries,” according to Runner’s
World.
For
some
weed
smokers,
being free of worry can be equal
to being lazy. But for others,
marijuana
has
an
opposite
effect: it makes athletes feel
invincible. A skier who consumes
weed, for example, may be
willing to tackle terrain that
intimidated him before. As an
anonymous climbing guide said
in Men’s Journal, “People have a
stereotype of a zoned-out stoner,
but for a lot of people, [weed] it
makes them super-focused and
motivated ... it’s like drinking two
espressos.”
Obviously, there are risks
involved with weed. For every
one skier who focuses better
after taking a hit, there are
dozens whose cognitive and
fine motor skills are negatively
affected by the drug, putting
them in dangerous situations (i.e.
straight into a tree). Marijuana
is also known to increase heart
rate and blood flow to the brain,
potentially causing cardiac arrest
and stroke.
Besides
its
deadlier
side
effects,
marijuana’s
anxiety-
reducing
capabilities
and
bronchodilating effects (which
increases airflow to the lungs)
prompted
the
World
Anti-
Doping Agency to ban the drug
from athletic competitions — but
the rule is shifting. In 2013, the
WADA raised the level of THC
permissible for athletes, enabling
elites to train with marijuana
outside of competitions.
Will marijuana be the training
supplement
of
the
future?
Unlikely. Or at least, not publicly.
Because despite our country’s
growing acceptance of weed, and
despite the elite athletes who
debunk the stoner stereotype,
the negative stigma of marijuana
is hard to shake — especially in
the world of athletics.
Here’s the thing: marijuana
isn’t banned from competition
because
it’s
a
performance
enhancer. Weed doesn’t bother
me, or anyone else for that
matter, the same way steroids
do — because smoking doesn’t
necessarily give the athlete an
advantage over his competitors.
But it taints the purity of the
sport. When Olympic swimmer
Michael Phelps was caught on
camera smoking weed from
a bong in 2009, it caused a
worldwide
uproar.
Reporters
fished for reasons, sponsors
wanted
apologies,
parents
labeled him a bad role model.
One picture was all it took to take
Phelps off the podium and into
the streets of Hash Bash.
In the future, there may be
concrete evidence of marijuana’s
health benefits, particularly for
athletes. But until then, I think
I’ll stick with the runner’s high.
Middlebrook is watching
you eat those Doritos. To
ask for salad recipes, email
hailharp@umich.edu.
HEALTH COLUMN
Is pot the new
PowerBar?
HAILEY
MIDDLEBROOK
HBO
Can’t go wrong with a classic black turtleneck.
Pointless ‘Huntsman’
relies on stereotypes
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
“Mom likes me better.”
By RACHEL RICHARDSON
Daily Arts Writer
Once upon a time gender roles
weren’t accurately portrayed in
Hollywood.
“The
Huntsman:
Winter’s War” reminds us of
those darker times, not only by
bringing back these cringeworthy
stereotypes,
but
also
by
regurgitating a worn-out theme.
Essentially,
the
insanely
predictable narrative tries to
emphasize how love conquers
all. Sticking to tradition, an
overly
optimistic
sounding
narrator introduces us to two
sisters, the evil queen Ravenna
(Charlize Theron, “Mad Max:
Fury Road”) and her nicer (but
not nice) sister, Freya (Emily
Blunt, “Sicario”). After a series
of unfortunate events, Freya
deserts her homeland to start her
own kingdom, founded on the
idea that loving is a sin. But, of
course, two of her citizens, Eric
(Chris Hemsworth, “Avengers:
Age of Ultron”) and Sara (Jessica
Chastain, “The Martian”), fell
deeply in love and formulate a
plan to escape. Freya manages
to separate them, but the couple
inevitably reunites seven years
later. Then, Eric, now a soldier in
Snow White’s kingdom, is tasked
with
finding
Ravenna’s
powerful
mirror
before
Freya does. To
enhance
the
talent
of
his
dream
team,
Eric
permits
four
bumbling
trolls
to
accompany him
and Sara on their
journey. All of
the tension built
up throughout the film culminates
in Freya’s castle, though mostly
everyone still manages to live
happily ever after in the end.
Sadly,
“The
Hunstman:
Winter’s War” fails to offer
anything new to the fairytale
genre.
Sara’s
middle
name
might as well be Katniss, as she
annoyingly emphasizes that she
“never misses” with her bow
and arrow at every opportunity.
Katniss and Sara also share the
unappealing quality of acting like
a femme fatale one moment and
a hopeless damsel in distress the
next. As well there’s no question
that Freya is the non-animated
version of Elsa from “Frozen.”
Both possess the ability to turn
anything into an ice sculpture,
(a power that stems from the
coldness of their hearts.) Even the
costuming is similar — both flaunt
extravagant dresses that tinkle
as they stride across their frozen
fortresses. At least Elsa can release
her overly exaggerated emotions
by breaking into song — Blunt
expresses her feelings through
excessive whines and screeches.
Chris
Hemsworth’s
performance confirms why few
people regard the Huntsman as
a remarkable hero. Hemsworth
ferociously
tears
off
Blunt’s
clothes during their countless
make out scenes, portraying
the false idea that in an ideal
relationship, the man is allowed
to literally and figuratively strip
her of all she has. Not only is it
hard to comprehend why he
carries out most of his actions in
the way that he does, it’s often
difficult to discern what exactly
Hemsworth is saying because
of his accent, which strangely
wasn’t an issue in any of the
“Avengers” movies.
Even in this type of fantasy
movie, there is a fine line
between acceptably unreal and
downright bizarre. Somehow the
film manages to avoid crossing
this line until the final duel
between the two sisters. When
Ravenna loses all control of her
emotions, a disgusting black goo
oozes from her mouth. As it drips
off her teeth and splatters down
her chin, she appears appear
more like a bloodthirsty vampire
than enraged queen. We’re made
well aware that Freya is fully
enraged when her pupils are
replaced with glowing white
spheres. While this is slightly
less frightening, its strangeness
is incredibly uncomfortable.
The dialogue throughout the
entire film encourages an insane
number of facepalms, but the
award for worst banter goes to
the dumb exchanges between
Nion (Nick Frost, “Shaun of the
Dead”) and Doreena (Alexandra
Roach, “The Iron Lady”), the
troll couple that can only be
identified by their robustness
and
stupidity.
Instead
of
achieving the intended wit by
being clever, their conversation
draws laughs because of its
pathetic reliance on the liberal
usage of contemporary double
entendre. As the two paddle
their canoe, which has deeper
sexual implications in itself,
Doreena remarks that she has
suddenly become very thirsty.
She then turns around when
Nion comments that running
also makes him thirsty. They
then proceed to discuss how
the saltiness of certain foods
also increases their levels of
thirst.
When
Doreena
faces
forward again, the smile we all
know indicates she’s getting laid
tonight creeps across her face.
Unlike these two bumbling
trolls, my love life hasn’t been so
promising lately. And while I’d
like to make my enemies suffer,
I’m not evil enough to cast a
spell that would force them to sit
through this deplorable film.
F
The
Huntsman:
Winter’s
War
Universal
Pictures
State Theater
FILM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW