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ARTS
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BOUNCE WITH ME
Paltrow, fleck fall
flat in sappy chick flick
GywneTh PaLIOW
Pirthdate: September 28, 1972 e
Leggy height: 5'9"
Uploma: Dropped out of UC-Santa
Barbara after one year
Honors and Awards: Voted "Most
Stuck-Up" in Movieline's "100
Most..." poll; also, Best Actress
Academy Award
Personal mantra: "Beauty, to me,
iu about being comfortable in your
own skin. That, or a kick-ass red
lipstick."
By Leslie Boxer
Daily Ais writer
A hopeless romantic at heart, I eager-
ly anticipated the latest celluloid date
movie, "Bounce." Visions of Gwyneth
Paltrow and Ben Affleck falling in love
danced around in my little head to the
tune of "The Nutcracker Suite." Perhaps
I was hoping for too much. The film was
a romance but not a true love story. The
emotional twists and turns associated
with the plot replace the romantic movie
that I had envi-
sioned.
B o u n c e"
starts with the
Bounce introduction of
Buddy Amaral
Grade: C+ (Ben Affleck), a
hot shot Los
At Showcase Angeles advertis-
ing executive, on
his way home
after closing a big
deal with Infinity
Airlines. His
fliuht is delayed at
O'Hare where he
meets a hot Dallas blonde (Natasha
H enstridge) and a struggling play-
wright/family man, Greg .lenello (Tony
Goldwvn). Buddy gives Greg his airline
ticket in exchange for a panty-raid with
the blonde only to find out exactly how
fate works; the plane Buddy was sched-
uled to be on crashes. Unable to release
himself from his guilt, Buddy does a lit-
tle crashingz of his own. Upon returning
to L.A., over the next much fast-for-
warded year, Buddy turns into an alco-
holic. The sto'rv resumes after Buddy
returns from rehab and, as a part of the
infamous AA twelve step program, tries
to relieve his sense of responsibility for
(ireg's death by visiting Abby .lenello
(Gwyneth Paltrow), Greg's widow.
B ddy finds Abby, an amateur real-
estate agent, and maneuvers his way into
her life After spending a little time with
Abby, never telling her the secret con-
nection they share. Buddy falls in love.
This part of the story is a bit underdevel-
oped: They go on one date and suddenly
he wants Abby to be "his last call of the
day." While the chemistry is most cer-
tainly believable, the timing is hard to
stomach. The reason this lack of devel-
opment slips by is because the off-screen
relationship between Ben and Gwyneth
easily translates to the big screen, allow-
ing the audience to accept the leap from
strangers to lovers.
The pairing of the two on-again-off-
again lovers as an onscreen duo, while
an excellent idea in theory, complicates
matters. Even though both actors give
good performances, it is hard to escape
that they are not playing Gwyneth
Paltrow and Ben Affleck. It is particular-
ly difficult to see Gwyneth Paltrow as an
ordinary mother of two. Despite demon-
strating the understated intensity and
depth of emotion that Abby deserves,
Paltrow somehow cannot shed her star
persona. The dyed brown hair and
frumpy clothes, while in certain respects
make her more believable as a widow
with kids, seems ill-fitted on Paltrow.
Regardless, their chemistry works on
screen and perhaps that is all that is
needed.
Chemistry or no chemistry, the film
drags. The problem here is with the tim-
ing of the anticipated confrontation of
who Buddy is and why he sought to
meet Abby. Unfortunately director Don
Roos ("The Opposite of Sex") tries to
play with the audience a bit too much -
we see many a scene in which Affleck
wants to deliver the speech yet just can-
not. Yet this anticipation works against
the film and its pace is off.
The film, which has a lot of intelli-
gent dialogue, tries to give the audi-
ence an emotional bounce: We are
happy, we are sad, we want them to get
together but we don't know if it'll
work out in the end. All of this is'
pulled off because of the acting of both
Affleck and Paltrow; both deliver and
show depth of character. The film is
good - it is a date movie without the
tingly romantic feelings that often
nake guys regret letting the girl pick
the movie.
Diploma: Dropped out of University
of Vermont after one semester;
Frid ay night rocks in Ann Arbor: Keb'
Mo'
struts a
By Gautam Baksi
" Longtime Ann Arbor bies faxvorite Keb' Mo' (a.k.a.
Kevin Moore) hit the stage of the MIich an Theater
Keb' Mo'
Michigan Theater
Nov. 17, 2000
last Ftidav ci ttht wearing his
trademark Stetson hat. What fol-
lowed for the next two hours was
('ne of Keb Mo's longest shows,
coverin( etmanv grooves oft his
recent studio release T1t Door
as wcll as slower versions of his
classic hits. Other instruments
on-stage included an electric
and bass guitar, a couple of key-
boards (depending on the inten-
sity of the songs) and a drum-
mer. Strapping on his harmonica
holder, Mo' even performed sev-
eral solo acoustic numbers to the
audience's delight.
Michigan
Cvct electrified numbers like "She Just Wants to
Dance" lacked their rich. studio sound
nqluestionably, Mo's voice was in top foim, but th
ampl ificat ion ol other instrumetits fhi led to keep upI
With his superb vocals. Though the large majority of
the set spanned songs offs his fourth release. Mo' was
certain to include a number of hits off his Grammv-
wtntin CD's, Slow Down and Just Like Kou. Lvrics
were filled with images from Mo's childhood in
Compton, CA, raised with his three sisters by his
mother, the owner of a hair shop. It was obvious Mo'
childhood had a dcep impact on his music, as his base
was primarily the SoC 'al blues of Muddy Waters and
Robert Johnson. Though some may have mistaken his
fingerpicking blues style for Robert Johnson. Mo's
music clearly displayed a wide variety of influences
from Bobby McFarrin to R. Kelly.
Eary in the night, Mo' spoke about feelingz "ner-
vous" at the Michigan Theater as opposed to his
"home in Ann Arbor., the Bling Pig where he has
played numCrous times. Mo's so-called nervousness
was evident as some songs like "1Dangerous Mood
Theater...
crawled at times with slowed rhythm and beats.
. however, more upbeat songs like "The Action" and
"Soon as I Get Paid" found the audience clapping and
singing along to the enjoyment of fans and the musi-
f cians alike.
Though songs spanned folk, rock, blues and even
R&B, Mo' admits he tried to stick to the blues. "I
don't have a rock-'n-roll soul. I don't have a jazz soul.
I have a blues soul -- that's what speaks to me the
loudest, so that's why I chose blues. I can go through
the motions with jazz and rock, but it's just very
mechanical. Blues - I feel it."
Classic blues songs ranged from his Robert
Johnson covers to extensive slide guitar work featured
on a majority of the songs. The highlight of the night
included a special request from a little girl in the audi-
ence for "Perpetual Blues Machine." Though not
planned on the set-list, Mo' stopped the show, picked
up his acoustic guitar and ripped open his best perfor-
mance of the night. Keb' did warn the young fan, "I
don't understand why you like this song, but I'm
gonna play it anyway."
The overall tone of the concetl was very mellow, as
Who's the guitar-slinger in the crazy Stetson hat? Keb' Mo' of course.
...while Shankar family plays Hill.
By Ben Oxenburg
Daily Arts Writer
The music hits you like a powerful, con-
suming vacuum. It takes you on a spiritual
journey of self-discovery. It absorbs you
like a clean hungry sponge. It suspends you
Ravi and
Anoushka
Shankar
Hill Auditorium
Nov. 17, 2000
in a bubble like state,
leaving you floating
like a thick, slowly dis-
sipating cloud of
smoke.
On Friday night at
Hill Auditorium, sitar
virtuoso Ravi Shankar
and daughter Anoushka
connected with the musicians to produce a
mood which was specific and uniquely
crafted for that night.
The first set of the night consisted of five
musicians seated on a raised platform in an
X formation with Anoushka Shankar posi-
tioned in the center. Ravi Shankar didn't
collaborate with his daughter until the sec-
ond set. The two tabla players, Bikram
(hosh and Tanmoy Bose, sat in front of
Ravi and Anoushka Shankar, who sat in the
middle.
This formation not only allowed
Anoushka to showcase her talents (at the
young age of 19) but it also let the sitar be
the instrument that provided the foundation
in different forms. These give all of the
songs a wonderful hypnotic quality of con-
trivance and ever-increasing spontaneity
that led the audience to full attention. A
visual form of the music would likely
resemble a circle that undulates and inflates
while still retaining its original shape.
A few songs were veritable climaxes,
beginning with a single plucking or ta
resonation and ending with a multitude.'
sounds, all in-sync and colliding together.
Although the first set was outstandingn ith
an Anoushka solo, the highlight of Fridav's
show was the second set, when the musi-
cians were joined by Ravi and where it was
clear that everyone on stage felt a little
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