Heeeeeere's Johnny,.. Kubrick's stylish bastardization of Stephen King's "The Shining" is often considered better than the book. Michigan Theater. 7 p.m. $6.25 for students michigandaily.com /arts ft~afg ARTS MONDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2001 A A Spellbinding 'Harry Potter' idelivers magic By Wilhelmina Mauritz Daily Arts Writer Probably one of the most anticipated movies of this year, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" does not The Strokes play Detroit, challenge Nirvana's shadow By Keith Dusenberry Daily Arts Writer I hate the Strokes. The best new band to come along in years, they are rich, young, attractive, tall, tal- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Grade: A At Showcase and Quality 16 Oft disappoint. Many diehard fans may be wary that the movie will not live up to the book (as many movies bear no resemblance to the books on which they are based). However, "Harry Potter," with its 152-minute running time, was able to capture the magic and imagination of J.K. Rowling's vision and not stray from from the plot of the book. Yes, there are subtle differences and minor changes, but nothing drastic. For those who are not familiar with the book, Harry Potter is a young boy -who discovers he's a wizard on his 11th birthday. He is able to leave his dreadful aunt and uncle, with whom he has lived after his parents were killed when he was a baby, and attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At Hogwarts, Harry is famous and loved by every- body (well almost everybody). He is finally able to dis- cover what it feels like to belong with help from his new friends Ron (Rubert Grint), Hermione (Emma "I wish I'd worn a cup!" Watson) and the groundskeeper Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane). Mystery and adventure follow, not to men- tion a whole new magical world filled with Quidditch matches (think Michigan football), three-headed dogs and invisibility cloaks. The three young actors who took up the roles of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were brilliantly suited to their parts. The actors were chosen with Rowling's help to match her vision. The search for the perfect Harry in particular took the longest and has been compared to finding the right Scarlett O'Hara for "Gone With -the Wind." Daniel Radcliffe is the perfect embodiment of Harry Potter. He not only looks identical to the descriptions of Harry's character, but he also does a great job acting, especially with his facial expressions. Personally though, Grint's Ron may have topped Radcliffe's per- formance, playing the ever-faithful sidekick to a T. The true star of "Harry Potter" is not actually a per- son but rather the visual effects. They steal the show. Harry's world is filled with magical moments that could only occur with help from a computer, but are so realis- tic on screen it will blow anyone away. A whole Quid- ditch match is shown, involving Hogwart's students flying on broomsticks chasing a variety of balls that have minds of their own. It all looks so natural that for a minute you forget that you are not watching ESPN but rather computer graphics. Another visual masterpiece is the dining hall, which has floating candles, a banquet of food that appears and disappears in a blink of an eye and a night sky in lieu of a ceiling. Hermione points out that the sky is not really the sky but rather a spell (a little spell we like to call technology). Harry Potter fans will not be disappointed with this film, nor will those who have never even heard of the book (although where that person has been in the last two years would be a mystery to me). The movie is a trip to another world where magic holds the viewer spellbound. Strokes St. Andrews November 17, 2001 f ented and doing what they love as they traverse the globe putting on enig- matically excel- lent shows. This is not to mention that they're from America's new love affair - New York City. Not since Nir- vana captured the essence of early-'90s boredom-born angst has a band been so perfectly suited to its time. Copping their best "Here we are, now entertain us" attitudes, the crowd at St. Andrew's Hall Saturday night was appropriately diverse for this new millenium of music. Grunge kids having grown into so many sub-genres (indie, emo, garage, etc.) over the years, the Strokes' variously influenced sound attracted a representative contingent from each bunch. But through the years, no matter in which niche they eventually landed, the Children of Nirvana have grown up and their tastes matured. They've traded their thrift store flannel for designer denim, homeless chic for mussed prep, coffeehouses for local bars, heroin heroes for cigarettes-and- beer boys. Far from the Cobain-ly strung out, sloppy live sound, the Strokes performance was perfectly precise and full of vigor. Each member of the band executed every note like he meant it, but the Strokes' live per- formance comprised a study in con- trasts. Guitarist Nick Valensi and Bassist Nikolai Fraiture hardly moved whilst playing, both standing stoically behind their instruments as if the music siphoned their energy to move and shot it through the speakers. But drummer Fab Moretti and guitarist Albert Hammond relentlessly punished their instru- ments, Moretti's mop of curls flying just as wildly as Hammond's wind- mill windup strums. And with them, lead singer Julian Casablancas, the manchild behind the Strokes who writes all of the music and all of the words, stumbled and careened around the stage visibly drunk, but musically flawless. Unfortunately, the contrast between the band's live show and only record, Is This It, is all but nonexistent. The concert's song order was like the CD on shuffle, as was the actual sound. It is com- mendable that the Strokes can put out such a good album and com- pletely and accurately recreate it on stage, but it was also a little disap- pointing for the concert attendees who already knew it. With the exception of Casablancas' addition of the occasional "fuck" to the lyrics and the new, but entirely unremarkable, song "Meet Me in the Bathroom," the Strokes' live show sounded exactly like their record. But there was added live intensi- ty, largely drawn from the audience. At such a scenester-style show, one might expect a sea of hipster head- nod, but at a few points there was full on contact hopping (just short of moshing) and even a few air- pumping fists. Mostly in their '20s, the crowd who sang, "I feel stupid and contagious" as part of their adolescent anthem may well adopt the Strokes' "Barely Legal" chorus of "Oh, you ain't never had nothin' I wanted, but/I want it all/I just can't figure out/Nothing" as its more mature mantra. Regardless of how much older, wiser or cooler the crowd gets, live music remains a collective experience and Saturday night showed that Generation What- ever is ready for it. The Strokes' Is This It release date was delayed two weeks due to the September events, but it was originally scheduled to come out on Sept. 25 - exactly ten years and one day after the release of Never- mind. Ten years and five weeks after Nirvana played St. Andrew's Hall for the first and last time, the Strokes appeared there and showed Detroit that hopefully music's direc- tion is about to again change for the better. I'm not like them, but I can pre- tend ... The Strokes rock a sold out St. Andrews in Detroit. Courtesyy Friends are already hitting Harry (right) up for money. II