ARTS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday,.April 17, 2002 -11 w~v 'xu~ur.v v~.% .... 9vv:S' xnvw..vv~n..nv. "nn'n rwv~rn .rnnwn.".."w: :..+. .v ~ .*pR>:J . "vJxv+v:..vn . . r: #WpC Celtic punk band Flogging Molly coming to Royal Oak *"9WA-Wwll ""m~~4 A rare unreleased photo of the cast of "The Usual Suspects." Never before seen, ever. Just kidding wives. Keyser oZe reve in special edition 'Usual Suspects'DV By Tony Ding Daily Arts Writer "I'm a legal alien as of last year," Dave King declares proudly. Being a Dublin-born Irishman, the founder and vocalist of Celtic-punk band Flogging Molly fondly relates his American tale of being a ten year immigrant. King's lads and lasses, merrily named Flog-F ging Molly, are tour- FLOG ing the nation in support of their MC newest album, Drunk- At Royal' en Lullibies, follow-up Th to FM's 2000 debut Mon. Al Swagger. at 8 p.j The band's colorful namesake apparently comes from a small Irish watering hole on Fairfax Boulevard in Los Angeles. "It was Molly Malone's where we all met each other indi- vidually," explains King. They were a regular on Monday nights and, as King puts it, "it was just a spur of the moment thing, ya know? Like we were always floggin' Molly's." Tis the luck of the Irish, perhaps, that the Dublin immigrant rallied FM's troupe of accordions, fiddles, whistles and mandolins into the fierce Celtic-rock embodied in eat lpi Drunken Lullabies. The music is a beautiful metaphor for the hybrid of L.A.'s tenacious punk-core mania, and the emerald isle's bygone chantry. "I love living in America," enthuses King. "I had an opportuni- ty when I came over here ten years ago to either go back to Ireland, or stay in America and so I decided to stay in America. And I'm glad that I made that decision, because SING it's been a real enjoy- able experience." King LY attributes much of his ak Music success and the quality ter of Flogging Molly's ril 25th lyrics to his move to i. $12 the U.S., or as he explains: "To get away from my surroundings, to get way from it, and then to be able to look back on it. If I hadn't moved to America, there'll be no way I'd be writing of situations that I write about right now." He has put himself in an immigrant's shoes and writes about the experiences. "I wrote about what I've left behind, where I'd come from, and been able to look at it from a nostalgic point of view," adds King. "I'm very proud of where I come from!" Mentioned often in reference to contemporaries Still Little Fingers By Jeff Dickerson Daily Arts Editor Who is Keyser Soze? Verbal Kint is. The gold-lighter-carrying, gold-watch- wearing cripple from New York who people say talks too much is the one and only Keyser Soze. For those who have still not seen "The Usual Sus- pects," too bad. The film has been out for nearly seven years, you had your chance. Arriving in theaters in August of 1995, "The Usual Suspects" came and went relatively unnoticed, earning a modest $23 million at the domestic box office. It wasn't until months after the home video release that the film gained a massive following, a follow- ing that continues to grow to this day. "The Usual Suspects" is a well- blended crime thriller with witty dia- logue and neo-noir cinematography that harken back to the grand days of film noir, reminiscent of films like Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity" and Otto Preminger's "Laura." The ensem- ble cast is dynamic, with every actor giving a memorable performance. Steven Baldwin, Bencio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak and Gabriel Byrne are outstanding, but none tops actor-extra- ordinare Kevin Spacey. The greatest benefactor from the success of the low-budget crime thriller was clearly Spacey. Since his Academy Award- winning performance as Verbal Kint, Spacey has received criti- cal acclaim for a multi- 8 tude of films, including Curtis Hanson's "L.A. THE Confidential," Lasse SUS Hallstrom's "The Ship- ping News," and Sam Picture/Sou Mendes' "American Movie: ** Beauty," which earned Features: * him a Best Actor Oscar in 2000. M This is the third version U PE nd AG of "The Usual Suspects" on DVD, and easily the most impressive release so far. MGM purchased the rights of the film from original distributor Polygram a few years ago, and released a bare bones DVD in December of 1999, with the only special feature being a com- mentary track from director Singer and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. The latest incarnation of "The Usual Suspects" includes a new anamorphic transfer of the film in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is a significant improvement over the prior releases, improving the contrast and richness of colors. The presentation handles the multiple night scenes well, giving the dark shots dense shadows. For those who still cannot handle the black bars on their TV sets, a fullscreen version of the film is an option, albeit a poor one. Compared to the earlier DVD, the sound on the new special edition is not a noticeable upgrade, as audio- philes will probably be the only ones who notice any distinct changes. The 5.1 surround mix is well balanced, and makes great use of John Ottman's dramatic score. Two commentary tracks are included, one of which is, the previously available narration by director Singer and writer McQuar- rie. The alternate commentary is pro- vided by "The Usual Suspects" editor/composer John Ottman. Singer and McQuarrie have a good time dis- cussing stories from the set and pointing out nuances in the film, while Ottman is much more technical TSUAL in his analysis. ECTS Featurettes are abohnd in the special :*** edition release of "The ** Usual Suspects." There ** are five found in the special features menu, M one of which was previ- ously available as a pro- motional piece. The longest of the group is "Doin' Time with the Sus- pects," a 26-minute-long piece high- lighting the relationship between the actors on the set. "Pursing the Sus- pects" looks at the development of the five main characters, and the cast- ing process to fill each of the roles. Perhaps the most intriguing new material of all the extra features is "Keyser Soze - Lie or Legend," a featurette that focuses on the clues in the movie that reveal the man behind the Keyser Soze mask. Other extras include theatrical trailers, TV spots, five deleted scenes and a seven-minute-long gag reel made by director Singer himself. The extra features amount to a few hours worth of material, most of which the avid fan of the film will enjoy immensely. MGM has made great leaps with their special edition releases, providing a wealth of material at an inexpensive price, often under $20. "The Usual Suspects" is one of the finest films of the past decade, and MGM's new spe- cial edition treatment of the neo-noir instant classic is a must-own. and the Dropkick Murphys, Flog- ging Molly's pub-born background has led them recently from sweaty clubs to a consecutive three years on the Vans Warped Tour. "It's the best thing we've done as a band," claims King, who touts: "You know, you have the bands on there that you don't generally get to see, which I think is just a great thing. It's just a lot of fucking fun!" To the band's influences, King gives nods to Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers, who he praises as a "great song-writer." For King, SLF "were definitely an influence as a child growing up in Ireland. I love his lyrics, and he writes from a per- sonal level as well, which is some- thing I do." FM's new album relates gut- wrenching tales of struggle and tri- umph, and some of the most honest personal accounts you'll hear in punk music today. On the combina- tion of punk with traditional Celtic chimes, the Irish-American thinks that it's a very natural combination. "I think traditional music is music that was written by people who had nothing in their lives but their instruments," explains King. "All they had was their music. And I think mixing what we do with that is a very natural thing to do." The infusion certainly works well, as Flogging Molly's live per- formances have quickly grown to legendary proportions since they've been on tour. However, Dave King warns fans not to expect anything. "Just come and see what happens. I'm not really into going in to see anything with an expectation," offers King. "Just go and have a good time, and be open - be open to everything! Flogging Molly is on tour with fellow label-mates Avoid One Thing, whose drummer Dave Karci- ch unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm two weeks ago. Speaking on this sudden tragedy, King con- firmed that Joe Sirois, drummer for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, will now be playing drums for Avoid One Thing for the rest of the tour. "The reason that they're doing it is that the family wants them to con- tinue," King said. Over-coming adversity in the face of challenges and hardship, it's what Flogging Molly means. Courtesy of Side One Dummy Records Desmond says to Flogging Molly, "Girl, I like your face." Congratulations! The Handleman Company would like to welcome the following University of Michigan graduates to the eighth class of our Management Associate Training Program, June 2002. Ana Ladron Stephanie Kelly Go Blue! Handleman Win afree DVD player. CometoSenior Days, when you pick up your commencement tickets. Brought to you by your Alumni Association! Sign upforaone-year FREE membership in the Alumni Association. 8a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sophia B. 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