0 Monday November 17, 2003 michigandaily.com artseditor@michigandaily.com 2 pbditutam aUg WRTS 8A I I 4 Courtesy of Tag Team Media So ... uh, you guys like Gordon Lightfoot, eh? Art, politics and the new Stars of Canadian music By Alex Wosky normal school," Millan confesses. "I Daily Arts Writer needed the arts." "(The Tories) had cut it so there was Art and politics have always had a no such thing as arts in a lot of high ynamic relationship. Often clashing schools," she notes. "They don't have with one another, some of the greatest any visual art, they don't have any artistic expressions have come as a music classes and they don't have any reaction to political decisions. Torquil instruments. They have nothing. (The Campbell and Amy Millan, two of the Tories) had cut it out." driving forces behind the Montreal pop The replacement of the Tory party quartet Stars, have recognized first- came at a time when Ontario politics hand how political decisions can serve were at an all-time low. But Camp- to unite a community of artists. bell can't help but acknowledge the "In Toronto right now I feel like Darwinist benefits that also came as there is a lot of art being made in all a result of their reactionary educa- areas, not just music," according to tional policies. Campbell. "Bad times often make for "In some ways the Harris govern- great art." ment and all the problems Ontario In early October, Ontario resi- has had over the past decade has dents voted out the governing Con- actually made it so that people who 8ervative Party from the provincial weren't really doing anything seri- Parliament, a victory for Dalton ously (with respect to art) fucked off McGuinty's Liberal Party. somewhere else," claims Campbell. "I was really excited," said Millan, "People who have something to say remembering her first iAiii es n ao and are really committed to living in the new government, "but they're all that community have really stepped" the same assholes, really. That's the up their game and have extended" unfortunate state of politicseg w eir voice. These people are becom- You're just happy when the person you ing more vital now as time goes on." disliked gets kicked out:' The success of many nascent Cana- -The eight years of Tory rule in dian artists can be seen everywhere. bntario cast a direct impact on Camp- Broken Social Scene's latest You For- bell and Millan, as well as many other got It in People was released domesti- emerging bands in Canada. For bands cally to critical praise. Stars' latest like Broken Social Scene, the Con- album Heart has sold more than 3,000 stantines and the Weakerthans, the copies in Canada alone, which Camp- reactionary policies of the Tory gov- bell denotes as a success. "We've sold rnment blocked the programs that got in Canada in eight months what we've them interested in making music in the sold in three weeks in America. first place. There's not a lot of growing room in S"It was a really dark time in Canada. You've got to transcend that, Pntario's politics," Millan notes. which Broken (Social Scene) has (Mike Harris) did terrible things for begun to do." education. He cut arts (programs) When asked about the future of %vhich were the whole reason there are Canadian politics, both Campbell and bands like (Stars), Metric and Broken Millan were blunt. "I don't want to (Social Scene). We're out here only completely sound like an old curmudg- because we had it in school." eon, I think in politics there are people Campbell recalls the period as a trying to do well," he notes. "As I've dark moment for the arts in Canada. gotten older, I've realized that you have "They cut anything that didn't make to work within politics but nothing will you into an office worker, essentially," change in the world if people don't Campbell said. "I think the Harris change their lives, and that's where art government was full of ideologues. comes into play. The power of self- They didn't care about the conse- expression and understanding other quences of what they were doing; they people's expressions is where you can did it because they thought it was ide- get so much achieved." ologically correct." "I think things are going to change "They didn't consider (arts) a but McGuinty is probably a wanker, necessity and that's probably crushing so I don't know," Campbell states. a lot of people because when I was "He's a politician, so I assume he's growing up, I couldn't be happy in a another wanker." Oh I get It. His roommate wasn't really there. By Joel Hoard Daily Arts Writer MOVIE REVIEW ****I Peter Weir's "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," based on the series of novels by Patrick O'Brian, is a refreshing epic adventure that hearkens back to the days Arabia," valuing its characters and plot over stylized vio- lence, non-stop action and unnecessary digital effects. "Master and Commander" follows British Capt. Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe), commander of the HMS Sur- of "Lawrence of Master and Commander At Showcase, Quality 16 and Ma dstone 20th Century Fox Stephan Maturin (Paul Bettany), who coolly per- forms difficult surgeries (including one on himself after he receives a near-fatal gunshot wound) in a cramped, dimly-lit room. Maturin attempts to bal- ance his professional duties as a doctor and sailor with his curiosity as a naturalist. He gets close enough to the Galapagos Islands to see its won- drous variety of species only to be torn away as the enemy approaches. In a film that lacks any female characters (save a few brief glimpses of South American natives), the film's emotional center falls to the relation- ship between Aubrey and Maturin. They spend much of their time in quiet conversation or play- ing music together, and it becomes clear that the two respect each other as both professionals and longtime friends. While Russell Crowe certainly turns in a fine performance as Capt. Aubrey, once again playing the role of epic hero with grace and ability, Paul Bettany (Crowe's "A Beautiful Mind" co-star) emerges as a true star, effortlessly capturing Maturin's inner conflict and making him the film's most intriguing character. Big screen new- comer Max Pirkis also makes a big impression as midshipman Blakeney, a precocious and coura- geous 13-year-old who is given the honor of com- manding the ship during a key battle. Pirkis plays Blakeney with the skill and confidence of a sea- soned veteran. Much like David Lean used the desert as a char- acter in "Lawrence of Arabia," Peter Weir uses the ocean to create a vast and desolate backdrop for his story and limits the action to the claustropho- bic quarters of the Surprise. He gives the audience a palpable sense of isolation and confinement by focusing on the atmosphere of the ship right down to the smallest details - the ceaseless groaning and creaking of the aging ship, the tangled web of ropes and sails, the dark and cramped quarters deep within the ship's bowels. It takes a director of Weir's caliber to make an epic film like "Master and Commander" work. As a filmmaker with more than 30 years of experi- ence, he carefully avoids the modern-day crutches of computer-generated effects and ceaseless action. He opts instead to allow his characters and plot to develop naturally, and "Master and Com- mander" is better for it. If only more directors could show so much patience and restraint. prise, at the turn of the 19th century as he pursues the French ship Acheron in hopes of stemming the tide of Napoleon's expanding empire. Aubrey, an experienced and resourceful sailor, leads his men and commands their respect with a careful combi- natio fstifetiiess and compassion. The film also focuses heavily on the ship's eqially experienced and resourceful doctor, 'Looney Tunes' gives silliness, TNT a bad name By Jennie Adler Daily Arts Writer MoVE REVI EW I Guns, car chases, cannons and TNT. It's not another Bruckheimer block- buster, just cartoons in the human world taking a stab at the big screen. Joe Dante ("Gremlins") directs this poor attempt of combining cartoons and humans. "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" is action packed, but void of humor and originality. DJ Drake (Bren- dan Fraser), Daffy Duck, Kate (Jenna Looney Tunes: Back in Action At Showcase and Quality 16 Warner Bros. shamelessly mugs his way through the movie. As the bad and good run all over Las Vegas, Paris and Africa, they not only wear out the bounds of originality but exhaust the audience's patience. Supposedly, "Looney Tunes" isn't just another wild goose chase of explo- sives and immortal cartoons. With suave action stars like DJ's father Damien and the oh-so-subtle carrot chomping Bugs Bunny, the little guys want their glory too: Daffy wants to be a star like Bugs while DJ wants to make his father proud. This underlying theme in Looney Tunes is too overused and saccharine to be touching and is luckily lost among bad jokes. While Looney Tunes is clearly a fam- ily movie, it's not even funny enough for the kids. After seeing Yosemite Sam blown up at least five times, the sixth isn't any better. The humor is dependent on burnt duck and exploding cartoons with a pantless Fraser to boot. Looney Tunes doesn't even attempt to make-up for its bad humor with orig- inality. Relying too much on old clas- sics, it incorporates a slew of movie references. If it isn't "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" then it's a dramatic 61 Courtesy of Warner Bros. Elfman) -- the dry Vice President of Comedy at Warner Brothers - and Bugs Bunny set off to rescue DJ's father, a secret spy (Timothy Dalton, "License to Kill") by saving the magical Blue Monkey diamond from falling into the hands of the villainous Acme Corporation Chairman (Steve Martin). Donning undersized pants as well as a wide selection of Acme Shoes, Martin Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit: interpretation of "Psycho." And if they're going to spoof James Bond, they could've at least gotten Sean Con- nery, as opposed to the lesser-seen Tim- othy Dalton. Is this supposed to be Looney Tunes or an animated version of "Scary Movie 3?" In what was supposed to be a movie of who's the bigger star, Rabbit vs. Duck, all one can think is, which will taste better for dinner? Looney Tunes is nothing but a bomb of old movies, repetitive bad humor and an all too for- mulaic plot. The only thing worth watching is Mr. Chairman's constantly changing footwear. Strong cast canies ieces of April' By Hussain Rahim Daily Arts Writer MOVI E REVI EW ***9 Writer and now director Peter Hedges' ("About A Boy") new film is another exercise in his exacting yet natural balance between light comedic moments and dark character situa- tions. April (Katie Holmes) is the old- est daughter and black sheep of an eclectic family tha is r *vnv i1=0 Lady rockers get their due in 'Rock & Roll' 4 By Christopher Pitoun Daily Arts Writer Finally a film acknowledges the contribution women have made in punk rock. "Prey for Rock & Roll" suc- ceeds in showing audiences that girlie rockers are just as passionate, crazy and hard working as their male counterparts. Exceptional performances define Prey for Rock this film. Gina Gershon ("Bound") & Roll carries "Prey" beautifully as the At Madstone band's nothing but attitude lead Mac Releasing singer. She's supported by a potent cast led by Drea De Matteo ("The Sopranos") and Marc Blucas ("We Were Soldiers") who help form a variety of characters only found in the underground music world of Los Angeles. The wildest elements of what it's like to be a struggling musician is brilliantly compressed into a sub-two hour film. "Prey" succeeds in being both sexy and ugly, funny and serious, complex and straightforward. The tumultuous relationship between the band mem- bers helps draw audiences into the story. Writers Cheri Lovedog (on whose autobiography the film is based) and Robin Whitehouse prove an ability to write female char- acters exquisitely, a skill often lost in today's Hollywood. It's clear that had this project been undertaken by a less skilled writer, audiences could find the material over the top, killing the film's credibility. So often musicians say that their art is their method of escape from the chaos that defines their lives. "Prey" concludes by showing how a victim of tragedy can find a positive resurrection in the artistic expression of those who survive. The audience is reminded that although it may sound like incoherent noise to so many, like most art, punk rock is in fact very deep. Courtesy of InDigEnt April, come she will. MPanwhilP Anril fichtc in her tent-- NA i~ui Arr1 ~ybc~ h~ tpp..ladin, a nd amhivale1nt missionn n- - A11.1