4 8A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, January 26, 2004 ART S By Vanessa Miller Daily Arts Writer MOVIE REVIEW The past year had its fair share of literary adaptations, most notably "Cold Mountain," "Master and Com- 4 mander: The Far; and "Mystic River," all of which received much critical acclaim. "Girl with a Pearl Ear- ring" undoubted- ly falls into the same category, Side of the World" Girl with a Pearl Earring At the Michigan Theater Lions Gate Courtesy of Microsoft Still cooler than "2 Fast 2 Furious" ... and Paul Walker sucks. mostly because of a wonderful, Gold- en Globe-nominated performance by Scarlett Johansson ("Lost in Transla- tion") and beautiful art direction. Based upon the book by Tracy Chevalier, the considerably faithful cinematic adaptation of "Girl" is a tale of Griet (Johansson)a young peasant lass, who is sent to work as a maid for the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth, "Love Actual- ly") and his family. As she spends long, tiring hours cleaning Vermeer's studio, Griet slowly becomes absorbed into the artist's world. Even- tually she forms a bond with Vermeer and is chosen to pose for one of his most controversial paintings. Courtesy of Lions Gate I guess every girl goes - through a photography phase. You know, horses ... taking pictures of your feet. accurately based upon an actual Vermeer painting, "Girl with a Pearl Earring," and Johansson is eerily its twin, a quality that sweeps over the film. Even though "Girl" offers little conflict, the shadowy relationship between Vermeer and Griet captivates, allowing the imag- ination to wander in this darkly quiet, yet magical world of art. Kudos to Microsoft's 'Project Gotham 2' "Girl" is a riveting story driven by hidden desires and little dia- logue. Griet barely speaks, though dialogue would have clogged up the intimate artistic space she shares with Vermeer. Johansson's body language alone is remarkably powerful and compensates more than enough for any lack of words. Firth also portrays the darkly brooding Vermeer with a quiet intrigue, allowing his growing interest for his unexpected artistic muse to be reflected in his smile and penetrating gaze. Each shot in "Girl" translates perfectly into the true reality of Vermeer's art, taking on the color, lighting and stillness of his oil paintings. The film and book are I By Charles Paradis Daily Arts Writer While "Mario Kart Double Dash" might have been the best racing game to come out over the holiday season, "Project Gotham Racing 2" ran a close sec- ond. The sequel to one of the games that made the XBox launch s u cc e s s fu I, "Gotham 2" is a welcome addition Project Gotham Racing 2 XBox Microsoft remember power sliding and other moves to earn "Kudos," but Microsoft has made some worthwhile additions to the trick list. Now play- ers can also earn "Kudos" by draft- ing, following closely to reduce wind resistance and using other realistic race strategies. The wonderfully rendered vehicles would look out of place were it not for the spectacularly constructed environments. ThL "Gotham" team scoured the globe in search of suit- able areas, finally deciding on 10 cities including Sydney, Hong Kong and Moscow. Each of these locales was rendered in the utmost detail, including signature landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House. Gamers speed through these cities while lis- tening to a soundtrack featuring cur- rent artists such as Trapt, Simple Plan and the Flaming Lips. One notable omission, however, is New York, fea- tured prominently in the first game but left out of this sequel. With the introduction of "Gotham 2," the series without a doubt the best racing games available on XBox. No other franchise of games affords the player as many lifelike cars in such a well-rendered environment. Of course, a couple of blue turtle shells wouldn't be so bad either. I By Matt Kivel Daily Arts Writer Cast requires more elbow grease to the series for fans of the original, supporters of the genre and especial- ly car enthusiasts, as the game owes part of its success to its ultra life- like representations of real-world cars. From the Ford Focus to the Enzo Ferrari and everything in between, "Gotham 2" gives its play- ers a wide range of automotive selections. Gameplay is fairly straight-for- ward: Go fast, race, win. However, with the unique "Kudos" system, rewards are given to players for styl- ish driving, giving "Gotham 2" more depth than the typical racing game. Fans of the first "Gotham" will In Cast of Thousands, Elbow lead singer and lyricist Guy Garvey has hit his band with an extra dose of Prozac, departing from the haunting lyrics of the band's first album, Asleep In The ____.____..._ Back. Now, it Elbow must be under- stood that Elbow Cast of has by no means Thousands entered the realm V2 of Hilary Duff and the Disney Channel: The music remains moody and dark, but the band seems to have lost the chip on its shoulder. Cast begins with "Ribcage," bor- rowing the sing-along appeal of Blur's "Tender" by employing the London Community Gospel Choir. Although it's all "been heard before, it's difficult not to sing along, "And when the sunshine / Throwin' me a lifeline / Finds its way into my room / All I need is you." As the album moves along, the songs are held together by the band's ability to create emotion through sparse arrangements. "Fallen Angel" is one of the few high paced moments and its churning guitars and pounding drums temporarily awaken the listener from the lethar- gic haze of the album. "Not a Job" is the most chilling track on the album: Garvey's singing draws comparisons to Nick Drake and the song is clearly his best vocal work. "Grace Under Pressure" is the band's crowning achievement, with amazing drum- ming, a catchy melody, the gospel choir, Jimi Goodwin of Doves, and Alfie; the band has pulled out all the stops on this track. The song ends with the crowd of the Glastonbury music festival in 2002 singing, "We still believe in love so fuck you." It doesn't get much better than that. The album was expertly produced by Ben Hiller who allowed the music to breathe, giving space to each instrument. The album's main down- fall is its lack of originality. Every- thing on Cast seems to have been done before, but Elbow's strong musical sense helps them to get away with being derivative. Aside from "Grace Under Pressure," most tracks aren't singularly impressive. Elbow has crafted a very strong album that only seems to be lacking in the singles department. SHORT TAKE S DUB NARCOTIC SOUND SYSTEM DEGENERATE INTRODUCTION K Degenerate Introduction, the first full-length album from K Records funk-troupe Dub Narcot- ic Sound System in five years, is an open, airy fusion of punk, funk, dub, indie rock and hip-hop with a lo-fi hue. The album coa- lesces like an ad-lib throw-down among old friends in their par- ents' garage. The unprompst~, unsophisticated jams lay the groundwork for former Beat Hap- pening frontman Calvin Johnson to bellow his frayed ruminations over the microphone in a snarl that you wouldn't find4aprmally in dub or reggae-infused funk- In the end, Degenerate Int- d.:, 'i.pails wggg g e vious works such as 1998's hypnotizing Out of Your Mind succeeded. Johnson's vocals are polarizing and force to you to become annoyed as he drowns out the empty beats. But while there's no melody to be found anywhere, there's enough flow found buried within the trem- bling bass-lines to make this novelty worth investigating. ** -Alex Wolsky w)~i ly A r t s STAR SYSTEM (as represented by celebrity break-ups) WHAT are you waiting for? U Tom and Nicole Bruce and Demi Bennifer ** Tom and Roseanne David and Liza No Stars Jacko and Lisa Marie Nr N, your SPRI G 4 REA TRIP todayl NNIW2-1 I 00000010" *11 W4 CANCUN BEACHFRONT F R 0 $ 9PP Based on $150 pp when you book a quad room w/SEI ACAPULCO $449'> MAZATLAN $439'> S. PADRE $4291 4 ALSO AVAILABLE: 3 Night Air Packages to > Acapulco > Cancun > Mazatlan !' A J. tra vel 4