ARTS The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 26, 2005 -11A 'Mother' revitalizes old formula By Imran Syed Daily Arts Writer If the demise of "Friends" left you jone- sing for your white-yuppie-buddy-sitcom fix, CBS is here for __....____.__ you. First there were How I Met the "Seinfeld" four, Your Mother then the "Friends" six; now come the Mondays at "How I Met Your 8:30 p.m. Mother" five. By tak- CBS ing this tired concept one step further, CBS has shown ingenu- ity long believed to be dead. The result is the first great new comedy of the season. The show is composed of flash- backs of a middle-aged Ted (voiced by Bob Saget, "Full House"), tell- ing his children the story of how he met their mother. Relative newcomer Josh Radnor plays the younger Ted, in a time when the engagement of two friends caused him to reconsider his own romantic life. His group of yup- pie friends are the engaged Marshall and Lily (Jason Segel, "Freaks and Geeks" and Allison Hannigan, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), the charmingly kooky Barney, (Neil Patrick Harris, "Doogie Howser, M.D.) and a myste- rious woman named Robin (newcomer Cobie Smulders). The show works where others have failed because of its unassuming charm. It never has to tell you it's spe- cial, but by the end, it grows on you. Radnor is an excellent reincarnation of David Schwimmer's "Friends" character, a hopeless romantic with Courtesy of "Cheers: We won't be the first show cancelled - that was 'Headcases."' Where's your goatee, Johnny? HERE COMES THE'BRIDE' BURTON, DEPP TEAM UP AGAIN FOR MACABRE FABLE quirks and an uncouth shyness that prevent him from ever succeeding at the dating game. Segel and Hanni- gan refrain from over-playing their parts and achieve a chemistry rarely seen on the small screen. Every comedy needs its Kramer or Joey (not "Joey"), and "Mother" has Barney, whose eccentricities are no less pronounced or hilarious than his predecessors'. His constant insistence that they all "suit up" and his slightly alarming obsession with women of dif- ferent nationalities both set the founda- tion for a genre-defining oddball. "Mother" has many hilarious sequences that you'll swear you've seen before, but they're so well done that they turn out funny anyway. When Ted lets an "I love you" slip to an unsuspecting Robin on the first day the two meet, a scene so uproari- ous erupts that the audience will never remember that an episode of "Sein- feld" had almost this exact scenario. Also featured are original catchphras- es that have the potential to become as much a part of our pop lingo as clas- sics like "soup Nazi," "master of your domain" and the "double-dip." Even with this familiar template, "Mother" finds new frontiers to explore in contemporary television's own backyard. As if that weren't enough, the show also drops a bombshell in the last few seconds of the pilot, leaving audiences debating who the show's eponymous mother will be. With a mix of charm, quirks, sincer- ity and of course, awkward humor, "How I Met Your Mother" is a surefire hit that will leave other shows this season vying for the title of best new comedy feeling, as Barney would say, "de - wait for it, wait for it - nied!" By Amanda Andrade Daily Arts Writer Tim Burton's charming and lively "Corpse Bride" begins with delightfully appropriate symbiosis: The story opens with the lucrative merger of class- conscious families in Victorian-era Tim Burton's England. Though such mutually ben- Corpse Bride eficial relationships were common in that era, Hollywood, in general, At the Showcase seems to prefer leeching. Hence, the and Quality 16 film really begins with the exception, Warner Bros. a collaboration between the versatile lead actor and fantastically imaginative director who just can't seem to do great work without each other. In fact, with the exception of "Pirates of the Caribbe- an," "Bride" star Johnny Depp has never worked in a real- ly noteworthy film that didn't bear Burton's crest. (Some people will say that "Finding Neverland" was a gem; these people are wrong.) And with the possible exception of "Big Fish," director Burton has never helmed a classic that didn't involve his chiseled muse. (Some people will say "Planet of the Apes" was underrated; these people are crazy.) Luckily, the two virtuosos come together again for this animated musical, which proceeds from the social maneuverings of its opening number to an emotional poi- gnancy as disarming as it is endearing. After the botched wedding rehearsal for penniless, high-society girl Victoria (voiced by Emily Watson, "Breaking the Waves") and fish-peddler heir Victor (voiced by Depp), the nervous groom accidentally pro- poses to a lovely and devoted young woman who also happens to be dead (Helena Bonham Carter, "Big Fish"). Sucked down into the hereafter, Victor longs to return to his sweet fiancee in the dreary world above. Such gruesome plot points should be no surprise to any- one familiar with Burton's style. Having established himself as master of the whimsically macabre, the director brands the film with as pronounced a personal stamp as any in recent memory. The stop-motion animation, also employed in the Burton-produced "Nightmare Before Christmas," is impres- sively detailed, giving the characters an outstanding range of emotional subtlety that rivals flesh and blood. Also adding to that Burton flair is a playful score from longtime collaborator Danny Elfman. The music is a per- fect match for the film's pleasantly demented tone and never becomes overbearing while helping the story reach for an emotional high note. Unfortunately, the full-out musical numbers are less spectacular, settling for measly entertaining when they should be infectious. Beyond this, the only real criticism of the film might be that it's too short. Or, more accurately, that the film's material pro- vides only enough momentum to hit the hour-and-a-quarter mark. Kudos to Burton for not contriving to stretch the film past its narrative limits, but considering that the much-beloved "Nightmare Before Christmas" already used many of the visual tricks employed here, "Corpse Bride" would have ben- efited from a more innovative and well-developed story. That's not to say the film's not clever. It's a visual mas- terpiece in which the dead are far more alive than the liv- ing. There isn't a superfluous frame in sight, and every shot is breathtaking. The film is, quite simply, classic Bur- ton-Depp - the familiar form done up with imagination and originality spilling forth from every scene, ensuring it a peaceful resting place in every quirky family's movie collection for decades to come. Dylan finds 'Direction' in new doc By Alexandra Jones Daily Arts Editor After 40 years of cryptic comments, evasive answers and the occasional self-imposed exile, the mystery of Bob Dylan's public persona is extensively explored in Martin Scorsese's documentary, "No Direc- tion Home." The filmic texts chronicling No Dylan's progression from unknown folk Direction ruffian to the voice of a generation to rock's Home: inscrutable-yet-magnetic pioneer-poet were Bob Dylan previously limited to two documentaries: D.A. Pennebaker's "Dont Look Back" (sic) Tonight and and "Eat the Document." Both films show Tuesday at Dylan on tour in Britain, the former in 1965 9 p.m. on PBS and the latter a year later; both show him and on DVD in transition, his music becoming more and PBS/Paramount more disjunct from the sounds and ideas that his supposedly progressive fans had come to expect. By 1966, fans didn't just misunderstand Dylan - they booed the singer's new material. Scorsese uses bits of media - that which influenced Dylan and his journey to New Jersey to visit'Ainerican folk legend Woody Guthrie - and comments from Dylan's Greenwich Village folkie/artist chums to tell his story. The concert footage, which includes the performance when he first went electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and Dylan's live reaction to the infamous "Judas!" incident, will become sacred to Dylan aficionados. The quality, as well as the rarity of this footage, is unparalleled by any bootleg. Present-day Dylan, clad in black leather, adds thoughts he sees fit to share. The first half of "No Direction Home" con- trasts Dylan at his breaking point in '66, far from whatever "home" is, with his small-town Minnesota origins; he works the coffeehouses in New York, is discovered by producer John Hammond, starts writing his own songs and becomes a prominent voice of the civil rights movement. The second half shows Dylan distancing himself from fans and report- ers' incessant labeling and questioning. There's no cryptic motivation for his metamorphosis and withdrawal: Dylan does what any real artist would, ignore the bullshit and doing and saying what he wants. In the documentary, Dylan says that as an artist, "You're constantly in a state of becoming." Scorsese doesn't set out to explain his subject; he lets this story unfold on his own. "No Direction Home" provides a thorough and spellbind- ing document of one of the most fascinating public (and not-so-public) figures of the 20th century, and Scorsese shows us in a way that will satisfy Dylan's longtime devo- tees and draw in new fans. J One of the "100 BEST PLACES To ORK IN IT. -Co mp uter Wo rld Bring your IT expertise to VANGUARD. Make an easy transition from school to work at Vanguard, a leading investment management company that invests heavily in IT talent. Current college students are invited to apply for paid summer internships in various areas of IT. Or, if you're graduating, apply for our intensive, rotational Technology Leadership Program, which builds on your expertise in a series of full-time assignments in Application Development, Web Services, or Technical Operations. We're hiring now for our offices in Valley Forge, PA, just outside Philadelphia, and in Charlotte, NC. Vanguard" - ......... ...... - ,- I