Friday October 7, 2005 arts.rmichigandaily.com artspage@michigandaily.com eTSigan Bailq 0 8 'All G' back in da house on new DVD By Adam Rottenberg Daily Arts Editor D RV Political satirist humorist? British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, the mastermind behind the three faces of "Da Ali G Show," can be labeled as both. And with the release of the sec- ond hilarious sea- or raunchy toilet Da AlliG Show: Da Compleet Second Seazon HBO son on DVD, you can be the judge. Ali G became a cultural icon in the U.K. His BBC show took off, and his absurd yet pointed humor appealed to someone over at HBO. Each episode of the show consists of Cohen perform- ing as one of three characters - Ali G, Borat or Bruno - and interacting with real people. Unlike similar bits on, say, "The Tom Green Show," Cohen's barbed attacks on Americana have some cultural relevance. Cohen seems most at home under the guise of Ali G, the wannabe-rap- per from middle-class Staines who speaks an almost incomprehensible rapper dialect. The beauty of the char- acter lies in how well he's deployed to humiliate prominent media figures like Pat Buchanan and Gore Vidal. The man-on-the-street bits featuring Ali G, however, don't fare quite as well as his embarrassing interview segments. But the Bruno persona didn't click at all in the first HBO season. Bruno is an Austrian fashion reporter, and, most importantly, he's flamboyantly gay. In nearly all of his segments, he surprises unsuspecting victims into thinking they are involved in stan- dard fashion features, only to reveal an incredibly perverse twist. The bit wears thin quickly and becomes more irritat- ing than funny. Yet, it's still a marked improvement over the previous year's Bruno segments. In spite of the shortcomings of these two characters, Cohen's Borat is come- dic gold. He's a Kazakh reporter; Borat interviews regular Americans about a variety of banal activities. What sepa- rates Borat from the other personas is that he comes across as naive and inno- cent. He can make racist or anti-Semit- ic remarks and get away with it because he seems to be nothing more than a friendly, curious foreigner. Through Borat, the subjects' interviews often Attell and friends bomb in special By Imran Syed Daily Arts Writer 0 reveal their true prejudices, producing both hilarious and downright depress- ing results. One of these awkward confronta- tions culminates with an episode so outrageous it entered mainstream news outlets. In the season's highlight, Borat sings a song he wrote, entitled "In My Country There Is Problem," to a packed country-Western bar. The problem he sings about? As Borat so plainly puts it, "the Jews." While the audience initially reacts with an appro- priately disgusted response, they soon begin to sing along with the catchy tune and even pantomime along with their Kazakh friend. The season two DVD itself is pretty bare when it comes to special features. It contains an in-character commence- ment address at Harvard by Ali G, as well as a few deleted bits. Regardless, fans aren't looking to "Da Ali G Show" for extensive making-of featurettes or commentaries; rather the episodes themselves, as well as and their irrev- erent ability to strike a nerve appeal to viewers. Cohen subverts standard societal behavior and elicits results that reveal many Americans' true nature. Unfor- tunately, he too often leans toward the lowest common denominator in his humor - choosing to make scatologi- cal and sexual jokes instead of riff- ing on the ignorance and prejudices of American society. Nevertheless, when "Da Ali G: Da Compleet Sec- ond Seazon" is at its best, it captures a comedian and concept in peak form. Series: ***-A Picture/Sound: *** Features: ** Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics "Freud would have a field day with my case." 'THUMBS' DOWN ADOLESCENT ANGST COMEDY LIVES UP TO ITS NAME By Kristin MacDonald Daily Arts Writer Just when you think Hollywood's obsession with teenage angst has final- ly exhausted itself, the indie- film community finds a new, infantile direction to sulk off into. "Thumbsucker" follows a 17-year-old with a difficult- to-relate-to problem: He~still Thumbsucker At the Michigan Theater Sony Pictures Classics sucks his thumb. His parents won't sympathize, and his girlfriend can't, so he mopes alone in his room with his poor, oversucked thumb as his only consolation. It's just hard to care. Justin (newcomer Lou Taylor Pucci) might be a lonely kid, but that's no excuse to make him boring as well. He concurs with his debate team opponents, gets pushed around by his one-dimensional, anal-retentive girlfriend (a totally bland Kelli Garner, "The Aviator") and sports a long shag of greasy, face- obscuring hair to boot. Poor Justin's most inter- esting trait is the student-mentor relationship he cultivates with, of all people, his orthodontist (Keanu Reeves). But enough about Justin - it's the film's uncommonly lively adult cast that proves wor- thy of note. Take the orthodontist. In a casting decision that has cheerfully stretched believ- ability to the very limit, Reeves sets up shop as Justin's new-agey, shaggy-haired practitioner in that most despised of medical fields. He's a man of unorthodox methods, to be sure - his best suggestion for overcoming the mental demons behind thumb-sucking is calling upon the spirit of a "power animal" (Justin, in typical fash- ion, can conjure no creature more fierce than a fawn). Granted, Reeves wades through the role using his usual monotone performance, but at the very least, he's entertaining. Ditto for Vince Vaughn as Justin's bespec- tacled, sweater vest-clad debate coach. He plays it charismatically during his all-too-brief appearances. Simply witness Vaughn, with his hulking, six-foot-plus frame, delicately apply- ing mascara to one of the debate team's girls before a big match. He's just as sweetly ner- vous as they are. Justin's parents (Vincent D'Onofrio, TV's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and Tilda Swinton, "Broken Flowers"), though, steal the film; they're the most realistic depictions of parents to grace a teen angst-themed movie in years. They're young and uncertain - she still harbors crushes on movie stars, and he still fan- tasizes about his football days. The couple even insists that Justin call them by their first names because labels like "Mom" and "Dad" make them feel too old. But ultimately, their hearts are in the right places, and it's difficult to com- prehend what Justin holds against them so vehe- mently. When D'Onofrio gingerly checks his son's thumb for saliva, he's hopeful that Justin has matured out of the habit rather than disap- pointed that he hasn't. But after all, Justin's self-righteous conviction that parents just don't understand is only one of the time-honored plot points sacrosanct to the high-school dramedy. There's also his ridicu- lously simplistic college application process (for which he must send the big app to that one dream school, wondering all the while if the screenwrit- er will let him get in), and the film even features the nervous confrontation with the stereotype of the Hollywood stoner (always ambitionless, sexually experimental and dedicated to wearing only black). "Thumbsucker" might cover teenage basics as Justin turns from pills to girls to get rid of his thumbsucking, but its techniques are never convincing in the least. After a while, viewers can't help but wonder why the poor kid doesn't simply give up on the drama and invest in a lollipop. Legendary rocker Neil Young reflects on his youth on latest LP I By Joey Lipps For the Daily During the early '70s in the golden age of Neil Young's career, he released albums like Harvest and After the .i \W LM Gold Rush that came to define his trademark sound. He laid the frame- work for grunge and released socially conscious songs like "Southern Man" that became the "Strange Fruit" of his generation. While Young's new album, Prairie Wind, is a retreat to Neil Young Prairie Wind Reprise There was a time when only good comedians got their. own specials on TV; many acts were passed up because networks felt com- pelled to branch out and show something Dave Attell's other than random Insomniac guys screaming Tour their heads off. But Saturday at 1 a.m. in a time when any worthless hack can Comedy Central get his own spe- cial, "Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour with Sean Rouse, Greg Giraldo and Dane Cook" looks pretty decent, despite the fact that it has only two or three legitimately funny jokes. The show begins with the four come- dians coming to Las Vegas to put on a comedy special, which will be hosted by Attell. He introduces each comedian and does his bits for about three minutes before each introduction. Throughout each comedian's set, clips of the guys playing casino games and making sense- Courtesy of Comedy Central "Hey, there goes my career." less conversation have been inserted. Apparently, we're supposed to give a damn about what these guys do on their downtime. Sure, "Dave Attel's Insomniac Tour" is on Comedy Central late at night - the show should tackle controversial issues in an unabashed style, with plenty of profan- ity along for the ride. But the show is so abhorrently tactless and downright point- less that even the performers' most ardent fans will be hard-pressed to stick around until the end. Don't misunderstand this argument; obscene language doesn't have to be pathetic or pointless - but when you have five or six bleeped words in a row the way these guys do, it's tough for audiences to follow along. But this show does not even attempt rel- evance. Perhaps it's because the comedi- ans are performing in front of the largest, drunkest crowd in the world (it's Vegas, after all), and they trot out one lewd, lack- luster "zinger" after another. The sad part is that some of these guys are actually very funny. Giraldo and Cook both show flashes of comedic skill, but in their unfortunate attempt to appear rogu- ish, much of their talent fades into the background. Cook, in particular, has some very funny sets. Rouse has to be the worst of the group. He resembles that peculiar high-school loner you swear makes "to- kill" lists when he's not firing off his petty and tasteless jabs. So if, late on a Friday night, you wonder what goes through a boozer's mind as he gazes deep into the toilet bowl he has just puked into, be sure to tune into Comedy Central - Dane Cook just might enlight- en you. If, however, you are sober by any degree, consider yourself excused. the sound that made him one of the most influential rock artists of all time, the content is that of an old and tired man. In "It's A Dream," he sings," I try to ignore what the paper says / And try not to read all the news." His priorities on the songs off Prairie Wind are what you'd expect of a man who recently recovered from a brain aneurism: family and childhood memories. Neil Young touchingly writes in the liner notes that his album is "For Daddy;" this childlike yearning pervades the album. On title track "Prairie Wind," Young sings, "Trying to remember what my Daddy said / Before too much time took away his head / He said we're goin' back and I'll show you what I'm talking about / Going back to Cypress River, Back to the old farm house." The combi- nation of Young's classic moaning guitar and harmonica with the lonesome sound of the steel guitar gives the songs an emotional twang that allows one to see inside Young's exposed soul. One treat on this album is the touching backup vocals of folk legend Emmylou Harris. The addition of a female voice alongside a string section pleasantly complements the high strains of Young's voice and gives a beautiful 0 background to his laments. When Young sang, "I'm getting old" 33 years ago on Harvest's "Heart of Gold," it was a far cry from the now more relevant realization that "We're losing time" on Prairie Wind. While Young may seem drained, his musicianship hasn't declined. He still sings with the same vigor and emotion that gave him the title of "god- father of grunge" decades ago. Prairie Wind is a pleasant reminder of a wonderful era to the old fans those who grew up listening to Neil Young. While he appealed to the concerns of this generation years ago, he now allows his loyal fanbase to appreciate the time they have and cherish their memories. Michigan Chamber Players welcome students onstage By Shubra Ohri Daily Arts Writer Thic CSunday musc lovers will find an hon- Ditties for Narrator, Trumpet and Piano. The pieces that are selected for the MCP's concerts are those with which the pro- Michigan fessors feel a personal con- Chamber nection. With musicians ---- feature (elements) that may not normally be featured." Porter is filling in as MCP's program coor- dinator while Music Prof. Andrew Jennings is on sabbatical. She is using this opportunity to implement her novel ideas about classical Helton. The intimate nature of traditional cham- ber music has been adopted by the Players. Every musician takes the advantage of the opportunity to play music they love with their respected colleagues and talented students. 1 I