Thursday March 30, 2006 arts. michigandaily. com artspage@michigandaily.com Rue TSictigan ail a 8A THE TOP OF POP Co FIVE TOP PIECES OF POP CULTURE )MPLIMENTS OF THE DAILY ARTS EDITORS Goddamn Comcast - We were going to point out the zesty irony that our TV editor didn't have his Comcast functional for more than four weeks, but we were worried it would just look petty. But seri- ously, depriving a critic of their art is like withholding food from a prisoner. Sort of. Comcast should get their act together or they could go out of business. Except for the media oligarchy in Ameri- ca. And the fact that we love OnDemand. Bastards. t 4 NCCA Tournament - The question is whether you loudly give the thumbs down to George Mason for destroying any chance you once had at turning a profit in your tourney pool, or just wait until the greatest NCAA basketball story of the past decade quiets to a dull roar. And prepare to hit the beer really viciously. The school year is almost over and you've come to the realization that the actual, adult world is knocking at your door. Like if you're J.J. Redick, or, you know, the overwhelming majority of college hoopsters who aren't even sniffing the pros. Courtesy of UMS The San Francisco Jazz Collection will perform Friday at 8 p.m. at Hill Auditorium. T.I.'s King - OK, now you know him. A glossy, stylish, ball-light- ening single ("What You Know"), a Jay-Z fetish that dwells in his drive to actually enter top-shelf consideration makes T.U.'s latest album come pretty close to royal status. Maybe he's not totally a king yet, but he's suddenly way more serious than a crowned prince. We smell a coup in the wings. Lil' Wayne, the ball is in your court. Let the battle for the South continue ... Wilmer Valderrama - Ashlee Simpson in bed? "Loud." Sex with Jennifer Love Hewitt? "An 8." Taking Mandy Moore's virginity? "Really good ... But not like warm apple pie." Fez's interview with Howard Stern touched upon the work he's more known for: wel- coming young actresses to the world of headline-worthy Hollywood hookups. We can tell you're disturbed that the kid who played the worst immigrant stereotype in the past decade (where was Fez even from?) has worked his way through the pages of Teen People, but come on, at least we have confirmation of what we've always known: Girls love foreign guys. And then they the get punked out on the radio. Ah, good to see that sexual double standards still exist. PACIFIC GROOVE SAN FRANCISCO JAZZ GROUP PLAYS HILL By Andrew Klein Daily Fine Arts Editor Recently, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Cen- ter Jazz Orchestra came to Hill Auditorium to pres- ent a tribute not only to Detroit jazzmen, but also to John Col- trane's iconic 1964 free-jazz SF Jazz album A Love Supreme. In that Collective same vein, the San Francisco Friday at 8 p.m. Jazz Collective is set to perform $18$40 a tribute to prolific jazz pianist At Hill Auditorium and composer Herbie Hancock tomorrow night at an 8 pm. Hill Auditorium show. SFJC founder and tenor saxophonist Joshua Red- man's resum6 comes almost as heavily loaded as Mar- salis's. A winner of the Thelonius Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, Redman has recorded 11 albums to date, which include collaborations with high- profile musicians such as guitarist Path Metheny and bassist Charlie Haden, who is best known for his long tenure with alto-saxophone great Ornette Coleman. It's impossible not to consider the SFJC's upcoming performance in relation to Marsalis and the LCJO's tribute to Coltrane. A quartet-based composition, Marsalis adapted A Love Supreme for his a 15-member group. Marsalis and the group's technical skill notwithstanding, the tribute to Coltrane came off as sterile and academic. Coltrane's album is a reflection on his triumph over heroin addiction as well as a spiritual transformation - and arguably the birth of free jazz. Marsalis's fas- tidious adaptation reflects none of these themes. Considered the West Coast "response" - both geo- graphically and thematically - to the LCJO, Redman and his seven bandmembers have the chance to upstage their East Coast counterpart. Considering the musician it has chosen to tribute, the SFJC has perhaps too deep a pool of possible selections. The pianist for Miles Davis's "second great quintet" from the '60s, Hancock is a staple in the jazz world, with a total of 49 studio and live albums under his belt, including appearances by Chick Corea and the highly esteemed trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. He composed- such classics as "Watermelon Man" and the time- less funk groove "Chameleon." If Coltrane's A Love Supreme can be considered one of the greatest albums to come from the '60s, then Hancock's masterful Maid- en Voyage, recorded in 1965, is not far behind. In light of Marsalis's choice to cover one album from Coltrane's 20-plus discography, the thought of the SFJC covering Maiden Voyage in its entirety is thrilling. It's possible that Marsalis's weak tribute to Coltrane was a factor in the decision to pay homage to Hancock's oeu- vre, rather than one album. To be fair, Marsalis and the LCJO certainly didn't fall on their collective faces when they presented A Love Supreme. They provided a solid, technically masterful rendition of a highly emotive composition. And there's no guarantee that the SFJC will blow away its nearly sold-out audience tomorrow. But where the LCJO's vision - essentially Marsalis's - falls short because of its rigid and dogmatic stance, the SFJC comes to Hill with the potential to present jazz in a relevant and approachable context. The biggest challenge facing the SFJC's upcoming tribute will be choosing which of Hancock's composi- tions to perform. Where Marsalis and the LCJO failed to reflect A Love Supreme's metaphysical aspects, the SFJC will be hard pressed to present the breadth of Hancock's genius, which ranges from standard jazz to funk to fusion and back again. It can be assumed that, like the LCJO, the SFJC will at the least prove their musical worth tomor- row night. But only when the encore is over and the final bows have been taken will their performance determine if they can compare to, and trump, their Atlantic equivalent. I 'Basic Instinct 2' - As if 14 years were enough to wipe from the collective memory of America the searing image of Sharon Stone uncrossing and crossing her legs just slowly enough to make millions of men into lifelong fans (who nonethe- less managed to avoid both "Gloria" and "Catwoman"). The seductress: reprises her most notorious role this weekend with "Basic Instinct 2"' the inexplicable sequel that marries Hollywood's passions for gratuitous threesomes, kitschy car chases and exemplary plastic surgery. Turn- ing 48 this ' month, Stone catwalks through anu interrogation room and purrs to a straight-, laced psy- chiatrist, "Is this where we're gonna do it?" Cancelled war drama captivates on DVD By Ted Chen For the Daily "This look like war to you?" Spoken early in ultimate question aimed at the head of "Over There," the first-ever television series based on and the battle, it's the Over There 20th Century Fox tains only 13 episodes and some supplementary material, which either proves that the show's novel gim- mick was not overstretched, or that it imploded as a commercial failure. Although co-creators Chris Gerol- mo ("Citizen X") and Steven Bochco ("NYPD Blue") are considered veter- ans in the industry, here they take on a project with a surreally high level of potential backlash. On screen, excellent acting by the young "virgins" - privates fresh out of boot camp - carries the soul of the show through its own bloody mess. There's a deluge of storylines ranging from a kidnapped news reporter to the forceful removal of orphanages to make way for a new military base. To recreate the harsh realities of war, Gerolmo and Bochco use pains- takingly accurate weapons, set and dialogue. Nighttime combat is experi- enced in shades of night-vision green. The violence is untamed and as each episode goes by, the viewer comes to assume that most of characters are going to suffer a profound loss. But despite receiving higher-than- expected ratings for the pilot, the series began following its real-life counterpart a little too closely and broadcast during an ongoing war. Packing heat in four discs, the "Over There" DVD collection con- Courtesy of Columbia NEW ALBUD 0BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN IN STORES NOW **** - ROLLINGSTONE MIDNIGHT MOVIES EVERY OTHER SATURDAY NIGHT -P't&K FVOY2 lost momentum before finally getting cancelled last summer. The DVD collection dutifully pre- serves its original widescreen pre- sentation. The visuals are crisp and cinematic, but fight sequences aural- ly resemble a foundation-shaking rock show; the viewer has to adjust the volume constantly for quiet dia- logue scenes that often follow intense shoot-outs. While the show doesn't flinch in its immersive action, the additional features on the DVDs are undeniably disappointing. The weakest is an all- too-short "Weapons Debriefing" fea- turette. At only 10 minutes, it's a pitiful lecture on the personal weapons used in the show. Certainly more insight into equipment, tactics and vehicles would have enhanced the set. Commentaries from various cast and crew are attached to three dif- ferent episodes. In an odd tonal shift, the cast commentary is a virtual happy hour as they poke fun at their own acting bloopers. It's strange for a show of this contemporary impor- tance, but the segment is a welcome respite from the endless emotional deprivation of the show Perhaps the only saving grace in the extras is the 80-minute docu- mentary "Tour of Duty: Filming Over There.' " It's a nice look at the techniques and visual tricks used for explosions, camera shots and action sequences. In the end, individual viewers' sentiments toward the Iraq War will color their reception of the show, which can cater to either side of the political spectrum. Even if it's only entertainment, the show serves as a timely reminder of the events happen- ing halfway across the world. Show: **** Special Features: *** I 4 E N ' HNRP HER 13AE NI lo"HC VA1tU4lw SATURDAY, APRIL1 @ MIDNIGHT FOR MORE INFO VISIT WWW.MICHTHEATER.ORG/STATE.PHPj 4 WITH SPECIAL UEST DAMIAN MARLEY T LIVE & IN CONCERT 1 .. VN ii