2B - Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - The Michigan Daily
{THE B-SIDE
0 FILM NOTEBOOK
Hollywood studio
makes crisis into a
Cinematic clips
Gwyneth Paltrow recently welcomed a baby
boy into the world with husband and sometime
rockstar Chris Martin. The happy couple chris-
tened their offspring Moses, reportedly after a
song written by the Coldplay frontman for his wife.
Apple and Moses: Clearly no one in that family will
be mercilessly teased.
Early reports say John Brancato and Michael
Ferris, prolific writers of such gems as "Femme
Fatale" and "Catwoman," are penning the script
for the fourth installment of the "Terminator"
series. No word yet on whether California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back to protect
John Connor in the new dystopia.
A French lawsuit filed by Stephanie Verg-
niault alleging that the George Clooney-starring
"Syriana" was ripped from her 2002 script has
been delayed for procedural reasons until the end
of May. Warner Bros. stands by the integrity of
their acclaimed film, categorically dismissing the
screenwriter's claims.
Audio bits
Maybe Eminem's second wedding wasn't such
a good idea. The rapper filed divorce papers fewer
than three months after the January re-nups, and
best man Proof was shot and killed early Tues-
day morning at a Detroit club. A member of D12
and the inspiration for Mekhi Phifer's character in
"8 Mile," Proof, ne Deshaun Holton, dropped his
major-label debut only last year.
in other news
Even though she has been asked repeatedly,
queen of the comeback, Barbara Streisand,
refuses to appear on "Will & Grace" for undis-
closed reasons. With or without her, the show
is shooting its final episode, which is slated to
air in May.
Despite persistent rumors that it would be
filmed in Detroit, the new season of MTV's The
Real World will be filming in Denver. There was a
great deal of buzz indicating that MTV was looking
at lofts in Royal Oak to house the seven strang-
ers, but the show's producers feel Denver has the
right mix of nightlife and culture to keep the cast
interested.
-Compiled by Daily Arts editors Caitlin Cowan,
Amanda Andrade and Kimberly Chou.
ANGELA
CESERE/
Daily
Slam
Cuisine is
located in
KenY-
----------- -------to w n .
TABLE TALK
Siam disappoints
By Punit Mattoo
and Evan McGarvey
Daily Arts Editors
Punit Mattoo: A lot of students don't
realize it, but there are other places to
eat in Kerrytown besides Zingerman's.
If you're willing to make the trek,
you'll find one of the only other Thai
places near campus.
Evan McGarvey: Yeah, you also get
to eat in someone's living room. Siam
Cuisine is a very pleasant, homey expe-
rience with food that, while competent,
was served too quickly and was a bit
overpriced.
PM: The meal did seem to go by real-
ly quickly. That might have been since
there weren't many other people there,
and the waitresses working seemed a
little too enthusiastic about getting us
our food. Once we got it, though, there
was definitely some disappointment on
both our parts. I'd heard so much about
this place, but the appetizer sampler
wasn't much.
EM: Ditto. Loosely fried chunks of
chicken and a half-assed satay were not
the best way to start the meal. Also,
some of the cooks were clearly speak-
ing Chinese at various times through-
out the evening, which makes me think
that Siam Cuisine's heavy, Chinese
influences (plenty of sauces, heavy oil
Siam
Cuisine
Thai
restaurant
CheaI Moderate Pricey
Specialties:
Red Pork Curry
Located at:
313 Braun Ct.
in Kerrytown
and frying methods that are distinctly
un-Thai) dominate the food.
PM: The only thing really saving
the appetizers was the Thai iced teas.
At a dollar each, the refreshing drinks
weren't too sweet, unlike some other
Thai restaurants that go through the
complete Starbucksization.
EM: OK, I'll concede that the tea
was a good part of the meal. But my
chicken basil, usually a jungle of sim-
mering spices and leafy basil burn, was
ridiculously bland. Beyond the fact
that, well, a white guy (me) ordered it,
this dish tasted British, not Thai.
PM: I thought my red pork curry
had the right amount of spiciness for
my typically high tolerance. They rec-
ognized my brownness and the saut6ed
meal had a distinct taste that didn't
skimp on the pork or my favorite, bell
peppers.
EM: Yeah, finally I know what it's
like to be discriminated against in a
restaurant. Spice for white people! We
shall overcome!
PM: Give it time, Evan. It'll happen.
But Siam won't be leading the way.
movie
By Imran Syed
Daily Arts Writer
The trailer starts out caln
like any other quasi-serene p
a second-rate studio thriller.
But then, suddenly, we rea
it's going and can't believe
Could it be?
Already?
By the time the music sta
ing, the words spoken barely
it doesn't matter what's said:
icked screaming, flashes of
age and a smoking World Tra
confirm our suspicions long1
words "United 93" appear on
Brace yourselves: Sept. 11
son is upon us.
It may have started out
laughably trite "V for Vend
make no mistake - Hollywo
ready to take its shots at the
Sept. 11. First up is "United 9
release April 28, which cent
events onboard United Airli
93, the fourth plane hija
crashed in rural Pennsylvani
It's actually surprising tI
wood waited almost five yea
film about that tragic day, bu
ica ready even now to facet
of Sept. 11 on the big scree
their after-effects continue in
stan, Iraq and here at home?
English Prof. Peter Bau
each Sept. 11 film should be
individually.
"It depends on how it is d(
land said. "Is it going to be
ticated, introspective film?I
to be exploitative? Making
so soon after can make they
ative."
Harkening back to Worl
Bauland said it wasn't until y
the war that meaningful fi
made about it. He said filmsj
ing and immediately followir
were ideologically skewed,+
patriotic "John Wayne far
examples such as "Sands of
and "Back to Bataan."
But he offered one excepti
"The Best Years of Our Live
ironically, wasn't about the
but about soldiers returning1
"United 93" director Pa
grass is best known for the 2(
"The Bourne Supremacy," b
also the man behind the1
fiery "Bloody Sunday," ana
the massacre of Irish protest
British army in the 1970s -
that sparked two decades ofr
bloodshed.
In interviews regarding
Greengrass has said only th
too soon?
of those who died can judge whether
the time is right for Sept. 11 to hit Hol-
lywood. He said of all the families of
n, looking the victims of Flight 93 he has spoken
review for with, not one objected to his making
the film at this time. Indeed, many have
lize where expressed hope that the film will be
it. Is it? empowering and humanize the name-
less heroes who perished reputedly by
resisting and apparently overpowering
arts build- their hijackers.
coherent, But while certainly the families'
: The pan- input is vital to discussion, it is also
TV cover- important to gauge the public's poten-
ade Center tial reaction to the film. As Bauland
before the put it: "This could be the most sophis-
screen. ticated film and be just wonderfully
film sea- made, but is the audience ready to per-
ceive it in that way?"
with the Though the film will undoubtedly
letta," but evoke tears as well as outrage, it won't,
god is now be the last cinematic account of the
events of tragedy. Just a month before the fifth
a3," set for anniversary of the attacks, Paramount
ers on the will release the Oliver Stone-directed
nes Flight "World Trade Center," a closely guard-
cked that ed project that will tell the true story
a. of firefighters (led by Nicolas Cage)
hat Holly- trapped in the rubble after the attack.
rs to make Bauland, for one, said he's far more
t is Amer- concerned about Stone's film than
the events "United 93."
n, even as "I'm always suspicious of an Oliver
Afghani- Stone film," he said, referencing 1991's
"JFK," Stone's explosively fictional-
land said ized account of the Kennedy assassi-
evaluated nation.
The chaotic environment at home
one," Bau- and abroad immediately following the
a sophis- Sept. 11 attacks is not easily forgotten.
Is it going Some people fear that such a polarized
the film atmosphere could emerge full-on once
in exploit- more as the public is reminded of the
brutality of and national horror evoked
d War II, by the attacks.
years after With the persistent quagmire of the
lms were Iraq war and Osama bin Laden's con-
made dur- tinued evasion of capture, Americans
ng the war are already on edge, and a straight,
outwardly unrelenting account of the nation's day
e," citing of terror may be too much to handle
Iwojima" just five years later. Already, several
theaters nationwide, including Man-
on: 1946's hattan's AMC Loews Lincoln Square
s," which, 12, have pulled the trailer for the film
war at all, due to complaints from unsuspecting
home. audiences.
ul Green- But films about the tragedy will be
004 sequel made, even if many among us remain
ut he was uncomfortable about confronting the
politically tragedy once more. Sandra Felt, whose
account of husband died on board flight 93, told
ers by the the.New York Times: "Sept. 11 is a
- an event fact. It happened. Running away from
nationalist the movie isn't going to resolve under-
lying factors of why we're upset by it."
the film, But then again, it's entirely possible
e families that seeing the film won't either.
TECH REVIEW
What's all the buzz about?
By Kimberly Chou
Assistant B-side Editor
iBuzz
Music-
activated
sex toy
Price: $59.99
Comes with:
is/hers attachments
Headphone adapter
Available at:
www.ibuzzusa.com
"The Insider" (1999)
Directed by: Michael Mann
Starring: Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher
Plummer
There's a beautiful, tough history of single, brave
individuals documenting the practice and effects of
gigantic American corporations. Rachael Carson.
Upton Sinclair. Research biologist
Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (a shockingly dour, pudgy, but
ever resolute Russell Crowe) could be one too. But
when "60 Minutes" starts leaning on him to expose
Brown & Williamson Tobacco, his former employers,
the company's - and the entire tobacco's indus-
try's - conscious efforts to make cigarettes more
addicting, more potent, the cracks in our human
and societal bonds start to show.
Caught between the charismatic vice grip of the
media (Christopher Plummer's electric Mike Wal-
lace) and the always-menacing specter of his former
employers, Wigand is the moral center of director
Michael Mann's striking, morally convoluted film.
"The Insider" is an opera of one man's struggle
against the forces of postmodern ennui: no right, no
wrong, safety, justice, righteousness and duty.
His family deserts him, threats assail him from
every corner and the camera breaks from the kinet-
ic visuals of cigarette production to long, calming
visual appraisals of Crowe's prematurely weathered
face. And while Pacino's ravenous, driven television
producer boils onscreen, Crowe's hushed intona-
tions - even when he hisses out the revelatory
"Cigarettes were designed as a nicotine deliver sys-
tem!" on camera - are astonishing in their anchor-
ing delicateness. Crowe won for "Gladiator," but he
earned his Oscar with "The Insider."
Based on the actual events of the real Wigand
and his fateful interview with "60 Minutes," "The
Insider" renders one of the most important recent
legal battles into frighteningly disordered and
unclear art. Television media. The American con-
sumer. The faceless smoke merchants. The vacant,
gated tobacco towns of bourgeoisie North Carolina.
They're all guilty and innocent in the same turn.
Who suffers, then?
By the end of Mann's sweeping film, Crowe's char-
acter loses everything: family, career, home, iden-
tity. For standing up and telling the truth, Wigand is
Relief - and release - at last.
Those too embarrassed or indignant
to buy a plain-faced dildo or vibrator
no longer have to convert compromis-
ing household gadgets into sex toys.
(Wonder why your roommate's electric
toothbrush is always missing from the
bathroom counter?)
British company Love Labs LLP is sell-
ing what it bills as "the music-activated
orgasm machine" the iBuzz.
Retailing for about $60, the vibrating
bullet comes with complementary his and
hers attachments. The device and its con-
troller plug into any iPod. Whether you
get off to Lil' Wayne or Wayne Shorter,
the iBuzz vibrates in time to the beat, and
the strength of its vibrations increase with
the volume.
In all honesty, it's a fantastic concept.
Most people play a little mood music
when they're ready to get freaky anyway
- making the musical aspect interactive
is a logical pro-
gression, with
a partner or '
solo.
Each new
generation of
the
popular iPod ushers in a rash of third-party
iProducts. FM transmitters, iPod cases,
dancing robot dogs - it's not surpris-
ing that the sex-toy market has joined the
Apple accessories peck - er, pack.
"It seems like they're making every-
thing with the iPod in mind," said Beth
Karmeisool, owner the Safe Sex Store, an
Ann Arbor standby located on South Uni-
versity Avenue.
Other companies have unveiled similarly
stimulating gadgets, including another iPod
vibrator dubbed the Audi-Oh and a Blue-
tooth-enabled cellular device that redefines
phone sex.
Karmeisool noted that a computer-com-
patible, egg-shaped vibrator first came out
several years ago.
"The (iBuzz) is probably just an adapted
one from the computer mechanism," Kar-
meisool said. "But I think it's more gim-
micky than practical:"
But she added that S3 would consider
selling the sex toy depending on demand,
quality of product and pricing.
Until the iBuzz lands in area
stores, you can order it online.
The iBuzz will ship discretely
to your home, and Love Labs'
only advice: "Just plug in and
play!"
Plug in where? The
'" manufacturers say it
best: Pick your ori-
fice and get ready
to get off while you
get down.
Mr. Cordener's Files
|
By Lloyd Cargo
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Tornadoes A
"Bustin' "
Surfboards" H
It's straight from the Pulp This
Fiction soundtrack and into band,k
your car as you speed down be. The
the road in the sun. Even if you wandei
Songs you should download. This week's playlist: "Cool, Cool Water."
By Caitlin Cowan / B-side Editor
merica
Ventura
lighway"
could be your parents'
but it doesn't have to
are's no denying the cool
rlust of this song. And
Caetano Veloso
"Luz Do Sol"
If you're going to download this
track by Brazilian pop heavyweight
Veloso, get it from the 1986 ver-
sion of his self-titled album. His
Led Zeppelin
"D'yer Maker"
Led Zep tried everything
at least once, even island-
inspired beats. Until you hear
Robert Plant's signature yowl,
9 Beulah
"What Will You Do When
Your Suntan Fades?
All good things must come to an
end, and summer is no exception.
Beulah's frontman Miles Kurosky
has a salty, plaintive voice that is
I