10A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 17, 2006 ARTS 6 Courtesy of Warner Bros. We love inanimate objects with eating disorders. 'Robot' an odd treat By Mark Schultz Daily Arts Writer Courtesy of Newmarket "Time out rules!" 'TRISTRAM' HOLDS STRONG AMID SLOPPY FUN By Blake Goble Daily Arts Writer It might appear advantageous to walk into "Tris- tram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story" having con- quered the basics of Laurence Sterne's novel, upon which the film is based. With the film's dense, non- linear structure and heady subject matter, it might seem comforting to have some support. But as luck would have it, that won't be necessary, because no one in this film seems to have read it either. Or at least, no one seems to know what the book was about. In the film's context, that's nei- ther here nor there. In an effortless blend of satire, documentary and all- around messiness, "Tristram Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story At the Michigan Theater Newmarket assume, because Rob Brydon's (also "24 Hour Party People") supporting role shouldn't be as important as a title character. Right? Paralleling the worries of Shandy with the dif- ficulties of life on a movie set, Coogan utilizes his fluent smarm and confidence to fine effect. In one of the film's funnier scenes, Coogan and Brydon sit together in makeup, discussing the appropriate yellowness of teeth ("Custard sunset?") in a peri- od film, all while Coogan is threatened by Brydon's attempts to imagine usurp- Fears of hurn ing a lead role. Coogan serves up a tight- connection, rope act of a performance, inadequacy balancing a variety of engaging roles while still the desire to worrying about whether or accomplishe not he'll get the lead credit. Brydon's happy-go-lucky just a few of kindness acts as a great foil prime Conce to Coogan's smart-ass. r It's also uproarious to see of "Shandy." Coogan and Brydon play off each other during the latter's hilarious displays of anger. Tristram Shandy introduces himself and the story with effrontery and arrogance. He calls his life a "cock and bull" story - in every aspect of the phrase. The film smartly allows the audience to recognize the irony and patent disillusions involved in the film business. The worry of overcomplicating one's own life resonate in the film with sincerity and irony. Fears of human connection, sexual inadequacy and the desire to feel accomplished are just a few of the prime concerns of "Shandy." Somehow, some way, these themes find a proper context within the con- voluted core of the film. "Shandy" succeeds because of its ability to blend several genres together and provide some fantastic performances with a touch of wit and style. 1an With the controlled yet erratic direc- tion of Michael Winterbottom ("Code sexual 46") and a sharp, observant script by and Frank Cottrell Boyce ("Millions"), the film covers a lot of ground without ever feel actually getting lost. d are And it's only 91 minutes at that. When Coogan looks to the screen the early on as Tristram,he quotes Groucho rns Marx: "When making a story about yourself, there's no room for messing around. Why not? People do it all the time." He's talking about the film, and it works on more than one level. Any resemblance to "This is Spinal Tap," "Adap- tation" or even "Day For Night" is expected but irrel- evant in the end. "Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story" is a unique cinematic experience all its own: a mess of magnificent proportions. Here, sincerity is found in uncertainty, and meaning is obtained through meandering. A child has just lost a tooth. As he sleeps, he silently waits for the tooth fairy to come and reward him. Unfortunately, the Robot tooth fairy hap- Chicken pens to visit at an Warner Bros. inopportune time - right in the middle of an ugly domestic dispute between the child's parents, which ends with the tooth fairy's untimely demise. This may sound like some sort of fractured fairy tale, but it's just a scene from Cartoon Network's bizarre stop-animation showcase "Robot Chicken," a show that takes childhood nostalgia to an oddly ter- rifying new level. Doug Goldstein, the show's head writer, will be the first to admit that the show's name comes from an item off a local Chinese restaurant menu. Creator Seth Green ("Austin Powers") will be the first to admit that the show "looks like anyone could do it." The ridicu- lously low production values involve mostly action figures and claymation. But not everyone could put together the rambunctious spontaneity that makes "Chicken" simultaneously entertaining and annoying. The show puts a lot of stock in parody - parody of bad '80s movies, corny kids' TV shows and absurd cul- tural trends. Think of it as part "Fam- ily Guy" and part childhood puppet show gone horribly awry. "Chicken" is a combination of satire and crappy animation; the animators don't even try to put realistic-looking mouths on the characters. The end result is a show that's entertaining for its cre- ative use of figurines and for its actual comedic content. "Chicken" wisely creates much of its appeal by pandering to typical TV audiences with short attention spans. Each episode is only 12 minutes with- out commercials and offers lightning- quick changes of background or subject to comply with the channel-changing tone of the show. The sketches range from one second to five minutes; at this length, even tired jokes about Britney Spears and "American Idol" are tolerable. Green and Goldstein have created a format that requires so little attention and brainpower that they could put just about anything on the screen and make it funny. "Chicken" has a surprisingly large amount of DVD extras. But the deleted scenes are just too long for the show's clipped format. There is also an infor- mative behind-the-scenes look that broaches the question, "What exactly inspires a person to create a show whose stars are mostly six-inch figu- rines?" The extras give the viewer an unusu- al new perspective into the amount of work that goes into a show that often looks like something most people could create in their garages. "Chicken" doesn't really add any- thing new to the paradigm of satiri- cal shows already flooding cable. Its choice to parody old TV shows rather than current events leads it to terri- tory that has already been explored countless times. But as long as view- ers can sit back' and forget the fact that "Chicken" is just an end result of decades of earlier original parody, the show can be enjoyed. Show: *** Special Features: **** 6 I al Shandy" is a successful. look at one team's attempt to adapt the novel for the screen. Essentially, in all its postmodern glory, this is a movie about making a movie. Inconsistency is an intentional decision here: a channeling of Sterne's wildly digressive novel in which the main character's reflections on his life culminate with his birth. Steve Coogan ("24 Hour Party People") is Tris- tram, the lead actor. Or at least that's what we 6 6 (/)i vI ~tu~*.ev~, Lo~v\i've cd ae, irncre-O What can consolidation mean for you? How about another $450* or more in your pocket each month? 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