Monday, September 25, 2006 - The Michigan Daily - 9A Tool takes Palace 'King' with more than rockca'ho B canu. ay T revor Campbell Daily Arts Writer Concertgoers got a slice of visu- al euphoria to match their noise hunger at the Palace of Auburn Hills last Friday when progressive- metal act Tool brought TOOL their com- plex rock to oAuburn Hills the masses. Over- looked by mainstream media in favor of rap and indie rock, Tool has meanwhile been pushing metal from the rack and screw with studio tinkering and free- wheeling song structures. Their fans are keeping in step - they sold out their May performance at the Fox Theatre in minutes, and nearly filled the Palace of Auburn Hills on this night. Tool is the front-runner of today's progres- sive metal, and they're making their mark city by city. After taking five years to write and record their latest release, 10,000 Days, the group stuck to their newer material for a large portion of the set. New tracks like "The Pot" gave the set intriguing rhythmic breakdowns and let the band roar out of low moments with percussive force - with difficult-to-perform time signatures and unnatural chord progressions, there's very little room for error. Guitarist Adam Jones and bass- ist Justin Chancellor maintain their musical composure even during the intricately complex solos of "Jambi." Frontman May- nard James Keenan's synthesized keyboard work, along with effects coating the distorted guitar and bass, gave the group a distinct and recognizable sound. Drummer Danny Carey's digital drum pads change from song to song and mimick percussion from around the world. Tool is as electric as they are metal. A wide, white, square stage was positioned at one end of the arena and suddenly went from a bland structure to media canvas when the band took the stage. Six large LCD panels lined the back and 12 projectors hung above the Uh, rock on? stage using the white floor as a screen. Clips from their warped, biologically-inhuman video art- work reflected down onto the stage along with swirling and con- verging lines reminiscent of M.C. Escher. It's odd that a band with such creative and passionate sound would be as static as they are on stage. Jones and Chancellor stayed on their respective sides of the stage, barely moving from a ten- foot area. The only kinetic mem- ber of the band is vocalist Keenan, but he holed himself up on a plat- form in the back of the stage. During the song "10,000 Days, an ode to Keenan's mother's battle with paralysis, lasers fired out from behind Carey as well as from the sound board shooting throughout the arena, bouncing off strategically placed mirrors hung on rafters and all around the stage. Colors morphed as the song changed and designs twisted and contorted throughout the 10-min- ute-plus epic. Following the song's finish, the band silently sat down on Keen- an's platform in silence letting the crowds building roar fill the arena. The members sat motion- less ingesting the crowds' appre- ciation. For a night filled with more sen- sory feeling than any drug could produce, it was only fitting. Some- times silence shows more affec- tion than words ever could. throne By Imran Syod Daily Arts Writer I'd say Willie Stark is one of American liter- ature's most profound creations, but he's a little too non-fictional for that. The hero - if you can call him that - of Robert Penn Warren's timeless political novel "All the King's Men" bears striking resemblance to the real- life Louisiana demagogue Huey Long, a man who took his state and nation by storm in the mid-'30s. Wil- lie is a creation embody- ing the best and worst of human nature, both in the novel and in its first film adaptation, which received seven Oscar nominations in 1950. *** Now,more than50 later All the comes Steve Zaillian's (writer of "Schindler's King's Men List" and "Gangs of New At the Showtime York") version, with the and Quality 16 incomparable Sean Penn Columbia in the leading role. Join- ing him is perhaps one of the most accomplished casts in film history, filled out from top to bottom with A-level tal- ent: Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Anthony Hop- kins, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, Kathy Baker and James Gandolfini. '"All the King's Men" follows a young, wide- eyed populist by the name of Willie Stark (Sean Penn), a man battling rampant government cor- ruption in rural Mason County. When Willie's accusations prove tragically correct, he's brought into the limelight as a man of the people and asked to run for governor of the state. Fuck turkey legs. This king's a hambone. At first he's an honest man, drawing up sta- tistics on taxes, expenditures and budgets. He stands on street corners with a pencil and paper to explain to everyone how he'd build new high- ways and schools without raising taxes on the poor. But in politics, an honest man is never a winner. When Willie finds out he was only talked into running in order to split the rural vote and deliver victory to a corrupt man, he unleashes the full fury of his populist roots. He attacks the political establishment on every point, encourages the masses to get better edu- cated so they can't be duped like he was and is finally swept into office by the largest margin in state history. In his success, subsequent corrup- tion and final bid for redemption lies the quintes- sential tale of American democracy that echoes true even 60 years after the novel was written. Penn's take on Stark is uncompromising and expertly grave. He becomes the raging, boister- ous hellraiser that lived within America's foremost demagogue so seamlessly that it is impossible to imagine another side of Penn afterseeing this film. Stark was an honest man who wanted to do good but who was sure that good could only come from bad. His greatest tragedy was that for everything he gave the state, a piece of himself was lost forever. The film hints at its impending tragedy with an unabashed heavy-handedness worthy of Stark. A periodically raucous score book-ends deceptively calm sequences, leaving no doubt as to Stark's ultimate fate. The story is not what happened, but how. The "how" is where Law's Jack Burden comes in, as Willie's friend and the story's narrator. Bur- den is a reporter when he discovers the young poli- tician, and their union is both the best and worst thing that could have happened to either. One came from aristocracy, the other a self-proclaimed hick. As Burden, Law brings an interesting take to that distinction, adding subtlety to a film that sorely misses it. But he is ultimately too meek to command any attention in the presence of the rav- ing Penn. Perhaps he was miscast, but the fault for the lack of focus in his flashbacks and inner struggles lies squarely with the direction. Faithful to the novel like no other adap- tation in memory, Zaillain's film probably assumes too much background knowledge. The distinction between what Stark stood for and what is right is never explained and only sophomorically alluded to in the final scene. The film attempts to make Stark a hero but leaves out the all-important reasoning behind his actions. And because the film inevitably simplifies the novel's philosophical lyrics, its political implications are simplistically trans- lated and many viewers will find the whole thing insubstantial. But such is the fate of singular creations - they are too exemplary to be widely under- stood and must compromise to reach anyone. Like Stark himself, the classics must walk the line of compromise, and because Zaillian's version of "All the King's Men" refuses to do so, it'll be largely overlooked. Courtesy of Columbia r Classic 'Manhattan' comes to the Michigan By Caroline Hartmann aged TV writer whose wife (Meryl Daily Arts Writer Streep)_ leaves him In typical Woody Allen fashion, for another Manhattan "Manhattan" is a labyrinth of rela- woman, then Tonight at tionship mishaps, Freudian slips decides to the Michigan and intellectual witticism - none write a book Theater of which feel outdated in this 1979 recounting 7 p.m. romantic comedy. their failed Isaac (Woody Allen) is a middle- relationship. Then it gets really inter- esting. On the rebound, Isaac has a casual fling with 17-year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway) but complicates the dalliance when he falls for Mary (Diane Keaton), his best friend's ex- mistress. The storyline weaves itself into an even more baffling tangle of court- ships and miscalculated feelings, culminating in Isaac's honest exami- nation of his life. Whether it's the cinematographic genius behind the impeccably com- posed shots of the Big Apple, an all- star cast nearing its prime or Allen's wistful yet caustic humor, "Manhat- tan" is a classic that leaves you with sentimental vibrations and a good old fashioned stitch in the side. What will I find in a sales career at Lilly? Answers. We want to share with you why over 250 of Michigan graduates enjoy their work at Lilly. PLEASE JOIN US....... What: Meet & Greet with Eli Lilly All majors welcome When: Thursday, September 28th, 2006 Time: 6:00-8:00 PM Where: The Michigan League - Michigan Room (Food will be provided.) 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