SA - Monday, October 30, 2006

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

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'Floating World' within reach

This Halloween, guys are getting slutty, too.

Saw III' lacks teeth

By PAUL TASSI
Daily Arts Writer
It's Halloween again, and that can only mean that a
new "Saw" chapter has come crawling off the assem-
bly line. With budgets of only a few million apiece,
the "Saw" films have grossed
obscene amounts of money and
will keep being churned out as
long as they do so. But what first Saw III
started as a chilling, mildly inno- At the Showcase
vative new take on the slasher and Quality16
film has slowly dissolved into a
grisly mess. Lions Gate
The Jigsaw (Tobin Bell, "Saw")
is not quite dead yet. With the
help of new apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith
"The Island"), the terminally ill puzzle master is still
playing his twisted games. In order to keep the old
bastard breathing, Amanda has kidnapped a doctor
named Lynn (Bahar Soomekh, "M:I III") to try and
prolong his death until one last game can be played.
The latest lab rat is Jeff (Angus Macfadyen, "Equi-
librium"), set loose in a warehouse maze infested
with a variety of traps more obscene than the last
two movies combined. of course, there are surprises
along the way - chiefly, he finds out he's not the only
one being tested. While Jeff steadily works his way
through the deadly puzzles, Dr. Lynn and Amanda
clash about the dying old man's treatment, and every-
thing culminates in the must-have ingredient for any
"Saw" film: a "shocking" twist ending.
With a cast clearly scooped out from the bargain
bin of a Hollywood dollar store, the acting for the
most part is worse than b-film bad. Every line Shaw-
nee Smith screams out as the psychotic Amanda is
more likely to make the audience laugh than recoil,
and poor Angus Macfadyen has certainly fallen a long

way since playing Robert the Bruce in "Braveheart."
The veteran actor of the bunch (having appeared in
TV shows from "24" to "Walker, Texas Ranger" to
"Seinfeld"), Bell spends most of his time spitting up
blood on his deathbed and croaking out prophetic
one-liners.
The problem with the "Saw" franchise and its
copycats is that they have taken the horror genre and
twisted it into something almost unrecognizable.
Classic horror films of decades past like "Psycho,"
"The Exorcist" and "Halloween" are higher works
of horror, with components like convincing acting,
cinematography and suspense. Horror master John
Carpenter said it best when discussing filming the
extremely frightening (but not grotesquely violent
"Halloween"): "The true terror lies in the wait, not
the kill."
The paradigm of current
Hollywood horror - no
guts, all gore.
"Saw III" is only about the kill. Unlike the first
somewhat intelligent "Saw," where suspense and plot
played a fairly prominent role, now there is barely
time to breathe as the audience is bombarded with
room after room of victims being burned, frozen, dis-
membered or blown up. There is a difference between
a film being genuinely frightening rather than just
purely disturbing. "Saw III" easily succeeds as the
latter, using several hundred gallons of fake blood
and a few tons of rusty metal. But to be a truly scary
film requires much more thought and effort than this
annual phenomenon exerts.

By DEREK BARBER
Daily Arts Writer
Anyone who has ever seen Mt.
Pleasant's own Anathallo perform
live will know
that they're **** A
quite the the-
atrical rock Anathallo
band.onstage, Floating World
band members
act out scenes Friendship
of electrocu-
tion, sudden moments of death and
even "synchronized swimming."
Truth be told, their latest album,
Floating World, contains plenty of
theatrics to go around.
Primarily influenced by a tra-
ditional Japanese folk story (the
tale of a magical dog who is shot,
burned and then miraculously
returns from the grave), the album
is laced with handclaps, church
choir harmonies, cymbal swells,
marching band snare drums, a full
horn section, and everything-but-
the-kitchen-sink percussion. (on
second thought, the sink may actu-
ally make an appearance.)
But theatrics alone hardly do
Anathallo justice. Within Floating
World's 14 tracks is an underlying
thread: a heart-felt sincerity and an
honest passion for musical creativ-
ity. While an uninformed listener
mightbetemptedtolabelAnathallo
as merely a Sufjan Stevens knock-
off (ahem, pitchforkmedia.com) or
as naive newcomers attempting to
capitalize on the current trend of
broad instrumentation and folk-
sensibilities, here in Michigan,
we should know the truth of the
matter. Anathallo are certainly no
upstarts to the independent music
scene. Theirs is a sound that has
been honed and cultivated over the
past six years.
As the title suggests, Floating
World is a testament to Anathallo's
ambitiousness - an album that
nudges and prompts the listener
to explore the musical landscape
the artists have created. As seen
in tracks like "Dokkoise House:
with face covered," this is a lush
world held loosely together by
handclaps and chanted verse. The
track opens in 7/4 with descending
electric guitar and glockenspiel
lines. But as a common occurrence
within the album, the song modu-
lates through more than a single
key center and (dare it be said)
"floats" along with not only grace

'ourtesy ofrimendship
Road trips are not the same as living out of a van. Even going on year three. We swear.
but a clear intention. And the songs speak for them-
Another standout is "Hood- selves. "Hanasakajijii (three: the
wink." The song's introduction man who made dead trees bloom)"
creates a darker tone with a ser- marches along with a steady pulse
pent-like, puzzling guitar line complimented by guitar hammer-
coiled neatly around "metal chain ons and Joynt and co.'s falsetto
percussion" and Matthew Joynt's harmonies. After more bouncing,
crooning. But it isn't long before the singers take center stage and
the piece unravels into a frenzy begin a series of intimate vocal
of major chords and arpeggiating rounds.
trumpets. Perhaps the most punctuated
moment within the album is the
final track "Kasa no Hone (the
Blurring the lines umbrella's bones)." Taken from a
Japanese death poem, a traditional
between poetry haiku written to serve as the per-
sonal summary of the life of the
poet, the track is sung entirely in
Japanese. The vocals begin with
Sigur Ros-style "oohs" and quickly
Although an accomplished and draw upon intense percussion. The
seamless transition, the movement song builds to a climax as Joynt
still might beg the question: Wait, chants the last phrase: "Us'te shon
how did we get here? Is this still the shon" over and over. Here, the
same track? words may even transcend poetry,
Not that these kinds of questions taking upon a meaning that could
hinder Floating World. They help only be accomplished through such
make the album what it is: com- a delicately crafted melody.
plex. In a time when the term "indie"
And in truth, this is not a record is thrown around so loosely, often
for the impatient. While there is extending to musical artists that
much to be enjoyed without having have just about as corporate a men-
to delve too deeply into the musical tality as anyone, Anathallo serve
or (perhaps more significantly) the as a model for independent musi-
lyrical elements of the album, there cians. With 18 national tours under
always appears to be another layer. their belts, self-recorded albums,
For example, in order to sing self-released albums and, perhaps
along with some of the catchier most importantly, a history of stay-
melodies, one may not need to know ing true to their roots in Michigan,
that "O Hana" means "the color" in Anathallo is a legitimate case for
Japanese, or that "Us'te shon shon" geographical pride.
means "Don't desert me." Never- And while the experience of see-
theless, this knowledge only serves ing the band in the live setting is a
to enhance the listener's under- bit other-wordly, it's good to know
standing and appreciation for the that this experience can also trans-
songs. late onto their records.

One of the
10 Best Books of
2005m"
-The New York Times
Book Review

The 24-hour theater, 'Kamikaze!'-style

BACK

By WHITNEY DIBO
Daily Arts Writer
LSA senior and theater enthu-
siast Marianna Anderle de Sylor
doesn't have
time for the
intensive com- Kamikaze!
mitment most Theater
student perfor-
mances require. Residential
As a pre-med College
student, she
doesn't have time to rehearse six
days per week for a month and a
half, endure long tech rehearsals
and perform a show four times.
But she does have 24 hours to
spare, and Kamikaze! Theater gave
her a performance opportunity
she could handle. Director Ryan
Smith pointed out that many of
the ensemble members had never
even met before the rehearsals on
Saturday's performance began the
previous night.
The entire production was writ-
ten, rehearsed and performed in

under 26 hours.
Talk about deadlines.
Produced by the ever-creative
RC Players, Saturday night's
Kamikaze! Theater relied on just
three writers, 11 actors, two brave
directors, two producers and two
techies to get the show off the
ground. Countless cups of cof-
fee and two hours of sleep later,
the team had patched together a
show, titled "Whale Blubber ... Yea
I Guess."
The show was structured as a
series of short scenes centered on
two average college kids trying to
get through their first date with-
out burning the restaurant down.
There's one small problem, how-
ever: Their subconscious demons
won't leave them alone.
Mark, one of the novice dat-
ing hopefuls, is plagued by pesky
idiosyncrasies - persqnified by
a pushy fashion maven, an obses-
sive-compulsive and a mad scien-
tist who would rather the date end
with a chemical explosion than a

successft
Emily,
trolleder
5-year-ol
(she sugg
of a pimp
who reco
Surr
little
R
Cco
blubber a
Some:
in "A Be:
sell Cro'
his fake1
daughter
ber," th
physicall
rope to t
nists, ma
impossib
The w
ater did:
even tha
delving
scious, t
and wor
scene, M
hindered
tal manif
unfolds
understa
attached
host. Ins
ness are
the prod
ers can't

ul make-out session. Freudian ids from ruining their
his nervous-but-con- date.
ush,isfollowedbyawhiny All things considered, the writ-
d, a suicidal depressive ers of Kamikaze! Theater should
ests the noose on account give themselves a pat on the back.
ule) and a Viking crusader The show didn't masquerade as a
)mmends she order whale carefully constructed drama or a
calculated battle of wits. It present-
ed itself to the audience exactly as
realism and a it was: the product of a goofy and
fun 24 hours, a conglomerate of
bit of Freud ideas thrown together in the name
of novelty entertainment. By not
residential taking themselves too seriously,
the actors of "Whale Blubber" eas-
llege style. ily welcomed the audience into the
insanity of their day. There were
strokes of brilliance, too, particu-
larly during the classroom scene
at an Indian restaurant. in which Emily and Mark learn the
scenes resemble moments tricky tenses of Ebonics ("he pimps,
autiful Mind," when Rus- we pimp, they pimp ...").
we just can't get rid of By 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the show
best friend and fake god- was already well underway. The
. But in "Whale Blub- writers worked on the script from
e imaginary characters 9 p.m. the previous night to 4 a.m.
y tie themselves with that morning, and the actors were
he unsuspecting protago- furiously memorizing lines and
king escape pretty much blocking out scenes before the sun
le. came up.
riters of Kamikaze! The- By that time, Smith had been
n't want to keep things up for nearly 20 hours, and had
at simple. In addition to at least five to go. "The extreme
into the human uncon- exhaustion is a bonding experi-
he show starts at the end ence," he said.
ks backward. By the first The novelty of Kamikaze! The-
ark and Emily are already ater is what ultimately makes the
i by an entourage of men- show worth it.
estations, and as the show "It's always scary. We didn't
the audience comes to have a show this time yesterday.
nd exactly how each one You just make it happen," Smith
itself to its unsuspecting said. And they certainly did -
ecurities and inner crazi- thanks to a full cast of off-the-wall
exposed for all to see in characters, a gimmicky premise
uction. The neurotic dat- and one endearingly awkward
seem to stop their noisy date.


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