8 - Friday, November 10, 2006 TeMhgDay- adycS
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
A good chat with
a prime star
By IMRAN SYED tainty didn't exactly mean harsh
Daily Arts Writer times for the actors involved.
"Actors have a pretty damn good
Considering his diverse and per- union. We all did (the movie) for
ceptive takes on the macabre title the minimum and we all became
character in "American Psycho," partners in it." Comparing it to the
the stately, compassionate John budgetof"BatmanBegins," hesaid.
Rolfe in "The New World" and a "It's David vs. Goliath. You can't do
beloved American icon in "Batman 'Batman' for 'Harsh Times's' bud-
Begins," Christian Bale is nothing get, that's just not gonna happen."
if not flexible. Even if all the buzz But the small budget took noth-
around him these days centers on ing away from the quality of this
the much-anticipated "Batman" film: "A small budget doesn't mean
sequel, Bale continues to find new it can't still be better than a $50
roles that challenge even his con- million movie."
siderable acting prowess.
In his latest film, "Harsh Times"
- written and directed by David From Gotham
Ayer, who also wrote "The Fast and
the Furious" and "Training Day" City to the mean
- Bale plays an ex-Army Ranger
who now menaces the streets of streets of L.A.
Los Angeles. Of his character, Bale
said: "I've never played someone
like him," before flat-out declaring,
"He's a prick." Addressing where he found
Prick or not, Bale believes his inspiration for the brusque, gritty
character, Jim Davis, is an impor- intensity for the character, Bale
tant symbol of our time. Suffering dismissed rumors that he had stud-
from post-traumatic stress disor- ied Robert De Niro's performance
der - thanks to a stint in the war in "Taxi Driver." But that doesn't
- the Chicano street thug faces "an mean the classic Martin Scors-
extreme case of identity crisis." ese education of the street thug is
Bale believes his role in the film lost on him: "I did look at 'Mean
"is (at once) topical and timeless. Streets' just for the style of film-
PTSD is pretty common, especial- making we were having to adapt
ly right now. ... If people can read to. It's gritty, uncompromising and
between the lines with Jim, they gets in your face."
can relate to his situation." Ayer's study into the world
Considering the modest bud- recreated in "Harsh Time" went
get behind the film, it's surprising beyond classic films: "Dave felt this
that such sought-after actors like was similar to (John) Steinbeck's
Bale and Eva Longoria would even 'Of Mice and Men."'
want to do the movie. For his part, Since he first won raves for his
Bale said he "couldn't give a damn" heartbreaking portrayal of 12-
about what type of budget a movie year-old Jaime Graham in Steven
has. As long as he likes the script, Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun,"
he's open to doing it. Bale has managed to constantly
"I'd be bad at marketing movies. redefine his place in the film world
I remember seeing the trailer for and continues to present us with
'Titanic' and thinking, 'We already stark, introspective characters.
know the ending; no one will want As he continues to expand his
to see that.' I only know what I range and take on diverse roles
like." (Bale is said to have employed a
And he liked "Harsh Times" different accent in every one of his
enough to sign onto the project films so far), even now we've only
despite the uncertainty that initial- seen the tip of the iceberg from
ly surrounded it. But that uncer- him.
DAILY ARTS: WE KNEW
RUTGERS WOULD PULL IT OFF.
'Kicks'
newest six
years late
By MATT EMERY
DailyArts Writer
It might seem like a good idea to copy what
the David Frickes and MTVs of the world
would call the world's
most popular band, but **<
let's face it: We really don't
need another U2. Appar- Two
ently nobody bothered to Thousand
relay this information to French Kicks
the French Kicks.
Returning with their Vagrant
second full-length album,
Two Thousand, the promising Brooklyn indie
group struggles to establish a definite self-
identity.
One moment the band mimics groups from
the '80s synth-pop era, the next they sound
like a Strokes copycat, emulating the neo-rock
trend of the early '00s. But despite the lack of
complete coherence, the French Kicks Two
Thousand is at times a charming album with
addictive guitar hooks and the occasional
dream-inducingvocals.
But relying almost entirely upon lead singer
Nick Stumpf's vocals, Two Thousand offers
little in the way of creativity, and elicits the
simple qualifiers of boring and repetitive.
"So Far We Are" wins the award for U2
sound-alike as the Kicks dance in and out of
simple guitar chords that could easily have
been coined by The Edge, leaving Stumpf's
The tired look is in. Actually, it never left.
pipes to push the track forward.
"Keep it Amazed" suffers from the same
fault of annoyingly repetitive guitar stanzas
poorly accented by grade-school drumming,
again leaving just Stumpf's vocal punch to res-
cue the tune. But he can't stop the listener from
hitting the skip button, as the monotonous five
minutes would put any caffeine-addicted col-
lege student to sleep.
Snappy name + limp
sound = another tired
indie rock group.
"Cloche" might very well have been a track
found in the dumpster after The Strokes pared
down Is This It. With its frantic guitar histrion-
ics that sound almost tropical and continuous
rising action - think "Last Nite," only hope-
lessly deluded - the Kicks successfully join the
stereotypical New York-based rock club. Even
the Kicks frontman Stumpf fails on this one as
he jumps on a vocal rollercoaster and belts out
incoherent phrases that dip and dive, but just
come out as incomprehensible ramblings.
Despite a complete disregard for original-
ity, a few tracks hint at the promise behind this
young band. "England Just Will Not Let You
Recover" could have easily found its place on
the "Marie Antoinette" soundtrack, with its
up-tempo drum progression and atmospheric
synth riffs that clearly belong in movie por-
traying confusion and carriage rides. Stumpf's
vocal wails echo Bernard Sumner's, and there's
something about the faux-violin synth highs
that make the otherwise dull song inordinately
catchy.
The album's closer, "Go On," begins with
promise as guitarist Josh Wise injects spooky
plucks that set a dreary scene, but transitions
into a whimsical force of sound that ends too
abruptly and just too damn joyously.
But even a few promising tracks can't save
the record from a band that's badly in need of
just moving on.
Power trio to light up Canterbury House
By ANTHONY BABER
DailyArts Writer
The standard jazz trio consists
of piano, bass and drums. But the
Power Trio is
not your stan- Power Trio
dard trio. The Tomorrow
Los Angeles- at 8 p.m.
based music $5
machine is an At The
uplifting com- Canterbury House
bination of
traditional and non-traditional jazz
instruments meshed into a smooth
harmony. The group features Yosef
Dosik on alto sax, Nick Rosen on the
upright bass and Miguel Atwood-
Ferguson on viola and will perform
8 p.m. Saturday at the Canterbury
House.
Dosik and Rosen first worked
together with the Henry Grimes
Group while they were still in high
school. The duo later appeared in
groups with L.A. jazz icons Arthur
Blythe and Bobby Bradford. The
Power Trio sees them teaming up
with dynamic and rapidly rising
violist Atwood-Ferguson. The viola
maybe an odd choice for a jazz trio,
but Rosen explained the decision:
"I've never, ever, heard another
viola player that plays like him.
I don't even particularly like the
viola, but in his hands, I love it."
The Canterbury House concert
series has hosted up-and-coming
artists as well as established voices
in jazz music. The cozy venue is a
space reminiscent of'70s TVshows
with family values and baseballs
breaking windows, but the con-
certs held within its modest walls
routinely blow the roof off. This ranging from Outkast, Stevie Won-
weekend will be no different after der and Brad Mehldau to Wayne
the Power Trio starts improvising. Shorter and even appeared on Ray
The main attraction, Atwood- Charles's Grammy-winning Genius
Ferguson, has gained quite a repu- Loves Company. After receiving a
tation within the music industry. Bachelor's degree in Music from
After taking up the viola at age 12, USC, Ferguson has already estab-
lished his presence in the music
world.
Virtuosic violist wAnn Arbor can thank Dosik for
to lead unusual bringingthe group out for an exclu-
tO le d un sual sive Midwest date, but he didn't
jazz trio, exactly have to beg Rosen to return
__aZZ_____. after a successful residency with
Arthur Blythe last year. "When I
he has racked up accolade after played with Arthur and Yosef at
accolade, such as KCET African- the Canterbury House last time I
American Emerging Artist of the was here, I felt extremely accepted
Year, and is currently focusing on and free in this community. That
being a music director and pro- and the food was off the chain and
ducer. He's also a first-call session there were plenty of really cute
musician who's worked with artists women," Rosen said. Word.
IASA looks within
So. You want
one good reason
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If you've had health-care patient experience,
and if you've taken Chemistry 130, 210, 215, or 260;
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Or contact Assistant Dean Valener Perry at
734-764-5550 or by e-mail at vlperry@umich.edu.
Your future never looked brighter.
By KIMBERLY CHOU
AssociateArts Writer
There are reasons why the Uni-
versity's annual Indian American
Student Asso-
ciation cultur- Exploring
al show is the Identity
biggest such Within
event in the Today at 7 p.m.
nation.
Presenting gig
its 19th yearly At Hill Auditorium
outing tonight
at Hill Auditorium - the 4,000-seat
venue IASA routinely sells out- the
cultural show is by far the largest-
scale project the group takes on.
Participating in the production is
not simply a single or even double
semester commitment; members
know that preparation for the show
requires year-round dedication.
For this year's production,
"Exploring Identity Within," LSA
junior Tanisha Gobil, choreogra-
pher for one of the eight featured
dances, began planninglast spring.
Preparations began in April, with
deadlines looming throughout the
summer.Duringtheautumnmonths
leadingup to the actual event, dance
ensembles practice four times a
week, up to six hours each time.
"You can't slack off. CORE (the
IASA board in charge of the show)
wants to see the completed dance
the first week of the school year."
BSS
From page 5
experimental Canadian picture),
decisions surrounding "Half Nel-
son" were not soulless soundtrack
choices.
Absolutely there was a certain
feel to particular tracks off the
first album at the time they were
written, Canning said.
"Like the scene where Ryan
Gosling's character is all (cracked)
out in the bathroom, there are defi-
nitely pieces form the first record
that ... when we were writing,
we'd imagine them to be in certain
films," he said. "Pieces of music
that were not pop-song format,
but cerebral meditations. I'm glad
they've finally found a home."
For the show her sophomore year,
Gobil flew in during the summer
fromvermont to work on her dance;
this year, she worked with her co-
choreographer on their raj nartki
dancewhenshestayed inAnnArbor
for spring term.
But being a dancer or choreogra-
pher isn't necessarily the most time-
intensive. Members of the executive
board or CORE "haven't slept in
months and months," Gobil said, no
doubt only half-joking.
Meetings concerning the show
wereknowntolast from11p.m.until
6 a.m. LSA senior Shallu Sahore is
one of the cultural show coordina-
tors this year with School of Engi-
neering junior Tanmay Aggarwal,
and she is also part of IASA's execu-
tive board.
"(Being a part of IASA) is a good
way to build community," she said.
Tonight's show will be her fourth.
"It's a great way to learn about
Indian culture and for other people
it's (a chance) to see the largest
student-run cultural show in the
nation."
The IASA show is completely
.student-run, and many students'
families and friends travel to Ann
Arbor for the event. Also featuring
Indian music acts, a fashion show
and videos introducing each seg-
ment, "Exploring Identity Within"
will focus on multiple dances to
showcase India's cultural variety.
Ann Arbor fans of Broken Social
Scene should feel privileged that
the band is making its last Ameri-
can stop at the The Michigan The-
ater before heading for home. Feist
and Collett dropped by The Blind
Pig earlier this year, but the band
together most recently played
Detroit's Majestic Theater last
October, immediately after the
release of its luxe, sweeping third
studio album.
"There'll be 11 or 12 of us in Ann
Arbor," Canning said, including
Collett. Openers and compatri-
ots Do Make Say Think may also
join Broken Social Scene onstage.
With such a revolving cast from
tour to tour, ending in such, an
indie-impassioned town, expect
all the stars and sons to come out
tonight.
I