8A -- Monday, October 8, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 0
IN BRIEF
Where there's
smoke no fire
Furnaces caught between
two extremes
By MATT EMERY of life, The Fiery Furnaces found
Daily Arts Writer themselves growing old, learning
that once what made them ground-
The Fiery Furnaces are alien- breakingingly original is now just
ating motherfuckers. Just look to old hat. And though Widow City
"Clear Signal isn't exclusively either of these, it's
from Cairo" on more of a mish-mash of the Fur-
Widow City, the naces standard, multi-layered pro-
group's sixth full- duction; a newly found hard-guitar
length release, The Fiery edge from brother Matthew Fried-
for proof. With Fumaces berger; and the typical frank word-
its ear-blasting play from sister Eleanor that works
guitar drives, the Widow City surprisingly well in segments, but
track whirlwinds Thrillock lacks the chaotic coherency that
into six minutes O could be their connection back to
of musical move- the days of the grandiose master-
ments, which includes piano hys- piece Blueberry Boat.
terics, dancing electronics and Possibly the four most cohesive
some bullet-train pacing. Eleanor tracks (and some of the best) the
Friedberger's witty wordplay takes band has ever released, the begin-
a backseat to languid lyrics ("It's a ning of the album isma foil: a disguise
clear signal from Cairo / Calling me for what lies beneath the surface.
back to your arms / Calling me back "The Philadelphia Grand Jury" jolts
to your arms") that relentlessly skip out of the gate with a percussive
like a broken record. It's terrify- opening, a fluttering middle-sec-
ing for new listeners and an eerie tion and Eleanor's trademarked,
change for the ones in love with the wicked wordsmithery: "It's all in
group's heralded, genre-changing their hands / It's all in the hands of
methods. the Philadelphia grand jury now /
But maybe that's the problem More crooked sons-of-bitches, you
with Widow City - there comes can't ever come across."
a time when this peppy, scatter- The track cascades into Mat-
brained mindset the group has thew's meticulously arranged track
ridden through the past five years "Duplexes," featuring an airy and
begins to evaporate. Without a jolt welcome faux-orchestral chorus
rnitc h5 p a e
$260 oz. Jumbo
Pitchers
Mondays & Wednesdays
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"wOO OF
FILM
Give me my
Stanley Kubrick
"Stanley Kubrick Series"
Mondays at 7 p.m.
At the Michigan Theater
Just because you've seen
"The Shining" four times, that
doesn't mean you know Stanley
Kubrick. The director, who died
in 1999, left behind a host of leg-
endary movies.
This semester, The Michigan
Theater, in conjunction with
the Department of Screen Arts
and Cultures, presents a series
of screenings of his movies.
Tonight at 7 p.m., the theater
will show "Dr. Strangelove or:
How I Learned to Stop Worry-
ing and Love the Bomb," a dark
comedy about post-World War II
politics and the Cold War. Peter
Sellers is at his bizarre best as a
befuddled and pathetic Royal
Air Force commander, the presi-
dent of the United States and as
an ex-Nazi scientist.
The series takes a week off for
Fall Break and returns Oct. 22
with "Spartacus." Each follow-
ing Monday, a different Kubrick
flick will screen. The cult touch-
stone "A Clockwork Orange"
will play Nov.12.
Whetheryou're into Kubrick's
combinations of mainstream
sci-fi with art-house avant-
garde in "2001: A Space Odys-
sey," his taste in ultra-vi in "A
Clockwork Orange" or his grit-
tier and more sadistic side in
"Full Metal Jacket," you should
pencil in some visits to The
Michigan Theater.
ELIE ZWIEBEL
FILM
Watered down
'Darkness'
**
At the Quality 16 and
Showcase
Fox-Walden
"The Seeker: The Dark is
Rising" is one of many inter-
changeable kids' book adapta-
tions released in the past year.
This particular one is a con-
temporary "Lord of the Rings"
for the junior high audience, in
which Will (relative newcomer
Alexander Ludwig), the young-
est son of an American family
living in England, is informed
that he's the last of a small sect S
dedicated to protecting the
world from the forces of evil.
Yeah, as if we haven't heard
that one before. Between
Voldemort and the Dark Lord
Sauron, these bad guys don't
hold much salt, but there's
some impressive CGI razzle-
dazzle and a cast of reliable
character actors (including the
bored-looking Ian McShane of
"Deadwood," probably swig-
ging Martinis in between
scenes) to hold us over.
Those who read the second
installment of Susan Cooper's
popular book series "The Dark
is Rising" will have ahard time
recognizing this half-baked,
low-I.Q. adaptation, but if you
can throw out credulity and
expectations, then you may
have a decent time.
BRANDON CONRADIS
Stuck in the middle of the road.
that effortlessly melds into the cou-
plet of the bouncy "Automatic Hus-
band" and "Ex-Guru." Though it's
a more abrasive track than those
in the past, "Automatic Husband"
rides a wave of bubbly electro-pro-
duction before appropriately timed
crashing guitar mash-ups. It's cha-
otic, yet it tastefully bleeds into
the following track "Ex-Guru,"
which traces a closing thought
from the previous song ("It was
made by a special commission of
Navajo basketball coaches and
blonde ladies") into the beginning
of the next ("One of those blond
ladies had a certain hold on me / I
went to all her seminars by the air-
port in the Doubletree"). It dances
along with Eleanor's demeanor
and Matthew's apt for experimen-
tation in the most welcome way
possible.
But finding much of this wel-
come solidity through the rest of
the album is damn near impossible
since the rest feels like a mix-tape,
a cross between experimentation
with hard rock-outs and poppy
electronics. "Uncle Charlie" plays
out as another loud, disjointed
guitar number. Mind-numbingly
quick guitar licks cloud over Elea-
nor's almost indecipherable lyr-
ics. "Wicker Whatnots" traipses
through dominating background
guitar crashes, bongos and fleeting,
UFO-style blips and blops. Even
the album closers have a hard time
defining what this band is doing.
"Pricked in the Heart" places com-
plete emphasis on Eleanor's vocals
splattered against a feathery flute
arrangement and "Widow City" is
a soothing, hyper-syncopated piano
splash with a gentler guitar.
So is Widow City an attempt to
throw darts at a board and see what
sticks? A failed attempt at a harder
edge? A band one record away from
another Blueberry Boat or maybe a
set-back like Rehearsing My Choir?
It's all too hard to tell, but either
way, coherence seems to be its key
to another gem, and sadly outside
of a few slivers of light in the forest,
there's just not enough here to illu-
minate much of anything.
FILM They're back.
An actors Club' Hadn't noticed?
"The Jane Austen Book Club"
At the Michigan Theater,
Quality 16 and Showcase
Sony Classics
"The Jane Austen Book Club"
is the rare romantic dramedy
that succeeds by making its fri-
volity an asset. The movie has
occasional lapses into plot-
necessitated seriousness, but
mostly, this is a light vehicle for
the movie's castof indie darlings
old and new - Emily Blunt,
Hugh Dancy, Kathy Baker and
MariaBello, amongothers- and
that's exactlywhat it shouldbe.
The titular club is composed
of six people for each ofAusten's
six novels, and it should come
as no surprise that each mem-
ber's life begins to resemble
the plot of their given title. But
under the smooth, agreeable
hand of director Robin Swicord
(who also adapted the screen-
play from the novel by Karen
Joy Fowler), the contrivance
doesn't distract from the stars.
"The Jane Austen Book Club"
works best when the group
simply meets and discusses the
books fluently within the con-
text of their lives.
JEFFREY BLOOMER
DAILY ARTS. WE HIRE.
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0tt
A Review
LAST CHANCE!
800-2Review I PrincetonReview.com
. Cirner of S. University and S. Forest
Hot Hot Heat
"Happiness Ltd."
WEA/Warner
Hot Hot Heat - the not-
so-gentlemanly lads from
Victoria most famous for the
radio-quick song "Bandages"
- ; stumbles back onto the
scene this year. Unfortunately,
its latest release on Warner
Records, Happiness Ltd, seems
limited in destination and pur-
pose at every turn.
In the titular opener, front-
man Steve Bays nasally belts
out with an electrified ner-
vous energy and an off-kilter
timbre, promising to make any
audience bounce. After the
album's midpoint (the solidly
composed and richly layered
"Outta Heart"), Bays's barrage
of baying wears away at the
listener's soul.
The album's saving grace
is a remnant of the self-effac-
ing wit, which brought "Ban-
dages" to the forefront. In
"Outta Heart," Bay comments,
"Effortless compliments
wrapped up in useless advice
/ A battle of war with an army
of mice."
Still, the army seems to
be squealing in chorus to the
album as it bleeds together.
Not even "Give Up," with some
experimental click-clacking
and up-tempo staccato electric
guitar, can escape the repetition
of stock whine-lyrics: "Give Up
/Give Up /Give Up." In the end,
Happiness folds under, proving
potential and energy can't sub-
stitute a deaf spirit.
JERRYGORDINIER
FILM
Nothing to see,
hear or 'Feel'
"Feel the Noise"
At the Quality 16 and
Showcase
TriStar
At two separate points dur-
ing my screening of "Feel the0
Noise,"'the audience expressed
its opinion of the movie aloud:
"Oh my God, this movie is
terrible" came first, and then
"This is so horrible."
To clarify, the movie is both
terrible and horrible. It stars
Omarion Grandberry ("You
Got Served") as Rob, an aspir-
ing rapper from Harlem. Much
to his dismay, he is shipped
off to Puerto Rico in a New
York minute to live with his
estranged father. Connect-
ing with his half-brother Javi
(Victor Rasuk, "Lords of Dog-
town") and local mamacita C.C.
(newcomer Zulay Henao), Rob
finds Puerto Rican identity in
reggaeton music and dance.
As Rob, Omarion (who
apparently has a last name)W
gives a whole new meaning to
both stoicism and bad acting
in his attempt at emotional
reserve. The film itself hits
every stereotype of the urban
struggle: petty crime, mas-
sively unjustified egos, trou-
bled family relationships and0
music as a dream and means
of escape. But then again, how
much can we expect from a
production company helmed
by Jennifer Lopez?
NOAH DEAN STAHL
TO OUR 31E SCHOLARS ON THE
OF OUR CLASS of 1931 ENGINEERING SCHOLARSHIPS
The class of '31E and its Scholarship Selection Committeey
congratulates and welcomes their SIX new scholarship"
winners for the 2007-2008 academic year:-
ROSS BARNOWSKI
JONATHAN CARENDER
CHIAO-YANG HSIAO
MICHAEL KRUG
DANIEL PATRICK
ASHLEY POLLOCK
They will be joining the '31E HONOR SOCIETY and our EIGHTEEN current scholars:
STEVEN ALLEN ANDREW LASKOWSKI
ADAM BARNETT ALISYN MALEK
MICHAEL BOHN CHRISTOPHER MARK
GRIFFIN DIXON MAITHEW McKEOWN
BRANDON EAGEN BRIAN RUMAO
BRENDAN FIKE JULIA SAMOREZOV
CASEY GRISWOLD KAREN STAUBACH
MEGAN HAUBERT LOC THANG
COLIN HAYWARD BETHANY YAKLIN
All of these scholars will be honored this month at the 76th Annual Reunion Dinner of the Class of '31E, which will
be held at the Four Points Sheraton Inn, Ann Arbor on Friday, October 12, 2007 at 5:30 PM.
Since the establishment of the '31E Scholarship Program in 1982, more than 130 aspiring engineering students have
been helped to experience a University of Michigan education and have gone on to rewarding careers.
George E. Anderson
Director of Media Relations
L