The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - 5A
Right in
front of
your nose
J^t'satypicalweekendafternoonat
the lofty Hill Auditorium. Every
single seat, up into the nosebleed
section, is filled. The audience is as
diverse in age as it is race. Students
and residents, new Ann Arborites
and blue-blooded
Wolverines flip
through programs
and dig in their
pockets to turn off
cell phones. When
the lights begin
to flicker, they're
summoned to their ABIGAILRB
seats. COLODNER
A confession. It's
not, in fact, a typical afternoon. Typi-
cally, at this early hour on a Friday,
the professional musician perform-
ing later that night would be rehears-
ing in the echoing hall. Instead, an
early-afternoon appearance by the
author Maya Angelou has ousted
Louis Lortie and filled Hill to capac-
ity. Organizers moved the event from
Rackham Auditorium to Hill, a venue
more than twice its size, to accommo-
date the huge demand.
Hill is primarily the stomping
ground of the University Musical
Society, a not-for-profit organiza-
tion associated with but not funded
by the University. The ambition of its
programming is often on the scale of
the Angelou performance. It sched-
ules perennial crowd-pleasers like Yo
Yo Ma and Youssou N'Dour as well
as unusual groups coming straight
from venues in New York City and
from The New York Times's culture
pages. Incredibly popular profes-
sionals return annually to Ann Arbor,
frequently their only stop in the Mid-
west. Not Chicago, not Detroit - Ann
Arbor.
This ambition makes UMS indis-
pensable. It offers fare you can't get
You don't
know what
you're missing.
anywhere else and it caters to more
thanone (potentially throwaway)
crowd.
So why, when I take a seat at one of
the University's illustrious and deter-
minedly ambitious venues on a typi-
cal weekend night, do I find myself
in an aisle populated exclusively by
white people who would qualify for
the senior discount at the Quality 16,
but who instead choose to spend four
times more to watch a Cambodian
dance version of Mozart's "The Magic
Flute"?
For the most part, attendance at
Hill, the Power Center and Rackham is
disappointingly narrow in its breadth,
even when every seat is filled.
Sarah Billmann, UMS's marketing
and promotion director, told me that
about 20 percent of the ticket sales
over an entire season are sold at the
student-discount price. Enthusias-
tic participation by the student body
comes in spurts, depending on the
familiarity of the featured performer
and the alternative entertainment
available that day.
From my experience at events,
demographic diversity appears in
spurts as well. The usually undis-
turbed sea of gray heads was punc-
tuated by variety in last November's
performance by Korean-American
violinist Sarah Chang. Although byno
means the majority, Asian Americans
and international students dominated
sections of the auditorium. Angelou's
event was remarkably diverse, attract-
ing Ross School alums (it was the
keynote speech of the 2007 reunion)
as diverse as University admissions
would have them be, in addition to
Angelou's fans who've been reading
her books for decades. Then there was
the clincher - the tickets were free.
Charles Isherwood, The New York
Times theater critic, recently ana-
lyzed the effects of broadly discounted
tickets on theater attendance. When
the off-Broadway Signature Theater
Company got Time Warner to under-
write the cost of its tickets, reducing
prices from $45 to $15, the demo-
graphics of the audience changed dra-
matically in terms of age, income level
and ethnicity.
UMS carries clout as the oldest
university-based arts presenter in
the country. Its long-standing rela-
tionships with managers allow it to
book professionals dependably. And
as a presenter, rather than a producer,
UMS hosts only professionals on tour.
See COLODNER, Page 9A
Beautiful camerawork, little else going for 'Jesse James'
By PAUL TASSI
Daily Film Editor
There's a good movie somewhere
inside the nearly three-hour behemoth
that is "The Assassi-
nation of Jesse James
bythe Coward Robert
Ford." Unfortunately, The Assas-
most won't have the
patience to find it. Slation
Let's get this out of Jesse
of the way: "Assas- James"b
sination" is beauti-
fully made, and every the Coward
scene is rich and Robert Ford
exquisitely detailed.
In terms of framing At Showcase
and lighting and all Warner Bros.
that crap, it's amaz-
ing. OK, let's con-
tinue.
You would think an account of the
death of the greatest trails robber of
the Old West would be interesting,
exciting, revealing - pick a positive
adjective. Instead, what we have is an
exercise in dull ambience with maybe
four or five gunshots piercing the deaf-
ening silence.
James (Brad Pitt) is an outlaw on
the edge of retirement; Robert Ford
(Casey Affleck, "Ocean's Thirteen") is
his wannabe tag-a-long who even tries
to tilt his hat just like his idol. After one
final train robbery, James proceeds to
wander around Missouri, growing
increasingly paranoid and distrustful
of everyone. Ford's views of his men-
tor rapidly start to change when he
begins to fear for his own life. Unless
you accidentally wandered into the
theater without reading the marquee,
you know what's going to happen.
The risingtension in "Assassination"
is painful. You know what's coming,
you know when it's going to happen,
but it just takes so long to get there. In
every scene in between you're waiting
for James to snap and shoot someone
in the face, but that moment never
comes. "Assassination" does do a good
job of making you feel uncomfortable,
but in terms of storytelling, it's just
poorly executed.
Pitt's James acts like a manic-
depressive, crying after roughing up a
child in one scene and then laughing
hysterically after nearly slitting some-
one's throat a short while later. Pitt
probablyisthe highlightofthefilm,but
don't expect any Oscar gold coming his
way. He could have been honored if the
film was actually, you know, good.
Affleck poses a bit of a mystery in
his role as Robert Ford. There's a great
deal of homoeroticism in his relation-
ship with James, followed by jealousy,
insanity and a few times where he just
appears to be mentally challenged. It
may be the way the character was writ-
ten, or it could be Affleck's acting, but
we might have to wait until his upcom-
ing performance in "Gone Baby Gone"
to sort that.question out.
The dynamic between the two
should be the main focus of the movie,
but it often drifts to people we don't
really care about. Cousin, brothers and
wives cloud the vision of the film (as
well as adding that extra unnecessary
hour), although they do give James a
wider selection of people to stare at
intensely.
The first10 minutes of the final train
robbery are incredibly well executed,
as are the last 20 when-James is actu-
ally killed and Ford gains celebrity
status. Bits and pieces inside the film
have the makings of greatness, but
there's just so much droning silence in
between that it's impossible for them
to come together. "Assassination"'is a
great movie that's been watered down
to be mediocre, a true waste of poten-
tial, and unfortunately, time as well.
HIGH SOCIETY
Celebrities in
Southeast Michigan?
Looks to match the quality.
A touch of death
becomes ABC's life
By KIMBERLY CHOU
Associate Arts Editor
Celebrity sightings in South-
east Michigan are rare, even
in our purportedly hip col-
lege town. But they do happen - and
apparently all during Fall Break.
Hayden Christensen popped into
"the liberal mecca of the Midwest" (a
nickname from the era of that other
Hayden) just as many of you split to'
enjoy the precious days off.
In town for a film partially set
in Ann Arbor, the pretty-boy actor
spent some time walking around
town Friday, dropping by Bivouac
and Ashley's.
"I walked in just as he was leav-
ing," reported one Bivemployee, "but
one ofthe other girls who worksthere
actually had the privilege of applying
concealer to his zit."
Purchases were scanty (some
Chapstick), but regret came in buck-
ets.
"I'm pretty upset I didn't get to
work earlier," our friend confessed.
"I'll never be late again."
I spied Hayden walking into Ash-
ley's and being guided into the base-
ment just as a few friends and I were
settling into the first of several hours
of happy hour that evening - most of
it spent pondering "Life As a House"
versus "Shattered Glass," of course.
One ofus interrupted Hayden's convo
with a few film students outside:
HS: "So, what kind of cigarettes
does Hayden Christensen smoke?"
HC: "du Mauriers." (He's Cana-
dian.)
The lucky guy was also treated
to a trailer of the upcoming film,
"Jumper," via the iPhone of one of
Hayden's handlers; the film features
teleportation, Hayden running on top
of the Sphinx and Samuel L. Jackson.
Question is, if "Jumper" was filming
in Ann Arbor (talk to the 60 Huron
High School kids used as extras for
a scene in Gallup Park earlier this
year), where was everyone else? I
want Samuel L. Jackson at Rick's,
damn it.
Saturday nigl, The Blind Pig wel-
comed home University alum and
electronic music star Matthew Dear
and his band Big Hands. Ghostly
International guys turned out in
full force, including label honcho
Sam Valenti and Dear's DJ-part-
ner Ryan Elliott. Despite the shitty
sound system, we still caught most
of the onstage jokes. "Play 'Hands
Up For Detroit!' " requested one fan.
Laughed Dear, "I don't know if I own
the rights to that one anymore."
Wes Anderson and Jason
Schwartzman showed up a couple
nights later for a "The Darjeeling
Limited" Q&A at Borders, followed
by an exclusive screening at The
Michigan Theater. "We usually over-
book events 10 to one," a PR rep told
me, "but this is only booked two to
one."
I squeezed in 15 minutes with
As if Ashley's
wasn't already
the best bar
on campus.
Anderson, Schwartzman and Waris
Ahluwalia (the Sikh socialite/jewelry
designer who occasionally guests in
friends' films) at the Townsend Hotel
in nearby Birmingham earlier that
Monday. While waiting for the next
roundtable interview on schedule
(with me and a few others, includ-
ing one guy who later gave budding
label head Schwartzman his demo
tape - seriously), the PR types fretted
over dinner and how to keep tabs on
the "easily distracted" Schwartzman.
"Someone needs to go with Jason!"
wailed one, concerned about his
request to find an addition to his vin-
tage guitar collection. "I don't want
him to endup somewhere in Detroit."
About dinner: Vegetarian
Schwartzman was lobbying for the
See SOCIETY, Page 10A
By MARK SCHULTZ
Daily Arts Writer
When Showtime cancelled Bryan
Fuller's acclaimed series "Dead Like
Me," he offered this in
an interview: "There ****
are plenty of stories
yet to tell in the reap- Pushing
er universe." Fuller Daisies
probably didn't know
it at the time, but the Wednesdays
next cosmos he would at 8 p.m.
create on the small ABC
screen would be that
of the revivers, not
the reapers.
The reviver in question in "Push-
ing Daisies" is Ned (Lee Pace, "The
Good Shepherd"), who discovers at a
young age he has the ability to bring
the dead back to life with the touch of
his finger. Unfortpnately, this power
comes with a "curious caveat," to quote
avuncular British narrator Jim Dale.
Ned must touch the revitalized subject
again within a minute to re-kill him,
otherwise someone nearby will snuff
it instead. As Ned learns the hard way
from his mother's death, once said per-
son is revived, another touch of his fin-
ger will put the undead back to rest.
With all the stipulations of this fan-
A new
twist on
abstinence.
tastic ability, Ned might be tempted to
exercise the old porn-star idiom: just
because you have it doesn't mean you
See DAISIES, Page 9A