The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - 5 "Where are you going!?" Penn's vision doesn't fit story By NOAH DEAN STAHL Daily Arts Writer By now, the story of Christopher McCandless - the Emory University graduate *** from an upper- Into the middle- Wild class family who At the State donated Theater his life's Paramount savings to a charityand set out on a personal expedi- tion into the Alaskan wil- derness - is widely known. Jon Krakauer compiled the provoking, intimate tale into the non-fiction book "Into the Wild," which Sean Penn had the foresight to adapt to film. There is no denying the basic strength of this story and the ideas it provokes. But as Penn's "Into the Wild" proves, that doesn't mean its transition to film is that simple. The film opens with a series of montages of the starkly beautiful Alaskan wilderness. Accompanied by music from Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, whose score is honorably intentioned but borderline annoying, we see clips of Chris (Emile Hirsch, "Alpha Dog"), contemplative and serene in his natural environment. The film characterizes Chris's relationship with his parents as tense and adver- sarial. Upon graduating from college, his father (Wil- liam Hurt, "A History of Vio- lence"), mother (Marcia Gay Harden, "Mystic River") and sister (Jena Malone, "Donnie Darko") come to visit him in Atlanta, offering to buy him a new car as a graduation gift. "Things, things, things!" he replies incredulously, and thus begins the journey that gives the film its title. Chris burns his Social Security card and his remaining money, heading westward toward Alaska. One of his first encounters is a violent flash flood, leav- ing his old, yellow Datsun in shambles. Undeterred, he picks up his backpack and continues westward, forging strong bonds with a pair of hippies who travel by RV, a mill operator named Wayne (Vince Vaughn, "The Break- Up") and an old man named Ron Franz (Hal Holbrook, TV's "Evening Shade"). The film's chief strength is in its actors. Hirsch is an asset, not only in his perfor- mance but inbringingstabil- ity to the jumbled narrative, which I'll get to in a second. Vaughn proves his capabili- ties as an actor beyond the confines of the buddy com- edy, easing tangible spirit and fun to the movie. Hol- brook brings an emotional authenticity to the picture's indistinct later section, and Hurt and Harden make an impression in relatively small roles. At every stop along his journey, there are various displays of human connec- tion all around Chris. Some- times you see the fractured pieces of relationships; sometimes you see how the kindred spirit between peo- ple is essential to life. All of these important connections surrounding an emotionally isolated Chris culminate in a final awakening late in the film. The movie's power is evi- dent in these simple themat- ic points,hbut writer-director Penn's narrative system needlessly complicates the story. Jumping back and forth between Chris's base camp on an abandoned bus in Alaska and his journey toward Alaska, the narrative burden is shared between A beautiful tale needlessly complicated as a movie. his sister (in the form of a voiceover) and the per- sonal moments Chris has with himself that are bet- ter conveyed on paper than on screen. In a movie that's often intensely visual, the segments that insist on tell- ing rather than showing feel out of place. Deeplyemotional attimes, the movie could bring the audience to tears - and had it been properly executed, it no doubt would have. The struggle to escape the mate- rialism and misguided val- ues that plague daily life has the ability to resonate with any spectator, but "Into the Wild" never quite captures the essence of McCandless's journey. Lupe Fiasco's upcoming album will challenge the music industry's fixation with money, sex and violence. ast September, Lupe Fiasco introduced music circles to a dis- tinct mix of skateboarding, Islam and the gang culture of Chicago's West Side. His stunning debut album, Food & Liquor, showcased exceptional lyricism and proved that his "cool nerd" persona was far from a gimmick. In drawing on his diverse points of reference, Lupe was able to craft a collection of songs that both raised the bar for the next generation of rappers and reaffirmed the importance of socially conscious music. With multiple Grammy nominations and magazine covers, as well as membership in a supergroup with Pharrell and Kanye West, Lupe has reached an enviable level of mainstream recogni- tion. But the past year also saw the passing of his father and the long-term incarceration of a close friend and business associate. Many rap fans also have been clamoring over his unfamiliarity with a certain golden-age classic and his alleged inability to skateboard. Despite these personal obsta- cles and industry-related pres- sures, Lupe set about recording an ambitious follow-up record. The album, titled The Cool, is a concept-driven record that challenges the music industry's fixation with money, sex and violence. The album's con- cept centers on Lupe's theory of social change, to which he credits Cornel West. "You have to make those things that seem cool uncool," he said yesterday before his performance on the Diag. "You have to make it hip to be square, and then you might see, on some level, small, tiny 180s start occurring." The Cool is a continuation of the story in "The Cool," a song from Food & Liquor. The character, also known as "The Cool," is a deceased street hus- tler who has risen from the dead and returned to his old block. In his appearances on The Cool, the phantom hustler is depicted in sharp contrast with the dope-boy archetype that is celebrated or champi- oned in much of today's rap. Lupe turns the dealer into a "half-rotten zombie" forced to reflect on his life as a gangster and his resulting denial from heaven. As the album progresses, "The Cool" is joined by "The Game" and "The Streets," characters Lupe uses to per- sonify other negative aspects of street life. "They're like these monsters they developed out into these real kind of creepy figures," he said. "'The Game' has dice for eyes and bullets for teeth, and 'The Streets' has dollar signs for eyes." Though the album doesn't drop until Dec. 18, Lupe seems to have created a critical opus in the vein of Masta Ace's Slaughtahouse and other clas- sic concept albums. To effectively carve out the idiosyncrasies of his charac- ters, Lupe found inspiration in a variety of influences. In addi- tion to the aesthetics of Johnny Cash and post-rockers Explo- sions in the Sky, Lupe gravitat- ed toward the eccentric blues of Tom Waits. "Tom Waits was heav- ily influential on this album," he said, "just in the abstract- ness of his storytelling and his ability to create the scene. So I took some of that and put it into some of the records." Lupe described the resulting sound as having a "cinematic, comic- book appeal." In a stratified hip-hop world, where materialistic mainstream giants are pitted against righteous underground rebels, Lupe serves as an alter- native to both factions. His unique approach to addressing this dichotomy is captured in his latest single, "Superstar." The song itself is a catchy meditation on life in the spot- light, but a closer listen reveals a subtle political commentary: "Most of us don't want it to fade / We want it tobraid / Meaning we want it to grow, meaning we want it to stay / Like the gov- ernor called-and he told him to wait / Un-strap him from the chair and put him back in his cage." The video for "Superstar" again focuses on this juxtapo- sition. Lupe said he uses the grandiose direction of Hype Williams to create a "very clean, very Hollywood" image of himself as a rising "super- star." But the video also reflects the underlying message of The Cool, as it features cameos from "The Streets" and "The Game." With a focus on bringing his art to an ever-expanding audi- ence, Lupe succeeds in provid- ing fans and peers alike with a refreshingbrand of hip hop. A 'Simpsons' Halloween hall offame H alloween is basically a perfect holi- day. Any event that allows me to acquire free food, attempt to offend people with a costume and pass it off asa joke (FEMA costume: check), take a knife to a hallowed-out gourd and constantly eat miniature cones of sugar in the guise of corn has my support. But the Halloween tra- dition most near and dear to my heart is the annual "Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror" episode. Com- posed of three short seg- ments apiece, each of the 17 "Treehouse" episodes has its own merit. Togeth- PSMAN er, though, they stand as the greatest collection of Halloween comedy in existence. Even as the show has declined over the past 12 years, the "Treehouse" epi- sodes are still some of the series's best. There is no quintessential "Treehouse" episode. "Treehouse of Horror V" is largely regarded as the best, but a weak final third holds it back. I've boldly taken it upon myself to compile the perfect "Treehouse" collection. There are a lot of good shorts that didn't make the cut, and there's always a chance a future episode will crack the list, but with 17 "Treehouse" episodes in the bag and an 18th coming Sun- day, here's the definitive "Treehouse of Hor- ror" special: Opening title: Every traditional "Simp- sons" episode opens with a couch-gag right before the credits, but the Halloween special bucked that trend years ago. To kick off the best of"Treehouse" episode, I'm looking to "Treehouse of Horror XVI," where "Tree- house" hallmarks Kang and Kodos lament over baseball's inherent boredom and having to wait for the World Series to endbefore the "Simpsons" Halloween special canbegin. Eventually they speed up time because, you know, they're aliens, and they can do that kind of stuff, though they accidentally destroy the fabric of the universe in the pro- cess of kicking things off. Just so you know, the real Halloween is on Sunday this year. Act 1: The first act in the definitive collec- tion is borrowed from "Treehouse of Horror V," and it's my personal favorite. "The Shin- ning," an obvious parody of "The Shining" that clones most of Kubrick's trademark shots, has Homer tryingto kill his family after losing his mind without entertain- ment or alcohol. Besides Homer's classic "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy" bit, which is on regular rotation at Joe Louis Arena and other sports venues, this one gets bonus points for notable appearances by Mr. Burns, Groundskeeper Willie and Moe - three of best peripheral characters on the show. Act 2: Here's where it starts to get tough. "The Shinning" was a shoo-in, but now we're left with about 10 other worthy shorts that won't make the list. I'm putting "Attack of the 50-Ft Eyesores" from "Treehouse of Hor- ror VI" in the second slot for its celebration of obnoxious advertising and Paul Anka. In "Attack," oversized corporate characters come to life after Homer steals a massive metal donut from a street-side Lard Lad Donuts mascot. Eventually, the crisis is averted when Paul Anka kills the giant mas- cots via songby instructingthe residents of Springfield to stop paying attention to the ads. Act 3: My initial thought was to put "The Night of the Dolphin" from "Treehouse of Horror XI" here, but after goingback and re- watching the others, "Dial 'Z' for Zombies" from "Treehouse of Horror III" stole the last spot. The plot is fairly simple - Bart wakes the dead while performing spells with the Thriller album on his head - but the execu- tion and writing are flawless. Ultimately, Homer's shotgun rampage takes care of zom- bie Shakespeare, Einstein and Ned Flanders, allowing Bart and Lisa to reverse the spell and send the undead back to their graves before the entire town is wiped out. We're left with the family talking abouthow they're gracious for not turning into zombies, all the while sitting motionless on the coach in front of their television. The end. It's worth noting that with the exception of the openingtitles, all of the content comes from the first half of the show's run. Still, legions of "Simpsons" fans including myself are still eager to see Sunday's new "Tree- house" episode, just as we have for nearly 20 years. My calendar says Halloween is tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it's not till Sunday this year. - We English majors can't believe Passman didn't include the "Raven" bit. E- mail Passman at mpass@umich.edu. Tonight, Orthodox music remade for today By KATIE CAREY For the Daily Like students of religion seeking truth, Russian Patriarchate Choir founder Anatoly Grindenko looked to the east. And like Russian many 20-year-old PatriarChate musicians seek- .o ing inspiration, he looked to the spirit Tonight at of rock. 8 P.M. But unlike most, Grindenko spent Atthe5 years decoding At then ancient manuscripts ASt. irCathoi c of Orthodox Church Churcho music with his choir. He searched for a combination of religion and inspiration in a time when the Soviet government strictly banned this type of music. "Despite our imperfect present- day view, what emerges is a unique soundscape that musically expresses a prayerful and spiritual reality," Vladi- mir Morosan wrote of the Patriarchate Choir ina note to the press. In his search for this reality, Grin- denko spent the later decades leading up to the collapse in 1991 uncovering ancientmanuscripts on liturgical music that lay dormant for centuries before. His influence, though, extends beyond older manuscripts and into to the con- temporary realm of King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Pink Floyd, Genesis and Yes. Today, Grindenko joins 12 members of his all-male choir tobring the sounds that were outlawed in Communist Rus- sia to the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Ann Arbor. With the eventual demise of the Soviet Union came the opportunity for the Russian Patriarchate Choir to bring its performances to the public, tour- ing internationally, attracting a grow- A resurgence of the buried art of Orthodox chant. ing fan base worldwide and creating a resurgence of the buried art of Russian ' Orthodox chant. Reviews of past performances sug- gest audiences do not have to share the same religious spirit to fall under the hypnotic spell of the choir's ethereal voices. The choir has a variety of ways to capture its audience. With folk songs, chants or hymns, the Patriarchate pulls the listener in with overlapping tones that bellow from deep within the choir. The sounds resonate like bells, creating an unearthly atmosphere. While the first part of the all-Rus- sian program will include perfor- mances from the decoded hymns, there is a strong representation of Russian liturgical and folk music by composers Rachmaninoff, Bortniansky and Gre- choninov. Regardless of one's inclinations, the Patriarchate Choir promises to leave its audience with small echoes of some- thing unworldly, the spine-tingling sense that Grindenko and the Patri- archate Choir have found and decoded the truth they were looking for.