The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, February 22, 2008 - 5A

ARTS IN BRIEF

Event
New program teams
with Detroit artist to
improve city living
Detroit to Ann Arbor Art Exhibit
At the Michigan Union Art Lounge
Through March 4
Art is never far from the city of Detroit.
One of its native sons and artists Stephen
William Schudlich is acutely aware of this
fact. Collecting waste paper off the streets
of Detroit is more than a way to save the
Earth; it can become art. In a recent piece,
Schudlich used the remnants of paper from
the area surrounding the intersection of
Woodward Avenue and Mack Avenue to
form a map of Detroit's activities and habits.
In collaboration with the Semester
in Detroit Planning Team - a program
formed by the University's Ginsberg Center
that incorporates academic learning with
community service - Schudlich's artwork,
along with other Detroit artists' projects,
can be viewed in the Michigan Union Art
Lounge until March 4.
The artwork on display provides observa-
tions of the community life within Detroit.
Colored photographs, graphic design pieces,
installations and acrylic paintings form the
eclectic collection at the Union. These pieces
vary in form and design, but they all closely
examine the urbanenvironments of Detroit.
The caption for artist Clinton Snider's
piece perhaps exemplifies what this exhibit
has set out to illustrate: "On one level, the
painting is about the decline of modern civi-
lization in Detroit, but on another arguably
more important level, it is about the persis-
tence of life even in the city's most desolate
provinces."

"This isn't funny anymore, I seriously need some toilet paper. I forgot to take my pants off.'

Too smart to be real

and eclectic arrangements of Canasta's full-
length debut We Were Set Up (2005) made
the band a favorite of the Chicago music
community, as well as the local press.
Its follow-up is slated for this fall, but in
the meantime, the band has put together a
juicy holdover collection of remixes to fill
out the interim. We Were Mixed Up - which
goes up today onthe band's website as a free
MP3 download - contains 17 electronica-
spiced, new and extended mixes of selec-
tions from We Were Set Up.
When the rock comes to town tonight
- whether it be augmented with horns
and strings by Canasta or just cranked up
as nature intended by local acts the Beg-
gars, Bulletproof and Sunday Painters
- one thing's for sure: It will put to shame
the plastic excitement of any political rally
Canasta's ever played.
DAVID WATNICK
In concert
Alt-rock stalwarts
return to Detroit
Foo Fighters
Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
At Joe Louis Arena
Since the Foo Fighters' debut in 1995,
they've released 28 singles and six studio
albums. With such an extensive list of hits,
it's unlikely that you don't have at least one
favorite song. It's even more unlikely that
you wouldn't be able to enjoy yourself at a
Foo Fighters show. You're in luck, because
The Foo Fighters are coming to Joe Louis
Arena Sunday in support of their Grammy
award-winning album Echoes, Silence,
Patience Et Grace.
Coming along for the ride are Gainesville
natives Against Me! If you're at all familiar
with Against Me!'s mostly folk-punk cata-
logue, it may seemlike an odd choice forthe
Foo Fighters's opening act. But their latest
release New Wave has broadened its hori-
zons andtakentheband outofsmallvenues.
System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian
will also be making an appearance promot-
ing his debut solo album Elect the Dead.
Tankian's solo project features his backing
band, the FCC, as well as more poetic lyrics
and experimental instrumentation that mix
for an ambitious sound that's not what one
would expect from System of a Down.
While these artists seem like an unlikely
combination for an arena rock show, each
band's intensity and signature energetic
performances give reason to bring these
artists together.
LINDSAY CHMIELEWSKI

Film about high-schoolers
chock-full of stereotypical
characters and plot devices
By SARAH SCHWARTZ
DailyArts Writer
We should blame "Dawson's Creek" for
this. .
It was a definitive show in the '90s -
not for the world's introduction to Pacey
(Joshua Jackson), but because of the lan-
guage. Here were "teenagers" spoutingoff
ten-dollar words, off-kil-
ter pop culture referenc-
es and experiencing the
pains of youth. The new Charlie
movie "Charlie Bartlett"
is another addition to Bartlett
"teenagers sounding like At Quality 16
they're adults, but still and Showcase
making the mistakes of a oa
adolescence" genre of MGM
moviemaking, yet unlike
any of the TV shows or movies before it,
"Charlie Bartlett" adds nothing new to the
genre.
The story of Charlie and his rise from

victim of bathroom swirlies to campus star
has shades of alternative teen black com-
edies. But unlike "Rushmore" or "Elec-
tion,"this movie doesn'tpushthe envelope
far enough. The movie tries to play with
high school clich6s, but ends up relying
too much on the students' existence. Los-
ing your virginity in the backseat of a car?
Check. A football star who really wants to
move to Paris and paint? The movie's got
that too. There's even a musical number at
the end, and we all know nothing drives a
d6nouement more than a musical perfor-
mance.
Anton Yelchin ("Alpha Dog") delivers
Charlie with a variety of facets, accents
and personalities. Once Charlie is kicked
out of another private school, he's sent
to public school, where, surprisingly, he
doesn't fit in. Known as-odd, he starts
dispensing therapy in the boys' bathroom
stalls, complete with psychiatric medica-
tion.
of course, the obligatory montage of
teenage angst, complete with moral ques-
tions on sluttiness and homosexuality,
occurs and Charlie adds wise-beyond-his-
years snarky remarks to it all. However,
Charlie's practice runs afoul with the
principal (Robert Downey Jr., "Zodiac"),

and problems ensue.
Though Yelchin may be the headlin-
er, it's really Downey and Hope Davis
("Proof"), who plays Charlie's moth-
er, who really shine. Davis's Marilyn
Bartlett is innocent to the world around
her, giving the character enough naive-
t6 to make her sweetly affecting, and
enough odd ticks to draw attention to
her own state of mind. As for Downey, he
has only gotten stronger with age, and as
a former member of the '80s high school
Brat Pack, he's willing to challenge him-
self by taking roles on the other side of
the authority line.
Oddly,"CharlieBartlett"featuresthree
cameos by cast members of the Canadian
teenage soap opera "Degrassi: The Next
Generation." That show - though not to
the same extent as American TV dramas
- features mature storylines and, lately,
more grown-up language.
It seems "post-pubescent psycho-
babble," as Principal Gardner refers to
Charlie's manner of speech, is crossing
borders. If only it wouldn't. Then the
viewers could be content with simply
admiringthe beautiful boys of primetime
TV and film without needing a dictionary
by their sides.

PRI
In concert
Indie backups take
the main stage
Canasta
Tonight 10:30 p.m.
At the Elbow Room

YA BALI

Chicago's Canasta comes to Ypsilanti's
Elbow Room tonight to show off its orches-
tral-pop chops. In the past five years, the
group has garnered rave reviews, landed on
bills with indie-rock heavyweights includ-
ing Wilco, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and
Grizzly Bear. And the group even shared the
stage withBarack Obama. The lushtextures

I I

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Fax: (248) 370-4462
Web: www.oakland.edu
E-mail: ouinfo@oakland.edu
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