The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - 5
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - 5
Will television
save Hollywood?
"Don't look now but there's a bear behind you."
When the stars shine
Charismatic leads actress. When a grab-bag, goof-
ball show like "Leatherheads"
are enough to propel screens, we enjoy it, regardless
of its inherent flaws. We bask in
a loose, old-school the warmth and charm of strong
football tale performers. Forget plot and con-
It's 1925, and college football
By BLAKE GOBLE is king. Professional football is in
Daily Arts Writer its infancy, and looks as though
it won't make it past boyhood.
Not long ago, an Entertainment Besides directing, Clooney stars
Weekly poll suggested movie- as Dodge Connelly, the rascally
going audiences tend to choose leader of the Duluth, Minnesota
movies based on plot and concept Bulldogs. With an ailing team,
rather than Connelly seeks out Stanford
star appeal - a **, champ and World War I hero
humbling con- Carter Rutherford (John Kra-
ceit that we Leather- sinski, TV's "The Office") in an
enjoy flicks for attempt to boost attendance as
their density heads well as popularity.
and richness.. At Showcase But hot on their tails is Lexie
We all want and Quality16 Littleton(Zellweger,"Cold Moun-
deep cinematic tain"), a Chicago Tribune report-
bravado, right? Universal er. Lexie, a spunky newswoman,
But what about aims to bust both Rutherford's
when a movie like "Leather- war record and Connelly's chops.
heads" comes along and succeeds The rest is easy enough. Slam
solely because of the charm of its together some screwball comedy,
top billing? What does that say nostalgic romance and Clooney's
about our taste? Nothing, really. affinity for all things "old-timey,"
George Clooney is a lovable and you've got yourself a movie.
dude. Renee Zellweger is a great Or at least a loose outline for one.
Admittedly, "Leatherheads"
is uneven at best. The screen-
play has apparently been kicking
around Universal for the last 16
years, and it's no wonder execu-
tives never took the time to look
at it. Plot points loosely dangle,
as the film is an exercise in noth-
ing coming full-circle. But it's no
matter - the sensations here are
exuberant.
Despite the screenplay's weak-
nesses, Clooney actually carries
the movie by himself. Focusing on
facial expressions and sight gags,
Clooney almost nails the look and
feel of an old Capra film. Cos-
tume gags, snappy dialogue and
exaggerated eyebrows all add to
that. As with William Powell in
the 1936 screwball comedy "My
Man Godfrey," we're introduced
to a series of comedic arche-
types (snob villain, big lug, wise
mediator, drunken stooge) while
relating to the everyman's eyes of
Dodge Connelly.
On the field, the hits are crack-
ing and crass in the best way pos-
sible. Fists fly, butts are kicked
and Clooney has the perpetual
look of a man having the time of
his life. Just before a big sneaky
play, he looks up over a huddle
and smirks. It's kind of adorable
and playful, and you'll smirk too.
Sounds like dumb-guy football
humor? Not to worry. Zellweger
holds her own as the up-and-
coming reporter, and when she
talks with Clooney, you'd swear
this film could have come from
1943.
Stagnant shots of Clooney
and Zellweger sharing a train
bunk bed allude to something
simple and classical. With a rat-
a-tat fervor and the script's only
snap-pop writing, the two leads
interact as wonderfully as Grant
and Hepburn did so many years
ago. Maybe that's a bit much, but
these two are awesome.
So what about the beloved
John Krasinski of "The Office"?
Well, he's useless here. His drunk
jokes are fun, but ultimately sto-
len gags. Better luck next time,
John-boy.
"Leatherheads" is a wholly
pleasing diversion, like what
would've resulted had Burt Reyn-
olds had directorial talent. Ignore
its obvious flaws, and you'll have
a fun time with a truly great pair
of leads.
For the past decade or so, a
revolution has been brew-
ing in virtually every home
across America. A certain visual
medium, once disdained by any
self-respecting_
artist, is now at
the forefront of
popular, dar-
ing and truly
visionary film-
making. Yearly,
it has amassed
viewers from BRANDON
coast to coat, CONIRADIS
drawing them
into its follow-
ing. It has gained respectability
from even the most persistent
critics. It has formed its own
auteurs; its own celebrities; its
own loyal fan base. And it's mak-
ing the move to the big screen.
I'm talking about television.
Now, this is hard for me. As a
film critic, it takes a lot to admit
this, especially while suppress-
ing the instinctive eye-rolling
and defensive balking that comes
with any "TV vs. film" debate. But
the simple truth is this: Many of
the shows formerly or currently
on television are infinitely more
interesting, imaginative and cred-
ible than any movie coming out of
Hollywood today.
It's funny to think how we got
here. I'm sure if 20 years ago you
were to say television would be
the leader of the visual arts, any
industry person would laugh at
you. Television was for "Saved by
the Bell" and "Growing Pains,"
not audacious, inventive program-
ming. It was moviemakers who
brought their distinctive visions
to the screen, who pushed bound-
aries, who entertained us while
showing us something new.
How the mighty have fallen.
A few weeks ago, I was watch-
ing an episode of the now-defunct
Showtime series "Dead Like Me.".
For those who aren't familiar with
it, the show deals with a group
of grim reapers and their various
social entanglements as they learn
to live with their new job in the
afterlife. The show was unique,
to say the least, and its caustic
humor and gloomy quirkiness
were probably the reasons it never
really found an audience - at least
not until it was taken off the air.
Now, compare "Dead Like
Me" to something like "Just Like
Heaven" (2005), a fairly recent
Reese Witherspoon vehicle that
also deals with the premise of a
youngwoman comingto terms
with her own death. It's like
comparing a ripe McIntosh apple
to a piece Styrofoam display
fruit. It's to be expected that a
film like "Just Like Heaven" will
be contrived - it's a romantic
comedy, after all. The more sig-
nificant problem is that there's no
imagination involved whatsoever.
Repackaging a once-popular film
(in this case, "Ghost") with a con-
temporary Hollywood star and
calling it a day doesn't make for
a fresh movie-watching experi-
ence - yet it's something that has
been happening recently with
many Hollywood films. A televi-
sion show like "Dead Like Me" is
simply more vibrant, unique and
audacious, and that makes it ahell
of a lot more interesting to watch.
It's no wonder so many people
are tuning into cable television to
get their entertainment fix. With
quality shows like "The Sopra-
Let's face it:
Sometimes TV just
trumps the minds
behind film.
nos," "The Wire," "Carnivale" and
"Six Feet Under" having graced
the screens of our television sets
every week, who'd want to spend
$15 on a movie ticket for a film
that'll probably be as disposable
as last night's TV dinner?
I'm actually glad to see these
television pioneers making their
way into the film world. The "Sex
and the City" movie, of course,
will be hitting screens this sum-
mer, and will probably cause an
uproar among 20-something
single women and gay men. But
there's also the upcoming feature
'film version of the aforemen-
tioned "Dead Like Me," which
will hopefully spark new interest
in this sadly neglected series.
Really, I'm just excited to see
the creative forces behind these
shows turning their attention to
moviemaking. If these producers
and writers can bring the same
sort of ingenuity and creativity to
films that they've been bringing
to television shows, they may very
well be the new hope in reviving a
painfully derivative and stagnant
Hollywood.
Conradis has been waiting for an
"Ugly Betty" movie for along time.
E-mail him at brconrad@umich.edu.
CULTURE LECTURE
inc air
returns
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By CHRIS GAERIG
ManagingArts Editor
"Am I happening?"
It was an innocuous question, but one that
had a rather clear answer - an obvious "yes"
- as John Sinclair fiddled with his micro-
phone in front of Prof. Bruce Conforth's Beat-
niks, Hippies and Punks lecture yesterday.
Sinclair, who was in Ann Arbor after speaking
at Hash Bash, talked to the class - in which
I am currently enrolled - about rock'n'roll,
psychedelics, managing the MCS and a slew
of other related topics.
Though he's most notorious for his. 1969
marijuana arrest, Sinclair's influence and
importance are far more widespread. A Flint-
born activist and poet, Sinclair was one of the
key figures in the emerging '70s punk move-
ment and a number of other political groups
- namely, the White Panther Party. Most of
his discussion, though, centered on the music
and culture of punk and rock'n'roll.
"Ann Arbor was the center of the move-
ment - Berkeley, San Francisco and Ann
Arbor," he said.
He talked rather extensively about the
genesis of rock'n'roll. Though many people
believe that artists like Elvis Presley and the
Rolling Stones were some of the forefathers
of the genre, Sinclair spoke about the real ori-
gins of rock'n'roll: artists like Little Richard,
Howlin' Wolf and Chuck Berry.
"It's rooted in the experience of African
Americans," he said. "If you were to ask Janis
Joplin where she got it, she would've told you
Big Mama Thornton."
Sinclair alsotalked aboutDetroit's involve-
ment with rock'n'roll. Aside from the afore-
mentioned MC5, the Detroit area boasted
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Poet-activist John Sinclair, seen here speaking at Hash Bash on Saturday in the Diag.
a number of influential rock'n'roll artists,
including The Stooges, Smokey Robinson and
Bob Seger. Sinclair offered his explanation:
"In Detroit, there was Motown, so there was
already that driving force."
He seemed to relish talking to students,
though he lamented the demise of the punk
movement's ideals - most significantly, the
drive to bring down the current political state
in favor of a more liberal one.
John Sinclair has had
more of an effect on
Ann Arbor than many
people realize.
"We hated the government," Sinclair said.
"We didn't succeed, and now you have to take
classes like this at the University of Michigan
to find out what happened."
When asked about a recent Associated
Press article that discussed the infamous
New York punk venue CBGB and its recent
conversion into an upscale retail store, Sin-
clair spoke more candidly.
"Punk's been dead for a long time," he
said.
Coming from Sinclair, a man who's had
such significant experience in the scene, the
statement hits especially hard. He mocked
groups like Green Day and The Offspring who
claim to be punk, as well as other big-name
acts that have gained inexplicable amounts of
fame.
"Rock'n'roll wasn't big business back
then," he said. "Tom Petty is in the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame. What did he do for
rock'n'roll?"
But what Sinclair truly tried to do was help
the students understand what it was like for
the hippies of his generation.
"The only difference between the beatniks
and the hippies is that we were taking acid
and trying to save the world," he said.
Inspired by his casual lifestyle and liberal
mindset, many students began asking how he
believed they should live their lives. To these
inquiries, Sinclair had a simple answer - "Do
what you wanna," he said. "Figure out what
you want to do and then find out how to do it."
And when asked why there don't seem to
be any contemporary movements like those
of the hippies or punks, Sinclair was blunt:
"You've got to move. If you're not moving,
nothing is."
I A