The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, A pril 15, 2008 - 5A
How did ceiling cat get outside?
A vacation to die fo-
New horror film finds
success through its
adaption of Smith's
powerful novel
By JEFFREY BLOOMER
Daily Arts Writer
For a movie about the children of white
yuppies who venture into the big, bad Mexi-
can jungle only to be trapped by violent
Mayans, "The Ruins" is a
surprisingly polished and
effective movie, if not a very
good one. Based on the novel
by Scott B. Smith - whose The Ruins
debut, "A Simple Plan," was At Quality 6
adapted into one of the best and showcase
American thrillers of recent
years - the movie marries DreamWorks
the recently popular genre
of rich white people terror-
ized while on daddy-funded vacations and
the classic setup of survival fiction, where it's
only a matter of time before a once tight-knit
group lashes out at each other.
The combo makes for a pleasingly nasty
concoction, at least until the movie reveals its
secret, an inert evil nearly as dull as the film's
humans. The film opens as a pair of well-off
young couples (a crowd of familiar B-list faces
including Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone,
Shawn Ashmore and Laura Ramsey) splash
around a Mexican beach for the last few days
beforethey head off to grad school. Sun-kissed
and barely ever dressed, the smiley Ameri-
cans get a casual invitation by a German tour-
ist (Joe Anderson, "Across the Universe") to
spice up their trip with a wade through the
jungle to some old, uncharted ruins.
Of course, they take the offer, and the
movie wastes no time from there: there are
the customary ominous signs until a stunning
sequence of graphic violence leaves the group
trapped in the ruins. It's the most frighten-
ing moment in the movie, if only because it
has the ability to surprise, which the rest of
the film does not. It collects a familiar clan
of vapid, tequila-slugging tourists who each
fill comfortable stereotypes of college grads,
only vaguely bright enough to be believable.
Even when first-time feature director Carter
Smith deftly limits the gore to a few ultra-vio-
lent moments in favor of psychological sus-
pense, the stakes are never very high because
it seems pretty clear the characters are in a
hopeless dilemma. They spend most of their
time pointlessly trying to help the injured
when it's clear they will be the first to go, and
while the movie is not reluctant to shock with
amputated limbs and dead little kids, there's
a point at which its horrors lack the dr
impetus to compel us to care.
And especially once that implacab
ror hidden in the ruins becomes cle
the film's midsection, the dramatic sta
quashed. There is a crafty, flesh-hung
that inhabits the site, and the riotous
who will not allow the Americans t
once they've set foot on the site hav
reason. Why a good flash fire couldn't t
the apparently ancient threat is beyo
but it does seem clear that Smith, who
ed the screenplay from his own book,
his monsters are less important than t
the human characters turn on each oti
To be blunt, he's wrong. The film's
of claustrophobic terror and the de
Yankee privilege ("This does not hap
Americans!" a character declares)
well to a point, but these people simply
dynamic enough to have their violent
fall be the movie's lone selling point
least cinematographer Darius Khond
has served under Wong Kar Wai and
Fincher) seems to understand, the
is half the appeal, but for the most p
camera just sits idly on the actors andc
bother to explore the creatures thatv
eat them. Unsettling though it is, "The
mistakes a premise for a movie. For a
film that wants to be taken seriously
tough to overcome.
Why critics don't
really matter
B eing a critic is a somewhat What these people are respond-
tenuous position. Day in ing to are the few critics that actu-
and day out, I'm forced to ally believe that all mainstream
find objective value in something music sucks. These critics are,
that's entirely subjective. And unfortunately, living up to an ideal,
even though this seems impossibly one that's been placed on the criti-
trivial, people make these same cal community, thatcvery few actu-
judgments every time a new song ally fall in line with: Critics only
hits the airwaves. enjoy the best of the best, and that
Deciding whether or not a song/ anything mainstream is pop drivel
album is good/ that deserves little consideration.
bad has a sig- You'd be hard-pressed to find a
nificantly more legitimate music critic that thinks
important effect FutureSex/LoveSounds is abad
on the art world album. Justin Timberlake is the
than you prob- epitome of a mainstream act, and
ably believe. yet countless critics rave aboutchis
What if Alan perfect pitch melodies and incred-
Lomax or W.C. CHRIS ible production. Those that find
Handy thought his latest effort complete trash are
that the blues GAERIG typically saying so because of a
was a waste of perverted dogma under which they
time and nothing more than point- were trained, making them a part
less noise? What if these songs - of a tiny minority. And where in the
and moreover the genre as a whole, past, many would find this main-
which traditionally is seen as the stream worship a "guilty pleasure,"
first real American music - were you will find very few who consider
entirely overlooked? tm not trying
MWORKS to imply that every time you think
the new Ludacris song sucks it's a M y opinion
monumental decision, but essen-
tially, these daily value judgments doesn't matter.
are undeniably important and have
some bearing. As such, critics hold
a special place in popular culture.
All of this is not meant to imply Timberlake and his associates'
that my opinion - as a critic - is releases "guilty pleasures."
any more valuable or relevant than What many in the critical com-
one you might have. Unfortunately, munity have come to understand
though, whether or not readers is that there is no such thing as a
amatic harbor this sentiment toward Daily "guilty pleasure." Sure, there are
Arts, countless people bow to the albums that will never be consid-
le hor- critical grading of publications like ered alongside the new Radiohead
arer at Rolling Stone, XXL and Pitchfork disc in contention for a Grammy,
kes are Media. They swear by "Best New butthat's not to say you should feel
ry vine Music" labels and Robert Christ- guilty for enjoying it. You like what
natives gau's five-star ratings. you like; it's that simple. When I
o leave But as someone who's writ- sing along to "Machine Head" in
*e good ten alongside critics fromVillage Ashley's Underground, I feel no
ake out Voice, Pitchfork, Slate and more shame despite the three people
nd me, alt-weeklies than you can shake staring at me.
adapt- a stick at, I know that, for every And it's in this regard that being
thinks imported Konono No.15album we a critic becomes so complicated:
he way rave about, there's a Temple of the I'm forced to make an objective
her. Dog disc that gets adequate spins judgment on the new Jamie Lidell
appeal on its oh-so-pretentious turntables. album whether or not I actually
feat of We understand our importance enjoy it. I'm supposed to break it
pen to - slight as it may be - in cultural down and look at production, lyrics,
..works debates, but none-of us are entirely structure and melodies. And this;
y aren't able to avoid how incredible "Sweet somehow, is supposed to help me
down- Escape" and "Mr. Brightside" actu- determine whether or not itcgets
. As at ally are. any one of 11 different star ratings.
ji (who Some critics will try and tell you There emerges, then, a schism
David that anything on Billboard's Top between what is seen as objectively
locale 40 is trash. And it's this mindset good and what is objectively bad.
art the that garners public cries of pre- And yet all IScan really tell you is
doesn't tension. Walking around campus whether or not I enjoy an album.
want to I'll randomly come across people Herein lies the contradiction. Since
Ruins" bashing Daily Arts's review of the there is nothing Ican say to change
horror new Jack Johnson album, arguing your opinion of an album, I'm ulti-
, that's that we hate all music that anyone mately just spewing hegemonic
has heard of. Some think that just bullshit about my own delusions of
because it's released on a major grandeur. And yet every time you
label, all critics will hate it. These or I pass judgment on an album, it
same people, however, don't look at seems to have a lasting effect on
the actual credibility and quality of the culture around us, whether
the record. See GAERIG, Page 8A
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Ind ie troupe
lacks appeal
on second. LP
By SASHA RESENDE
Daily Arts Writer
There's something to be said
for the few bands that can pull off
a gratifying sophomore release,
especially when it follows the
gauntlet of critical praise that
normally accompanies a great
debut album. Premature success
can be the downfall of even the
most talented groups, and thanks
to the boom of
blog-generated
buzz bands, it **
seems as if more
groups make it Tapes n
big before their Tapes
members have
had the chance Walk It Off
to fully explore XL
their musical
capacities, ultimately leading to
dismal follow-ups. The ever-grow-
ing cliche of the sophomore slump
has become so commonplace that
it's in danger of diminishing the
potential for genuinely talented
newcomers to find musical suc-
cess.
This "Pitchfork effect" is char-
acterized by a promising young
band's quick rise on the hype
radar thanks to unanimously good
reviews by pretentious pop critics
and an ever-expanding fan base
of web-saavy music connoisseurs.
These innovative debut albums
are subsequently succeeded by
lackluster follow-ups, calling the
band's talent into question and
pushing yet another promising
group to the wayside.
Experimental rockers Tapes 'n
Tapes continue this proud tradi-
tion of subpar successor albums
with their second full-length
release, Walk It Off The Min-
neapolis-based troupe enjoyed
a quick jump to oh-so-cool sta-
tus after they were crowned as
the blog band of 2005. This early
exposure placed the band - which
self-released its debut, The Loon,
from its members' apartment - in
the middle of a record-label bid-
ding war. XL emerged victorious.
The quick snatch-up pushed the
young band back into the studio
to hastily churn out a follow-up
before Tapes 'n Tapes turned into
Tapes 'n Who? The end product is
This house is somewhere on Packard, we think.
a lifeles
Thi
a<
slut
was
though,
esting a
tive herc
For t
sion, the
s imitation of the Pixies, with superstar producer Dave
Fridmann (The Flaming Lips,
Weezer) to bring out the finished
, studio sound that their previous
s album isnt budget couldn't allow. After a few
spins of Walk It off, it seems that
the only tool the band utilized in
rnp; the first the studio involved lots and lots
of distortion. Singer and guitarist
n't that good. Josh Grier claims that the band
, t"wanted to make a rock record,
but [without] over-indulgences,"
and the band certainly kept true
sadly, not nearly as inter- to this promise. Besides a few
s the groups' '80s alterna- slightly-trippy guitar chords that
oes. grow old about a minute into the
heir latest recording ses- track, the album's biggest eclectic
Tapes boys joined forces flourishes are the strangely awe-
some keyboard arrangements that
spring up randomly on otherwise
unpromising power pop tracks
like "Hang Them All."
Throughout the rest of the
album, the slowed-down distort-
ed beats place the listener into
a spaced-out daze. Opener "Le
Ruse" would have been a hard-
shooting start if Grier's vocals
weren't completely warped with
pro-tools. The result sounds some-
what off-beat, complete with an
awkward arrangement of compet-
ing guitars juxtaposed against one
another during the song's anticli-
mactic end. The track "Conquest"
See TAPES, Page 8A