The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 -9A
A revolutionary
filmmaker
ast week, the Michigan The-
ater hosted a revolutionary.
Even those not familiar
with the man himself know his
name. His face
has appeared on
countlesbook
and magazine ,
covers. There
are a handful of
films dedicated
to his quest for BRANDON
political and CONRADIS
social reform. --
He's as much a pop culture icon as
he is a political figure.
I'm speaking of Michael Moore.
Last Thursday, he premiered his
latest film, "Slacker Uprising," in
Ann Arbor. The film, available as
a free download online, details
Moore's 2004 cross-country
tour in support of John Kerry's
presidential campaign. The fact
that Kerry lost is not something
to be brushed aside. In fact, it's
the whole reason this film was
released.
As the 2008 election approaches,
Moore is casting his hardened gaze
to all those angry Americans out
there and basically saying, "Not
this time; we won't let this happen
again!"
I'm not necessarily one of those
angry Americans. And I don't like
Michael Moore the man. But I can't
help but admire the tenacity and
vitriolic nature of his work. Here's
a schlub from Flint who just so hap-
pens to be the most controversial
filmmaker of our time. I think it's
wonderful.
So even though our politics
differ, and even though I.think
the man himself is obnoxious, I
did not greet "Slacker Uprising"
with an indignant attitude. On the
contrary, I was joyous. Like his
past films, "Slacker Uprising" will
upset people. No, it's not as com-
bative as some of his others, but
the very fact that Moore is in it
will upset people. The man's like a
hot plate: He boils people's blood.
He can't help it.
And you know what? I'm fine
with that. There's nothing I savor
more than a controversial artist,
and whether you like him or not,
Moore is definitely an artist. Very
few modern filmmakers under-
stand the incendiary potential of
the craft like he does. His films
are able to achieve wide-reaching
success, win awards and anger
millions of people in one fell
10 swoop. No other contemporary
filmmaker - except for maybe
Mel Gibson, thanks to "Passion of
the Christ" - can claim that kind
of enviable artistic victory. While
Martin Scorsese was cranking out
epic snores like "Gangs of New
York" and "The Aviator," Moore
was angering and empowering
people in equal measures with
"Bowling for Columbine" and
"Fahrenheit 9/11."
It's not even that I think his films
are great. In fact, I despised "Bowl-
ing for Columbine." I thought it
was heartless, a piece of fluff that
put more focus on Moore than it
did on the isgues it claimed to be
raising. That's why, over the course
of the film's 120-minute running
time, we saw more of Moore than
we did anyone or anything else.
But whether you like it or not, his
technique works. He gets a rise out
of people. And once you've seen his
films, you don't forget them. That's
more than Ican say about any of
the other recent films I've seen.
So why did I refer to Moore
as a revolutionary? Do I really
think he's the rabble-rouser for
a new generation of liberal ideo-
logues? Not really, but I know
he wants to be. It's no surprise
that Moore changed the title of
his newest film, originally called
"Captain Mike Across America,"
Appreciation for
a controversial
visionary.
to "Slacker Uprising." For the first
time in his cinematic career, he
has truly embraced his status as a
revolutionary figure for the Left.
"Slacker Uprising" glorifies him.
It puts him on a stage amid seas of
cheering people, all there to see
and hear just him.
In times of political,economic
and social crises such as these, we
need bold artists who make bold
works of art that anger and speak
to people. For better or worse,
Michael Moore is the only popular'
filmmaker Ican think of us who's
willing to make them.
So thanks, Mike. Really - I
mean it.
Conradis is really, really excited
for Moore's next movie, "Jiggly Puff."
E-mail him at brconrad@umich.edu.
"We even go to the bathroom together.
! ABrooklyn rockers
Bo 0SC jeflce continue streak with
eclectic third album
By Sasha Resende I Daily Arts Writer
The Brooklyn-based quintet TV On the
Radio has been branded with every
label in the indie-rock manual, rang-
ing from funk to free jazz, avant-garde, post-
punk and even electronic. Despite attempts
to pigeonhole these musi-
cians, the band continues to
defy both convention and
definition. The best recipe
for any listener's trepidation TV On the
is to simply hear the group's Radio
mesmerizing catalogue.
Mere words invariably fail Dear Science
when trying to characterize Interscope
its work. Perhaps "experi-
mental" suffices, because ,
there is little doubt that the band doesn't shy
away from trying new elements for the sake of
its art - no matter how offbeat or straight-up
"weird" they may seem on first listen.
Thankfully, TV On the Radio's newest
release, Dear Science, takes this calculated
experimentation to a never-before-heard
level, allowing the album to be classified by
two words: near perfection. The disc is the
band's third full-length studio album, fol-
lowing a self-released demo, several EPs and
two widely-acclaimed LPs.
Return To Cookie Mountain (2006) was
the band's first major label release via Inter-
scope, and judging from the spell-binding
result, it's reassuring to see the band is still
allowed creative control over its work. Fur-
thermore, Interscope has given the band the
production tools to flourish and a marketing
team to get their music to the masses.
After all, this is not music for the Top 40
crowd. Hell, it's doubtful that most of these
songs are even "indie-pop"-friendly enough
for the average college rock station. This
somewhat harsh distinguisher - insinuating
that the average music fan might be turned
off by the band's otherness - may unwitting-
ly push the band into the unwarranted arena
of uber-pretentiousness, at least for some
wary listeners. Do not let this false charac-
terization be a deterrent, because the band's
newest blissful production actually deserves
all of the gushing jabber it's generating.
Album opener "Halfway Home" carries
the dual singers' (Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp
Malone) vocals over a triumphant drumbeat,
entrancing its audience before a full verse is
even uttered. As the song's tension contin-
ues to build, while the ever-steady drumbeat
propels the song forward, the singers ooze
and mesh in verse "Is it not me? / Am I not
folded by your touch? / The words you spoke
/ I know too much / It's over now / And not
enough." Despite its relatively simple lyrics,
the song has a complex structure, culmi-
nating in a buzzy guitar-driven bridge. The
track's conciseness reinforces the message
the band is back and ready to dazzle.
Not a single track that follows "Halfway
Home" can be called either a hasty rehash-
ing or a neglected filler track. Every cut on
Science serves its purpose, whether that's to
enthrall, inspire or entertain. But there are a
few gems that stand above the rest. "Crying,"
a piece of funk-based perfection that cannot
be quickly categorized as a George Clinton
tribute, is among them. The two lead singers
play their voices off each other throughout
the song. As one laments the drug abuse of
nobles, the other begins to tick off a list of
Biblical references that might normally seem
more appropriate in a Ralph Williams lecture
than an experimental disc. On this cut, how-
ever, the allusions shine, like in the appro-
priately high-pitched verse "And Mary and
David smoke dung in the trenches / While
Zion's behavior never gets mentioned." The
single criticism to be had with "Crying" is
that, at a full four-minutes in length, it ends
far too soon.
The remaining numbers can only be clas-
sified by how widely they contrast each other
and themselves. The rousing "Shout Me Out"
starts with a drum-loop beat as the vocals
croon delicately. At the track's halfway mark,
the relatively soft beats explode into an exu-
berant mishmash of real-life percussion and
busting guitars. It closes with a powerful
drum solo over several distorted strings. The
cleverly titled "Dancing Choose" issues spit-
fire verses at breakneck speed juxtaposed
with more tame and soulful choruses. The
band returns to its bass-driven funk beats on
"Golden Age," wrhile emitting programmed
pulses as its singers proclaim that you need
to "clap your hands" to the beat.
One of the album's greater triumphs is
the captivating ballad "Love Dog." Emitting
quiet "ooh ooh ooh"s over a somber drum-
line, the singers drive the song, reeling the
audience-into it as the tension builds toward
cathartic release. As the song reaches its cli-
max, the vocals croon in subdued anguish,
"Lonely little love dog / That no one knows
the days of/Where the land is low is /Where
the water flows to /And holds you." The track
then breaks down into a breathtaking string
oitro that's no less than stunning.
TV On the Radio is quickly becoming one
of the best bands of the decade, and its latest
disc more than confirms that the group is far
from a passing fad. Not only has it released
some of the most original, inspiring music
of the past few years, but it also makes the
entire endeavor seem so effortless that it's
hard not to hold all other artists at fault.With
Dear Science,, TV On the Radio solidifies its
position as the current standard-bearer of
modern music, and the future looks awfully
bright.
Disappearing
'Landscape'
"This is the worst chocolate microphone I've ever had."
ARTS IN BRIEF
Film
Dane Cook gives
"tanking" a whole
new meaning
"My Best Friend's Girl"
At Quality 16 and Showcase
Lionsgate
In theory, an on-screen love tri-
angle formed by affable A-list stars
should make for the ultimate come-
* dic date movie. "My Best Friend's
Girl," though, demonstrates why
this remains a theory.
Kate Hudson ("Fool's Gold")
plays an especially trampy bomb-
shell named Alexis. Dustin (Jason
* Biggs, "American Pie") is Alexis's
best friend, with whom she only
wants to be friends. As she says, he is
"Mr. Right,just not Mr. Right Now."
Maybe it's because he's addicted to
porn.
And then there's Tank (Dane
Cook, "Waiting"), the ultimate ass-
hole and a freelance "tanker." He
"tanks" girls - or in other words,
he's hired by males in troubled
romances to purposely look bad on a
date with the guys'girlfriends. This,
in turn, makes the distressed males
seem more desirable in the eyes
of these females. Comedian Cook,
already known for his overtly crude
humor, predictably inserts said
humor into his role, rendering him
not funny and, instead, repulsive.
The result of this love triangle is a
"When Harry Met Sally"-like movie
minus the romance. Instead, we get
the word "asshole" used every five
seconds. So, in the end, what we
learn is three-fold: "Tanking," in
the words of Tank, is a "subtle art"
delivered only by the most practiced
piggish males. Next, the way to get
over a crush is to acquire a stash of
porn that Tank grossly calls "the
bait crate." And finally, unlike most
fairytale teachings, the nice guy
always finishes last. And all this
equals another generic roman-
tic comedy that's 30 minutes too
long.
JONATHAN HURWITZ
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By PRIYA BALI invented. Ansel Adams, Paul
Daily Arts Writer Caponigro, Brett Weston and
Minor White are among the fea-
re's no way of know- tured artists whose photographs
hen early morning mist portray domestic and wilderness
ttle over Mount Baker in landscapes. There are specific
ngton in just the right way photographs of places like the
en the Pacific waves will Grand Canyon, Yosemite Nation-
against the shore so the al Park and Niagara Falls, as well
eflects just so. The visibil- as photographs of broader rural
hese natural occurrences settings including fields, lakes
ometimes depend on the and homes from states such as
and weather, but it always West Virginia and Alabama.
ds on the timing and the "The nature of landscape in
*n of the terms of art, science and the
For the The Infinite boundless quality of the physical
rapher, world can feel infinite," said Car-
memory Landscape ole McNamara, Senior Curator
recorded Through of Western Art at UMMA.
seconds. Jan. 9,2009 Ultimately, the exhibit ques-
metimes,; tions how man relates to his
nmediacy Off/Site natural environment. Man is
form of illustrated as a force in search of
an yield reconciliation with the natural
age even more breathtak- world and when he is juxtaposed
an the actual view itself. against the expansive backdrops
images are on display at of oceans and cliffs, his image is
iversity's Museum of Art barely visible, small as a grain of
e location in the exhibit salt, but still undeniably present.
nfinite Landscape: Master And though almost all the
;raphers from the UMMA photographs are absent of peo-
tion." This will be the last ple, this still affects the way the
t at the Off/Site before artists perceive their surround-
novated museum on State ings.
reopens in the new year. "Contemplation of the land-
y-five photos - by artists scape in a kind of surrogate form
re all recognized as mas- allows you reflection that you
their craft - create a com- may not always have in the pres-
sive presentation of 19th ence of other people," McNa-
th century landscapes on mara said. "Landscape provides
illery walls. Some of the a kind of relief and potential for
raphs date back to the introspection that I think is very
when the earliest photo- valuable."
i processes were being People's influence on nature
Photographs by Ansel Adams are on display through January 9at UMMA Off/Site.
is perhaps more evident in tury French writer.
Michael Kenna's photographs of The temporality of not only
sculpted bushes and tamed gar- the landscapes, but of the char-
den arrangements and Walker acteristics of places, is especially
Evans's domestic scenes of a highlighted in the exhibit. The
school and a cluster of houses by movement of water falling rap-
a graveyard. While people may idly down the Gallatin River in
not appear in the photographs, Montana, although shown as
signs of human life still exist. continuous in William Jackson's
Whenthephotographerengag- photograph, is also illustrated
es with natural surroundings, he as unpredictable in where it will
begins to understand where he flow. After a shadow is cast upon
may fit into this immense world. the sand of Franco' Fontana's
"Paessaggio Baia Delle Zagare,"
deep greens and blues erupt over
Embracing the the entire body of water. The
depiction of color is a reminder
beauty of nature of how such scenes are always
being repainted according to the
before it's too late. movement of time.
The actof photographingnatu-
ral habitats may serve to preserve
the places we inhabit, as well as
One can only wonder how awe- protecting our environment in
struck Ansel Adams felt as he an artistic sense.-Because many
stood watching the skinny white of these landscapes are prone to
Aspens towering over him in physical changes, there is a sense
Northern New Mexico, or how of urgency in capturing- them
chilled Edward Jean Steichen behind a lens. Such photographs
must have felt as he captured the make us aware that we may never
eerie 4 a.m. moonlight hitting a see a rising tide or falling sun in
sculpture of Balzac, a 19th cen- the same way again.
ok 1