The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, September 26, 2008 -5A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, September 26, 2008 -SA

A different Cuba

By NORA FELDHUSEN
Daily Arts Writer
What-do we generally associate
with Cuba? The
Cuban Missile
Crisis, the Bay From
of Pigs or maybe Contradanza
a highly milita-
ristic and shady to Sofl
detention cen- Today at 5 p.m.
ter? If we take At Burton
a look, however, Memorial Tower
at the country
through a fine
arts lens, a rich culture with an
especially interestingstyle of music
and dance is visible.
Contradanza is what Peter Man-
uel, a professor of ethnomusicology
at the City University of New York
Graduate Center, calls the "Carib-
beanformofline dancing." Itwillbe
the subject of his upcoming speech
at the Burton Memorial Tower this
afternoon. Contrary to the typical
U.S. dialogue about Cuba, Dr. Man-
uel prefers to talk about the distinct
art and music that comes from the
country.
Dr. Manuel, who started out as a
sitar player traveling around India
in the 1970s, is an expert in both
Indian and Caribbean music. He
has published six books, dozens of
papers and traveled all throughout
the .region learning about music
and researching what lies beyond
the surface of big bands and salsa
music.
The music of contradanza, as
it's performed throughout the
United States, is often simplistic
and appreciated mostly for the
dance it inspires. However, the
form is taken much more seriously
within Cuba and inspires complex
and sophisticated classical pieces.
Scholars have historically cited the
1920s as the starting point for this
type of music, but Dr. Manuel has
found evidence that suggests oth-
erwise. In his research of popular
Cuban music from as far back as the
1850s and '60s, he found what he
believes to be examples of contra-

danza as well as the popular "son"
movement. "Son" is the genre that
spurned modern-day salsa - more
of a Cuban-American invention
- and is one of the most popular
movements in Cuba today.
Ethnomusicology is a discipline
that lies at the intersection of music,
history, ethnography and anthro-.
pology. According to Dr. Manuel,
ethnomusicologists "humanize
people around the world. They are
not faceless cultures, but rather
creators of beautiful art and music."
He intends for his work to be apo-
litical, but it's impossible to deny
the overtones present in studying
a culture that is so traditionally
and politically taboo in the United
States. Dr. Manuel concedes that
he and his colleagues would like to
present a nuanced version of cul-
tural differences and to hopefully
show people that there is "pretty
good music that comes out of the
axis of evil."
A frequent visitor to the Carib-
bean, Dr. Manuel recognizes the
importance of his role as an aca-
demic ambassador from the United
Lecture sheds
light on a
nation's dance.
States.Booksontopicsasspecialized
as the historical evolution of contra-
danza in Cuba may have difficulty
finding an audience here, but with
an American specialist in the field as
one of the key authors, it makes the
topic more accessible. But that's not
to say there isn't this level of work
coming out of Caribbean countries.
Dr. Manuel, with this new perspec-
tive on the history of contradanza,
is merely adding to and elaborating
on the evolution of a movement that
remains vibrant in Cuba today both
in practice and theory.

COURTESY OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT

"Yo doc, this diagnosis is wack!"

hoke on this
S Chuck Palahniuk adaptation falls flat in spite of the
eccentric plot and colorful cast
By Andrew Lapin I Daily Arts Writer

The theatrical trailer for "Choke"
makes a point of mentioning that
the film comes from
"incendiary novelist Chuck
Palahniuk." The key word
hereis"incendiary,"because
neither Palahniuk's massive Choke
cult fan base nor his legions At the State
of detractors will allow him Theater and
to simply be referred to as Quality16
a novelist. Depending on
who's being asked, he can Fox Searchlight
be prophetic and godlike or
simply an exploiter of shock value. "Choke,"
the second film to be adapted from a Palah-
niuk novel after the brilliant, brain-bending
"Fight Club," tries with all its heart to be as
.gratuitous and controversial as possible, but
it's never quite able to live up to its prom-
ise.
Sam Rockwell ("Confessions of a Danger-
ous Mind") plays Victor Mancini, a complete
asshole who routinely attends sex addict
meetings but has no intention of curbing his
addiction. Victor's life is about as bottom-
barrel as they come: He works a terrible job as
a "historical interpreter" in a colonial village.

His best friend is a compulsive masturbator
(Brad William Henke, TV's "October Road")
and his dementia-stricken mother is spend-
ing her last days in a mental asylum. In order
to raise enough money to keep his mom alive,
Victor pretends to choke in fancy restaurants
so he can be saved by wealthy samaritans who
will continue to send him life support checks
out of sheer guilt.
Besides all the sex, the choking business
is the most interesting aspect of the plot. It's
too bad, then, that the film spends such a brief
amount of time showing how exactly Victor
pulls off his cons. There's fun to be had here,
but this thread was apparently eschewed so
that writer-director Clark Gregg (who also
co-wrote "What Lies Beneath") could fit in
more sex jokes.
The film starts to drag in its second half,
when the relationship between Victor and
his mother (Anjelica Huston, "The Darjeeling
Limited") is further developed. The movie
begins to feel a bit aimless and silly as Victor
loses his sex drive after uncovering evidence
that leads him to suspect he maybe the cloned
son of Jesus Christ (don't ask). At this point,
"Choke" starts to turn into the least incendi-

ary type of movie possible: a morality tale. Is
Victor seriously going to try to rebuild his life
as an honest and compassionate man? Plus,
what's the deal with the go-nowhere subplot
about the giant rock structure he tries to build
with his friend? To call this story "absurd"
would be an understatement.
Putting all story issues aside, the perfor-
mances are outstanding. Rockwell is so con-
vincing as the world's biggest blowhard that
he immediately becomes the embodiment
of every jerk you've ever met. Henke, as his
best friend, gets the film's biggest and filthi-
est laughs and also reveals a sweet side to his
character later on. Finally, there's the veteran
Huston. As Victor's mother, she shows off an
incredible dual personality by being conniv-
ing and manipulative in the flashbacks and
then heartbreakingly fragile in the present.
It's easy to knock Gregg's script for con-
tainingso many cheap sex jokes, but the truth
is most of them work. It's when the film tries
to follow in the footsteps of "Fight Club" by
being overly substantial that it's unable to stay
afloat. The Palahniuk Cult will probably love
"Choke," but everyone else will walk out feel-
ing far from incensed.

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Jackson cranks up the cheese value

By SHERI JANKELOVITZ
DailyArts Writer
"Lakeview Terrace" would
like to be a thriller, an action film
and a thought-
provoking
drama all in
one. Unfortu- Lakeview
nately, it's a
muddled com- elTace
bination of the At Quality 16
three. and Showcase
A young, Screen Gems
attractiveinter-
racial couple -
Chris (Patrick
Wilson, "Little Children") and
Lisa (Kerry Washington, "Last
King of Scotland") - move into
a suburban California neigh-
borhood, next to Abel Turner
(Samuel L. Jackson, "Snakes on
a Plane"), an LAPD officer who
seems to take an instant dislik-
ing to the couple. At first, his
hostility seems relatively harm-
less - a derisive comment here
and there, an uncomfortably
antagonistic attitude at a house-
warming party - but then it
steadily gets worse, and, soon,
he's harassing the couple to send
a message.
What is that message, exact-
ly? Well, Abel seems to disap-
prove of the couple for the mere
fact that they're interracial. But
there is, not surprisingly, more
to Abel's animosity than he
actually lets on. Unfortunately,
because the film takes an impos-

sibly long time to clarify Abel's
hatred, which is delivered in
such a pathetically manipula-
tive way, the audience is devoid
of sympathy for Abel and only
left with one thought: Why is
this horrible man doing horrible
things to these poor people?
The word "subtle" can hardly
be applied to Jackson when it
comes to his acting - and not
just in this film. In every per-
formance of his, every word is
yelled and every intense look
is drawn out and over the top.
When he's forced to shout lines
like, "You can't shoot me, I'm the
po-leece!" and "You didn't ask
my permission to plant these!"
it's clear this role was written
for him. Several scenes require
Jackson to simply stare out the

JOHN DAAVETTILA to this conclusion now, considering
DailyArts Writer she's been doing some shady things
since the first'season. Is this sup-
fourth season of "Weeds" posed to be a reminder of her love
last Monday, and the show's of her kids? If so, the writers should
inutes were met with mixed consider that actions speak louder
s. than words.
e season's final scene (spoiler Also in the season finale was the
Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise unexpected return of Quinn (Haley
"The West Wing") reveals Hudson, "Freaky Friday"), Celia's
regnant with the child of (Elizabeth Perkins, "Must Love
a mayor/drug lord, Esteban Dogs") daughter who hasn't been
(Demian Bichir), in order to heard from since the pilot when
'r life after it's revealed she she was sent to "Casa Reforma," a
tching to DEA agents. Mexican boarding school. Reform
are throwing around ques- school apparently hasn't worked out
f whether the baby actually for Quinn, who's decided to kidnap
r if Nancy purposely became her mother and hold her ransom for
nt to remain alive. Regard- $200,000. Let's hope Quinn sticks
less-than-perfect character around - "Weeds" could use anoth-
to have been tarnished even er strong female character aside
. Over the last four seasons, fromNancy, and coke-snortingCelia
has transformed fromarecent is hardly an independent woman.
who's merely out to make a Perhaps the most troubling
orher familyby sellingweed, scene in the finale comes near
stol-whipping widow whose the end, when Shane (Alexander
=ent in the drug business Gould, "Finding Nemo") - Nan-
ne deeper than merely trying cy's youngest son - sells pot to
ide for her family. schoolmates in an alley. The last
apsthemostshockingchange bit of sanity in the Botwin house
cy is her ability to sleep with seems to have disappeared, and
nt men without caring. Since while it was really only a matter of
time before Shane became fucked
up, his intelligence and innocence
were one of the few things keeping
dark show the family together.
In the past four seasons of
rows darker. "Weeds," the Botwin household has
disintegrate from four family mem-
bers to four separate individuals,
each wrapped in the drug business
ond season, there have been in their own way. Nancy's original
han a few men in Nancy's reason for selling weed was to sup-
me for business and some for port her family, and as we enter into
e. Nancy tries (and most of a new season, it's apparent that her
ne succeeds) to get her way fam- ily members are
angerous men, but it's unclear really footing the
rr she thinks about her family bill.

A
gi

JRT ESY OF SCREEN G EMS

"Hey, remember when I used to be in good movies?"

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and the couple's neighbors con-
tinually reassure them that they
couldn't be safer than living next
hspie su ject door to a cop.
Yet, as Abel's behavior gets
matter, odder and even dangerous, the
rest of the neighborhood seems
errace' lc S to remain in relative oblivious-
ness to it despite the fact that
edginess. much of what he does would
affect the rest of the neigh-
borhood -as well. (You'd think
someone else would be a little
unhappy with a raucous bachelor
ow or over the fence with a party going on until 3 a.m. and
cing expression for unbear- security lights shining brightly
ong lengths of time. from his house.)
doubtedly, the man is ter- The film's ,ridiculous plot
ig. But the rest of the char- builds and builds (with the scene
s don't seem to realize this, where Jackson and Wilson duel

with potted plants being the
most absurd), arriving at an
absolutely ludicrous conclusion
that fails to tie up all the film's
loose ends.
view Terrace" about race, or is
it simply a warning to suburban
homeowners to play nice with
their neighbors? Race is certain-
ly an issue here, but it's unclear
as to what the film wants to say
about this subject - perhaps that
it's wrong no matter where it's
coming from? In a more focused
film,Abel'sreasoningwouldhave
been explored, rather than being
treated as a mere plot point. But
as is, the film is a weak thriller
that could've, and should've,
been something more.

at all while taking these risks.
Anothercharacterwhotookaturn
for the worse is Doug Wilson (Kevin
Nealon, "Little Nicky"). For years,
Doug was one of the show's most
beloved characters, but this season,
when he was rejected by a Mexican
maiden, he pulled a complete dick
move and had her deported."Weeds"
already has its share of unsavory
characters, so it's strange the writers
are making two of the show's like-
able characters less appealing.
In a strange scene in Nancy's
bathtub, she states her actions used
to be justifiable but now are "right
or wrong." It's odd Nancy is coming

wind
mena
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Un
rifyin
acter

COURTESY OF SHOWTIME

A

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