The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Monday, September 29, 2008 -5A

In'Normal,'
Folds goes indie
By SARAH CHAVEY inflected pop. If it weren't for his
For the Daily distinctive vocals and trademark
driving piano it might not be rec-
On July 16th, Ben Folds tried ognizable as the work of Folds.
to catch the public off guard "Hiroshima," "Dr. Yang" and
by personally "leaking" a fake "Errant Dog" all showcase his
album before dive into indie rock. On these
the release tracks he amps up the volume on
date of the " the bass beat and experiments
real new B Folds more with his vocals, yelling and
album, Way distorting them at times. "Free
to Normal. Way To Normal Coffee" and "The Frown Song,"
Folds and Epic on the other hand, let electronic
crew assem- riffs take the place of his usual
bled the fake melodic piano backing. Even the
in a single recording session, but lyrics stray from the normal Ben
some of the songs could actually Folds repertoire of sappy love
compete with their real coun-
terparts. They follow the same
melodic outline and similar lyri-
cal themes but Folds's famous The fake album
wit shines through most on the
fake version. The fake "The was weird, but
Bitch Went Nuts," for example, . is
follows the tragic downfall of a this is weirder.
man whose attempt at making
partner in a firm is derailed by
his girlfriend's liberal tirade at
an office party. However, what's songs and sad ballads. On "The
even more surprising than the Bitch Went Nuts," Folds rants
fake leak is the way the real about a girlfriend-turned-crazy-
album treads into new terri- ex who "stabbed my basketball /
tory for Folds. The songs might And the speakers to my stereo."
not be as memorable as some of During "Effington" he laments
his classics, but Way to Normal "if there's a God / He is laughing
produces a refreshing take on a at us / And our football team."
tried and true style. Folds is no stranger to comedy
In his new album, Folds picks (remember"BitchesAin'tShit?"),
up the cue from other artists who but he's most well known for
are experimenting with their songs on the somber side. Way
sounds by adding indie rock and to Normal just happens to have
electronic elements. The new fewer than usual. But he doesn't
sounds create a more aggres- totally ditch the depression.
sive style than his usual piano- See FOLDS, Page 8A
ARTS IN BRIEF

)URTESY OF TOUCHSTONE

"This hauted hayride was a bad idea."

The oher AI r Spike Lee pulls off
artful take on WWIl
By Blake Goble I Daily Film Editor

Fine Arts
Iraqi artists lecture
on diaspora this
Saturday
"The Arts of Iraq: Artists in the
Diaspora"
Saturday, Oct. 4,11:00 a.m.
At the Performance Network
Stage
On Saturday, three Iraqi art-
ists will sit on a panel to discuss
the Iraqi diaspora. Iraqi-Amer-
ican actor Sarab Kamoo, and
Baghdad natives Rahim Alhaj
and Laith Alattar (both musi-
cian/composers) bring three
unique perspectives to a multi-
layered international issue. The
issues brought up through this
panel may be complex, but they
take place in a.safe environment
- one in which art is the main
focus.
The panel takes place in Ann
Arbor in an effort to explore the
presence and importance of the
Iraqi Diaspora. The speakers are

both artists and ambassadors of
Iraq, but living in a country that
may or may notbe hostile to their
nation's way of life. Topics this
weekend, however, will include
things like the art of the oud (a
traditional Arab string instru-
ment) to Arab poetry to the
intersection of Arab and West-
ern cultures through musical
composition, film and theater. '
UMS and Performance Net-
work are teaming up for this
event, which is open to anyone
in the community in order to
foster abroader discussion about
what's happening in Iraq and
the United States. Kamoo, the
star of "Heather Raffo's 9 Parts
of Desire" - a play that explores
the experience of women in a
war-torn country - expressed
hope that her show and other
arts about Iraq and the Middle
East will push people "to see
things a little bit differently, to
watch the news a little bit dif-
ferently and try and understand
people as people first."
NORA FELDHUSEN

It's easy to brush off Spike Lee's "Miracle
at St. Anna" upon first viewing.
Pitched as the first
prestige piece about Afri-
can-American soldiers and
their involvement in World Miracle at
War II, "Anna" is fighting
an uphill battle. And two- St. Anna
and-a-half-hour experimen- At Quality16
tal war films tend to have a and Showcase
small audience.
Oh, and there was that Touchstone
whole Clint Eastwood slug-
out that irked audiences and critics before
they even saw "Anna." For those who didn't
hear about it, director Lee got into a public
war of words over the lack of African-Amer-
ican presence in Eastwood's "Flags of Our
Fathers." This was viewed as a cheap ad tactic
and unneeded bout for Lee.
The editing is indirect is and the film devel-

ops slowly. The dialogue is belabored, and
the actors might seem tired from delivering
their lines instead of the actual battles they
endure. Little is cut, as the film takes a sort of
epic approach to storytelling. "Anna" is easy
to dismiss.
But, for what it is, "Miracle at St. Anna"
is a fantastic journey. Often unwieldy and
unpredictable, we take the trip with Lee and
his soldiers, fascinated with what happens
each step of the way. "Anna" might be the lit-
eral equal and more politically complicated
brother of "Saving Private Ryan."
Beginning in 1983, stamp seller Hec-
tor Negron (Laz Alonso, "This Christmas")
shoots a man in broad daylight with an old
Nazi pistol. This leads to an investigation of
Negron's home which uncovers a rare statue
head lying in his closet that's been declared
missing for several decades. The big question
is, how'd it get there?

Negron, in custody, proceeds to tell the
story of his involvement in WWII as he dis-
closes what happened in the war, and why he
has the rare head.
Due to their naive white superiors, and
the sacrificial nature of the Buffalo Soldier
companies in World War II, four men -
including Negron - were marooned after
a botched battle in the Italian countryside.
on their run for safety, they find a small boy
who may or may not have a ghost following
him and a connection to the head the men
found. Trapped in a village as commanders
debate the value of a rescue mission, Nazi
forces surround the place, forcing the men
to hide.
The film explores greater ideas in rela-
tion to war and race. Should these four black
soldiers feel privileged to serve their coun-
try when it still treats them like shit? Might
See MIRACLE, Page 8A


Dull sitcom falls flat under tired jokes

By TRINA MANNINO
DailyArts Writer
"Worst Week" may be TV's
most appro-
priately titled
show.
CBS has yet Worst Week
again premiered
a show with Tuesdays at
poor acting, an 9:30 p.m.
unoriginal plot CBS
and lame jokes.
Yet, somehow
this show will manage to stick
around like a pesky fly because
of its prime spot after the unex-
plainably successful "Two and a
Half Men."
"Worst Week" is about Sam,
played by Kyle Bornheimer
("Blades of Glory"), a magazine
editor who's a nice guy with an
unlucky streak. After propos-
ing to his pregnant girlfriend,
Mel (Erinn Hayes, "The Win-
ner"), Sam has to tell his fian-
cee's parents the news. There's
just one problem; whenever Sam
is around Mel's parents, all hell

breaks loose. In a single episode,
he crashes their car, urinates in
their kitchen, and lights a por-
trait on fire. Suffice to say, the
happy couple didn't share their
good news with Mel's parents.
The premise is a poor emula-
tion of "Meet the Parents," except
the lead character - believe it or
not - is more endearing and man-
ages to earn some genuine laughs.
In the pilot episode of "Worst
Week," there wasn't enough focus
on Sam's personality; therefore,
he appears to be just a dumb guy
making bad decisions. Like "Par-
ents," Sam gets in sticky situa-
tions that make him look like a
perverse, bumbling idiot. These
situations aren't funny; they're
simply unwatchable. Seeing Sam
leak on the family dinner in the
middle of the night doesn't get;
laughs here - it's just downright
crass.
"Worst Week," the U.S. ver-
sion of the BBC's "Worst Week of
My Life," doesn't deliver humor
in a refreshing way. Instead, it
regurgitates, somewhat literally,

infantil
time an
comedy
risks, t
mulated
jokes fr
the sam
Virgin.'
"Worst
Th
nev
V
doesn't
figure o
outrage
camera
portrait
The
quality
played1
charact
curmud

e humor that's been used Forman on "That 70's Show."
d time again in low-brow His sarcastic remarks and no-
While avoiding taking nonsense personality slightly
he show delivers a for- offset the rest of trite characters
I storyline with recycled and poor acting elsewhere. His
om successful movies in angry reactions to Sam's pre-
e vein of "The 40 Year Old dicaments earn "Worst Week"
On top of its staleness, its only laughs. Bornheimer's
Week" is predictable. It physical comedy is upstaged by
Smith's dry act in almost every
gag. Regrettably, Smith's per-
is show will formance cannot solely save this
train wreck of a show.
?r be on "Best "Worst Week" isuninteresting
due to its limited plot. Awkward
leek Ever." - not to mention disgusting
- situations won't get any fun-
nier with time. In order for the
show to develop, it has to take
a different direction, especially
take a rocket scientist to considering Sam and Mel have
ut Sam is about to unleash to eventually tell her parents
ous mayhem when the their news. How many worst
pans to a candle next a weeks can a guy really have?
of Mel's father. There's only one way to find out
show's one redeeming how Sam will survive his future
is Mel's father, Dick, in-law's wrath. Unfortunately
by Kurtwood Smith. His when subjecting yourself to this
er is reminiscent of his show, you'll risk lowering your
geonly portrayal of Red own IQ.

MW-,,OK

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