8A - Monday, October 13, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
8A - Monday, October13, 2008 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Like the With the Betles album cover, but crappier.
cowbell konks punctuating the
OASIS verses in "(Get Off Your) High
From Page 5A HorseLady" andthe aimlessdrum
solo dumped indiscriminately
Album opener "Bag It Up" into the middle of "Shock" would
starts things off harmlessly with sound less awkward if they were
enough hearty power chords actually integrated into the sonic
and percussive pulse to distract structures. Instead, they stick out
from its formulaic underpin- like sore thumbs amid such static
nings. "The Turning," chock-full songwriting.
of sinewy grooves and vintage Nonetheless, there are strong
Doors-esque organs, maintains tracks here. Album closer "Sol-
the kinetic energy. Unfortunate- dier On" features an acerbically
ly, this momentum is promptly addictive melody (Liam's sig-
extinguished by the fourth track, nature snarling actually sounds
lead single "The Shock of the convincing here) and tastefully
Lightning," the first in a long suc- disintegrates into piping organs
cession of sluggish, melodically and synthesizers of all shapes
thirsty midtempo cuts that define and sizes. "To Be Where. There's
the bulk of the record. The kitschy Life" cruises along confidently on
a gummy bassline over a melting
pot of sitars, merging '60s psy-
chedelia with Oasis's own home-
cooked swagger. And "Waiting'
For The Rapture," a "Why Don't
We Do It In the Road?" forthe Red
Bull generation, features the band
fully indulging in its inner-Beatle,
with Noel oscillating between
pitch-perfect Lennon and McCa-
rtney impressions, and drummer
Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr's bio-
logical son) pounding away on the
snare.
Perhaps these songs repre-
sent the artistic balance the band
clearly craves. In any case, Soul
raises some serious eyebrows
regarding where Oasis will go in
the future.
LECTURE
From Page 5A
Byzantine scholar, George Forsyth
was once chair of the Department
of History of Art at the University
and director of the Kelsey Museum
of Archaeology. He worked on many
significant sites, such as St. Martin of
Angers in France and St. Catherine
on Mount Sinai, a Byzantine monas-
tery founded in the 6th century. His
widow, distinguished art historian
Ilene H. Forsyth, a professor emerita
at the University, has been the driv-
ing force behind the creation of the
lecture series.
"The Forsyth lectures will be given
annually by a distinguished specialist
in medieval art, who will lecture at
three venues in America," Sears said.
"This is part of an effort to make cer-
tain that medieval art is discussed in
institutions all over the country."
FOR REVIEWS OF
LAMPCHOP AND
NIGHTWATCHMAN,
CHECK ONLINE
michigandaily.com
Film
Combo of zombies
and 'Cloverfield'
fails to propel
violent film
"Quarantine"
Screen Gems
At Quality16 and Showcase
There aren't enough bad
things that can be said about
"Quarantine." It's perhaps the
least imaginative, unentertain-.
ing movie to come out this year.
Did you see 2004's "Dawn of the
Dead"? Or any zombie movie,
for that matter? Then there is
no need to labor through this
one.
Directed by John Erick Dow-
dIe, director of the as-yet-unre-
leased "Poughkeepsie Tapes,"
"Quarantine". follows Angela
(Jennifer Carpenter, TV's "Dex-
ter"), a news reporter, as she
shadows the Los Angeles Fire
Department on an emergency
call. Upon arriving at the scene,
Angela and firemen encounter
ARTS IN BRIEF
a flesh-hungry octogenarian,
who sets this worn out story
in motion. With its use of a
handheld, documentary-style
camera, "Quarantine" calls to
mind "The Blair Witch Project"
and J.J. Abrams's "Cloverfield."
While those used the gimmick
to great advantage, Dowdle
doesn't.
Characters - if you could
call them that - are killed
off left and right in the most
exploitive ways imaginable. In
one such instance, the news
cameraman kills a zombie by
beating it with his camera. It's
hard to imagine a more apt
embodiment of the death of
modern genre flicks.
"Quarantine" is impres-
sively bad. At the same time,
how much can be expected *
from Screen Gems, the movie's
distributor, a company that
has strived and succeeded in
becoming the bona fide cham-
pion of uninventive, conven-
tional B-movies ("Ghosts of
Mars" and "Ultaviolet," just to
name a couple). "Quarantine"
is both boring and awful, a real
accomplishment as far as hor-
ror movies go.
NOAHDEAN STAHL
01
0
0