The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, October 22, 2008 -5A A Texas boys rise and fall Oliver Stone's latest delves into the world of Dubya By IMRAN SYED Daily Arts Writer "W." - Oliver Stone's fascinating biopic about our current president - will make you sympa- thize with George W. Bush no matter what you believe. As scary as that may be to some on this campus, it ** makes for a spectacular film, with a sweeping lead perfor- W. mance by Josh Brolin ("No Country for Old Men"). At Quality16 In depicting a history we've and Showcase all lived through, Stone adds Lionsgate untold depth and nuance to a character we all think we know. Bush's story, as told bythe allegedly militant-lib- eral director, is actually the opposite of our gen- eral conception of this president. Here, he isn't a privileged loser who has everything handed to him. Far from it: His is a classic American story with an all-important moral. Early scenes of the film show a spoiled rich brat who gets into Yale as a legacy and does nothing but screw up. Following college, he can't hold a job and becomes an alcoholic. After even his own parents have given up on him, Bush miraculously pulls himself up. He may have been a child of privilege, but when he ulti- mately gets to the highest office in the world, it isn't because of his Yale and Harvard degrees or because of his father's connections. After blowing every opportunity his fam- ily name afforded him, Bush is a nobody. Thus, America's penchant for rooting for the under- dog demands that you cheer as he works his way to the top with sheer guts and an impres- sive obsession to learn from those around him. Stone allows a long moment for us to cheer for this once-broken man, but then comes the most crucial message of the film. Bush may now be ahard worker and a sincere person, but he is wrong for the job. The beauty of his rise from failure to president is aptly shat- tered by interposed scenes that comment on the grave damage this good man's presidency has done to our nation and the world. Ingeniously, Stone makes us all witness Bush's failure by showing the danger of this country's obsession with the "common man." Such a complex message requires a truly humanizing lead performance, and Brolin deliv- ers. Playing a man who is so easy to caricatur- ize, Brolin performs with brilliant sincerity. He looks and sounds like Bush, but more than that, he presents the same quirks Bush is known for, this time exposing the very basic, mostly good intentions behind them. The rest of the famous roles are also superbly emulated. For Laura Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, Stone uses one telling characteristic to make each character come alive. Rove (Toby Jones, "Infamous") is a creepy hanger-on who always has way too much infor- mation; Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss, "Jaws") is a terrifying specter who only vaguely cloaks his maniacal intentions; and Laura Bush (played with marvelous regality by Elizabeth Banks, "Invin- cible"), has a benign, almost naive goodness about her that is at once endearing and disturbing. Perhaps Stone struggled over how to end a biopic about a man who isn't only still alive, but actually still president. The final scene employs .a metaphor: Bush, an avid baseball fan, is fanta- sizing about making a big catch in the outfield to win the game and to become the hero. He hears the ball being hit, he runs to the spot where he thinks it will land, he pounds his glove to pre- pare for the catch and, alas, there is no ball. How fitting. Making kinky sexy again Princto CReVI0W Register for any Princeton Review MCAT coarse try October 24"',ad receive: $200 OFF the course cost FREE admissions counseling. FREE Super Science Reviews. 800-2Review IPrincetonReviewxcor lEEom By SASHA RESENDE Daily Arts Writer Inthe wordsofOfMontrealfront- man Kevin Barnes's own MySpace page, the recording process for his band's latest disc Skeletal Lamping involved "explor- ing the dark and gloriously detest- Montreal able sides of my Skeletal consciousness." Lamping Though wordy Polyvinyl and tinged with typical indie- rock-star pretentious swagger, this key quote encapsulates the core to understanding Of Montreal's ninth proper studio release. Weird, genre- bending and funkadelic, the album delves further into the utter eccen- tricities that permeated the band's preceding album, 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?. While the band may have ben- efited from re-exploring the omi- nous territory heard on such tracks as the nearly-l2-minute killer epic . "The Past is a Grotesque Animal," Barnes and Co. have chosen to go in nearly the opposite direction: toying with quick-paced poppy quirkiness and turning away from its darker underbelly. The result is a 15-track-long redux of trippy Hissing Fauna hits like "Gron- landic Edit" and "Labyrinthian v Pomp." Skeletal Lamping is devi- ously offbeat and peculiar, but for a band whose claim to fame is a Bowie-esque frontman who dons lipstick and fishnets on stage, it works. Skeletal Lamping pushes the aforementioned Bowie references to thelimitwithitswide selection of crooning and falsettos across its many somewhat homogeneous songs. The album's first single "Id Engager" is one of the disc's more accessible cuts. The song opens 'with an all-encompassing scream from Barnes, followed by a series of "ooh-ooh-oohs" and "aahs" to the tune of a persistent bassline. The track plays into the album- wide theme of gender bending, with Barnes screeching in chorus, "I can't help it if it's true / Don't want to be your man / Just want to play with you." The more harmonious "Gallery Piece" is dance party heaven, car- ried by a repetitive programmed beat, reflecting Barnes own self- conscious lyrical repetition: "I want to squeeze your thighs / I want to kiss your eyelids / And corrupt your dreams," which later gives way to the somewhat more transparent line, "I want to turn you on / I want to make you come / 200 times a day." Barnes has cer- tainly kept his knack for attract- ing a listener's attention, to say the least. The track is one of the album's better offerings and its blissfully poppy foundation stands in marked contrast to the album's more exper- imental endeavors. The band is most successful when it sticks to its pop-based origins, as heard on the two previously men- tioned tracks, though the band's progression into funk-based ele- ments gives Skeletal Lamping an added edge and it keeps the album from turning into a stale regurgi- tation of quirky pop hits. "Wicked Wisdom" is a groovy powerhouse, with soundscapes composed of deep bass notes that quickly switch pace from fast to slow. This sharply con- trasts th site's Cor that feat at a sign accompa up chore L fi Mor Thet tradition with the Caste," a that rece from its :e slowed down "St. Exqui- Of Montreal is somewhat less suc- nfessions," an easy-lovin' hit cessful when it tries its hand atla tures Barnes' best attempt Beatles-style ballad, as heard on ature Thom Yorke falsetto the half-heartedly poetic "Touched tnied by a gospel-like back- Something's Hollow." Its members ts. probably realize the same, since the song ends before hitting its second minute. ipstick and While Skeletal Lamping doesn't quite live up to its predecessor, this shnets: Of disclaimer shouldn'tdisheartendie- hard Of Montreal fans. The band's atreal is back. newest release explores the full scope of contemporary pop music - a high task for any group. With its ninth full-length release the band band returns to its more has solidified its hold as the cur- al quirky pop foundations rent torchbearers for the indie pop e cutesy "For Our Elegant genre. Given its latest strong show- bass-and-keys-tuned piece ing, Of Montreal isn't likely to lose alls the band's earlier works any enthusiasts in the process of extensive back-catalogue. achieving its vision. International oMf Career- Pathways Come to the 6 annual series of events in which students professionals and representatives gather to explore pathways to international careers International Opportunities Fair Thursday, October 23, 2008 2-6 pm, Michigan Union Meat representatives of 60 organizations tofind out about: Programsftor work,internships,volunteering,&teaching abroad " Oganizations offering internationalcareers International Career Panel Discussions Careers in International Health & Humanitarian Relief Wednesday October22, 5-6:30 PM, Michigan Union Anderson Room GlobalCareers in Information & Technology Wednesday October22, 5-6:30PM, Michigan Union Kuenzel Room Teaching & Volunteering Abroad Wednesday October 22, 7-8 PM, Michigan Union Pond Room Peace Corps & Your International Career Thursday October 23, 7-8:30PM, Michigan Union U-Club Graduate Internships in Africa Wednesday October 29, Noon-1:00 PM, Weill Hall Room 1110 International Environmental Careers Thursday October 30,6-730 PM, Dana Bldg RoomH1040 http:tiintemationalcenter.umich.edu/swt Sponsored by: The CareerC enter - The college of Engineering ~ Gerald R, Ford School of Public Policy - Germanic Languages and Literatures ~ International Center - International Institute - The School of Information - The School of Natural Resources &The Environment The School of Public Health - The School of Social Work