The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 5A
ALBUM REVIEW
Indie rock's best
acts reinvent the
compi ation disc
By MIKE KUNTZ But what makes Dark Was The
DailyArts Writer Night stand out from other com-
pilations - aside from its vast
Charity compilation albums amount of indie star power - is
just aren't what they used to be how amazingly well each col-
- and thank- laboration between artists came
fully so. Gone together. "Train Song," an intimate
are the over- * duet between Feist and Death Cab
the-top "We Various for Cutie's Ben Gibbard, is rivaled
Are The World" only by Conor Oberst's reinterpre-
sing-a-longs ArtiStS tation of his own "Lua" with the
with celebri- Dark Was help of strong and smoky tenor
ties-turned- The Night of Gillian Welch. Feist reappears
philanthropists, later with Brooklyn heroes Griz-
phony promo 4A z zly Bear on the late-night bedroom
videos and all hush of "Service Bell."
that jazz. Charity albums of late A few songs on the album dip
have been strikingly relevant, into the more obscure catalogs
from the annual Bridge School of its artists, such as Spoon's
and War Child compilations to "Well-Alright" and Arcade Fire's
last month's Dark Was The Night, live favorite "Lenin," but several
which tops them all. tracks are either newly written or
Released as the 20th compi- newly collaborated on. Many of
lation benefiting the. Red Hot these were specially recorded for
Organization, an international Dark, including The National's "So
charity battling HIV/AIDS, Dark Far Around the Bend," Yeasayer's
Was The Night features some of yelp-some "Tightrope" and Griz-
the most engaging and creative zly Bear's rousing full-band ver-
voices in contemporary music. sion of their own "Deep Blue Sea."
"First one to blink has to watch this movie."
Toils and troubles
These artists lend their efforts
and skills to help a noble cause -
and Bono is nowhere to be found.
With production left to the deft
hands of Bryce and Aaron Dess-
ner of The National, Dark Was
The Night features a who's who of
folk-leaning indie acts compiled
on one startlingly fluid album.
Aided by a daily song leak
on the album's MySpace page,
the hype for Dark started early
and grew into a huge buzz.
Separated between two discs -
aptly named "THIS DISC" and
"THAT DISC" - the compila-
tion includes a total of 31 tracks
(with one extra for iTunes shop-
pers, who are treated with Beach
House's take on Queen's "Play
the Game"). Other notable cov-
ers include Jose Gonzalez and
the Books' take on Nick Drake's
"Cello Song," Antony (of Antony
and the Johnsons) and Bryce
Dessner's take on Bob Dylan's "I
Was Young When I Left Home"
and Sufjan Stevens's experimen-
tal pop rendering of Castanets's
"You Are the Blood."
Featuring Feist,
Arcade Fire,
Sufjan Stevens
and Spoon.
Whilecharityalbumsofthe past
relied on traditional covers, a hit
single or mediocre songs thrown
together at the last minute, this
compilation shows considerable
care and precision. It presents an
exceptionally well-crafted and
winninginterpretation of modern,
guitar-driven indie rock. With
nearly every track worthy of con-
siderable praise, there is seldom
a weak moment on either disc.
Sporting such an arresting and
eclectic mix of artists, Dark Was
The Night is assuredly just as safe
on a Starbucks music rack as in a
trendy Manhattan apartment.
Overdone special effects
can't save Disney sci-fi
remake from its aimless plot
By EMILY BOUDREAU
DailyArts Writer
Since when do aliens who can read minds,
levitate objects and control their molecular
density need to wear seat
belts? And why do they even
need to travel in a taxi in the
first place? "Race to Witch Race to
Mountain" leaves the audi- Vitd
ence lost in many plot-worm-
holes like these. A remake of Mountain
the lovable 1975 film "Escape At Qualityl6
to' Witch Mountain," "Race
to Witch Mountain" is sadly and Showcase
shallow. Disney
Jack Bruno (Dwayne John-
son, "Get Smart") is a taxi driver in Las Vegas
who is haunted by his corrupt past. For the first
few minutes of the film, he's chased by a mob
boss, but this detail - like too many others -
doesn't end up being particularly relevant.
Bruno's life changes forever when he finds
Seth (Alexander Ludwig, "The Sandlot 3")
and Sara (AnnaSophia Robb, "Bridge to Tera-
bithia") in the back seat of his cab. These oddly
robotic-sounding tweens turn out to be aliens
who are trying to save their people while being
hunted by a creepy U.S. government official
bent on dragging them back to ahlab somewhere
and dissecting them. There also happens to be
some sort of alien assassin trying to kill them,
but that's yet another sub-plot that doesn't go
anywhere: It's up to Bruno and spacey-but-
good-looking astrophysicist Dr. Alex Friedman
(Carla Gugino, "The Unborn") to save the day.
"Race to Witch Mountain" has pretty much
the same plot as the 1975 movie, but it's jam-
packed with lame stunts and special effects.
The original, though, was enjoyable precisely
because it had such unrealistic effects. Real-
ity is never a crucial element in a movie about
aliens. No matter how realistic the car crashes
and space ship take-offs are, "Race to Witch
Mountain" was never going to be redeemed
from its other shortcomings.
The whole film comes across as haphazard
and thrown together in its final minute. Gugi-
no's character is obviously squeezed-in only to
make a painful attempt at being Bruno's love
interest, and several characters appear once
never to be explored again.
On top of these failings, the acting is terrible
and the writing is beyond stale. At one point,
Bruno says to Seth, "You know how to fly this
thing, right?" in reference to the space ship,
to which Seth responds, "How do you think
we got here?" Bruno wittily retorts, "Well you
crashed, remember?" OK, so maybe it could
potentially be funny, but Dwayne Johnson dis-
plays absolutely no comedic talent. He comes
across as the dad at his kid's party who's trying
to be funny and cool, but just isn't. It's pretty
painful at times. Also, Anna Sophia Robb
doesn't distinguish herself in her role as Sara,
which is a shame considering the promise she
showed in "Bridge to Terabithia."
Of course, there isn't much room' for charac-
ter development within the plot frame anyway.
Most of the characters - from the suave and
menacing government agent to the eccentric
mad scientist - are flat and familiar. When it
comes down to it, "Race to Witch Mountain"
is just another live-action Disney movie that's
only slightly better than "The Shaggy Dog."
TV REVIEW
'Chopping Block' can't cut the mustard
By BRIGID KILCOIN
For theDaily
With its new program "The Chopping Block,"
NBC attempts to bring culinary entertainment
to network television to
compete with Travel Chan-
nel and the Food Network's
dozens of food-centered The choppng
offerings.
"The Chopping Block" Block
focuses on eight pairs of Wednesdays
contestants who want to at 8p.m.
open their own restaurants
and win the show's grand
prize of $250,000. In the
series premier, they were divided into two teams
of four duos apiece. Each of these teams was then
given its own restaurant in Manhattan and told
to have it open to the public in just one week.
Each week, an incognito food critic comes
to judge the cuisine at both venues. The critic
analyzes the successes and failures of the meal
in tandem with chef Marco Pierre White, best
known as the belligerent star of the U.K. version
of "Hell's Kitchen." After the critic finishes judg-
ing the meals, one pair from the losing team is
eliminated.
"The Chopping Block" plays like a low-bud-
get, quickly produced midseason replacement.
The bizarre opening credits, which prominently
feature White's pair of checkered Vans wander-
ing past poorly-done CGI billboards - all while
Duffy's "Mercy" plays in the background - are
emblematic of the show as a whole: There's no
cohesive focus. Random, eerily half-lit inter-
views with White are interspersed with inspi-
rational contestant profiles and lengthy shots of
the teams working the kitchen.
The storyline is a patchwork of elements from
other, superior shows including "Top Chef" and
"Hell's Kitchen." Even the weekly elimination
scenes appear to be drawn directly from "The
Apprentice," all the way down to set design.
Cooking shows tend to focus on one vibrant
personality - chefs like Alton Brown and Paula
Deen have succeeded in large part due to their
charisma. White, on the other hand, is not an
especially compellingfigure. Hisgruff demeanor
is reminiscent of an unfunny Dr. Gregory House,
and his character of the no-nonsense television
chef is an unsuccessful retread of dozens before
him, like Anthony Bourdain, Travel Channel's
resident foodie, and Chef Gordon Ramsey of the
U.S. version of "Hell's Kitchen."
While his cooking ability is touted endlessly,
White never actually prepares food on screen.
He is an undeniably talented chef, but his role
here is limited to weak one-liners ("This tastes
like a home ec experiment") that he doles out a
few bites into each dish.
Strangely enough, the primary focus of "Chop-
ping Block" doesn't seem to be food. Large parts
of each episode are dedicated to intra-team
squabbles and the selection of team leaders rather
than the actual execution of the dishes. The cui-
NBC challenges Food
Network - and loses.
sine is pedestrian and offers no insight into the
culinary world. And the large number of contes-
tants makes pickinga pair to root for a non-issue:
They're all tragically generic and unmemorable.
Television's current glut of cooking shows
means that any new program needs to be out-
standing to succeed, but the uninspired monot-
ony of "Chopping Block" makes it unlikely to
flourish in an already overcrowded field.
YARR, THERE BE A JOB
OPENING IN THE FINE
ARTS DEPARTMENT.
WALK THE PLANK WITH
US TO LOCAL ARTS
EVENTS.
E-mail battlebots@umich.edu
for an application.
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