The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, April 6, 2009 - 5A Lopez tells 'The Soloist'story By HANS YADAV on his violin. The obvious ques- DailyArts Writer tion is 'what is his story, where did this guy get his training, In 2005, thousands of read- and why does he only have two ers followed a true story that strings?'" was bizarre, wonderful and As it turns out, Ayers was once heartbreaking all at once. The a prodigy at Julliard - yes, the Los Angeles Times ran a con- Julliard School of music in New tinuing column about a home- York City. less street musician named "I realized it was goingto take Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. His a while to get the story out of story, a struggle for redemption him, so I kept going back to learn and a testament to the power more about his past each time," of friendship, is being adapted Lopez said. into a feature-length film called Once, Lopez witnessed Ayers "The Soloist," due to hit theaters scratching a list of names onto Apr. 24. the sidewalk. When Lopez asked Steve Lopez discovered Ayers whose names they were, Ayers "Carnies of the world unite!" A careless carnival while scouring the poverty- stricken streets of L.A.'s Skid Row for a story. The beautiful music emanating from Ayers's tattered violin captured Lopez's attention. The more the col- umnist got to know Ayers, the stranger the information he unearthed about Ayers's past became. Lopez revealed his side of the story in a recent phone interview. "What struck me at first was simply that (Ayers) might be a column for me," Lopez said. "I heard some music and turned and saw what I think any jour- nalist would have seen, which was this striking image of a guy whose story needed to be told." He continued, "It was a guy playing classical music really well despite missing two strings How an L.A. reporter found musical talent on the streets. revealed they were his Julliard classmates. Lopez's conversations with Ayers showed him to be a talent- ed musician who has a deep love for his craft. Lopez described Ayers's energy as both noble and inspirational. "The irony is that you can see this man living on the streets, See LOPEZ INTERVIEW, Page 8A Director Greg Mottola's follow-up to 'Superbad' fails to live up to its predecessor By Andrew Lapin I Daily Film Editor There are many details about the world of college-student, stay-at-home summer jobs that "Adven- tureland" gets Adventureland scarily right. Employeesrou- At the State, tinely smuggle Showcase and drugs and Qualityl6 alcohol to work Miramax right under the noses of oblivi- ous bosses who take their jobs way too seriously. Parents walk in on after-hours make-out sessions, then try to make conversation. All the workplace types are there: the inexplicably hot girl, the musician dude in his late 20s whom every- one else thinks is the coolest guy ever and the weirdo Jewish athe- ist. "Adventureland" captures its intended atmosphere. It also makes the most out of its 1987 time period with a cheese-tastic sound- track that includes music from Whitesnake and a Foreigner trib- ute band. The problem is that writer- director Greg Mottola couldn't decide whether he should exag- gerate the familiarity for comic effect (like he did previously in "Superbad") or use the characters as stand-ins for the whole of dis- affected youth (like John Hughes did so brilliantly in "The Breakfast Club"). Ultimately, he plays it safe and tries grabbing from both ends of the spectrum. But any carnie worth his salt knows that playing it safe never won anyone a giant- ass stuffed panda. Protagonist James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg, "The Squid and the Whale"), a liberal arts grad who has never worked a day in his life, finds himself resorting to the game booths at the local run- down amusement park in order to pay for graduate school. Despite being recently dumped, he man- ages to strike up a romance with a cute co-worker (Kristen Stewart, "Twilight"), even as she screws the park's slick-haired, bass-playing married mechanic (Ryan Reyn- olds, "Van Wilder"). Without any goofy subplot about the goings-on of the park, the careless summer flirtations between these people become the driving force of the film, for better or worse. There are some colorful back- ground characters just begging to break out of the shadows and steal the showyvrotnotaby Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig of "Sat- urday Night Live" fame; who play a husband-and-wife management duo. They have some funny bits, but See ADVENTURELAND, Page 8A Montreal's newest hipster hitmakers By SARAH CHAVEY Daily Arts Writer There's something in the water in Montre- al; A substance has leaked into its icy waters, turning lucky victims into hipster musicians. Sheer odds say that, sooner or later, this phenomenon is bound to W backfire, turning out lacklus- ter copycats fallen ill from an Gloves overdose of"scene." about agirl But fortunately for front- a man Charles F. and the rest of Paper Sag the lads who make up Mon- treal's latest export band, Winter Gloves has escaped so harrowing a fate. Forget gloves; the band's first studio album, about a girl, sports an energetic brand of party pop that's warm and fuzzy enough to keep listeners nice and toasty. Learning from their fellow Canadians, Win- ter Gloves pulls some inspiration from a few more established hipster bands. There is a sub- tle sexuality to the combination of drummer Patrick Sayers's pulsing "umtz-ah" drum beats and Charles F.'s raspy falsetto, yet the sound is still rough around the edges and rave-able. Winter Gloves carves out a unique sound comprised of dominating keyboard and rumbling bass. A low bass guitar grumbles throughout the album, sounding almost like white noise that actually adds depth to the dance beats supplied by the keys and drums. Charles's lilting tenor is just edgy enough to cut through the bouncing backup, punctuat- ing the music with plenty of perky "oh uh ohs," "oooos" and "hey heys." Between his frequent "come-ons" and hand- A generous helping of warm party pop from our northern neighbors. claps are. surprisingly thoughtful lyrics, espe- cially for a native French speaker writing in See WINTER GLOVES, Page 8A WANT TO COVER LOCAL ARTS EVENTS? Work for our Fine Arts staff. E-mail battlebots@umich.edu for an application. Spring/Summer Spaces Available! STUDENT CO-OP HOUSING Community Living for College Students 2 & 4 Month Spring/Summer Contracts (Fall/Winter 8-month contracts also available) Low Monthly charges include: -Single room -Full or partial meal plans -All utilities and Internet - Laundry, parking and more! 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