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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 - 8A
Poehler 's
'Park' leases
By DAVE REAP except Leslie. So instead of one-
TV/New Media Editor on-one duels, we see four-, five-
or six-against-one melees. And
"Parks & Recreation" will while that sounds slightly cruel
always be judged alongside "The in nature, it definitely generates
Office" - that's an undeniable, laughs.
irrefutable There's a fraternal bond
truth. And it ** between those surrounding Les-
makes sense lie; they all act like they care,
"Parks" was Parks& humor her a bit and then when she
created by Greg RSreation jollily turns the corner, they drop
Daniels, execu- what they're doing and resume
tive producer of Thursdays at something of actual importance.
"The Office;" it 8:30 p.m. For instance, the colleague Les-
uses the mock- NBC lie proclaims her right-hand man
umentary style Tom (played brilliantly by Aziz
"The Office" Ansari, "Observe and Report") is
is celebrated for; it airs right charged with writing down Les-
before "The Office" on Thursday lie's most memorable quotes on
nights on NBC; and if that wasn't command so they can be included
enough, one of its cast members, in her not-yet-written memoirs.
"Watch what I can with this.
D ragonball' devolves
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inthe p
it was o
ter of ti
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Evoluti
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includin
more -
e-action take on doesn't revive, however, is the spirit
of the timeless cartoon. Unlike the
iC cartoon is full show, there is little character devel-
opment and the fight scenes are
heap thrills and cheesy and slow.
The plot centers on Goku (Jus-
flaeCid fights tin Chatwin, "The Invisible"), an
abnormal boy who can harness his
By HANS YADAV "ki" (some sort of life force) but
Daily Arts Writer can't fit into normal school life.
Enter the newly escaped-from-ban-
every remotely notewor- ishment green demon Piccolo, who
superhero lays waste to everything in his path
ideo-game as he searches for seven mysterious
making a orbs known as Dragonballs. The
en debut holder of all seven Dragonballs is
astdecade, Diagonball granted one wish, so Goku, teamed
nly a mat- Evolution with a few friends, goes on a quest
me before to find the spheres and stop Piccolo.
ic anime At Quality 16 Like most TV series translated into
followed and Showcase a motion pictures, "Dragonball"
Dragonball 20th Century Fox tries to include too much in too lit-
on" revives tle time. Characters are introduced
characters willy-nilly with little background
e "Dragonball" TV series - supplement.
ig Goku, Bulma, Piccolo and Much of the appeal ofthe cartoon
in live-action form. What it was the intricate storyline coupled
with the unique personalities each
character brought to the manga.
The movie should have focused on
just a few important characters and
taken the time to really flesh them
out. That could have eliminated
many of the half-assed introduc-
tory scenes, thereby siphoning the
extra time into a deeper, more lin-
ear storyline.
But the movie's biggest letdowns
are its action sequences. Fans of the
series know the frequent encoun-
ters in the TV show between the
forces of good and evil were epic
and surprising. Contrastingly, the
film contains few battles, and the
battles it does have repeat them-
selves. They all involve the same
moves and CGI effects, neither of
which look polished. The only thing
missing as the characters fly across
the screen is the wire suspending
them in the air. The heavy green-
screen usage is extremely apparent
(like a certain instance when Goku
hops across a very "real" lava flow),
leaving many scenes looking doc-
tored and amateur.
Because there are only a hand-
ful of real fighting scenes, much of
"Dragonball" is boring filler. Each
new line of uninspired and unnec-
essary dialogue makes the hour-
and-a-half long flick feel much
longer than it rightfully should. The
only slightly redeeming qualities of
the movie are the striking Emmy
Rossum ("The Day After Tomor-
row") and relative newcomer Jamie
Chung. Given the rest of the movie's
shortcomings, it's not surprising
that it uses the age-old technique
of hiring charming starlets to com-
pensate for its lack of substance.
"Dragonball" will probably
appeal to very few people - the
fanboys, children under the age
of 11 and most likely some randy,
single men over 40. Future anime-
based movies should learn from the
atrocity that is this film, and hope-
fully evolve into something worth
watching.
Rashida Jones, was featured
prominently in the third season
of "The Office."
So for television critics and
average Joe television junk-
ies alike, "Parks" presents an
intriguing question: Can a show
that borrows so much establish its
own identity? The answer to this
question can't be communicated
in black-and-white absolutes.
While "Parks" unquestionably
sports the feel of "The Office,"
the new faces - save Jones - help
remind us what we're watch-
ing. And at the forefront is dis-
tinguished "SNL" alum Amy
Poehler. As the main attraction,
Poehler convincingly portrays the
wonderfully oblivious optimist
Leslie Knope, a low-level govern-
ment official working at a Parks
and Recreation Department inthe
cradle of Midwestern boredom:
Pawnee, Ind.
Yes, "Parks" mostly takes place
in an office, but this office is set
up differently from the Scranton
branch of Dunder Mifflin - and
that's not a reference to the fur-
niture, but the web of palpable
personal relationships that per-
vade it. The bread and butter of
"The Office" is the clashing of
signature personalities, whether
it's between Dwight and Andy
over the love of cat-aficionado
Angela, or Michael and Stan-
ley over Michael's stupidity. But
the dynamic of "Parks" differs:
Being a part of the Parks and
Recreation Department is a joke,
and everyone understands that
Not quite
'The office.
Yet, when asked, Tom doesn't
actually write down anything
Leslie says. He merely scribbles
on a piece of paper to appease her.
Similarly, the hunk at the work-
place who Leslie thinks she's in
a relationship with wants little
to do with her. There's also the
always-angered boss and the
always-bored college intern, who,
despite their differences, share a
powerful disdain for the forever-
cheery Leslie. So all that's new.
Still, that pesky feel of "The
Office" never quite goes away
during "Parks," reminding us
that while the show is no clone,
it certainly isn't a beacon of
originality. That's probably OK,
though, and it almost doesn't
matter; "Parks" is pretty much
assured to get relatively high rat-
ings. Its placement within NBC's
Thursday night comedic jugger-
naut lineup - which includes
"My Name is Earl" and "30 Rock"
as well as "The Office" - gives it
a boost most television shows
would kill for. So for the time
being, the soul searching can go
on hold, even though it seems
"Parks" is already on its way to
making a name for itself. At least
as much as it possibly can within
its restraints.
4
'Krod' is nothing but crud
By TOMMY COLEMAN
Daily Arts Writer
In 2007, "Epic Movie" topped the box office charts.
A year later, "Meet the Spartans"
achieved the same feat. Both mov-
ies were shoddily cooked up by
throwing scenes from recent popu- Krod
lar films of the epic fantasy genre Mandoon
into a pot, mixing in some slapstick,
a scoop of potty humor and a few and the
tablespoons of pop culture refer- Flaing
ences. And despite being ripped
apart by critics, they enjoyed unde- SWord
niable commercial success. of Fire
Seeking to capitalize on the rat-
ings that an epic-fantasy parody Thursdays at
TV show could bring, Comedy 10:30 p.m.
Central unveiled its newest addi- Comedy Central
tion, "Krod Mandoon and the
Flaming Sword of Fire."
Like its predecessors, "Krod" doesn't seem too wor-
ried about its critical success. In fact, it's like "Epic
Movie" and "Meet the Spartans" in every way (except
there aren't any scenes pulled directly out of "Lord
of the Rings" or "Harry Potter" - or any other refer-
encestopopculture, forthatmatter). Otherwise it'sthe
same go-for-every-gag-possible routine, with the same
sometimes-it's-funny-but-usually-it's-not result.
In "Krod," a team of fighters is assembled to bring
down an evil empire against impossible odds. Unfor-
tunately, the actors playing the rebellious gang are
lackluster at best. Krod (Sean Maguire, "Meet the
Spartans"), plagued by a lack of self-confidence, is
expected to lead the battle against evil. But when
Maguire's unconvincing forehead-wrinkling look
of concern never changes, it's apparent that he will
bring little comedic value to the show.
The legion of actors Maguire commands is
equally lifeless. India de Beaufort ("Run, Fatboy,
Run") plays Aneka, Krod's on-and-off girlfriend
and a skilled Pagan warrior who gets Krod and his
pals out of several hairy situations. But her contri-
butions to the "humor" are nothing special, and it
seems that she may have been brought on purely as
eye-candy.
One of the show's few comedic bright spots is the
evil-but-incompetent Chancellor Dongalor (Matt
Lucas, "Little Britain USA"), leader of the Meconian
Empire. Whether he's sentencing those who doubt
totalitarianism to torture or plotting to destroy a vil-
lage with a weapon of mass destruction (known as
the Eye of Gulga Grymna), his conviction that he's the
best villain ever upstages even the most conceited evil
rulers. There's something brilliant yet simultaneously
disturbing about a man with this strength and will
power prancing around like a schoolgirl and asking
his assistant for fashion advice, occasionally showing
off his blindingly pale thighs in his favorite feathery
undergarment.
Bringing another much-needed dose of humor to
"Krod" are the British accents employed by Donga-
lor and his minions. British accents are classically
humorous, as seen with comedian Russell Brand and
in other epic fantasy comedies like "Monty Python
You'll laugh at the
name, but that's it.
and the Holy Grail." But the accents are pretty much
the only genuinely funny element of the show apart
from the villainous Dongalor. Everything else, like
Krod walking into a support beam, feels forced and
has been done before.
"Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire" is
plagued by a limp cast and an overuse of old and tired
gags. When it's all said and done, the show's name
may just be the funniest thing about it.
"Jesus will lead me to my car keys.
Malkovich shines in a sub-par film
4
By TIMOTHY RABB
Daily Arts Writer
Sometimes a film comes along
that can amuse an audience with
just a little bit of everything (a few
laugh-worthy
moments, a few
sighs in the the- 7k*
ater), but ulti-
mately has no The Great
lofty ambitions Buck Howard
to transcend its
predictability. At the Michigan
A ripple in the Bristol Bay
ocean of cine-
ma, "The Great
Buck Howard" ends, as T.S. Eliot
might say, "not with a bang but a
whimper."
The plot follows a young law
school dropout named Troy (Colin
Hanks, "King Kong"), who takes
a job as an assistant to the Great
Buck Howard (John Malkovich,
"Burn After Reading"), a washed-
up mentalist who seems to be igno-
rant of his own shameful state. In
spite of Troy's initial misgivings,
which stem primarily from Buck's
volatility, he perseveres and even-
tually witnesses Buck's resurgence
to fame by way of an awe-provok-
ing spectacle.
Though a comedy shouldn't be
expected to resort to ridiculous
measures to elicit laughter, the
movie doesn't make much of an
effort at comedy at all, nor does it
succeed in its attempt to adhere to
the "inspirational" genre. In fact,
the only cinematic aspect that
even seems to indicate a moment's
significance is the film's accompa-
nying score.
One need look no further than
the production credits to see why
the movie feels so familiar and
overwrought. The film is produced
by Tom Hanks, Colin Hanks's
real-life father (Tom even cameos
as Colin's father in the story). If
you've seen "Shawshank Redemp-
tion," "The Green Mile" or "For-
rest Gump," expect this movie to
be nothing more than a diluted
version of these landmark produc-
tions, with the all-too-familiar voi-
ceover to boot. Colin Hanls plays
his role satisfactorily, but does not
venture beyond the constraints of
the film or forge his own individ-
ual personality as a character. It's
unfortunate he didn't take advan-
tage of his prominent role and
showcase his acting talent.
In spite of the movie's promi-
nent flaws, the weight of the film's
redundancy is countered by the
superb theatrical abilities of its
lead performer, John Malkovich.
His obnoxious elitism manifests
itself vividly onscreen to inject life
and humor into what otherwise
may have been a deadpan disap-
pointment. Malkovich's personali-
ty undergoes a seamless transition
from the real world to the big
screen whenever he appears in a
movie; it's this genuine, raw dis-
play of humanity that lends an
endearing trademark to many of
his films.
Though totally forgettable due
to its homogeneity, "The Great
'Howard' is a
homogenous,
deflated 'Gump.'
Buck Howard"features alandmark
performance by John Malkovich
that is certainly worth your time.
Malkovich proves he can bear
the burden of a lead acting role in
addition to compensating for the
shortcomings of his more inexpe-
rienced co-stars. The movie also
alludes to Colin Hanks's poten-
tial as an up-and-coming actor,
though it certainly won't assure
his stardom. If you're a fan of the
inspirational comedy genre, "The
Great Buck Howard" will keep you
sufficiently entertained, albeit not
amazed.
"soon my Rogaine will be complete!"