The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 5B Finding life's lessons on the Diag By Dave Reap I Daily TV/New Media Editor on't let school get in the way of your education." That was the advice offered to me one fateful autumn afternoon of my sophomore year. It came from that endear- ing fellow who sometimes plays the har- monica outside the UGLi. He didn't speak these words to me - his furry beard-laden face was attached to the musical instru- ment he was melodically implementing to lift the spirits of passersby - rather, he had scrawled his message in white paint on a weathered piece of cardboard that sat at his ever-tapping feet. That piece of cardboard changed my life. There I was, a sophomore who thought he had it all figured out, only to spot this guy's sign and realize that I knew nothing. My life was blue books, mechanical pen- cils and a GPA - there was supposed to be more, but there wasn't. I thought to mysef "Crap." Here's the deal: The harmonica dude is right. A college education by nature consists of more than academics - in fact, the major- ity of this education has nothing to do with academics. So where does that leave us? Really, a true college education is a collec- tion of all those things you've learned that you considered relatively useless. The active ingredient for me in "learn- ing" has been the people around me - it's truly amazing what you can pick up from others. After being inspired by one musi- cally-minded buddy, I took guitar lessons, and later recorded a song with this same friend - the song was awful. A certain Albanian acquaintance taught me how to take a hookah hit. I was schooled in the art of television criticism by two mensches with whom I'd watch "How I Met Your Mother" and "Heroes" every Monday. Upon one friend's encouragement, I discovered that "Sweet Caroline" is the perfect kara- oke song. I learned to love the comic book writer Mark Millar because of the owner of the Vault of Midnight. One of the kids I sit with at Michigan hockey games taught me the "C-Ya" chant. I learned to smoke ciga- rettes, and, shortly thereafter, learned I didn't like cigarettes. A girl from one of my film classes "reminded" me how to paral- lel park. One former managing arts editor helped me inject attitude into my televi- sion reviews. And so on like you wouldn't believe. So this is what I've learned, and what I've used to learn about myself - introspection is a beautiful, and very collegiate, thing. To you freshmen who might be reading this: Expose yourself. Wait, that came out wrong. But joking aside, look up from your books occasionally and ask your roommate, Getting an arts education from the most unlikely places. best friend or whomever to give you the low-down on a new album, hacky sack move or whatever else you crazy kids are doing these days. Don't wait for a cardboard sign, start now. To you soon-to-be graduates: We have a challenge ahead of us. How the hell can we keep up these shenanigans once we're plopped down into the real world? (Note: MTV should really make a show called "Real World: Real World" - the true story of seven unemployed recent graduates struggling to find purpose. Damn, I still got it.) We clearly still have some growing up to do, and thank God for that. Keep rediscovering yourself, no matter where you wind up next. As for me, well, I have only this left to say: Thanks, it's been one heckuva ride. Batman's first day of class. Fre.shman flight By EVAN MCGARVEY Daily Arts Editor June 19, 2005 - All it takes is the first 10 minutes of "Batman Begins" - when a shockingly grizzly Christian Bale fights off a dozen men in a * rural Chinese prison e courtyard, mud streak- ing his face, the sky Begins covered in steely grays Warner Brothers and washed-out blues - to make the audience forget a series of corpulent, peevishly Technicolor Joel Schumacher-helmed Batman McMovies and submit to direc- tor Christopher Nolan's rejuvenating, grimy and psychological take on one of America's most emblematic heroes. Bale ("American Psycho"), with a diamond-cut jaw line and perfect WASP features, was born to play Bruce Wayne. While his voice as Batman doesn't reach the dark heights of Michael Keaton's original take, Bale simply looks exactly as we'd imagine Bruce Wayne - after all, Bale has done idle yet deeply flawed rich kid before. For those of you who were denied the singular pleasure of Batman comics by your parents, here's an unjustly quick primer: Gotham City is America's largest metropolis with a beyond-seedy under- belly. Nice, old-money, philanthropic Wayne family goes to opera,, Momaand, Dad are killed by a mugger. Son watches parents die, spends formative years on a spiritual quest in Europe and Asia com- plete with martial arts training and gen- eral trust-fund spending. Boy returns to Gotham, puts on big, black rubber suit, redirects newfound thirst for vengeance and decides the only way to clean up his fair city is to catch the criminals that the corrupt city police are too lazy to catch. Phew. 30-plus years of America's great- est comic book in a single paragraph. Frank Miller's gothic, exquisite graphic novel "Batman: Year One" (on which David S. Goyer and Nolan's admi- rable script is loosely based) makes a fine introduction, but many might find it an even more compelling purchase after seeing the film. Nolan gets infinite credit for not sur- rounding Bale with random ingenues but instead leaning on a bevy of fantastic actors. Gary Oldman ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"), with his finest performance in recent memory, nails the dually idealistic and battle-hard- ened Lieutenant Gordon. Michael Caine ("Secondhand Lions") is a stately Alfred Pennyworth, loyal butler and eventual co-conspirator to Bruce Wayne. Mob boss Carmine Falcone, the thinnest part of the villains, still manages to come to weary, casually violent life thanks to Tom Wilkinson ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"). And lest we forget the Scarecrow. Cillian Murphy, previously seen fight- jogi Zombie-infested Europe (n, they weren't bored kids studying abroad) in "28 Days Later," not only gets the best costume in hero-movie history, but gen- uinely disquiets everyone he touches on film. With his macabre burlap-patchwork mask and canisters of hallucinogenic toxin lurking under the guise of psychia- trist JonathanCrane,Murphydoesn'tjust chew scenery - he maliciously chomps it. If Nolan has any one major fault in plotting, it's giving too much weight to, a more standard, grand-destruction plot (dutifully carried by Liam Neeson and Ken Watanabe) and not enough screen time to Murphy's gleefully warped men- tal health professional/villain. Nolan's visionary saga begins. Fitting for the plot's emphasis on Gotham's disparity of wealth, the scen- ery looks like a mash-up of Hong Kong's skyscrapers and slums and Los Angeles's sprawl, all topped off with a post-indus- trial shade straight from Detroit. The technology is reasonable, the stock bad guys are frighteningly like the everyman and the most gloomy character is Bale's Batman. It's notenough that;helooks like he should be Batman; it's clear he genu- inely wants to become Batman. Refreshing how after four movies stffed with ,action-figure repetition, Bale looks like a fan. And hey, with fans like Bale and Nolan, how could this movie have possibly gone wrong? One art student's juice-filledjourney By Bla eGoble Eaily Arts Write' t took me a little too long to realize how grand it's all been. Yes, we've all got our "Michigan- changed-our-life" stories, but hear mine out. I made my mistakes. I learned and I grew. I made leaps and changes that will benefit me for the rest of my life. I can't honestly say I'm certain of the picture Shead (not enough of us are), but I feel OK about it regardless of the outcome. I know Michigan has done me right. I came to the University somewhat reti- cent of an Ann Arbor education. Navy blue shirts, hard work and the 'occasional party would suffice. What can I say? Nepotism left me jaded at times about the whole aca- demia thing. I'd seen enough. I was totally ... emo. When you have three older siblings pass through the very same university, you assume that you understand it all and noth- ing's going to be that different. Not true. Maybe it took me two years too long to realize it, but ... I'm really gonna miss this joint. Not only does it have possibly the best tasting Kool-Aid in the world, but the Uni- versity really allowed me to become myself. There's no other cult of personality I'd rather be involved in than U of M. About four years ago, I was Blake Goble, the chlorine-headed, flakey, floating art stu- dent, complacent with trying to take pictures and getting paid for it someday. (Well, I'm still kinda flakey.) Then two things hap- pened: (1) The darkroom at the art school was greatly diminished, and (2) I got the big bounce from the photo section of this paper. Drag. But you know the concept of doors opening and closing? The film section of this paper was wide-open. It changed everything. It made me' into a person. In two years, I went from a complete putz to a fully fleshed out human being with abilities and interests. I became "By Blake Goble." I wrote countless pieces for this paper, learning how to better articulate my ramblings on Bay or Cassavetes. And people have responded in kind. I became an art student who used his pas- sion for film-as-art to guide him through four years of projects and thesis work. I cared about writing, speaking out and getting out. And I have actually been able to use my experiences here out there in the world. The only catch? I still can't write a proper essay for shit. Damn Daily colloquial style. Can't we just talk? I guess I have to reflect upon these things, because, where else am I going to have all these resources and opportunities again? I'm petrified of post-grad. But optimistic, too. One might argue I could have gotten the same experience at Iowa or Texas or ITT Techni- cal Institute. And maybe I could have. Even the Kool-Aid tastes better here. But where the hell else can I do a Stock- well breakfast, go get obscure movies at the library, see us whomp ass in a football game (a Carr game, that is), take a blue-blanketed nap, go write 800 words on Paul Newman, do a lecture on Batman and German opera, eat at Pizza House, buy hype glasses from Middle Earth, skim a book at Borders, get a free swim in and then go buckwild from 11 p.m. till 4 a.m.? Like I said: Michigan Kool-Aid tastes the best. Come on, my e-mail address is bgoblue@umich.edu people! And I'm really gonna miss it. The morning after a night at Rick's. Senic By BLAKE GOBLE DailyArts Writer July 20, 2008 - There's a moment when the Joker, in a nurse's uniform, exits a hospital just as it blows up behind him. It's a chaotic scene, yet it's filmed with a perfect narrative flow The Dark and style, something ngh that characterizes the W film as a whole. Over the top, elegant and intriguing - it's perfect. "The Dark Knight" is not merely great, it's an arguable masterpiece. No, this is not the immature ranting of a child in Batman underwear. "Dark Knight" is a savvy, high-minded drama that just hap- pensto revolve around men of sensational character. It might justbe the best film of 2008 thus far. This is dark horse awards material, and possibly the greatest comic book movie ever, easily improving on the already outstanding "Batman Begins." This is the yin to the "Superman: The Movie" yang. Set a year after the events of "Batman Begins," criininals now live in fear of what the night summons. Batman (Chris- tian Bale, "3:10 to Yuma") is doing good. He may also be able to hang the cape up soon, as the new district;attorney Har- or vigilante vey Dent (Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You find a place here. The script is almost for Smoking") is busting crime without poetic in its willingness to articulate spandex. Both are men of principle in a hard ideas, courtesy of director Chriso- disruptive world. But anarchy is com- pher Nolan and brother Jonathan's writ- ing. The nefarious Joker (Heath Ledger, ing. English majors writing comic book "Brokeback Mountain") is the ultimate, adaptations? It ought to happen more. maniacal antithesis to them, looking to That's not to say this is ostentatious. ignite chaos in the city. The expected romance and humor is But there's more. present and strong. The music pul- Batman/Bruce Wayne must balance sates with neoclassical gusto. Digital his two lives, while upholding his rules. effects marry practical stunts together Dent slowly embraces the dark within in impressive action set pieces - so do his dawning hero. The Joker is a man yourself a favor and wait for those IMAX with no rules, making it almost impos- seats. It's worth it. sible to fight him without compromising one's sense of justice. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman, "Harry Potter and the Order Ledger's haunting of the Phoenix") is struggling to main- anc tain order. Noble butler Alfred (Michael perform ance Caine, "Children of Men") must convince master Wayne to stick with his responsi- is no joke. bilities. Crime lords are recovering from a recession brought on by the Joker. The death toll rises. Violence in the street is reaching a boiling point. Panic and mass "Knight" is a pop culture icon, and hysteria ensue. And 200 other things Nolan has taken the opportunity to bring (all engaging) happen before the credits. big ideas to its large audience. Not every- This is a movie about "more." thing is answered, but that just leaves us If that sounds a bit hectic, well, that's wanting more. because it is. But "The Dark Knight" Seeing "The Dark Knight" is like makes every second count. watching "The Godfather" or any other Themes rarely considered in the comic ; great crime story for the first time. And genre such as duality 4nd self-sacrifice there's still plenty to talk about. t i ri 1 r r r S n r This is not Blake'Goble.