The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - SA
The Michigan Daily - michisandailycom Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 5A
A view from
the fringe
Garners' great duty
* 'Modern Warfare 2' brings artistry, innovation
and political statements into play
By Timothy Rabb Daily Arts Writer
The "Call of Duty" series is tradi-
tionally known for its faithful rec-
reations of World
War II history,
including battles,
weaponry, vehi- Call of Duty:
cles and the like. ModeM
In spite of the
popularity of the Warfare 2
franchise's focus P PS3/
on the German- Xbox360
American con-
flict, the "Modern Activision
Warfare" spin-off
is a foray into new territory - one
in which Russia's leaders push for
a return to the days of the Soviet
Uiios5and'the'Cold Wa'.B Bitthis
time, the tensions are anything but
"cold."
This highly anticipated sequel to
the popular modern-day war game
"Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare"
picks up five years after the events
delineated by its predecessor. In
case you don't remember that far
back, the Soviet Union was discov-
ered to be in cahoots with a rebel
force in the Middle East. Ultrana-
tionalist Russian political figure
Imran Zakhaev was funding war
efforts in Middle Eastern countries
in an attempt to divert attention
from his own efforts to seize power
in Russia.
The second installment of the
"Modern Warfare" series occurs
after Zakhaev's death, when his
assassination is unexpectedly con-
strued as martyrdom by the Rus-
sian people. United under their
fallen leader's platform of nation-
alism, Zakhaev's supporters rise to
political power and fuel the fires of
anti-Americanism to an extent that
no one playing the game could pos-
sibly expect.
This installation retains the
best aspects of the series, includ-
ing the easy-to-learn controller
scheme and heads-up display style.
It also offers players themost gbvi-
ous supplements to a first-person
shooter sequel: Advanced guns like
a Silenced ACR;ssn AK-47 Grena-
dier, remote-controlled Predator
Missiles and many others are at
your soldier's disposal. You're also
placed in several intense non-FPS
situations, like riding a snowmo-
bile down a ridiculously steep slope
while simultaneously shooting
enemy combatants or riding pas-
senger in a Jeep through a war-
torn city. And if that's not enough,
the game also features an efficient,
easily usable online interface that's
oddly reminiscent of "Halo 2."
But one of the "Modern War-
fare" series's strongest suits is its
ability to humanize its characters
and draw gamers into its complex
stories. When playing an ordinary
FPS, players usually find that the
sub par plot structure drops them
right in the middle of the action,
gun in hand and ammo loaded,
following the same protagonist
through the same series of inter-
changeable missions. In "Modern
Warfare 2," you view the world
through the eyes of many different
characters, including a CIA opera-
tive on an undercover mission,
an Army ranger on the front lines
and even (briefly) an astronaut at
the International Space Station.
And though you see portions of the
story through the eyes of different
people, it all ties together beauti-
fully by the campaign's end.
It's hard to criticize a game that
manages to effectively cover the
whole gamut of wartime neces-
sities, but if there's one aspect of
"Modern Warfare 2" that's easy to
hate, it's the split-screen gameplay.
In all fairness, split-screen gaming
is never an ideal situation for mul-
tiple players who want the luxury
of a large screen, but, in "Modern
Warfare 2," minute details are so
essential to the experience that
the split-screen play is completely
impractical.
During online play, split-screen-
ers may find themselves deadbefore
they even see their attacker; as a
consequence of the limited screen
space, it's simply too difficult to
squint your eyes so you don't miss
that one camouflaged assailant way
off in the distance. But fortunately
this flaw also serves to highlight
the game's strengths. You'll need
the full range of vision of a large
LCD screen to fully appreciate the
many detailed facets of gameplay
and graphics the game has to offer.
The supremacy of this game
above all other real-world simula-
tion shooters, however, lies not in
its eclectic assortment of weapons,
characters and locations, or even
its exquisite graphics. The riveting,
vital plot point that differentiates
this FPS from all others alludes to
the very real fears that many hold
in relation to our country's tense
relationship with Russia. For the
first time in mainstream gaming's
recent history, players will fight
full-scale military battles within
the continental United States, spe-
cifically in Washington D.C. and
the suburbs of Virginia. These
images will mark a pree;ppy i.' p
careers of many gamers in that they
will fully realize - in near-perfect
3-D detail - the consequences that
-could have occurrediisa esult df'
the Cold War.
"Modern Warfare 2" is not
entirely new. After all, it's only one
installment in a series of games that
are captivating, painstaking depic-
tions of all the violence, tumult
and despair of war. How does one
go about describing a game that -
in addition to being a triumph of
artistry and innovation - is also
a profound political statement on
nuclear proliferation?
In this case, it's fitting to invoke
the words of former Supreme Court
Justice Potter Stewart's definition
of obscenity: You'll know it when
you see it. "Modern Warfare 2" is
obscenely good. Purchase it imme-
diately.
By BRANDON CONRADIS
DailyArts Writer
The subject of the fascinating
Oscar-nom-
inated Ger-
man film "The
Baader Mein- P*Badu
hof Complex"
is the Red Meinhof
Army Faction C0mpleX
- also known A
as the Baader Atthe
Meinhof Gang Michigan
- a real-life Vitagraph
left-wing ter-
rorist organization formed in the
early '70s. The film dramatizes
the group's ascension from anti-
imperialist protesters during the
war in Vietnam to one of the most
infamous urban guerrilla groups
in the world. It's startling and
captivating, and while director
Uli Edel's politics are unsurpris-
ingly downplayed in favor of a
more standard documentary-like
approach, the film is unnervingly
successful in its recreation of a
time defined by turmoil.
Martina Gedeck ("The Lives
of Others") plays Ulrike Mein-
hof, a radical left-wing journalist
whose resentment of American
imperialism and the war leads
her to Andreas Baader (Moritz.
Bleibtreu, "Speed Racer") and
his girlfriend Gudrun Enss-
lin (Johanna Wokalek, "North
Face"). Together, the three form
the Red Army Faction, welcom-
ing other restless youths into
their fold as they begin a series of
bank robberies and protests that
eventually lead to an all-out dec-
laration of war on capitalism and
the United States.
It's not hard to see why some-
thing like "The Baader Meinhof
Complex" would be embraced by
mnaipsrgam audiences. Provoca-
tive and entertaining, the film
plays like "The Battle of Algiers"
for a generation raised on the
/ breathlbss international.'inltrigue
of "24." There's not a whole lot
of substance here; the subver-
sive "third world" politics of
Gillo Pontecorvo's film, in which
the viewer, often unwittingly,
is influenced to sympathize
with the anti-French rebels, are
ditched in favor of "Bourne"-like
action scenes and an unsurpris-
ing objectivity that allows the
filmmakers to skirt by without
making an overarching political
statement. Its insistence on align-
ing the terrorists' actions with
sex, drugs and rock''roll - not
to mention the fact that the mem-
bers of the gang, with the excep-
tion of the middle-aged Meinhof,
are all sexy, uninhibited and
glamorous-looking - seem to
demonstrate this.
The film is not so much con-
cerned with deploying the inher-
ent brutality of terrorism as it is
with the young guerrillas' insis-
tence on using it as a means to
feed their desire for rebellion.
Also, the film is ruthless in the
way it uses individual characters
as mouthpieces for the various
conflicting viewpoints of the era,
as if to ensure no audience mem-
ber would leave with a bad taste
in his or her mouth.
All that said, "The Baader
Meinhof Complex" is still a ter-
rific film. It's long, but it never
feels slow; it's violent, but it never
feels gratuitous; and it's often
unpredictable, though it never
feels manipulative. While it loses
grasp of its numerous characters
at times - some disappear from
the film completely only to reap-
Unnervingly
Successful.
pear later without warning - its
frenzied nature just lends to the
feeling of chaos it's trying to
emulate. The actors capitalize on
their flimsy roles, but, ultimately,
this isn't a film that emphasizes
characters - even Baader and
Meinhof seem inconsequential
to the narrative. The dramatic
impact instead comes from the
collision between powerfully
staged action set-pieces and real-
life news footage from the era in
which the film takes place.
Like Gus Van Sant's "Milk,"
a film with which this shares
some similarities (right down to
the muted color scheme which
resembles faded newsreel foot-
age), "The Baader Meinhof Com-
plex" is a fascinating example
of a film about the past made to
address politics of the present.L
Again, it's not an overtly politi-
cal film - in the sense that it
doesn't voice its own opinions
about the proceedings - but it
certainlyposesmanyrelevantand
controversial questions regard-
ing the origins of terrorism and
the necessary acts a government
must take to stop it. This may be
the obvious route for a film of
this nature to take - acting as a
kind of arbiter for the Right and
Left - and in that sense the film
could have been more daring.
But there's no denying the sheer
intensity of Edel's film, or the fact
that, despite its flaws, it's one of
the most purely diverting films to
be released in quite a while.
A fierce dose of flower power
The shameless epics of Circles
By BRIGID KILCOIN
Daily Arts Writer
Did you think TLC couldn't possibly add anoth-
er reality show to its lineup?
You thought wrong. "Flowers ***
Uncut" follows the career of Jeff
Leatham, a former male model Flowers
and celebrity florist nicknamed Uncut
"The Rock'n'Roll Florist" - a
reference to his no-holds-barred Wednesdays
style of flower arrangement. in at 10 p.m.
the half-hour show, Jeff creates TLC
flower arrangements for dozens
of events and attempts to keep his team of assis-
tants in check.
Since every reality show is built around the
same basic conventions (sit-down interviews, mon-
tages set to music and a seemingly insurmountable
problem that is always resolved by the program's
end), the feature that often determines success or
failure of a show is its protagonist. And Leatham
is a smart choice. Despite his outwardly polished
demeanor, he's goofy and endearingly vulnerable.
His single-minded dedication to flowers, and the
importance of a perfect arrangement is charm-
ingly over-the-top.
In one scene,. Leatham teaches the basic prin-
ciples of arrangement to a group of impoverished
mothers and then critiques their bombastic rib-
bon-tying methods. "This isn't a fashion show; it's
a flower show," he lectures. In another, his obses-
sive flower devotion is displayed when he glances
around the workspace as he's arranging flowers.
"Hopefully around 4:30 or 5 o'clock, this room will
be like an enchanted forest of trees and love," he
gushes, attired in a bowler hat complete with over-
sized flower pin. "I just want to create a corner of
fantasy and happiness."
Although every career has its moments of strife,
the field of flower arranging is not exactly fraught
with drama. TLC's producers seem to struggle
with this noneventfulness, honing in on any slight
misstep to up the tension quotient. One major plot
point is when a few vases break prior to a benefit,
sending the "Flowers Uncut" team into a tizzy:
"I don't care if those vases are fucking broken!"
Leatham yells. "Go and get some more!" Another
calamity arises when Leatham notes that several
flower pots have hand-print smudges on them.
"We have a problem," he says dramatically. "The
pots are dirty."
The biggest flaw in "Flowers Uncut" is that it's
extremely similar to other TLC reality program-
ming -sthe show focuses the majority of its energy
on random celebrity cameos and over-done sit-
down interviews about its subject, the beauty and
power of flowers. It seems obvious that the focal
point of a show about flower arranging would be
about the resulting flower arrangements, but little
time is spent displaying the finished product.
Leatham's creative process would be interesting
if coupled with the actual construction process,
but these important aspects are brushed aside in
Even Grandmaster
Flash approves.
favor of pointless side-stories about topics like con-
suming edible flowers. The episode ends with rap
pioneer Grandmaster Flash congratulating Leath-
am on a job well done, which is undoubtedly enter-
taining for the miniscule subset of TLC reality
programming fans who enjoy early 1980s hip hop-
but still baffling to the 40-something women who
will likely make up most of the show's audience.
"Flowers" isn't must-see TV, but it's an enter-
taining diversion and a positive step away from
TLC's overload of programs focusingon freakishly
oversized families. While it might not shed a huge
amount of light on the flower arrangement busi-
ness, Leatham is entertaining enough so it doesn't
matter.
By JEFF SANFORD
Daily AssistantArts Editor
Crafting an instrumental album
can be a tricky,
high-risk enter-
prise. Without
the structural and Russian
melodic guide of Cirdes
the human voice,
no-vocalist bands Geneva
better make damn Suicide Squeeze
sure their music is
strong enough by itself to hold the
modern listener's waning attention
span. Needless to say, this is no easy
task.
Success, though, brings hand-
some rewards. The fortunate band
is lauded with throwaway labels like
"poignant," "sprawling" and "inspi-
rational," and it might even land ajob
scoring excellent films about high-
school football fanaticism:
Unfortunately, Russian Circles's
most recent effort, Geneva, is neither
inspirational nor poignant (whatever
that means), and it's only occasionally
sprawling. The band - which is fre-
quently and fairly likened to a harder
and heavier version of Explosions in
the Sky - struggles to keep the songs
consistently compelling enough to
warrant the vocal-less approach.
For an album filled with such
doom-in
om," "Me
va boast
Opener'
dard me
drummii
fair amoi
in nothin
core brea
is certai
for this
album d
continue
it turns o
key to en
The h
closestI
instrume
in the Sk
Ne
forn
tar line;
moaning
ever moi
builds is
minutes,
nowhere
layering
throw an
into the
voking song titles as "Fath- track to the next level.
lee" and "Hexed All," Gene- "Malko" would be a bright spot
s surprisingly little drama. on the album if it weren't so shape-
'Fathom" begins with stan- less. The song unfolds over a starry,
tal discord and tom-heavy impressive guitar riff until it's bru-
ng. It builds up nicely with a tally cut off by a dense mush of dis-
unt of suspense, but resolves tortion and spasmodic drumming.
ig more than a generic hard- This vigorous coda is hardly earned,
akdown. The flaccid ending and the song loses steam despite its
nly a disappointment, and surface-level intensity. It all results
to happen so early on the in an odd, discomforting feeling of a
oesn't exactly encourage band not knowing when to quit.
d listener patience. And as It's largely the nebulous song form
iut, patience is precisely the and pacing that doom Geneva, but
Ljoying Geneva. the album isn't completely meritless.
opeful "Hexed All" is the The drumming prowess is a constant,
Russian Circles comes to helping to grease the tracks a bit and
ntal brethren Explosions keep them from completely losing
.y, with its understated gui- momentum. Closer "Philos"is an awe-
inspiring, multi-movement song prov-
ing that, when Russian Circles wants
bulous song to, it can in fact turn in a truly rivet-
a dp in ing instrumental. It's just a shame the
s and paCin. band can't do it consistently.
Clearly, Russian Circles is a band
that's shamelessly epic (see, for
s, spacey drumming and instance, track six, titled "When
strings. But again, what- the Mountain Comes to Muham-
mentum the song initially mad"). This typically isn't a problem
destroyed when, after four - instrumental bands invariably fall
the tracks goes absolutely into this classification. But on Gene-
.The band seems to confuse va, the trio winds up on the "shame-
with movement, opting to less" side much more than the "epic"
other superfluous variation side. And sometimes, a little shame
mix instead of taking the can do some good.
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