The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, December 7, 2009 - 5A FILM REVIEW COURTESY OF LIONSGATE "You had extra gloves?" The ultimate wa at r o e Collectively awe some Jak Tol off it In a Late SI lie Po for David lauded ers" as movie in the 20 ye night, allowed fortabl edgewi cally tI experie conduc half-mi ion, Le kind of; Base ie Gyllenhaal and the same name, "Brothers" is about brothers Sam (Tobey Maguire, bey Maguire face "Spider-Man") and Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Moun- n a touching tale of tain"), the former a U.S. Marine who gets deployed to Afghanistan, sibling rivalry the latter a formerly incarcerated n'er-do-well who couldn't care less By JENNIFER XU about serving his country. Shortly DailyArts Writer after leaving, Sam is proclaimed dead, leaving his wife Grace (Port- recent segment of the "The man), their two daughters and how" featuring actress Nata- Tommy to cope with the disastrous rtman ("V repercussions. Vendetta"), **** one of the film's greatest deci- Letterman sions was casting Gyllenhaal and "Broth- Brothers Maguire as brothers, as the two "the finest resemble each other so much that ever made AtQualityl6 people found it physically difficult past 12, and Showcase to tell them apart prior to "Broke- ars." That Lionsgate back." This similarity helps con- he scarcely tribute to the film's role reversal, d the increasingly uncom- as bad-boy Tommy gradually gets e Portman to get a word in in touch with his father-figure se; Letterman was so fanati- side, building Grace a new kitch- hrilled with his moviegoing en and playing games with her nce. For a man who usually daughters. Eventually, loneliness 'ts interviews with stars in a and attraction draw the grieving ocking, half-distracted fash- wife and younger brother into a tterman's genuine interest is marijuana-fueled kiss, bringing a big deal. newfound hope to a family rav- d on a 2004 Danish film of aged by tragedy. Now, Tommy has superseded his brother's position as the patriarch. In a bit of a "Pearl Harbor"- "Apocalypse Now" spin, Sam comes back just as the family is on the verge of patching itself togeth- er. It turns out he had been held hostage by the Taliban, and is now a deranged shell of his former self, irrevocably changed by the incal- culable horrors of war. Here, the reversal has occurred both ways, as the formerly stoic Sam staggers around the house screaming of adultery and treachery. It has become somewhat of a trend in cinema to bemoan the devastation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the post-Bush era. Like the simultaneously released film "The Messenger," "Brothers" is not strictly a "war movie." Although the movie features gruesome scenes of the Taliban branding prisoners with hot irons, the meat of the story lies in the home. In this way, "Broth- ers" is more interested in exploring the domestic discord resulting from a soldier's absence and eventual return to humanity than what hap- pens in the war itself. See BROTHERS, Page 8A By KRISTYN ACHO Daily Arts Writer Apologies are in order for every other indie band that recorded an album in 2009. They didn't have a fighting chance: 2009 will forever be known as the year ofAnimal Col- * lective. Resident indie gods among us, Animal Collective set the bar in Animal early January with the innovative ConecW Merriweather Post Pavilion, gar- nering an obsessed cult following Fall Be Kind claiming Animal Collective as the Domino "true" indie rockers among a sea of pseudo-indie rockers. In a day and age when indie rock has become almost a misnomer, Animal Collec- tive is making music that's indie in every sense of the word. It's actually independent: The band has its own style, trumping the paltry, generic indie rock being manufactured by so many record labels today. Fall Be Kind is the perfect conclusion to a ban- ner year for Animal Collective. Instead of trying to top the success of Merriweather, the EP's sound explores a similar realoh tempering with trippy synths and loops while employing a chillier, melan- cholic demeanor. Opener "Graze" unfolds in a sleepy spiral, with the juxtaposition of fairy tale-esque strings, twinkling piano keys and Avey Tave's continuous chants "let me begin," leaving listeners in a bliss- ful daze that - out of nowhere - launches into a renaissance fair jive. Yup. Complete with pan flute, courtesy of none other than Zamfir the "pan flute Animal Collective: the champions of 2009. dude," the second part of the song seems to come out of nowhere. But a lack of fluidity is what makes Animal Collective sound so definable.and unique - with all its twists and turns, what remains is a joy- ful mess of seriously complex sound. "What Would I Want? Sky" is next, with the EP's easiest listen. Convoluted with the band's charac- teristic strangeness, dizzying vocals are interposed with water-imitating feedback and crashing cym- bals that gradually float into the clouds. Halfway through the track, a dreamy melody is exposed, intertwining with a simple drum beat, bursting chimes and the aid of the Grateful Dead's "Unbro- This is an album cover, apparently. ken Chain" over Tare's probing vocals, "Is every- thing all right? / You feeling moany? / You feeling stony? / You're not the only." The meld of the Grateful Dead as the main event could have left the track feeling slapped together, but it proves to be one of the breeziest recordings of the band's career. Parts of the track feel like a full-on pop song that could easily go mainstream. Following in the footsteps of upbeat, catchy tracks like Mer- riweather's "My Girls" and "Summertime Clothes," "Sky" is a masterful creative endeavor that will like- ly garner the band an even wider fan-base. "Bleed" and "On a Highway" are moody, foggy ballads that are similar to the eccentric, abstract quality of tracks on earlier albums like Feels. "Bleed" is an eerie, haunting interlude that sets the tone for the final darker tracks of the EP. The tex- tured track coarsely meanders along, trading off emotions with the alternating lyrics "I feel hope- ful" and "I feel shameful," before morphing into "On A Highway." "Highway" deals with the tor- ments of loneliness and boredom that come with the life of a touring musician. Over sonic waves, electric synths and echoing vocals, Tare depicts life: "I let some hash relax me / Get lost in human pleasure." Those hippies. Fall concludes with "I Think I Can," using snaps and claps to return to the upbeat demeanor of the EP's earlier tracks. While EPs can often times feel like a hodgepodge of songs left off of various albums, Fall Be Kiid is the epitome of flow and cohesion. With this EP, Animal Collective ends a chapter in its career of creating psychedelic, inno- vative outfits. S-U-O UN VER TY F M IC I G N MV Winter 2010 Registration Now Open! www.mOveregister.Org or in the UMove Fitness office in 3064 Central Campus Recreation Building. Or call us at 734.764.1342.