The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, December 11, 2009 - 5 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycomFriday, December 11, 2009 - 5 Saoirse Ronan gets serious in 'Lovely Bones' By JENNIFER XU scene. Still, Ronan believes that Daily Arts Writer the absence of the rape scene does not detract from the larger picture. Fresh out of an Oscar nomina- "I think, if anything, it makes it tion for her role in "Atonement," stronger because I think it's kind 15-year-old Saoirse (pronounced of the easy route to put that kind of "sir-sha") Ronan has just leapt into scene in," she said. another dramatic venture. "The "(Rape) can make people too Lovely Bones," an adaptation of disturbed. If (you) just leave it up Alice Sebold's best-selling novel, to the audience's imagination, to is a film directed by Peter Jackson let them think of it for themselves ("Lord of the Rings") about a fam- ... sometimes that can even be ily's reconciliation with catastro- stronger." phe following the rape and murder Ronan enjoyed working with of their teenage daughter Susie Jackson as a director, lauding his- Salmon. vision for the film and the level of With her clear, Irish-tinged involvement he had with his actors. voice, Ronan, who plays Susie, "He's always up and ready to go, omnisciently narrates the film as and he wasgreatbecause he would an intermediary between life and ... act through what we were going death in a sort of post-mortem to do," Ronan said. "He was very coming-of-age story. hands on." While the film suggests motifs Jackson's vision for "The Lovely of mystery, the supernatural, ven- Bones" extends further than over- geance, family discord and family seeing the film's acting. The film bonding, Ronan believes that the promises the director's trademark underlying theme of "The Lovely large-scale visuals, comparable to Bones" is hope. She asserts that the likes of "Lord of the Rings" and ultimately the film is about letting "Heavenly Creatures." The trailer go of the past and moving onward portends amazingly lush heaven from tragedy, both for Susie's fam- scenes, complete with angel cho- ily and for herself. ruses and golden fields. Ronan COURTESY OF ICE H20 Raekwon: Classier than the Cosa Nostra The Chef cooks Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon talks life, faith and the origin of his nickname By SHARON JACOBS Daily Arts Writer With a languid voice that glides from one sentence to the next, Rae- kwon "the Chef" oozes Raekwon slicked-back cool even out- te Chef side the recording studio. Known within the Wu-Tang Tomorrow at Clan for his smooth and pre- 9:30 p.m. cise lyrical imagery, Rae will At the Blind Pig shed his Wu-Tang lineage for1 a solo job tomorrow night at + $2ficsvet the Blind Pig. Rae's 1995 album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx helped popularize "mafioso rap," a genre in which romanticized depictions of a glammed- up gangsta lifestyle recall Italian mobster cul- ture. "Cinematic street shit is my chamber," he explained in a phone interview with the Daily. "Street life, drug tales, that was my world." Rae himself is the picture of a mafia under- boss. Even while doing his own thing, he still looks out for the rest of the Clan - most of the songs on his 2009 release Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt.II feature Wu-Tang affiliates. Over the years, the Wu-Tang Clan has attracted a huge cult following, with five group albums released over roughly 15 years, numerous solo albums from its members and even an official print guide to the group ("The Wu-Tang Manual"). An entire mythology has been built around Wu-Tang's nine members, beginning with their enigmatic nicknames. Popular legend has Raekwon the Chef get- ting his moniker from an alleged knack for cooking up cocaine, but the Chef himself begs to differ. "When we actually got together and said 'Yo, we gonna become a crew and this is my name, this is your name' ... (the other mem- bers) gave me 'The Chef' because they felt like I was the marvelous flavor, like, 'nuff said," said Rae, born Corey Woods. "'Raekwon' came from part of the Nation of Islam - The 'Five Percent Nation'- when I was a young kid." Though he's not connected with the Nation of Islam, Raekwon recently became a Muslim. He described his conversion to Islam as more influential on his world view than his music. "Allah has given me the power to do what I do ... but at the same token, I've been doingthis for a long time, it's my artistry," he said. And Rae isn't going to change his bragging, swag- gering lines just because he's "pure now." As the conversation turned to Cuban Linx Pt. II, Raekwon asserted that, in the face of a morphing hip-hop scene, he's "still the same dude." "I started working on (Pt. II) almost four years ago ... I knew that this one had to be clas- thePig sic so I didn't want to rush it." Rae was right to take his time - most critics agree that the new Cuban Linx fondly recaptures its prede- cessor's classic gangsta-poetic appeal. Despite having released four solo albums, Raekwon seemed nostalgic for the Clan's golden days. "When I'm with (Wu-Tang)," he admit- ted, "I don't really have to think too hard because I know they're already thinking for me ... I had to really realize (while making Cuban Linx Pt. II) tha*I gotta please the fans and I gotta please Wu-Tang, because I know how they think ... we all think the same way, (and) they gonna tell me if I'm not in the right direction." The group mentality is unsurprising con- sidering that a large part of the Wu-Tang Clan grew up together in Staten Island, New York, including Raekwon and producer-leader RZA. "I was just around him in my leisure time or whatever, but I seen how he wanted it and he actually really made me want it even more," Raekwon said of RZA's "crazy passion" for making music in their youth. Cuban Linx Pt. Il is a big step for Rae, who dispersed production duties for the album instead of relying wholly.on RZA as usual. As the interview came to a close, Raekwon confirmed that the Wu-Tang Clan will release another group album soon, though he couldn't say when. Like any good mafioso, Rae puts family first. Cuban Linx Pt. II ends with a champagne toast to his Cosa Nostra: "It's the Wu-Tang, it's our thing, kiss the ring." "When Susie arrives in the in-between, she doesn't want to go forward, which would mean accepting her death," Ronan said, in a phone interview. "She wants to be back on Earth with her family and she knows she can't do that. And to get (to heaven), she has to focus on her love for her family and not the hate and vengeance that she has for her murder." Ronan had not actually read the novel during the film's pro- duction, in part due to the heavy themes touched upon in the book (she was only 13 at the time) and in part due to her desire to interpret the screenplay the way Jackson wanted her to. At 15, she has final- ly gotten a chance to read Sebold's actual words. "I absolutely loved it," Ronan said. "I felt every emotion possible. And I think because I had been through the whole experience of making the movie and living through the story, that (helped) me to really connect with the book, and to understand the book fully." Although Jackson makes an effort to stay faithful to the source material, there are still inherent discrepancies between the film and the book. The novel contains a very detailed rape scene in which the murderer (played by Stanley Tucci of "The Devil Wears Prada" fame) brutally molests the young heroine and subsequently dis- members her in a frozen cornfield. For the film, Jackson chose to take the tasteful route of implying rather than overtly portraying the, Going for another Oscar nod. remembers the process of shooting these scenes as strange but subse- quently beautiful. "It was a little bit surreal at first because it was all blue screen and I hadn't worked with that much blue screen before," Ronan said. "So, it was sometimes difficult to try and imagine what it was going to be like. I saw the movie a few days ago and it was a lovely surprise to finally see heaven." "The Lovely Bones" opens today in limited release, and critics are already buzzing about its Oscar potential. Ronan was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2007 for Joe Wright's redemptive period piece "Atone- ment," so she is no stranger to this level of high-pressure critical expectation. Still, she tries to keep everything in perspective. "To be honest, I try not to think about awards season at all, espe- cially when it concerns a movie that I've made," she said. "None of the press have actually seen the movie yet, so it's not fair to say, but i.t's great that they're put- ting it at such a high level already." At the same time, Ronan hopes that audiences will be receptive to the film. "Hopefully it does well. I just really hope that everyone enjoys it." Reitman explores unlikable leads By TIMOTHY.RABB Daily Arts Writer Though a film adaptation is exciting in its visualization of particularly engaging writ- ten works, the making of one is encumbered by unique obstacles. How does one adapt a pre- existing narrative ina manner that stays true to the original story while still including one's own brand of originality? In Jason Reitman's estimation, the answer is purely autobiographical. Jason Reitman, the young writer-director of "Thank You for Smoking" and director of "Juno," divulged the motivation for his new adaptation in a recent interview. His newest project, "Up in the Air," is a reworking of a novel by critically acclaimed writer Walter Kirn. The book follows a middle-aged "management consultant" named Ryan Bingham as he travels across the country by plane, firing the unfortunate employees of the various companies that have requested his ser- vices. "Up in the Air" will start screening in wide release at the end of the month. Despite Ryan's dreary line of work, the great- est pleasure he derives from his life is flying. The close relationship betweenthis love of flight and screenwriter Jason Reitman's own life gives presents intimate perspective to the story. "I started enjoying flights for the same reason I enjoyed going to movie theaters. It's a chance to unplug from your normal life," Reitman said. "You know when you're up in the plane, your cell phone doesn't work and your closest friend is this person in 17J and you can have the kind of conversation with them that you would never have with someone you knew well. And yes, I collect miles. I collect miles like crazy ... I've been on 20 flights in 20 days." Reitman's oddball enthusiasms - particular- ly for flying and frequent-flier miles - are closely related to those of his unlikely protagonistRyan, sans the illegal prescriptions and illegal women, of course. Flirting with the fine line between the real and the fictional is the process by which an artist can bring about a sense of catharsis in those who view his work, after all. What better way to elicit emotion than to Breathing life into soulless characters. show normal people the ways in which the despair, joy and other emotions found in art par- allel the emotional ups and downs in their own lives? In this sense, Reitman is no narcissist - he's a humble writer of the people and for the people. "Because of the economy, I (decided to) cast real people as the people who lose their jobs in this movie ... except for a few actors that you're going to recognize like Zach Galifianakis ("The Hangover") and J.K. Simmons ("Juno"), these are people in St. Louis and Detroit who actu- ally just lost their jobs in real life," Reitman said, describing the evolution of the screenplay in the past seven years. This unlikely approach recollects the unadul- terated displays of social decay in post-World War II neo-realist films,, though Reitman's motivations are far removed from the political realm. His films are more focused on character studies of isolation, as can be seen in tobacco lobbyist Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart, "The Dark Knight") from "Thank You for Smoking," preg- nant high school student Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page, "Hard Candy") and Reitman's newest character, the lonely wanderer Ryan Bingham (George Clooney, "Burn After Reading"). "I'm obviously attracted, whether I know it or not, to characters who live in a kind of polarized world," Reitman said. "I like these characters because they usually have avery open-minded point ofviewon some- thingthat's traditionally (divisive) and they give me an opportunity to take a fresh look at a sub- ject that is usually talked out in only one way." And as for Reitman's next character study? "If 'Thank You for Smoking' and 'Up in the Air' were two parts of a trilogy, and I needed my third angry white guyto fill it in," he said. "After tobacco lobbyists, corporate termination execu- tives, what's the third slot? Maybe someone who works in the clergy." Future plans aside, one can expect more of the same from Reitman's observations from "Up in the Air." It will likely be a glorious amalga- mation of happiness and despair, acclaim and stigmatization, laughter and somberness. Less contrived glitz and garish glamour and more of life, just the way it is. Only 15, Saoirse is making serious dramatic waves. WANT TO TALK TO FAMOUS PEOPLE? JOIN DAILY ARTS. E-mail join.arts@umich.edu for information on applying.