A The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, December 14, 2009 -5A A great victory, an underwhelming film By NICK COSTON been excused under the tenets of Daily Arts Writer suspending disbelief for presenting the entirety of Mandela's presiden- Nelson Mandela overcame inhu- cy through rugby. main oppression in Instead, Mandela's bodyguards his 27-year jour- ***I find him collapsed from exhaus- ney from prison tion in his driveway before his to the presidency iWictus morning jog. He excuses himself of South Africa. AtQualityl from an economic lecture in Tai- The country's wan to check the score of a Spring- 80-percent black and Showcase boks game. We see him in passing population faced Warner Bros. on a television screen delivering a similar hardships speech to the United States Con- at the hands of its minority white gress. Without wasting time, East- oppressors, even when Mandela wood encapsulates the breadth of took office. Mandela's duties. If nothing else, You wouldn't really know this, "Invictus" is a clinic on precision though, from watching Clint East- and editing. wood's new film "Invictus." An That is, until the slow motion otherwise beautiful, well-acted and kicks in and refuses to go away. triumphant film, "Invictus" pres- Whether it's a boon to the drama cuts few obstacles to its belabored and emotion of a scene or just a heroes in their march to real-life molasses-paced nuisance, it's dif- glory, which tempers the victory ficult to defend 10 continuous min- that Eastwood otherwise flawlessly utes of ultra-slow movement and presents. muted sound. We get it, Clint. Big Tine true story concerns the moment ahoy. months preceding the 1995 Rugby Among the traditional Eastwood World Cup held in South Africa. qualities in "Invictus" is the over- Nelson Mandela, played with whelming manliness of its rugby stately grace by Morgan Freeman scenes. Though some games, like ("The Dark Knight"), has won the South Africa's quarterfinal win first presidential election since over France in the rain and mud, could be more extensively shown, Eastwood thankfully eschews by s d shaky, unfocused chaos for clean, How rugby saved sweeping imagery of the pitch. He is South Africa. deft in his camera placement, often S cramming the camera into the mid- dle of a violent serum for the ball without ever disorienting the view- the dissolution of the racist apart- er, making for many truly exciting 4 heid regime. Soccer's World Cup is moments. One would be remiss not less than a year away and the host to mention the scene immediately nation's team promises to disap- preceding the final match between point. Mandela sees in the divisive South Africa and New Zealand, in Springboks rugby team - spe- which New Zealand's All Blacks cifically, in the Afrikaner captain perform their famous tribal Haka. Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon, If you follow rugby to any degree, "The Informant!") - a chance to your jaw will drop at the awesome- reconcile whites and blacks and ness of seeingthe Haka shot on film take the first step to greater racial and performed on a big screen. harmony. An important distinction is that Perhaps the lone but substantial "Invictus" is not a bad film, but fault of the film is the absence of merely an underwhelming one. If opposition to that harmony. Pien- this film had anyone else's name on air's ft ther svatches Mandela on it, we mightcelebrate itasthesplen- television and curses the downfall 'did introduction of a young and of his once-pure nation, yet hap- bold new filmmaker. But it isn't - pilytakes his black house servant to it's simply another entrant into-the tie stadium when Francois brings catalogue of Clint Eastwood, one of ]home an extra ticket. Mandela's the most talented pictorial crafts- black bodyguards bristle when men in the history of the medium. their request for more men yields And since the lead actors happen a cold, all-white roster of agents. to be Morgan Freeman and Matt Still, as the film progresses, the Damon, it would border on insult- two factions form a predictable and ing to expect anything less than trite bond. Pienaar's teammates one of the finest films of the closing blanch at the prospect of holding year. This is a film with more than a rugby clinics in shantytowns across dozen Oscar nominations between the country, yet when they arrive, its three principal engineers. they smile and happily play with So you won't find fault in the the black children. workmanship of "Invictus." It's a Mandela's nscreen obsession beautiful film with superb actors with the Springboks' progress is and a heroic story which, unbe- but one of many aspects of "Invic- lievably, is also true. Instead, tus" that yield continued awe and blame Eastwood, Damon and respect for Eastwood's mastery. Freeman for being so good at their The director of Oscar Best Motion jobs that anything short of perfec- Picture winners "Unforgiven" and tion leaves you with a sense of mild "Million Dollar Baby" would've disappointment. "Look at me! I'm a jazzier Mary Tyler Moore! Disney's reawakening 'The Princess and the Frog' sidesteps racial issues but retains some Disney magic By JENNIFER XU Daily Arts Writer It's always difficult to gauge the quality of Disney movies, just because they're so intricately tied to our childhoods. They're the films we watched over and TkPrncess over again as youngsters, the ones with songs we memo- and the Frog rized and the characters we At Quality 16 dressed up as for Hallow- and Showcase een. That's why appraising Disney every scene of "The Princess and the Frog" with a critical hawk's eye just doesn't seem right. It's practi- cally like deconstructing Dr. Seuss. "The Princess and the Frog" has made a small splash for two reasons that have been more hyped up than they should be. First, Disney has returned to 2-D hand-drawn animation for the first time since 2004's box-office flop "Home on the Range," and second, it's the first Disney film to feature a black princess. Anika Noni Rose ("Dreamgirls") voices young Tiana, a waitress from New Orleans with big dreams. One day, she encounters frog prince Naveen (Bruce Campo, TV's "Nip/ Tuck") and gets cajoled into kissing hin, only to be turned into a frog as well. As they embark on a journey littered with voodoo magic, the two amphibians encounter a jazz-playing croc- odile, a snaggletoothed firefly and a wishing star named Evangeline. In the end, Tiana and the prince succumb to - surprise, surprise -- true love. Over the years, Disney has managed to hold an interesting place in audiences' hearts. Rather than introducing revolutionary, adult- centric ideas to the children's fold like its occa- sional collaborator Pixar, Disney's priority has always been to tell a treasured fairy tale with finesse and creativity. There is no place where sheer beauty is more valued than at Disney, and for "The Princess, and the Frog," it's no different. Jazz-Age New Orleans pulsates and blooms on the screen in a parade of earthy greens and acid purples, rev- eling in a culture teeming inside the swamps. A nearby bayou unfolds to expose frogs croaking away glitzy melodies with bellies full of soul- pumping gumbo. It's a fairyland come to life. But for all its captivating magic, sometimes the film's scenes are too familiar. Maybe it's because Disney is out of practice, or maybe it's just the cynical, jaded adult in me speaking, but going back in time seems kind of been- there-done-that - trite, even. Whether it's witchcraft and transformations (see "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin") or a frog with a comical accent ("The Swan Princess"), these overused tropes of animation quickly trans- form the film into less of an exciting new fusion and more of a recycling bin of charac- ters and ideas. As for the race issue, Disney manages to sustain its reputation for being a company still woefully behind the times, despite all of its efforts to combat this image. For one, accord- ing to the film, it's inconceivable for a black girl to be an actual princess, so of course she has to be a poor waitress first. For another, the young Tiana spends an aw ful lot of time in amphibian form, as if Disney isn't quite comfortable with having a fully black princess strut around the screen for longer than a few moments. Since "Steamboat Willie" in 1929, Disney has -been accused of perpetuating racial ste- reotypes, from the jive-talking Uncle Remus in "Song of the South" to the "What Makes the Red Man Red?" song in "Peter Pan." If they can't even show a girl in all of her African- American glory for more than a few spunky minutes, it doesn't seem like Disney is quite ready to embrace the new, Obama and Oprah- fueled millennium. Yet for all of its derivations and tentative race-assuaging political correctness, "Prin- cess" still remains a genuinely heartwarming movie. If the purpose of going back to old- school animation was to recreate the magic Disney has been lacking since 1999's 'Tar- zan," it has succeeded. The kids in the theater laughed; they cried; they were silent at all the right parts. Despite its faults, "The Princess and the Frog" remains a throwback to what Disney was founded on - a fairy tale rooted in fantasy, tradition and simplicity. Boring life on TV is still boring eAlicia Keys: Lovely classy and timid By JASMINE ZHU fans might wish Keys would've Daily Arts Writer been much bolder - sassier, even - on her latest album, The Element Alicia Keys is, in a word, lovely. ofFreedom. She maintains This isn't to say Keys's latest a grace and *** isn't a decent album. It is. But com- sense of deco- ing from a woman who astounded rum that often Alicia Keys listeners with her incredibly poi- eludes other gnant debut track ("Fallen"), the wildly success- of Freedom album as a whole doesn't exactly fhl R&B song- impress. Keys's gritty authenticity stresses - Keys, i has mostly dissipated, only to be for instance, will replaced with an expected brand never be found guilty of a hysteri- of polished prettiness. On The Ele- cal diva meltdown or embarrassing ment ofFreedom Keys sounds very public panty-flash. But while her sweet and lovely, but by this point personal life is all fine and dandy, See KEYS, Page 7A CHECK ONLINE ALL WEEK FOR MORE FILM AND MUSIC REVIEWS. By ANT MITCHELL Daily Arts Writer Midlife crises have been th subject of lots of surprisingl strong comedy over the year But watching TNT's "Men of a Certain Age" ultimately Men of a feels more like C . experiencing a cetinA midlife crisis Mondaysat than observ- 10 p.m. ing one. In fact, TNT with three loathsomely unlovable characters, it feels a i like having multiple midlife cr ses simultaneously. "Men of a Certain Age" fo lows the incredibly average an entirely commonplace lives of Jo (Ray Romano, "Everybody Love Raymond"), Owen (Andre Braugher, "The Mist") and Terry (Scott Bakula, "The Informant"). Owen, a dia- betic car salesman with no motivation, struggles with his daddy issues through much of the show and whines constantly. Terry is an ex-actor who never made it big and is currently work- ing as a temp in z nonde- script office. He shoves his work off onto others, takes advantage of their admi- ration in truly nauseating ways and flirts with a bar- rista young enough to be his daughter. Finally, Joe, the most hateful of the trio, refuses to accept his divorce, denies his gambling problem and has long conversations about - and constantly stares at - his crush's "big boobs." Moreover, it's just hard to feel bad for all his little problems when watch- ing him be a dick to all of the drama. S employees who work in his chain are imupo store all day. more tha me It's difficult to tell if the audi- pathy the ly ence is supposed to be enter- the give- s. tained by Joe's managerial style humor is and unusual way of using his ulous cm young employee to deliver pay- friends - ments to his bookie. It's not exactly endearing to watch him be a skeevy eye-groping man- The'L ager one moment, then give his T children a horrifically embar- bou rassing version of "the talk" the next. Hasn't that plot been used enough by people trying to be funny? largely sa ot The lack of sympathy the show usually b i- fosters with its characters leads like, "I sa to yet more infuriating flaws. the other, 1- "Men of a Certain Age" makes Dreadf d an attempt to combine come- ie dic banter and situational es humor with moments of ZARAGON PLACE 734-222--9300 619 E 5 THE BEST APTS IN TOWN SWWWZARAGONPLACE.COM 10 SECONDS FROM DAG F ULLY FURNISHED LUXURY APARTMENTS 247HGH END FITNESS WRLSSINUT HieiME M_ -5 i t t: C ij G rr F adly, if the characters show uses a run-over possum as issible to care about possibly the most obnoxious sym- n the extras, the sym- bolic representation of the accep- y draw is fairly low on tance of divorce ever created. Not a-shit scale. Plus, the only is the possum scene com- found mostly in ridic- pletely unnecessary, but it leaves onversations between us wondering if there's any extra conversations that are buckshot left in that gun for a sec- oad mercy killing. There is a special circle in TV e i a hell for writers who make their e writers are protagonists too everyday." nd for hell Nothing distinguishes the main characters of "Men of a Certain Age" as people you'd want to get to know, let alone watch on TV. ad and despicable, and It's not a difficult distinction to egin with statements make, and those responsible for w my ass in the mirror "Men of a Certain Age" should day." get their souls ready for a one- ul dialogue aside, the way trip to a fiery punishment. t M { J r " p .n K C^ ' h.