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Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 5A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 5A

Not so 'Lovely Bones'
Peter Jackson loses his epic filmmaking,
keeps his inability to effectively end a film
By Imran Syed Daily Arts Writer

'Deep End':
juris coitus

Although he will always be
remembered as director of the
monumental "Lord of the Rings"
trilogy, Peter
Jackson will
also go down in
history as the Lovely
greatest direc-
tor who never BIeS
learned how to At Quality16
end a film. From and Showcase
the half dozen paramount
different end-
ing sequences
that plagued the last hour of "The
Return of the King" to the gruel-
ing, soppy 187-minute run time
of "King Kong," we've come to
expect long-windedness from this
three-time Oscar winner.
Unlike those other films (which
were masterpieces on the whole),
Jackson's latest film, "The Lovely
Bones," suffers from more con-
ventional flaws in addition to its
inexplicably abrupt and altogeth-
er unsatisfying ending.
Based on the popular novel by
Alice Sebold, "The Lovely Bones"
is a rather jarring story of serial
child rapist/murderer Mr. Harvey
(played with disturbing calm by
Stanley Tucci, "Julie and Julia")
and his latest victim, Susie Salm-

on (Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement").
The killer does to Susie what he
has done to numerous other girls
in the past, but Susie doesn't quite
die. Instead, she passes into "the
in-between," whence she can
watch over her family and mur-
derer - and narrate the film.
Necessarily, the film tackles
many of the heavy themes that
pervaded Sebold's novel, though it
seems hesitant to do so. Cut from
the plot are the most graphic and
disturbing aspects of the story
(the rape and the killer's dismem-
berment of the body are never
even mentioned).
The suffering and conflict
of Susie's parents (Mark Wahl-
berg, "The Departed" and Rachel
Weisz, "The Constant Gardener")
are related in a greatly sterilized
manner. Even Tucci's take on
Harvey, though certainly master-
ful in its minimalism, seems cen-
sored rather than measured.
Perhaps it was the film's insis-
tence on broad appeal (a PG-13
rating) that compelled such modi-
fications, but other cuts seem less
explicable and rob viewers of a
sense of wholeness for the story.
As she struggles with whether
she should nudge her family to

I was tripping balls, but then I fell. Is this gonna be forever?"

keep pursuing her killer, Sebold's
Susie discovers her killer's own
troubled childhood and develop a
begrudging sympathy toward him
in the novel. The film forgoes this
element, leaving viewers to deal
with a grotesque villain who is
alarmingly one-dimensional. As
great as Tucci's performance is,
his character is simply too easy to
hate for a film that means to evoke
such moral complexity.
Jackson's conception of "the
in-between," a magical land that
isn't quite heaven, is beautiful but
incomplete. We never learn exactly
why Susie is there, what she is sup-
posed to learn or if she ever does
learn it. These are without a doubt

the most meaningful questions con-
cerningthe core of the storybutthe
film avoids them until its rushed
last couple of minutes. When Susie
finishes her closing monologue
with "I will you all a long and happy
life," viewers are left only to chuck-
le, having missed out on the emo-
tional and psychological gravity
those words ought to evoke coming
from a murdered child.
While thoughtfully shot and
certainly not a disaster, "The
Lovely Bones" is, more than any-
thing else, incomplete. Its attempt
to tell an extremely graphic story
with marked minimalism does
ultimately succeed, but far too
much is lost in translation.

By ANT MITCHELL
DailyArts Writer
"The Deep End" can't help but
leave viewers wondering if every
law firm is just a front for a book-
filled, gavel-
smacking sexual
playground.
The show fol-T
lows the careers
of a new group End
of lawyers in a Thursdays
competitive and at8yp.m.
wealthy firm as
they deal with ABC
insecurities, cor-
ruption, moral dilemmas and, most
importantly, sexual quandaries.
Liam Priory (Ben Lawson, "Neigh-
bours") gives a fine example of that
last concern when a Jewish client
becomes magnetically attracted
to him (and, more importantly, to
the yarmulke his boss made him
wear) but comes to find he has not,
in fact, been circumcised. This is a
fact explained by one of the other
up-and-cominglawyers, as she has
personal experience with the mat-
ter (and member) in question. By
the end of the episode, it feels like
each and every character is con-
nected, not by a passion for the
justice system, but by a line of com-
mon hookups.
"The Deep End," while subpar, is
buoyed by a cast of fairly competent
actors. Rowdy Kaiser (Norbert Leo
Butz, "Dan in Real Life") is espe-
cially likeable, even managingto be
funny at times. Protagonist Dylan
Hewitt (Matt Long, "Ghost Rider")
on the other hand, was clearly cho-
sen for aesthetic appeal. Long is a
capable actor, but his character is
bland and morally superior in an
obnoxious way. He brings flowers
to the colleague he has chosen to
sleep with this week. This black-
and-white morality will quickly
become dull in a show like "The
Deep End." If it lasts, they'd better

spice him up with a drug problem
or something.
Beth Branford (Leah Pipes,
"Sorority Row") offers a more mor-
ally gray character, and strangely, a
female with daddy issues. There's
a first. But among the more grat-
ing characters are "the prince of
darkness" boss Cliff Huddle (Billy
Zane, "Samantha Who?"), who
is insufferable purely because of
Zane's terrible performance, and
Addy Fisher (Tina Majorino, "Big
Love"), whose coming-of-age story
is far too obvious and packed into
one episode.
Fisher is that archetypal charac-
ter who lets everyone take advan-
tage of her until her moment of
clarity, when she gets fed up and
takes what she wants. Except she
manages to be whiny and annoying
even after she grows a backbone.
Why does each and every drama
have to include the same stereo-
type?
It's 'Grey's
Anatomy' in the
court room.
A counterpart for each fresh
young lawyer can be found in
"Grey's Anatomy," and this may
be intentional. After all, there's
clearly a market for that type of
drama ("Grey's" is on its sixth sea-
son now), and a law firm can offer
as tense and dramatic a setting as a
hospital.
In the end, "The Deep End" is
a decently executed combination
of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private
Practice" plopped down into a dif-
ferent setting. While it offers noth-
ing groundbreaking or original, it
does occasionally manage to enter-
tain.

AUMre EViW

By SASHA RESENDE
Daily Arts Writer
The members of Surfer Blood
don't actually surf. Despite hail-
ing from the sun-kissed coasts
of West Palm
Beach, Fla., the
(very) young
musicians in Suffer Blood
this quirky four-
some spent their Astro Coast
youth jammin' Kanine
to indie pop
tunes instead of
catching waves. Its name, which
came to be after a night of heavy
drinking, refers more to the joys
of underage drunken banter than
the cocky surf-heads dominating
the Florida coast.
On Surfer Blood's debut Astro
Coast, the band manages to meld
its hometown's sunny aesthetic
with a distinctively to-fi produc-
tion for a catchy collection of
tracks recalling old-school Weezer
with a Beach Boys flavor. The curi-
ous combination of artistic influ-
ences is largely a success, allowing
the band to infuse different genres
with its own adolescent energy.
Astro Coast's production his-
tory is a teenage garage band's
dream. According to the band's

MySpace bio, the album was orig-
inally recorded in a proper stu-
dio, but lead singer/guitarist JP
Pitts was disappointed with the
crisp production sound and pre-
ferred a fuzzier to-fi feel. Using
instruments purchased with
scholarship cash, the band then
re-recorded its debut in a fresh-
man dorm room at the Univer-
sity of Florida, thereby capturing
the stripped-down aura Pitts was
searching for.
Slowly building blog buzz over
the past few months, Surfer Blood
has emerged at the forefront of the
quirky beach-bumglo-fi movement.
With distorted vocals and simplis-
tic strings,Astro Coast captures the
band's youthful exuberance while
emphasizing its sunny roots, creat-
ing the perfect album for lazy sum-
mertime jaunts to the shore.
Opening with "Floating Vibes,"
the band immediately introduces
its chilled-out, eclectic sound by
combining Joy Division-influenced
riffs with Rivers Cuomo-esque
vocals. Although the band eschews
any relation to surfer culture, the
song is packed with references
to the sport, professing "If you're
movin' out to the West / Then
you'd better learn how to surf."
While this young band is still

attempt
with its1
listeners
scaling
cal genr
Easy," t
recalls a
replacin
with an
attitude
againstt
which p
(
W
w
scene of
The s
continue
Brian
ments w
general
in sharp
more up
emphasi
experim

ing to reconcile its identity its overarching beach-going feel. By
lyrical content, it still offers failing to fall into one narrow cate-
a diverse mix of tracks goryAstro Coast offers an engaging
a broad scope of musi- kaleidoscope of sound with enough
es. On the cutesy "Take It variation to appease even the most
he band's instrumentation prejudiced listener.
stoned Vampire Weekend, But there are points where
g Ivy League pretension the willingness to experiment
easy-going beach lover's works against the band. The long-
The track is juxtaposed winded "Slow Jabroni" attempts
the composed "Harmonix," epic grandeur but ultimately falls
ays homage to the collected short. Opening with slow-paced
acoustic strings, the song only
begins to pick up toward its end,
finishing with a fast-paced finale
)d-school that nearly makes up for its tepid
start. Despite a dull beginning,
eezer mixed the cut is still far from a failure,
S aBshowing that even the band's least
ith a Beach engaging effort is still a triumph
of sorts.
3oys flavor Combining calculated forays
into artistic experimentation with
youthful vitality, Astro Coast is a
highly entertaining record that's
calculated indie rock. packed with stripped-down ado-
ubdued "Catholic Pagans" lescent charm. Despite the band's
es this trend, combining aversion to surfer culture, the
Wilson-inspired arrange- album is very much a product of its
'ith references to drugs and sandy roots. By combining a hazy
dissatisfaction. Standing atmosphere with an abundance of
contrast with the album's musical influences, Surfer Blood's
beat progressions, the track debut offers diverse soundscapes
zes the band's ability to while remaining grounded in its
ent without compromising chilled-out character.

Swensen asks 'U' about poetry


By HEATHER POOLE
Daily Arts Writer
Poetry may seem a stagnant
medium to some - a long-winded
use of language well past its hey-
day. But poet
Cole Swensen is
hoping to bring
poetry back as a SWengg
relevant force in
modern culture. Tomorrow at
Tomorrow, 5:15 p.m.
Swensen vis- Helmut Sterm
its the Univer- Auditorium
sity of Michigan Ftee
Museum of Art to
conduct an open-ended discussion
with students about the future of
poetry.
"I'm interested in finding out
how (the students) see poetry fit-
ting into contemporary culture
and where they would like it to go,"
Swensen wrote in an e-mail inter-
view with the Michigan Daily.
Swensen is a part of the Zell Vis-
iting Writers Series. Hosted by the
Department of English, the series
brings notable writers to the Uni-
versity each semester.
Linda Gregerson, the Caroline
Walker Bynum Distinguished Uni-
versity Professor of English and
professor of creative writing and
Renaissance literature, has a per-

ceptive appreciation for the series.
"Our own faculty is remarkably
distinguished and diverse," Greger-
son wrote in an e-mail interview,
"but we cannot of course compre-
hend all the important develop-
ments in contemporary prose and
poetry writing.
"So we use the Visiting Writers
Series to augment our roster, sharing
with writing students, the Universi-
ty at large, and the wider communi-
ty, a vital array of writers, both new
and established," she added.
Swensen's work is diverse and
nationally recognized. She thrives
in the realm of literature. As the
author of 12 books of poetry and a
translator of French poetry, prose
and art criticism, Swenson has won
of several awards, including the
National Poetry Series and the San
Francisco State Poetry Center Book
Award.
Swensen has always dedicated
herself to poetry. She grew up in an
environment that allowed for artis-
tic expression, as her mother was a
painter.
"I wrote stories as a young child,
but bythe time I was 11 or 12, I knew
it was poetry that I wanted to write,"
Swensen wrote. "Fortunately, I got
a lot of support from teachers and
family, and Ijustkeptwriting."
Swensen's dedication to her work

has resulted in her continued suc-
cess. Her most recent book, "Ours,"
was a finalist for the Los Angeles
Times Book Award.
"Ours" has resonated with Gre-
gerson, in particular.
"Cole Swensen's most recent
book, 'Ours,' is one of the most
thrilling books of poetry I know:
beautifully cadenced, lucid, and
intellectually resonant," Gregerson
wrote.
"It's based on the work of 17th-
century landscape architect Andre
Le Notre, who designed, among
many others, the gardens at Ver-
sailles," Gregerson added. "Swensen
brings beautifully to life the per-
sonal, cultural, and philosophical
context in which Le Notre worked."
Although Swensen did not spec-
ify any overall themes that apply to
her work, she did acknowledge her
focus on a specific type of poetry.
"I'm interested in what's called
'ekphrasis,' poetry written about
art. I'm interested in how the tradi-
tion ofthe subgenre can be changed,
augmented," Swensen wrote.
With ekphrasis as her inspira-
tion, Swensen has been able to
explore a variety of subjects in her
poetry.,
"The themes keep changing, but
they often have something to do
with the arts, gardens, opera, land-

scape painting, and illuminated
manuscripts are all subjects I've
used in my work," she wrote.
"I like to use poetry as a mode of
research," she added. "It seems to
me that poetry can get to aspects
of subjects that prose writing can't,
so to pick a subject that is usually
approached by prose can be very
rewarding."
Through her poetry, Swensen
hopes her audience will be able to
vicariously experience the intended
emotions.
"I hope to evoke in readers the
same feelingthatIhave in response.
to these arts, instances, and objects,
and that feeling is usually wonder,
awe, hope," she wrote.
As for her goals for the future,
Swensen expressed an interest in
continuing to expand the use of
poetry.
"Sd like to improve the use of
poetry as an investigative tool," she
added.
Swensen has managed to utilize
poetry in a way that, according to
Gregerson, is "immediate and bril-
liantly accessible" in today's world.
Her versatility and passion have
made her a distinguished and well
established poet who will be able to
provide valuable insight to students
interested in careers associated
with literature.

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