The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - 5A A 'Bounty' of mediocrity Aniston and Butler have W 'U' student talks Gallery Project awkward chemistry in unexceptional, sexy action flick By BEN VERDI For the Daily This is not Sparta, but it's not terrible either. "The Bounty Hunter," a sexy action flick, is perfectly average in every way. You sit down, watch it, laugh a few times and are reminded of traditional plot conventions used in cop movies and romantic comedies. It isn't awful. It Th Bounty isn't all that great. It's pre- dictable, uncomplicated, Hunter but in a way, comfortable. AtQuality16 It's a movie, which is all and Showcase you should expect it to be. Watching "Bounty Hunter" feels like put- ting on new socks in the morning. Yes, put- ting on clean(er) socks is something you do every day, but the moment you do it, you feel a tad happier thanyou were previously. Then you continue living your life as if nothing changed. The film borders on "buddy-cop," except this time the duo is comprised of the sub- tly seductive Jennifer Aniston ("Love Hap- pens"), and the awkwardly Scottish Gerard Butler ("300"/every Michigan State pre- game montage). An unlikely pair, you say? Well, while that may be true, don't underes- timate the unintentional comedy that comes from watching King Leonidas shove Rachel from "Friends" into the trunk of a car so lux- urious it's unclear how his bounty hunter's salary can afford it. The stars of this movie forge an on- screen chemistry by virtue of the fact that they probably will never speak to each other after the movie. premieres. Nor did they "Awwwww. Five more minutes! Pleeeeeeeeeease?" have any knowledge of the other's existence before they began filming. Butler and Anis- ton play off one another the way two extro- verts awkwardly converse in an elevator, showing vulnerability and openness only because they know their floor is coming up soon. While the comedy is mostly unintention- al, there are some genuine laughs to be had. Jason Sudeikis ("Saturday Night Live") is a surprise, and he (justly) has enough lines throughout the' entire film to satisfy the. comedic urges of most audiences. Aniston's drunken, sex-obsessed single mother char- acter is off-putting enough to be funny, but not detailed enough to be nasty. There aren't enough ways to refer to how average this film is, nor to how OK with it you'll be afterward. People often use the word "average" to denote something that (subconsciously) they have deemed below- By BRAD SANDERS Daily Arts Writer The dining hall can be a very dull place to eat lunch, but never fear, the University of Michi- gan Museum of Art Andrea has a solution. As part of the museum- MCDonnell themed year at the T University, students Tomorrow in the Museum atl2 p.m. Studies Program UMMA multi- purpose room are invited to speak about their work in the "Brown Bag Series," during which listeners can eat their lunches while they listen and learn. Tomorrow, Andrea McDonnell, a Rackham graduate student in com- munication studies and museum stud- ies, will be discussing the role of a non-collecting art institute in society. McDonnell originally studied American culture at Vassar College in New York and worked at an art museum during and after her studies. Realizing she wanted to teach art and popular culture, she came to the Uni- versity in order to fulfill her goal. "I just completed my Museum Studies Certificate Program, and as part of this program you're required to do a practicum, which is basically an internship at an arts institution," McDonnell said. "Last summer I was an intern at The Gallery Project in downtown Ann Arbor. They're a non- collecting arts institute, so they don't own any works of art. Everything is contributed based on what particular show is happening at the time." Her lecture, "The Empty Ves- sel Makes the Loudest Sound: New Museology and the Promise of the Non-Collecting Art Institution," speaks to her experiences during her internship and what she has learned from The Gallery Project. "The Gallery Project is an empty vessel in that it doesn't have its own collection. It doesn't bring any par- ticular artist or artworks to the table so to speak," McDonnell explained. "I would like to argue that it's a positive thing, as it helps the gallery to make meaningful exhibits and be more flex- ible and innovative than they would be able to if they had a permanent col- lection." Aside from explaining the impor- tance of this museum, McDonnell will also reveal the other functions of The Gallery Project. "I'm going to be talking about how the gallery works with other organi- zations to hold fund-raising events, such as The Cupcake Station and a local band called the Chris Canas Making lunch more fun with art discussion. Connection," McDonnell said. "This was actually supposed to be their last month in operation, but they were able to raise enough money to stay in operation for two more years." McDonnell hopes to attract a large variety of people to her lecture, and also to promote The Gallery Proj- ect's next fund-raising event, its sixth birthday party, so it can continue to serve its purpose in the city. average. Here, the word "average" is meantto signify the perfect middle-ground between "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Corky Romano." Let's face it. Walking into the theater to see "Bounty Hunter," you know what you're getting into. It delivers on its promised plot that involves a male ex-cop hunting down his ex-wife, which, on paper, should create situations allowing for comedy, romance and action scenes. The movie does what it can with all three, but doesn't go deeper into its characters. And perhaps this is the way all films should be viewed: Not everything you watch should be held in comparison to the best thing you've ever seen. Take someone special to this movie. Soak in the humor and the romance, take a moment to appreciate that King Leonidas's career isn't over yet. Then pack up, leave the theater and continue living your life. ARTS IN BRIEF LECTURE PREVIEW Discussing the modern world of found footage An1ttwM, O~iler Tomorrow at 5:10 p.m. Michigan Theater Free From YouTube to avant-garde cinema, previously shot footage has become increasingly inte- grated in diverse forms of media. As-an>experimental filmmaker, Matthias Miller's films embrace this popularized use of "found footage." Tomorrow, Muller will add himself to the long list of note- worthy and cross-disciplinary lecturers as part of the Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Speakers Series. His lecture will surround the history and use of found foot- CONCERT PREVIEW Performing Bach and Britten Peter Wispelwey and Jennifer Koh Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. Rackham Auditorium Tickets from $20 This Wednesday and Thurs- day, two prominent string musi- cians will be making their UMS age in his own work and other mediunms. The wide-ranging uses of found footage are as diverse as its sources. Accordjng to Mller, found footage can include educa- tional films, propaganda footage and commercials. As part of his'lecture, Miller plans to discuss the ambiguity between duplication and origi- nality associated with the use of found footage. "In film, the question about what constitutes an original and what makes a copy is a rather delicate one, for the medium is based on the very idea of repro- duction," Muller wrote in a first draft of his speech he provided to the Daily. In addition to this controver- sy, Miller will discuss the mul- tiple purposes of found footage as its use becomes increasingly widespread. "Over the years, in music videos and commercials, on debuts, both with solo concerts featuringBach's work. Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey will perform a program consist- ing of four suites, two by Bach and two by Benjamin Britten, an English composer most famous for his work "Hymn to St. Cecilia." Throughout his career, Wispelwey has performed all over the world, from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Sydney, Australia. The next night, violinist Jen- nifer Koh, who has been consis- tently praised for her work - she bouTube and even in big-budget- box-coffice-hits, found footage has become a well-established aesthetic standard, something global TV-audiences are quite familiar with," Mller wrote. "The terminologies applied to this practice range from collage and compilation film to mash-up and recycled cinema," he added. Miller has won several inter- national awards including the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival and a special mention at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. He has also orga- nized and served as a curator for the Found Footage Film Fes- tival. In addition to his lecture, a series of Miller's films, includ- ing "The Memo Book (Aus Der Ferne)" and "Alpsee," will be shown at the Michigan Theater on Saturday as part of the Ann Arbor Film Festival. HEATHER POOLE is referred to as a "superb soloist" in a review by the Telegraph - will perform a concert of two of Bach's partitas, as well as works by composers Eugene Ysaye, Kaija Saariaho, Elliott Carter and Esa- Pekka Salonen. Despite this being a UMS debut for Wispelwey and Koh, both art- ists have already made names for themselves throughout the world music community, performing internationally and releasing sever- al criticallyacclaimed recordings. ERINSTEELE No waste on 'Plastic Beach'. By SHARON JACOBS AssistantArts Editor How cool is Damon Albarn? This cool: He helped invent Britpop as Blur's lead singer; he released a critically acclaimed album,* The Good, The Bad ft The Queen, with a four-man supergroup that Plastic Beach didn't even have EMI a name; he wrote the music for a Chinese opera about a monkey king ("Monkey: Journey to the West"); and he fronts the world's first vir- tual band, the hand-drawn Goril- laz, whose latest album Plastic Beach uses digital instruments to comment on artificiality. You really can't get much cooler than Damon Albarn - enterprising musicians, beware. With Plastic Beach, the charac- ters (in every sense) of Gorillaz find their virtual identities mirrored in the music. Listeners have become used to the idea of a cartoon band. What's new on Plastic Beach is that the songs mimic real life, too. The imitation is apparent from the intro track, as recorded sounds of seagulls and crashing waves are overlaid and then overcome by an equally swelling orchestral approx- imation of an ocean. In "Superfast Jellyfish," squeaky, super-high vocals play like island steel drums. Guest artists Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and the members of De La Soul 'trade 'cutesy lines praising the latest prepackaged breakfast treat. Mos Def's stream-of-conscious- ness delivery on "Sweepstakes" is likewise framed by ambient noises. Rhythmic slot-machine beeps help power the track into a brash cel- ebration of risk-taking, before it fades out in a whistled chorus. Plastic Beach is loosely a con- cept album about consumerism and waste. But if Gorillaz is judg- ing the fake, combustible culture to which it belongs, it's only doing so implicitly. Lou Reed sums up the general attitude of the album on "Some Kind Of Nature," as he wryly intones: "Well me, I like plas- tics / And digital foils." The disc is a mixed bag, serving as both "some kind of majesty" and "chemical load." Despite its conceit, Plastic Beach doesn't preach the issues. Its poppy hooks and arcing melodies speak for themselves. The album is catchy-cool from start (Snoop Dogg lackadaisically welcoming us to the "plastic beach") to finish (Albarn - or animated vocalist 2D - brag- ging: "We left the taps / Running / For a hundred years"). With Albarn's slick, conniving voice and steadily marching music under- neath, frankly, pollution has never seemed so enticing. Of course, the album has some shortcomings - "Empire Ants" drifts a bit longer than it should and "Cloud of Unknowing" feels lost at sea - but nothing seriously interrupts the album's flow. And its highlights are nothing short of beautiful: "On Melancholy Hill" finds Albarn crooning a dreamy melody over electronic distortion, while atmospheric love song "To Binge" rolls along like a gentle frol- ic in the waves. Generally, the album is calmer and softer than Gorillaz's earlier work. Nothing even approaches the crazed energy of "Feel Good Inc." or "Dare," but "White Flag" matches their quirkiness. Fun and Gorrilaz goes all-out digital on latest album. funny, the song's delicate Middle Eastern instrumental opening runs smack into a mouthful of British rap backed by arcade-game beeps. Plastic Beach is a fresh commen- tary on disposable industry - both the physical industry polluting the oceans and the music industry, in which artists often seem like noth- ing but cartoon faces singing other people's songs. Maybe the two- dimensional members of Goril- laz are a sign for the future of pop music - virtual art made by virtual artists. It's a disconcerting idea, but with Damon Albarn's kooky hip- ness, it's one we should probably get used to. Comedy Central succeeds with monstrous new comedy By ROBERT SOAVE Daily Arts Writer Transitioning to life in the city can be tough. Everyone is in a hurry, the neigh- borhood doesn't seem friendly and it's easy to get Ugly lost. "Ugly Amer- icans" is about AmdCans trying to survive Wednesday at in a city as vast 10:30 p.m. and dangerous as New York - a (sedy Central task made even more difficult in the world of Com- edy Central's latest cartoon series, in which the Big Apple is crawling with monsters. "Ugly Americans" takes place in an alternate New York City where monsters from vampires and were- wolves to aliens and zombies (and land whales, too!) spend their time trying to make ends meet, just like their human counterparts. Blending real-life issues like fitting into city life and the plight of immigrants in America with the hilarity of ran- dom monsters, "Ugly Americans" is a coarse, yet thoroughly enjoyable satire. A smart move was balancing out the crazy, fiendish inhabitants of New York City with a main char- acter who is basically just a random guy. Meet Mark Lilly (Matt Oberg, "30 Rock"), a good-natured and completely human social worker at the Department of Integration. Lilly is described by his boss - a demonic overlord named Callie Maggotbone (Natasha Leggero, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force") - as the office's "token bleeding heart." He wants to help the monsters of Manhattan become fully function- ing members of society. Unfortunately, his co-workers are largely apathetic or even hostile to immigrant monsters. His partner, a lazy wizard named Leonard Pow- ers, would rather transform office paperwork into alcohol. In addition to looking out for underprivileged monsters, Lilly has to try to survive ing to survive in an often unfriendly his secret and dangerous affair with world. "Ugly Americans" isn't just his evil boss, Callie. "Pissing where outrageously funny television, it's you mix the potion, eh?," observes also a fairly convincing lesson about Leonard. "Been there. Good times." what native-born Americans and "Ugly Americans" succeeds by immigrants have in common. combining monsters with the mun- Even so, the gross-out humor dane. When Lilly asks his room- will likely earn the series some com- mate, Randall (Kurt Metzger,"The parisons with the former Comedy Best Girlfriend Ever") - who is per- Central cartoon "Drawn Together." Though this series had its moments, the over-the-top crudeness really prevented it from becoming a must- Satire, but w ith watch cartoon. But aside from that zo bis less-than-desirable simiarity, "Ugly more zombies. Americans" has more in common with the unforgettable "Futurama." The challenge now is for Comedy petually unemployed and recently Central to head its new series in the zombified -- about his plans for the direction of the latter rather than day, he replies:, "Thought I'd stare the former. blankly out of cold dead eyes for To do this, "Ugly Americans" a while how I do. Then check out needs to flesh out (ha!) its world. 'Kung Fu Panda."' "Futurama" had its characters Sure, zombies want to eat brains, exploring new planets and encoun- but they also want to find steady tering different alien creatures in jobs. Even the scariest and most every episode. Lilly and his friends disgusting monsters are only try- will exhaust their funny lines and COURTESY OF COMEDY CENTRAL "If you eat my Cadaver-O's one more time, I will eat your brain." mannerisms unless they're pushed Americans" could become the next out of their comfort zones - no hilarious and socially relevant car- matter how strange those comfort toon series. Just take it easy on the zones are. foul language and toilet humor, With a monstrously funny prem- Comedy Central, as hard as that ise and cast of characters, "Ugly may be for you.