The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, March 29, 2010 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, March 29, 2010 - 7A Finding time for the classics "Don't tell me how to train my dragon." A well-trained'Dragon New animated film combines amazing effects with strong morals By BEN VERDI DailyArts Writer "How to Train Your Dragon" is the best film of the young year. It's exhilarating, clever, sweet and mean- ingful; but the only way to truly do this film justice is to take $10 and 100 min- Howto Train utes and go sit in a theater Your Dragon (3-D glasses optional, but recommended) to experi- At Quality16 ence it yourself. and Showcase Unlike the barbs Paramount thrown at the grandiosity of another 3-D blockbuster, "Avatar," those watching "Dragon" won't feel like they're being beaten over the head with morals soaking in political innuendo. Nor will they feel as though the film is hiding a poor story behind expensive special effects. The three-dimensional aspects of this ani- mated feature add to the epic battle scenes in which Vikings ride around on dragons, sometimes laying waste to entire villages. Yet they manage to never feel forced or unnecessary, just cool. "Dragon" is, by definition, a "kid movie," and what's refreshing is that it really is for kids. The messages are slow to develop, but, poignantly, they become clear: "Don't kill. Use your intellect instead." Notice the word choice. The message is not corny, childish, or easily put into practice. It isn't "Learn, don't burn," for instance. "Dragon" appeals to the kid in you, but engages you like a grownup. Another refreshing aspect of this film is that it's not just about a token "average kid," nor is it about a kid with some ridiculous secret, or latent set of magical powers or troubled home life he must overcome. The main character is a boy named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel, "She's Out of My League"), and his Dragon is called Toothless. This is a movie about normal, socially awkward children. If "The Lion King" taught kids to go for glory and "Kung Fu Panda" helped them understand their responsibilities, then "How to Train Your Dragon" is for the other kids - the kids to whom the idea of becoming king and overcoming some com- ically overdone set of obstacles seems nice, but unrealistic in terms of their own lives. If you take anything away from watch- ing this film, as someone old enough to be counted as a "guardian" for little ones in the theater, let it be this: You'll never be as popular as the popular kids. But the real point is you don't have to be. You're smart- er than them. Hiccup and Toothless are more Jane Eyre than Luke Skywalker. They're not handed the heads of their enemies on sticks at the end of the movie, and they're not past all of the things that gave them trouble at the outset of the film. They don't "defeat" the popular kids by even- tually becoming even-more-popular kids. Instead they become more aware of them- selves and their ability to accomplish good in the world. Why beat them when you can have them join you? The movie's main characters tactfully manage to practice love, faith and true unconditional friendship, which prove, against an impressively crafted set of bad guys, toobe whatmatters more than anything. Movie-watching is a tough passion to keep afloat when you're a college student. Our daily lives don't always afford us time to sit down for a couple hours and check out a classic we haven't5 seen yet. At least, that's the rationale I like to use when con- fronted by friends; who disbelievingly ask, "You haven'tw seen' ___ '? Why ANDREW the hell not?" LAPIN Don't misunder- stand me, friends. When I reveal I haven't seen, say, "Taxi Driver" or "Blow-Up," that's not code for "I don't consider that movie a high enough priority to watch." If I could, I'd watch two or three new-to-me movies a day until I've finally seen everything the cinematic community has deemed exceptional. But then I would never get my homework done or have a social life or do anything exceptwatch movies. And that just doesn't seem like a worth- while trade-off to me. Everyone's got movie blind spots. They're hard to just fill on a whim, because no one ever says, "I've got three hours to kill. Let's watch 'Metropolis."' It's important to be cultured in the clas- sics, but we have our immediate priori- ties. And while all those great "1,000 Movies to See Before You Die" lists can be our guidelines, we don't have the time or resources to make them our gospel. I've probably seen more stuff from those lists than most, but I still want to be watching more. The question is how much more I should have in my repertoire by certain times in my life. I'm 20 years old, about a quarter of the way through my expected lifespan. Does that mean I should have already seen 250 of the movies on that list? And every time I watch a bad movie, or re-watch something I've seen a bil- lion times before, I suppose that was one wasted opportunity to chalk up another classic. So what is our obligation to the clas- sics? I'm not talking about the Bost-1980 John Hughes or Coen Brothers brand of,"classic." I'm talking about the stuff we actually have to make an effort to seek out - the films thatyou won't find listed as your friend's favorites on Facebook. You know, great movies from bygone eras. This semester I thought I'd resolve to see some of those great movies, soI took SAC 353: Film History 1960-Pres- ent as an elective. This would be perfect, I thought. We'd be coveringthe New Waves of France and Japan along with New Hollywood and Italian Neo-real- ism. Somewhere in that syllabus would be my chance to finally cross Godard, Kurosawa and Antonioni off my list, at the very least. Well, too bad for me. We did watch a Godard film, but it wasn't "Breath- less" or even "Masculin fdminin." It was "Tout va bien," considered tobe one of the auteur's more experimental, post- New Wave selections, and not the most essential viewing for someone who had previously seen zero Godard. And the Japanese selection wasn't a Kurosawa flick but "The Sword of Doom," by Kiha- chi Okamoto, which tends to existonthe fringes of popular consciousness as far as samurai cinema is concerned. As far as I understand it, there are two possible rationales for these sorts of peculiar film selections: Either our professor assumes us students, already educated in the world of cinema, have already seen the "greatest hits" of the classics, or he wants to tease us with selections that are not quite classics, thereby whetting our appetites to explore more options on our own. I wanted to take the easy path toward filling in a few more blanks on my film resume by gettingto do it for a grade. Turns out I'm going to have to exert a little more effort than that. To see the good stuff, look beyond your film class. A clarification: I'm not tryingto bad- mouth the movie selections for my class. We've also had the opportunity to see some truly amazing stuff, like a restored print of "Apocalypse Now Redux" with full surround sound that left me in awe for days after. And I elected to attend the St. Patrick's Day screening of Wong Kar-wai's "ChungkingExpress," a film I knew nothing about, instead of going out to celebrate my nonexistent Irish heritage. I was treated to a joyful, high- energy romance of modernurban Chi- nese 20-souiethings, a movie that I'll be recommendingto my friends for years. Trust me, it was the right choice. What I learned from my Film His- tory class is that if we're serious about wantingto see movies, we can't sitback and wait for someone else to show them to us. You make your own time to see the stuff you care about. And if I don't get to everything before my time here is up, maybe it's notothe end of the world. There's an endless, ever-growing uni- verse of great movies out there, and I'm just one mere mortal college student. Lapin has three hours to kill. How about he reads your e-mails? To entertain him, e-mail him at alapin@umich.edu. Deschanel and M. Ward's sweet reunion By KRISTYN ACHO Daily Arts Writer Zooey Deschanel's persona in She & Him has always seemed charmingly tragic. The guise Deschanel has created through her music is in She & Him itself a study in contrasts: Volume Two At one point Merge she's Zooey the actress, living up to her indie-darling standards in music videos by dancing in schools in brightly colored Mary Janes, and the next she's exposed, pouring the depths of her soul into a heart- breaking drawl on record. Like- wise, She & Him's Volume Two is a bittersweet romance filled with tumultuous highs and lows. It's endearingly devastat- ing and it's seriously addicting. The folk-pop duo, composed of poster child for allthings hipster Deschanel and singer- songwriter M. Ward, is certain- ly an odd couple in theory. But the juxtaposition of Deschanel's Karen Carpenter-meets-Doris Day vocals and Ward's twangy yet soulful guitar melodies makes it sound like they were made for each other. Volume Two feels like a reunion of old friends. The album is a continuation of the retro-vibing, antique sound that made vinyl junkies fall for Although Volume Two never the duo's folksy debut in the quite leaves its lovelorn, dusty- first place. But there's a definite vinyl comfort zone, it's reassur- sense of maturation embedded ing to know that some things within. Deschanel, who general- will always stay the same. Indeed, the record's stand-out track "In the Sun" waxes nos- c dtalgia for Volume One's taste of wholesome pop perfection with seco d e "'~ion cheery chorus: "We all get s chCer effort. the slip sometimes everyday / I'll just keep it to myself in the sun, in the sun." ly writes the chord progressions, But a wholesome demeanor is lyrics and melodies, seems more really what sets She & Him apart confident in her throwback '60s from other bands today. Com- soda-pop realm, and Ward, who plete with breezy harmonies produces, arranges and does all and velvety vocals, Deschanel's the instrumentation, takes no cooed lyrics delve into the first qualms with letting her vintage flashes of love (and eventually vocals take center stage. See SHE & HIM, Page 8A Making the 'Dragon' dream work By TIMOTHY RABB DailyArts Writer The new DreamWorks film "How to Train Your Dragon" is poised to be a one of the best- received animated films of the year. Several critics have already alluded to its charming storyline and characters, but more so to the painstaking manner in which the 3-D version replicates the won- ders of flight. "Dragon" is directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeB- lois, the duo behind Disney's "Lilo & Stitch," and the Disney studio is the origin of the partnership from which this concept was born. "Chris and I met on 'Mulan,' actually. That was our first film together," said DeBlois in a confer- ence call interview. "We were in the story department. And Chris Sanders was head of story when I joined the team as a storyboard artist. And then I took over as head of story when he went to develop a project. And that project turned out to be 'Lilo & Stitch,' which we wrote together and then we direct- ed together." Sanders has worked as a co-sto- ry writer of such Disney classics as "Beauty and the Beast," "Alad- din" and "The Lion King." In con- sideration of this, it's no surprise that "How to Train Your Dragon," which won the box office last week- end with $43 million, is shaping to be such a critical and commercial success. But beyond the singular requisite of crafting a compelling story, there's also a fascinating aspect of Sanders's strategy that he claims is the key to his films' popu- larity. "The interesting thing about working where we do is, it's impor- tant not to exclude an age group. It sounds silly, but it's true - we think pretty much exactly like our own audience," Sanders said. "You want the finished film to work on multiple levels. If you are a young viewer, see thi: funny: wise if1 to see affecty But we teen cr toughe theater And draw ar an insa violenc "Tw: level of grown ally sta said. "B is a sto would: kid wh range,, identity Ani th Not seemed the neg Disney quickly by eithe ees exe its blam was eat ceived1 ney's ri "The Worksi Sander in tern there- comedy more ft sure, b advents you're goingto come in and The process of storytelling is ngs that you find genuinely certainly expedited by the lack of and that you get, and like- a stifling atmosphere, but the best you're an adult you're going way to draw the most viewers to different things that will the cinema is by means of com- you on a whole new level. pelling characters. In DeBlois's do work pretty hard on the opinion, this can be best achieved owd, I think it's one of the by endowing characters with the st crowds to get (into the dynamic personalities and subtle )." complexities of real-life people. how does the duo plan to "I think that there are a lot of n age group characterizedby films where characters are embody- tiable desire for action and ing too much of an archetype. If e? your characters are either pure o things. I think that the good or pure evil, they're just flat, action in the film ... (is) very and that's nothing like real life," up in that the film actu- DeBlois said. "So building faults in rts with a battle," Sanders just makes them more human. It tut the other thing is that it makes the whole experience a little ry that emotionally I think more real and grounded in reality speak to (teens). It's about a and we're always referencingsisters o is in that exact same age and people we know ... whose traits who is struggling with his are both endearing and annoying at ." times." As for future plans, DeBlois hint- ed at the possibility of an eventual forallcrossover to live action. imation frsaf"I think there is certainly an allure to live-action filmmaking. Kes is harder And it comes with its troubles a too, having written a couple proj- ects for the live action world and just seeing them get stalled out with all sorts of strange politics surprisingly, Sanders and turnovers of executives and 1 unwilling to comment on such," DeBlois said. "So the one tative aspects of his time at thing about animation that I really - the studio's penchant for appreciate is that you have a very quelling any negative press devout team behind you and with er current or former employ- you that commit to the project and mplifies its commitment to see it through even its troubles. I eless reputation. Even so, he absolutely love animation. I grew ger to comment on the per- up loving it. And so I would say benefits of working for Dis- more tools in the film box is great, val studio. and I want to continue down the great thing about Dream- path toward doing live action films, is that it has no house style," and to computer animated films, s said. "It's very, very open and maybe even traditional films ns of the movies we make in the future." - everything from broad "How To Train Your Dragon" to this one, which is a bit stars Gerard Butler ("300") and Jay antasy-adventure. Comic for Baruchel ("Knocked Up"). Be sure ut it's also largely about the to see it in 3-D, as it's been noted for ure." incredible flying sequences. Comprehensive Cancer Center, in part with fording from the National Insti- tutes of Health (NIH) is providing expo- sure to cancer research for highly moti- vated and talented college undergradu- ates. This program will provide the suc- cesful applicants an opportunity to ex- plore potential careens in the field of cancer research. In keeping with the terms of the NIH grant, we especially encoarage applications from individa- als from popalations that are carrently underrepresented in biomedical and be- havioral research. The program is aimed at students who are completing their sophomore or junior undergradu- ate year this spring. The program will run for ten weeks, June 7th - August 13th, 40 hrs/ week. Students selected who do not currently have U-M mentors will be matched with an appropriate U-M faculty. Only U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens are eligible to apply. Interns wilt be paid $4,500 for the 10 week period. Your application mast he uploaded hy March 31 at the following site: www.mcancer.org/carsip Questions? - Contact Car Nosel at cnosel cl umich.edu WORK ON MACKINAC Island, this summer - Make lifelong friends. The InlandHouse Hotel and Ryba's Fudge Shops are looking for seasonal help in all areas: Front Desk, Bell Staff, Sales Clerks, Baristas, and Kitchen Staff. Housing, bonus, and discounted meals available. Call Ryan 1 (906)847-7196. www.theislandhouse.com For Tuesday, March 30, 2010 ARIES (March 21t oApril 19) You'll enjoy buying beautiful things for yourself and loved ones in the next few weeks. Fortunately, opportunities to earn more money also esist for yea. Keep your eyes open! TAURUS (April 20to May 20) The nest few weeks are the perfect time to buy wardrobe items for yourself. In large measure, it's because you like what you see in the mirror. Relations with others are particularly cozy and congenial. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Solitude in beautiful surroundings will please you in the month ahead. Try to find some time to be by yourself to con- template, meditate or just enjoy being alive. CANCER (June 21 to July 22) In the month ahead, a friend could become a lover. Certainly, new friend- ships can begin. It's very easy to let oth- ers know how much you care for them. (It's good.) LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) No matterwhat you do for a living, someone will ask for your creative or artistic input about things. Office arrangement, furniture arrangement, design layout o landscaping might be mrean for your input. VIRGO (Aug. 23 toSept.22) Travel for pleasure will delight you during the next few weeks. Some of you also wilt fall in love with somebody from another culture or a different back- ground. (It's a great way to learn a new language.) LIBRA (Sept. 23 toOct. 22) Gifts, goodies, favors from others and the opportunity to use things that other people own are just some benefits that will come to you during the next few weeks. Romance is also particularly sweet and tender. SCORPIO (Oct. 23 oNov. 21) The month ahead is the perfect time to patch up shaky relationships or mend broken fences in good friendships. Mutual agreement is easy to establish. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) You might get a raise or find praise at work. Relations with co-workers are excellent now. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) The month ahead is a wonderful, fun- loving, flirtatious, playful time for you. Enjoy sports, romance, vacations, the arts and parties! AQUARIUS (Jan. 20to Feb. 18) Home-decorating projects will appeal to you now. Roll up your sleeves and get busy. Entertain at home in the coming month. PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Expectto appreciate how much beauty there is in your daily surroundings dar- ing the next few weeks. You might dis- cover how much love there is around you as well. YOU BORN TODAY You have relentless, driving energy. You also have a fabulous imagination and an ability to envision achievements. Because of this, you work tirelessly, and you do big things! Friendships are important to you. You need the space to operate independ- ently. This year, something you've been involved with for about nine years will end in order to create room for some- thing new. Birthdate of Warren Beatty, actor; Eric Clapton, musicianl Robbie Coltrane, actor. Iw'RESNIBLE., ACTIVE1, .CAR-~ ING, and creative care giver required for 8 yr. old boy & 10 yr old girl this summer. Req./details: female student - jr, sr, or grad at UofM pref; own car; required between June 14-Aug 27; tam- 6pm daily; $10/hr. West side of Ann Arbor. Call Lisa @ 734-997-9676. 02010 King Features Syndicate,Inc.