2B - Thursday, September 30, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 0
2B - Thursday, September 30, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom *
Judging A Book
Its Cover
Why read a single page when the cover
tells the whole story?
iinderst a n I
COURTESY OF KNOPF
What happens when you mix tinues to bring America pride, but
love, betrayal and a headless at what cost?
Olympic wrestler? You get Jim Shepard's return to bookstores
Shepard's latest foray into fiction, across the country has been much
of course! anticipated, and fans lining up to
"Like you'd understand, any- purchase their copy of "like you'd
way" is the heartbreaking tale of understand, anyway" won't be
famed wrestler John Body who, disappointed. Shephard captures
with the help of expert trainer the ever-changing complexity of
Coach McGee, quickly becomes a John Body and Coach McGee's
legend, pinning opponents to the relationship. As they shift from
mat in record time. His mythi- coach and athlete, to friends, to
cal talent brings Body to the 1994 estranged colleagues, to evil sci-
Olympics where he swiftly defeats entist and experiment, to Lord
the Russians bringing much- Supreme and humble servant,
needed morale boost to the USA. never once do their interactions
His fame goes to his head as he seem outside the realm of reality.
ignores McGee's warnings and Shepard's delicious use of imag-
enters a world of cocaine, hookers ery, unabashed statements about
and online music piracy. McGee the state of the sports world in the
knows the only way to bring Body '90s and knack for capturing emo-
back to Earth is to destroy that tion will be celebrated for months.
which destroyed him - his head. This soon-to-be classic will keep
Without the distraction of a brain you turning pages until you hit the
or four of the five senses, Body's back cover. I just can't wait for the
wrestling prowess is beyond any- movie deal!
thing ever seen before. Body con- -CAROLYN KLARECKI
TRAILER REVIEW
"I am about to embark on a
great adven-
ture," intones
the preteen des-
perado played by True Grit
newcomer Hailee
Steinfeld at the Paramount
openingofthe new
trailer for the Coen brothers' "True
Grit." You gotthat right, pardner.
In the breathtaking one-minute
spot for the remake of the 1969 John
Wayne classic, due in theaters this
Christmas, images of rustic, unfor-
giving Manifest Destiny wilderness
pop with the unmistakable visual
aesthetic of the greatest filmmak-
ers working today. An eyepatched
Jeff Bridges wields a pair of old-
timey pistols on horseback, while
a mustachioed and scary-looking
Josh Brolin glowers from his porch
and a blink-and-you'll-miss-him
Matt Damon lurks from afar. And
all the while, the haunting melody
of a bluegrass children's choir takes
the creepiest parts of "0 Brother,
Where Art Thou?" and makes them
awesome.
Joel and Ethan Coen are on an
unprecedented winning streak -
like Woody Allen, they've been
putting out one film a year for four
years now. Unlike Woody Allen,
these movies are actually worth
watching. Does "True Grit" seem,
on first impression, to hew a little
too close to the formula of the
Coen's 2007 Best Picture winner
"No Country for Old Men"? Yes.
And your point is?
-ANDREWLAPIN
*I
Of all the singles by all the arti-
ficial Brit-girl pop quintets, take
synthetically
fabulous electro-
wail "Call the
Shots" by Girls Fyfe
Aloud. Of all
the singers, take Dangerfield
oddball crooner "Calithe Shots"
Fyfe Danger-
field, whose Polydor
main attraction,
Guillemots, is anything but fake
with two LPs of quirky, heartfelt,
bird-themed tunes. Put the ,two
together, and what do you get?
Dangerfield's cover of "Call the
Shots," which distinguishes itself
from the original immediately, com-
ing in with shy audible guitar pick-
ing and an organic thumping beat.
Where the original Girls Aloud
song came off as a mechanized
don't-need-you toss-off, Danger-
field's version has strings attached
- literally, when an overemotional
violin comes in with repeated piz-
zicato pluckings and strung-out
sweeps, and figuratively, from his
emotional wail as he blares out
the chorus in an about-to-break
voice. Suddenly, lines like "it real-
ly doesn't faze me how you spend
your time" have a painful edge,
as if Dangerfield is putting up an
unaffected front over a lovelorn
melancholy. And just like that, a
poppy nonsense song becomes so
much more than that. Those crazy
girl groups ain't got nothin' on
this.
-SHARON JACOBS
SINGLE REVIEW
EPISODE REVIEW
Dexter Morgan just can't catch
a break. The
moment he thinks *
he's rid the world
of an evil serial Dexter
killer (not him seas f ive
- someone else)
he comes home "My Bad"
to find (GIANT Showtime
SPOILER ALERT)
his wife Rita dead in the bathtub.
Season five shows us a vulnerable,
confused, and even emotional Dex-
ter, but is that really the hero anyone
wants from the dark opus? In every
episode of "Dexter," there needs to
be some sense of real danger. There's
always an emotional journey, sure,
but there's also that element of action
and suspense that keeps viewers
hooked and worrying for Dexter's
well-being. For an entire episode to
follow the dismemberer's emotional
journey leaves the show feeling a
little empty. If you stopped watching
five minutes into the episode then
tuned back in for the final scene,
you wouldn't have missed anything
important. If the entire season is
going to be full of Dexter changing
his mind and ending up back where
he started, it'll be a pointless hole in
the series' otherwise stellar run.
But plot stagnancy aside, the
writing is still solid and brooding,
and Quinn is finally getting a chance
to both hook up with Deborah (final-
ly!) and make himself a notable pres-
ence on the police force. This just
better not be another season of pure
Dexter-hunting.
-JAMIE BLOCK