The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, February 16, 2011- 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 5A Zombie-pocalypse 'Justified' admiration Prepare yourself; the series follows a handful of survivors in the Deep South try- the Zombie Club ing to find their way in a zombie- ridden world. After its premiere has arrived boasted 5.3 million viewers, Entertainment Weekly hailed By WILL DEFEBAUGH the series as the best new show For the Daily of 2010. It has just been picked up for a second season of 13 episodes Zombies have taken over. (up from the first season, which It started out slowly, with proj- was only six). ects like 2009's "Pride, Prejudice "I think something that really and Zombies" and "Zombieland." makes ('The Walking Dead') dif- Then came AMC's "The Walk- ferent is that there is a threat of ing Dead" in 2010. Now, with the zombies, but really the bigger advent of The Michigan Zombie threat is other humans," Chris- Club, they have taken over cam- topher said. "Zombies move the pus too. plot forward, but a lot of the trou- With 25 members, the club ble is dealing with other humans dedicates itself to spreading after the apocalypse. Instead of "zombie awareness." just battling zombies, it's about "Even though it seems like it how you come together when may not be an imminent threat, you're fighting for your life." we should always be prepared," Of course, a large part of the said LSA freshman Scott Chris- show is still the zombies. One topher, the club's resident Zom- interesting question the series bie Specialist. "Especially with raises is whether or not zombies this economic crisis we went are still people. The zombies are through, people really didn't often portrayed as victims, illus- think we could drop that bad, and trating not only the tragedy of the it just shows you that anything survivors' situation, but also that could happen - even zombies." of the zombies themselves. Though club members cite "Zombies are definitely their interest as having started humans too," said LSA sopho- long before zombies began trend- more and Master of Zombie Rela- ing, they are happy to see the tions Kevin Binder. "My job (in undead getting so much atten- the club) is to make peaceful rela- tion from Hollywood. Specifi- tions between the humans and cally, they're excited about "The zombies. I really have an opti- Walking Dead." mistic outlook towards a future Based off of a graphic novel, where the two can coexist." Still, zombies have not become quite as popular as certain other forms of undead creatures. "I don't think people find the whole eating brains and dining on raw flesh thing to be quite as romantic as vampires," Binder said. "Then again, I don't really get vampires because they also drink blood." It's difficult to say how long zombies will continue to be pop- ular or if they will ever be as big as vampires (or whatever undead creature is next, for that mat- ter). Regardless, the Michigan Zombie Club will be around to preach the importance of being prepared. Today, the club is sponsoring Zombie Awareness Day, where members will hand out flyers in the Diag and inform students as to how to best protect themselves from zombies. They will also pro- vide a life-sized zombie doll and cricket bats for them to practice with. Other events the club hopes to put on include screenings of "The Walking Dead" and a You've Been Bitten By a Zombie Day, in which the group runs around and pretends to attack people to spread awareness. Also in the works is a "Zom- bie Infiltration Day," in which the club members will inter- rupt classes and attend meetings for other groups on campus to See ZOMBIES, Page 6A By KAVI SHEKHAR PANDEY Senior Arts Editor Move aside, brooding antihe- roes (that's you, Dick Whitman) - there's a new character arche- type in town. Descend- ing from the likes of justified Han Solo and John Season Two McClane, it's premiere the manly man with Wednesdays atll p.m. a rogu- FX ish charm, cheeky smile, endless stream of wisecracks and a slow, Southern, trou-dropping drawl. It was epito- mized in Sawyer (Josh Holloway) from "Lost," Jason Lee tried it and failed in "Memphis Beat," but the torch carries on with the macho main muchacho of FX's "Justi- fied," Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), who - combined with the poise and quickdraw of Dirty Harry - is the coolest cat in acow- boy hat south of the Mason-Dixon line. Come to think, north of it, too. Season one of "Justified" brought U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens back to his home state of Kentucky, reassigned to a Lex- ington post after a possibly (but probably) unprovoked shooting of a Miami gangster. It's a begrudg- ing return - coming home to a criminally active father, a newly remarried ex he's still in love with and an alarming number of neo- "Davies mumbles too much. That justifies shooting him, right?" Nazis and meth-heads, it's clear why Givens skipped town in the first place. Overall, the first season of "Justified" was marvelous, creat- ing a Southern rural community without depicting every inhabit- ant as a backwoods lout (similar to "Winter's Bone," except fast- paced and funny). In one of the most profound representations of a villain since Ben Linus on "Lost," we witnessed the fasci- nating evolution of Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins, "The Shield") from skinhead to soldier of god. Most important, the season made us fall in love with Raylan Givens, effervescently grinning and sling- ing zingers even in the most tense situations (like shootouts!) with the knowledge that he could pull out his sidearm and blow 12-gal- lon hat-sized holes through fools if he felt like it. The second season premiere begins by replaying the final moments of last season's killer, though frustratingly unresolved, finale and wraps up the dangling plot strands by the start of the Kentucky fried 'Juestified.' opening credits. It'll be perplex- ing for first-time viewers of "Jus- tified," but they just need to sit tight, as the hammer for the new season-long storyline gets pulled back promptly. After the dust settles, Givens and his partner (Erica Tazel) See JUSTIFIED, Page 6A Reality far away in 'Dagenham' movie By DAVID TAO Get") go to excruciating lengths Daily Film Editor to enforce this image of straight- forward duality. Lisa Hopkins A long time ago, in a galaxy far, (Rosamund Pike, "Die Another far away, there was an evil empire Day"), the disgruntled, Cam- and a young hero, the last hope bridge-educated wifa of a high.' for freedom level Ford executive, becomes and justice. *** O'Grady's woman on the inside, Through a a spy who lends the striking series of tri- Made in workers much-needed support. als and tribu- Similarly, then-Secretary of State lations, the for Employment Barbara Castle young hero Atthe Michigan (Miranda Richardson, "Harry moved closer Potter and the Goblet of Fire") is and closer Sony Pictures lassics portrayed as a staunch supporter toward suc- of O'Grady, a starry-eyed cabi- cess - until finally, he overthrew net minister looking to achieve the evil empire once and for all. change. That was "Star Wars." Now, But in real life, Castle lobbied listen to the plot of "Made in to curtail the power of Britain's Dagenham." A long time ago, trade unions, while Hopkins cer- in a country far, far away, there tainly wasn't O'Grady's friend was an evil company called Ford - O'Grady is in fact a fictional that made cars and reaped mas- pastiche of women's rights lead- sive profits by paying hardwork- ers. What's more, the impact of ing women half what they paid the strike on working families is the hardworking men. But one practically passed over. Though day, a female worker named Rita O'Grady and her husband lose O'Grady (Sally Hawkins, "Happy- work because of the strike, they Go-Lucky"),the last hope forfree- nonetheless send their children dom and justice, decided to get to the local private school and involved with the workers' union. live in the same middle class flat With the assistance of bumbling, throughout the movie, removing low-level union organizer Albert the sense of adversity. There's no Passingham (Bob Hoskins, "The denying the reprehensibility of Long Good Friday") and fel- sexist labor policy, butthis exten- low worker Connie (Geraldine sive revisionism undermines the James, "Alice in Wonderland"), film's power. she began a massive campaign for . Nonetheless, despite these core equal pay, taking the women on flaws, "Made in Dagenham" still strike and overthrowing the evil somehow manages to entertain, company's evil policy. thanks mainly to Hawkins, whose raw charisma and pure charm transform the film into a heart- Striking back at warming quasi-historic journey that places the viewer within the the Empire. frame. Historic questions aren't important when there's a protag- onist as engaging asher character, a waif of an everywoman whose Sounds familiar, doesn't it? mere presence inspires solidar- Ostensibly based upon a true ity and confidence. The power story, this tale of the 1968 Ford behind her performance anchors sewing machinists' strike at their a talented cast that features Dagenham production facility in some of Britain's finest character Britain presents an oversimpli- actors, including Hoskins, James fied, cut-and-dry version of the and Daniel Mays ("Atonement") year's events. The film's central as O'Grady's mostly supportive conflict is reduced from a multi- husband. faceted issue of ethical business It's this collection of brilliant practices to an uncomplicated onscreen talent that allows view- black-and-white struggle A la the ers to ignore the liberties that Dark Side versus the Light Side Cole takes with history. Equal - the virtuous British women pay legislation may not have come * struggle against the malevolent until two years after the movie's American corporate system and end, and today's Ford plant in their enforcer, the delightfully Dagenham may no longer manu- sleazy Robert Tooley (Richard facture cars. But in the context of Schiff, "The West Wing"). the movie, none of this matters. Director Nigel Cole ("A Lot When watching Hawkins and Like Love") and screenwriter her exceptional peers, reality is William Ivory ("The Closer You indeed somewhere far, far away. MT&D's arresting new production By ERIKA JOST the production's director. For the Daily "Our Country's Good"grapples with crime and rehabilitation, In the 1780s, British soldiers and the role that theater - and art staged a production of the come- in general - can play in that pro- dy "The Recruiting Officer" with cess. The opening scene reveals convicts in some of the physical horrors the 'an Australian Australian prisoners face, while' penal colony. the officers debate how best to Two hundred Good punish three of the convicts for years later, stealing. One suggests death, Australian Toorowat another a less severe punishment author Thom- 7:30 p.m., Friday and a third officer gives up com- as Keneally and Saturday pletely. Their exchange is difficult described at8 p.m. and to distinguish from a contempo- the historical Sunday at 2p.m. rary discussion about crime in events of that Arthur Miller Theatre America. production in Tickets from $10 The colony's leader comes up the book "The with a more creative solution: Playmaker," What about aplay? which itself was adapted into a "What's so fascinating about play by British playwright Tim- these characters is that they are berlake Wertenbaker. This week, really transformed by the play," the Department of Musical The- said MT&D sophomore Jane atre will perform this play, enti- Bruce. "It's what theater is meant tied "Our Country's Good." to do." "It's theater about how impor- Tulip was inspired in part by tant theater can be, in its rawest the work of Prison Creative Arts form," said Malcolm Tulip, an Project (PCAP), an organization assistant professor in the School committed to cultivating artis- of Music, Theatre & Dance and tic expression in prison commu- nities. The testimonials of the R.J. Brown, who plays one of the prisoners in this project will be convicts. "Malcolm encourages printed in the play's program. input from the cast, and the play During rehearsal last week, has really developed." the 17 actors in the ensemble For many of the actors, all of stretched in a circle, groaning and whom are musical theater stu- grunting from the exertion. dents, "Our Country's Good" is "You guys are like the love olHeirflist"straight"play, meaning children of Chewbaccas and Tele- it has no musical numbers. While tubbies, just from all the noises," they explore the flexibility of this Tulip called out good-naturedly. form and identifywiththegrowth of their characters, Bruce said she prefers the somewhat more rigid tour afforded by musicals. M usical theater, trDctu f , Dsiethis preference, Tulip said the students are excelling in m rehearsals. "It's not different from direct- ing other students," said Tulip, In the corner of the rehearsal who leads musical theater stu- room stood a small table with dents in a straight play every nearly all the props for the perfor- year. "I have no conceived ideas mance. The actors will wear black about what the play should look clothing, Tulip said, with smaller like, and we develop the set and articles to denote their charac- approach with the actors. It's a ters, like jackets and hats. Fit- good educational opportunity." ting with the play's emphasis on a And if acting in a play could "raw" form of theater, the focus of rehabilitate a group of convicts, this production is the actors. imagine what it might do for a "The process has been really rag-tag band of musical theater accessible," said MT&D junior students. THE DAILY ARTS WEEKLY Yours for only $0.00 at http://www.michigandaily.com/subscribe A sparkr conedy of ideas, pittig itdulgeqt ronagticism versus connswq good setse. George Bernard Shaw's Directed by Philip Kerr Feb. 17 at7:30 PM Feb. 18 & 19 at 8 PM Feb. 20 at 2 PM Mendelssohn Theatre Tickets $24 & $18 Students $10 wlD League Ticket Office 734-764-2538 www.music.umich.edu Department of Theatre & Drama