T D iMonday, March 7, 2011 - 7A

0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com


FiLM REVIEW
'Another Year' passes by

TV/NEW MEDIA COLUMN
Lost in the Web

Mediocre movie
follows mediocre
people's lives
By EMILY BOUDREAU
Daily Arts Writer
"Another Year" is just what
its title suggests - a close look
into the passing of yet another
year through
the lens of
the lives of an
aging couple. Another Year
Tom (Jim
Broadbent, At the Michigan
"Harry Pot-
ter and the Sony Pictures
Deathly Hal- Classics
lows: Part 1")
and Gerri (Ruth Sheen, "Heart-
less") go about their lives hap-
pily. They work in their garden,
cook dinner and gather around
the table with various friends
and relatives. By no means "I do
are their lives a fairy tale, but
somehow, that makes the real- live
ity of another year in our own of
lives unbearable. Tom and Gerri the
never suffer. Neither one seems to t
to have the usual arthritic pains the
that come with old age. Their som
single concern is that their only frie
son hasn't settled down yet. Like T
the coupling of their names, Tom (Les
and Gerri, their life together has Car
a cartoonish ring to it. holi
At the same time, the passing any
of a year in their lives is devoid Ken
of any sort of spark or passion. Ton
Their happiness is somewhat now
mediocre and hollow, especially thr(
when it's contrasted with the ing
train wrecks around them. It Bra
doesn't seem possible for Tom Dea
and Gerri to sustain themselves. olde
when the people they fill their grie

not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam I Am."

s with are all on the verge
collapse. At the very least,
y should want to reach out
he surrounding world, share
secret of their happiness to
ehow ease the pain of their
nds.
om and Gerri's friend Mary
sley Manville, "A Christmas
ol") is a needy desperate alco-
c who clings disgustingly to
man who gives her attention.
(Peter Wight, "Womb") is
m's childhood friend but is
bent on destroying himself
ough his overeating, smok-
and drinking. Ronnie (David
dley, "Harry Potter and the
thly Hallows: Part 1"), Tom's
er brother, is consumed with,
f after the death of his wife

and stares blankly at walls all
day.
It's these characters, though,
that make the movie so poi-
gnant. Manville's portrayal of
Mary is particularly enthralling.
As hard as it isto watch her wal-
low through her glasses of wine
and rant about the men who
have left her, she's likable and it
makes it that much harder when
her situation never changes over
the course of the year. Ronnie,
Ken and Mary are the ones who
provide humor; their characters,
unlike Tom and Gerri, can laugh
at-themselves. But they are the
ones that are lost in a flurry of
melancholy.
Perhaps what makes "Another
Year" so haunting is that none of

COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
the characters deserving happi-
ness get it. Tom and Gerri don't
particularly seem to warrant the
quaint little lives they've dug out
for themselves. It's this quest for
happiness in an unjust world that
director Mike Leigh ("Happy-
Go-Lucky") dwells on the most.
And this theme gives the movie
a sort of elusive quality. Leigh
never makes clear why some of
his characters are deserving of
happiness and why others aren't.
As realistic as his portrayal and
his perspective is, it's hard not to
want some kind of an answer or
at least a satisfactory resolution.
This feeling of unending suffer-
ing makes "Another Year" a little
hard to endure, especially in the
doldrums of a Michigan winter.

had avery upsetting realiza-
tion over spring break - I'm
an absolute dinosaur when
it comes to
new advance-
ments in
digital media,
a triceratops
obliviously
munchingon
ferns while
dozens of vol-
canoes erupt
around me SHEKHAR
and a meteor PANDEY
the size of
Jude Law's
forehead streaks towards earth.
Once upon a time, I was
always streets ahead when it
came to new technologies, espe-
cially those relating to film and
television. I spread the gospel
of Blu-ray a good three years
before it hit the consumer mar-
ket and I was even a beta tester
for Hulu back in 2007.
But when I went to visit my
friend Xin Xu at Duke Univer-
sity, I saw that somehow, I had
become the equivalent to an
-octogenarian looking up pot pie
recipes on the Google machine.
It all began when I casually
mentioned to Xin that I would
be requiring his television Sun-
day night to watch the Oscars.
"Well, that's a problem," he
replied. "Seeing as I don't have
cable."
Utter bewilderment fol-
lowed. What nonsense! How
does Xin freakin' Xu - the kid
who instilled my passion for
television in the first place by
introducing me to "Arrested
Development" and "Lost" back
in high school - not have a cable
subscription? He explained that
he just watches everything on
Hulu now.
As I launched into atirade
about how watchingshows on
a tiny laptop screen with lousy
computer speakers ruins the
experience, especially elimi-
natingthe novelty of watching
television asa social activity,
Xin sauntered over to his televi-
sion and booted up his PS3. Next
thing I knew, we were watching
the latest episode of "The Office"
in pristine high-definition on his
glorious 42-inch flatscreen with
a group of friends.
"You can watch Hulu on your
PS3?" I exclaimed. Xin respond-
ed in the affirmative, in his clas-
sic "I'm shocked by how stupid
you can be sometimes" tone.
Unbeknownst to me, my big-
gest issue with Hulu had been
eradicated, all without the
hassle of HDMI cables (and in
better quality, too).
It made complete sense - why
pay $200 a semester for a basic
cable package when Hulu Plus
was only $7.99 a month? ButI
thought I had uncovered a flaw
in Xin's plan the next night,
when he was planningto invite
friends over to watch (then) #t
Duke play Virginia Tech in col-
lege basketball. When Itasked
Xin how he planned to watch
the game without cable, he
reprised his "My god, you're
an idiot" tone, explainingthat
you can stream ESPN college
games on an Xbox. As he and his
friends cheered on Nolan Smith,
I sat in amazement at how rap-
idly everything has changed in
television.

My colleague Ankur Sohoni
discussed the digitization of
home video and its effect on the
film industry in a column last
month, arguing that despite the
advent of advanced home the-
ater systems and services like
On Demand, people will still go
to movie theaters because they
provide a matchless, captivating
experience.
The same can't be said for the
digitization of television. Inter-
net-streamed shows provide the
same experience - arguably,
because of unlimited access,
a better one - so why would
people put down cash for a cable
subscription?
The answer is, they won't
- according to The New York
Times, 216,000 cable subscrip-
tions were dropped in the sec-
and quarter of 2010, followed by
119,000 in the third quarter. A
significant factor to explain this
decline has to be people like Xin
who rely on Internet streaming
for their television habits.
Hulu - which is a jointven-
ture between ABC, NBC and
FOX - isn't going to just termi-
nate. It needs to exist, other-
wise people would pirate even
more than they do now, and the
networks wouldn't see a speck
of ad revenue from all these
pirates enjoyingtheir content.
But because Hulu exists, fewer
people can justify continuing
their cable subscriptions, espe-
cially when budgets are tight.
It's a catch-22.
I'm a digital
dinosaur.
People aren't going to stop
usingthe Internet to watch TV
now that the former has been
ingrained into our culture, so
the networks need to find away
to monetize Internet streaming.
And if they don't anytime soon,
it could be game over, man,
for networks like NBC. I can't
say I have a concrete solution
- if I did, I'd be sitting in ack
Donaghy's office up in 30 Rock-
efeller Plaza.
But networks need to begin
with producing shows directly
for the web - developing cheap,
high-quality programs for now
(A la "Children's Hospital"), and
producing "Lost"-caliber shows
in the future, once the model has
proven to be successful. I doubt
it'll be long before the next
"Community" premieres on a
web browser near you.
As for the Oscars, I could
have watched them in a common
room while Xin was at his tutor-
ing job, but instead, I decided
to bring my laptop to his work
and live stream the show so we
could watch it together. I did
feel a bit strange, watchingsuch
a prestigious presentation that I
look forward to each year more
than any other broadcast - for
the first time in my life, on the
Internet. But honestly, we're all
going to be watching them over
the Internet soon enough.
Pandey is still working out
the cellular phone. E-mail him
at kspandey@mih.edu.

TV NOTEBOOK
Sheen-isn't winning' anymore

By JACOB AXELRAD
Daily Arts Writer
Partying with porn stars.
Stints in rehab (and not for a drug
called Charlie Sheen, but the real
kind). It's official. Charlie Sheen
is once again America's bad boy -
except he's 45, which makes him
more like America's bad middle-
aged man, which is kind of sad.
Actually, it's really sad.
In the past few weeks, the for-
mer "Two and a Half Men" star
lashed out against the show's
co-creator Chuck Lorre, openly
discussed his unorthodox route
to sobriety and gave countless
interviews espousing his twisted
views on drugs, relationships
and just about everything in
between. This was all in addition
to the inaugural episode of a live
webcast streamed directly from
his own home entitled "Sheen's
Korner."
I am not a psychiatrist and I do
not know the reason for Sheen's
outlandish behavior. What I do
know is that Twitter feeds and
tabloids alike have had a field
day with his endless rants and
tirades. It seems to take only a
few hours between a new Sheen
saying appearing on the Inter-
net and a magazine cover story

exploiting it for all it's worth
(Tiger Blood and Adonis DNA
anyone?). I suppose this is to be
expected; celebrity self-destruc-
tion fascinates and awes.
My question is, what exactly
attracts us to Charlie Sheen in
the first place? For the past eight
years he's been television's high-
est paid actor, garnering over $1
million for each episode of "Men."
On the series he plays Charlie
Harper, a hedonistic, womaniz-
ing resident of Malibu, Calif. who
drinks all the time, sleeps in and
visibly flaunts his money. In real-
ity, Sheen was raised in Malibu,
drinks, does drugs and sleeps
with lots of women. Is watching
Charlie Sheen play himself really
worth $1 million an episode?
I'll admit that "Two and a Half
Men" was funny for the first cou-
ple years. Loosely summarized,
the show depicts what happens to
Harper when his luxurious bach-
elor lifestyle gets upended once
his brother Alan (Jon Cryer) and
nephew Jake (Angus T. Jones)
come stay with him after Alan's
divorce. The writing was sharp
and the dichotomy between
Sheen, Cryer and Jones was
humorous in a sardonic sort of
way. This led to consistent rank-
ings as the number one sitcom

on television. It was even hailed left only with the real-life Sheen
by The New York Times as "the shouting his absurdities to any-
biggest hit comedy of the past one who will listen - call it what
decade." you will, but saying your brain is
However the success of'"Men" not "from this terrestrial realm"
owes more to Cryer's perfor- is crazy.
mance and Lorre's supervi- For how much longer can
sion than anything Sheen ever Sheen control the media in this
brought to the table. Lorre also fashion? For better or worse, the
gave us hits such as "The Big Bang fictionalized Sheen has already
Theory" and "Mike and Molly." dominated network ratings
Cryer won the Emmy Award for for the past eight years. Can it
Outstanding Supporting Actor really be that this drug-addled,
irresponsible actor is so appeal-
ing that every inane word he
A.45 -year-old spouts must be turned into a new
pop culture reference? Sheen's
man who needs exploits as a young and out-of-
control member of the Brat Pack
to grow up. back in the late '80s and early
t W'90s may have been entertain-
ing. His parody of himself on
TV may have been amusing for a
in a Comedy Series in 2009. Yes, time. But now that he seems to be
Sheen was a pull for many view- going the way of Britney Spears
ers over the years. Yet by the and Lindsay Lohan before him
same token he has now single- (made all the worse by the fact
handedly derailed the series and that, unlike the aforementioned
unveiled that he has tattooed the two, he is actually a family man
catchphrase "Winning" on his of sorts), I recommend that we
wrist. Unfortunately, the ruin- let this midlife crisis play out in
ation of an entire TV franchise is private and, for the time being,
anything but "winning." turn our attention to some good
Now that CBS has canceled the old-fashioned television. After
remaining episodes for the cur- all, "The Big Bang Theory" isstill
rent season, fans of the series are going strong.

Cooley
Open HouseWeek
Experience Cooley -visit any of our campuses.
o'A 41
March 7-10, 2011 * 4-7 P.M.
Monday, March 7 Tuesday, March 8 Wednesday, March9 Thursday, March 10
GRAND RAPIDS LANSING ANN ARBOR AUBURN HILLS
Attend a Cooley Law School spring open house atany of Cooley's four Michigan
campuses.Cooley administrators,department representatives,sudents,and faculty
members will be available to answer your questions about Cooley Law School.
Register online to attend the campus or campuses of your choiceat cooley.edu
or register onsite.
Learn about cooley at cooley.edu
Thomas M. Cooley Law School is committed to a fair and ob*&tie admissions policy Sub ac to space
limitaions, Cooley offers the opportunity for legal educadon to all qualified apptc a.Cookey abides by 11 t
all federal and sate laws against discrimination. In addition, Cooley abides by American Bar Association
Standard 211 (a), which provides that "a law school shall foster and maintain equality of opportunity in
legal education, including employment of faculty and staff, without discrimination or segregation on the "
basis of race. color.neigion, national origin,gender; sexual orientadion age or disabity" Q
Learn more about Cooley Open Houses
tC.02 1.02aa andregister- onlinetosattend
' I9