The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, January 5, 2011- 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - 7A
'Family' getting old
COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX
* NataliR Portman RyR-fucks thR hell out of a mirror.
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Tchaikovsky's original grand
aring black-and- valse before the Ballet Russes was
a tale of tragic love and death -
white ballet miserable Odette yearning for the
attentions of the hapless Prince
By JENNIFER XU Siegfried. "Black Swan" is its com-
SeniorArtsEditor plete perversion. Director Darren
Aronofsky ("The Wrestler") isn't
women of "Black Swan" interested in the honeyed, trans-
their appearances on the figuring quality of love. No, he's
like Kabuki dolls. The star, interested in the mechanics - the
e Port- physical, psychological trauma
("V for behind it all.
ts"). The ***% From its first woozy, tightrope
rch, Bar- step, "Black Swan" is thrown
Hershey Bl k Swanl into an exploration of binaries.
nah and 20th Century Fox Girl and woman, light and dark,
Sisters"). doppelgangers, white swan and
has-been, Atithe Michigan, black swan. When Nina struggles
as Ryder Qualityl6and Rave to embrace her darker role in the
Inter- ballet, something inside of her
"). The fights against it - scratch marks
:e, Mila Kunis ("Forgetting appearing on her porcelain skin,
Marshall"). Virgin, whore, feathers bursting out from all
Madonna - one by one they directions - an internal battle for
heir arms into the spotlight, dominance between the two poles.
de of cake, lipstick, feathers And so Nina's transformation
ood. into the black swan isn't merely a
h a wafer of a body and a performance spectacle - it is her
by voice, Nina (Portman) is coming-of-age party, her transfor-
ned from her gauzy reverie mation from blushing child to self-
pe, pink grapefruit and her destructive woman.
r's (Hershey) shining teeth. Where the binaries really start
'omised to feature me more to get interesting is when they
ason," Nina murmurs. She, begin to manifest themselves in
1 the other aspiring lumi- the film's characters. The posi-
of the New York City Bal- tion of the white swan is guarded
ngers for the lead role in the jealously by Nina's mother. Armed
ny's upcoming production with a tube of pink frosting and
van Lake." Well, be care- an ominous pair of nail clippers,
at you wish for, little Nina, there's something very Freudian,
e you just might get it. Soon almost carnal about the virginal
he pronouncement of her preservation with which she tries
tion to prima ballerina, to smother her daughter. On the
egins a frenzied transfor- other side of the spectrum is Beth
from alabaster lily to Swan (Ryder), a black mascara-smeared
with her life literally in nightmare who's denied the grace
lance - a turn recalling the of exploding across the stars after
abbing salaciousness of "All she throws herself in front of a
Eve" and the melancholy car, Anna Karenina-style, and
becomes a ragged cripple.
Theoretically, then, Aronofsky
has created the flawless master-
piece he set out to create. Yet for
all of its adherence to form and
feminine signifiers and dual-
ity, "Black Swan" doesn't seem to
mean anything important. Almost
every work, whether high or low,
has a message, and its success is
largely dependent on whether the
audience is receptive to it.
"Requiem for a Dream" worked
because we walked out the theater
vowing never to do drugs again.
"The Wrestler" worked because
we felt our hearts shudder every
time we watched the battered,
bruised Randy the Ram catapult
into another punch. But if the
only thing we can come up with
after a screening of "Black Swan"
is, "Man, Natalie Portman really
freaked me out," does this mean
that the film failed to achieve its
message? Or does it mean that it
never had a message to begin with?
In reality, watching "Black Swan"
is nothing more than an experi-
ence - a blistering, fevered, errat-
ic one; It has no lasting power, no
higher concept reigning over the
slow, winding fouettes and reflec-
tive surfaces.
The strangest thing of all is,
this epiphany carries little weight.
The experience of watching Nina's
formidable slide into mania is
equivalent to a long, slow intake of
breath, and all we yearn for is that
jittery aria of a climax. When it
finally comes - a cadenza of beat-
ing wings and pooled blood, where
gilded flesh merges with bone and
sinew - the moment nonetheless
burns fabulously. Even if "Black
Swan" really is all style and no
substance, the style is so bruis-
ingly embedded into the film that
whatever the substance lacks
hardly matters.
By JACOB AXELRAD
DailyArts Writer
It was supposed to be original.
It was supposed to be edgy. It was
supposed to not suck. And yet,
the winner
of the 2009
Emmy Award *
for Outstand- Modern Family
ing Comedy
Series appears Season Two
to be going Midseason
the way of
many sitcoms Wednesdays at 9 p.m.
before it: bor- ABC
ing and safe.
Created by Christopher Lloyd
("Frasier") and Steven Levitan
("Just Shoot Me!"), "Modern
Family" tells the story of three
factions of an extended family in
Los Angeles through a "mocku-
mentary" format. There's Jay (Ed
O'Neill, "Married with Children"),
the old-school patriarch, who's
married to Gloria (Sofia Vergara,
"Madea Goes to Jail"), his beauti-
ful, exotic and much younger wife
from Colombia. Gloria's son, and
Jay's new stepson, is the inquisi-
tive young Manny (newcomer
Rico Rodriguez). Jay's daughter,
Claire (Julie Bowen, "Happy
Gilmore") has three kids of her
own with eccentric husband Phil
(Ty Burrell, "Damages"). Finally,
there's Jay's son Mitchell (Jesse
Tyler Ferguson, "The Class") and
his partner Cameron (Eric Stones-
treet, "CSI"), who have adopted a
Vietnamese baby, Lily.
This dynamic made for hilari-
ous storylines during its first
year on the air. Claire's jealousy
of her very young stepmom, Jay's
rough adjustment to what he often
referred toas "Little Colombia" in
his house, Phil's absurd approach
to parenting and the way Mitch-
ell and Cam struggled to raise a
child. But a show must rise above
its original premise in order to
stay afloat and maintain original-
ity.
Unfortunately, the most recent
episodes have fallen victim to for-
mulaic plot points and preachy,
overly sentimental concluding
speeches, which overshadow the
quality elements that are still
there. So let this serve more as a
warning to the writers than any-
thing else.
The second season started off
strong. The premiere, "The Old
Wagon," dealt with themes of
change and getting older through
the metaphor of an old family
station wagon that Phil refused
to sell. While the three different
families didn't intersect as much
as they had in the previous season,
it was nevertheless an important
reminder of the dysfunctional
yet close familial bond that first
appealed to viewers and critics
alike. "Strangers on a Treadmill"
- a nice little nod to the classic
Hitchcock film - had Claire and
Mitchell conspiring together to
tell each other's spouses the faults
that bother them. This is the kind
of screwball comedy the show
should stick with.
But somewhere around the
Halloween episode it became
clear that this season lacked
imagination. In an effort to get
everyone in the family to play
along with her plan for a haunted
mansion, Claire bemoans the fact
that Halloween is the one holiday
that belongs to her, laying a guilt
trip on the other family members
in the process. Fast-forward to
the most recent episode, "Dance
Dance Revelation," and we can
see an eerily similar storyline.
Once again Claire complains, this
time only to Gloria, that planning
her children's school dance is the
"one thing" that belongs to her.
Coupled with other overly tout-
ed plotlines and repetitive charac-
ter quirks, "Modern Family" is ina
slump halfway through its second
season. Despite powerful acting
from the main cast, aswell as excel-
lent guest performances (Nathan
Lane as Pepper, Mitchell and Cam-
eron's larger-than-life friend; Celia
Weston as Cameron's overly touchy
mother and Danny Trejo as the
janitor atthe school dance, to name
a few) the show's foundation is in
danger of crumbling.
Luckily, Sofia
Vergara is still
really hot.
One might ask how the creative
forces can fix this. For starters,
they could do a bit more showing.
The grand monologues about life
and what it means to be a fam-
ily with which the episodes still
sometimes conclude are out of
place and only hinder the show's
progression. One only needs to
look to other examples of the
"mockumentary" genre (like
NBC's "Parks and Recreation"
and "The Office") to see that this
formula works best when used
to enhance the storylines, not
to bash the viewer over the head
with sentiment.
These are merely suggestions
for a show that has already proven
its worth. It's hard to predict how
the remainder of the season will
pan out. Fans can only keep their
fingers crossed that the train will
get back on the tracks and that
"Modern Family" will rediscover
the spark it once had.
'Grit' is truly great
Ghostface kills with mafia
maturity on Apoiio Kids'
By PHILIP CONKLIN
Daily Arts Writer
If there have been feisti-
er, more fiercely determined
14-year-olds in the history of cin-
ema, they prob-
ably couldn't
match the intel-
ligence and zeal True Grit
of Mattie Ross
in "True Grit." Paramount
In an astonish- AtQuality16
ing film debut, and Rave
Hailee Steinfeld
stars as the nev-
er-say-never youngster on a mis-
sion to avenge her father's death
in this Coen Brothers' film, the
second adaptation of Charles Por-
tis's 1968 novel of the same name.
Her dogged, fiery resolve runs
through all of "True Grit," giving
the film a continuous, headlong
energy.
The filmbegins in an accurate, if
somewhat cliched, Old West com-
munity, complete with saloons,
cowboys and a cheesy soundtrack.
Mattie has come to the Arkan-
sas town from her family's farm
to settle her father's affairs and
find the man who murdered him,
Tom Chancey (Josh Brolin, "No
Country For Old Men"). This is a
tall order for a teenage girl, but it's
clear that Ross is up to the task.
From her negotiations with her
lawyer and a local businessman,
we see that she is independent and
capable - more than equal to her
self-imposed mission.
She enlists the help of Rooster
Cogburn (Jeff Bridges, "Crazy
Heart"), a trigger-happy, one-
eyed U.
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features
S. Marshal known for his horseback. This could become
sness and love of whiskey. tiresome, but the brilliance of the
slips into this role with main characters and the actors'
ompletely inhabiting the performances sustain it, even
er as if he were made to through these mostly actionless
m. Mattie, believing this sequences. But that's not to say
nd-tumble cowboy to be "True Grit" lacks action - the film
t bet for bringing Chancey contains the Coen Brothers' req-
ce, attempts to hire him uisite violence and suspense, with
ter much resistance, suc- a few horse chases and stand-offs
to boot.
Texas Ranger LaBoeuf But for all the technical
Iamon, "The Informant"), elements in the film, it's the
as his own reasons for characters' complexity that
g Chancey, tries to latch ultimately holds it up. Though
eir group. LaBoeuf is equal Mattie's toughness is what imme-
ugh lawman and bumbling diately draws the audience in, her
ich Mattie doesn't hesitate vulnerability is the most endear-
t out. To Mattie's chagrin, ing part of her character, and her
n and LaBoeuf decide to innocence contrasts nicely with
ces, but their differences the coarseness of Cogburn and
constant, humorous quar- LaBoeuf. But their characters
nd who's-the-bigger-man have more to offer, too - both
s. show moments of heroism that
reveal compassion beneath their
hardened exteriors.
)en Brothers The movie is also beautifully
photographed. Roger Deakins,
d new star in the Coens' regular cinematogra-
pher, captures the splendor of the
lee Steinfeld. mountains and forests of the land-
scape, while also highlighting its
unforgiving bleakness.
Although "True Grit" is one of
rtunately, much of the the Coen Brothers' most accessi-
ent in the town is setup ble films - featuring a traditional
racter development, but narrative and archetypal char-
e setting shifts, there is acters - the movie bursts with
ediate shift in tone. In the life and energy. Rarely is a dull
ess, the constantcfeeling of moment in sight. While it may not
nt danger lends the film a receive the artistic accolades of
tension that it lacks in the some of the Coens' previous films,
ity setting. this relentlessly entertaining film
h of the film's middle third is a more than respectable entry in
s the three characters on their impressive oeuvre.
By ELLIOT ALPERN
Daily Arts Writer
Ghostface Killah, in his latest
record, emerges from the muddled
debris of a previous R&B-tinged
attempt to put it
on the line once
more. On Apollo
Kids, the 40-year- ApolloIKids
old calls upon Iu
fellow Wu-Tang Ghostface
members, friends Killah
and even family to Def Jam
contribute. In the
process, he hap-
pens to produce a genuine hip-hop
success. All of the components for
failure are present: He should be too
old for rap and his last album was a
departure from his usual style. Still,
Apollo Kids manages, above it all, to
be sincerely entertaining.
The lyrics are intelligent (most
of the time) and the beats are
unique. But what makes Apollo Kids
a triumph is Ghostface's ability to
blend grit and finesse. He's 40, but
he knows it, and this knowledge is
reflected in the music. In "Drama,"
Ghostface raps, "It's not a code of
La Cosa Nostra to roast ya / I get a
little closer." Instead of the juvenile
gang violence referenced by most
modern rappers, he's graduated to
the maturity of the mafia - a theme
that is echoed in other tracks
("Black Tequila"). Likewise, the
music has grown up - he doesn't
just rely on a beat and tired, ste-
reotyped rhymes, but he manages
to create varied and nuanced verse.
"2getha Baby" is instantly
noticeable among the other tracks
on Apollo Kids. Though the lyrics
are rather ordinary, the song inte-
grates them in a way that makes it
unique. It begins with a sample of
"Together" by '60s soul band The
Intruders, which repeats through-
out the song and brings to mind the
era of theTemptations. It is a fusion
of old and new, of romantic love
and superficial pursuit. Beyond its
contrast, it is one of the most blunt-
ly enjoyable tracks on the album.
Occasionally, Ghostface Killah is
upstaged by one of the many guests
he brings in - though this actually
benefits the album. In the Latin-
themed "Black Tequila," Ghostface
combines culinary allusions with
self-aggrandizing claims ("I'm
half black, half oregano / That's
half Italian, who he I'm from that
island"), but it's protege Trife Die-
sel who steals the song. As the third
Gangsta rapping
is not just for
the young.
and last rapper on the track, he tells
the typical rise and fall of a pro-
claimed "gangsta disciple." Trife's
segment is brief but effective, and
is eventually more memorable than
Ghostface's contribution.
"Purified Thoughts" is easily the
album's pinnacle. Though it may not
be obvious initially, listening to the
rest of Apollo Kids provides a cer-
tain context that makes the song all
the more deep and meaningful. It's
intense, rugged and strangely con-
templative. The song draws upon
Them Two's soulful "Am I A Good
Man," as Wu-Tang Clan members
Ghostface Killah, GZA and Killah
Priest discuss, among other things,
God, death, heaven and success. It
is unsettling in all the right places
- after Ghostface Killah's verse,
the sample asks, "Am I a good man?
Am I a fool?" to which Killah Priest '
replies, "Don't know" and "We'll
see," respectively.
The song feels like a hip-hop
judgment day as each contributor
shares his finalthoughts. Ghostface
Killah fantasizes about his influ-
ence on his death day, as he is left
"wishin' they could bury me next
to the prophets." Killah Priest navi-
gates his vision of the afterlife with
skillful and precise diction, going
through "hell's cavity" to "where
the jackals be." GZA finally leaves
us off with a heavy appraisal of life
and moral compromise: "Where
the youths kept comin' back with
they life earnings / Ready to make
a deal, soul and pipe burning." Each
line is deep in meaning and it goes
to show that Ghostface Killah is
still a force to be reckoned with.
"DAAAAAAYUM N!"
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