8A -- Monday, November 21, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
FILM REVIEW
ALUM ADAPTATION
All yawns in 'Breaking Dawn
ByADITI MISHRA
Daily Arts Writer
It's widely believed that the
meaning of a child's name is one of
the most important influences in -
the develop-
ment of his or
her person-
ality. "The 1keTi;,I4l
Twilight
Saga: Break- Saga:Breaking
ing Dawn - Dawn-Pat Y
Part 1" aptly
proves that At Quality16
this notion is and Rave
not limited
to children Sammil
alone.Lke its
\overlong title, this movie is seem-
fngly endless, dull-witted and
often excruciatingly boring. "My knight just took ... your virginity."
Yet it's not the first in this
6
series
which
do the
box o
about
out in
fansc
intelli
to garner such scrutiny, infatuations, to expect the same
begs the question - why magic out of these movies.
ese films continue to break However, the latest installment
ffi records? What is it of "The Twilight Saga" is far from
them that draws people magical. It's a vapid, superficial
hordes and makes ardent display of beautiful faces and
out "of some of the most sets that doesn't even bother to
gent among us? explore the connotations of "eter-
nity" and "guilt" that resonated
throughout the books.
M ore sex And if the emotions attached
ore to these concepts aren't being
less chess. explored, what was the point of
dividing this book into a two-part
movie? When Summit Entertain-
ment announced its decision
e answer lies, perhaps, in to divide "Breaking Dawn," it
lorified notion of immor- seemed like the company wanted
and everlasting love that torepeat the formulathat worked
ooks promote and we, as so beautifully for the "Harry Pot-
ns, constantly crave. Our ter" franchise - explore the rela-
tion with "happily ever tionships between the characters
has endured in centuries in the first part, then follow up
pular folklore - especially with the grueling action of an
nvolving Prince Charming, epic finale.
this case, a glittering, gor- Alas, this wasn't what Summit
vampire. So it makes sense had in mind. In its disappoint-
opelessly romantic teenag- ing attempt to capitalize on every
long with adults reminisc- second of this film, it sacrificed
out their passionate teenage the genius of director Bill Con-
don ("Dreamgirls") for a shallow,
substandard recipe that looks
good and tastes foul. Yes, the
highly anticipated "wedding of
the century" is tasteful and ethe-
real - Bella's (Kristen Stewart,
"The Runaways") wedding gown
had every girl in the audience
drooling. But after that, the movie
plummets into shadowy depths
with vampiric speeds.
The apparently "animalistic"
attraction Edward (Robert Pat-
tinson, "Water for Elephants")
and Bella shared in the books is
far from apparent in the movie.
The honeymoon, in particular, is
a prolonged affair that involved
little sex and a lot of chess. Yes,
it's as strange as it sounds. If only
Condon's direction and Melissa
Rosenberg's ("The Twilight Saga:
Eclipse") script had captured Bel-
la's sexual cravings and Edward's
painful reservationswith as much
captivating grace as the Brazilian
scenery, we'd be looking at one of
the best films in the "Twilight"
series so far.
Instead, the actors, who've
matured astonishingly since
the first movie in 2008, had few
chances to showcase their newly
acquired skills. Stewart, Pattinson
and Taylor Lautner ("Abduction")
are ultimately left with the preg-
nancy scenes to exhibit the psy-
chological conflicts that should
have persisted throughout the
film. Poor Anna Kendrick ("Up in
the Air") - never again should an
Academy Award nominee have to
play such a useless part in such a
disappointing movie.
Maybe Condon realized this
movie reached a miserable low
when he decided to make the
birth scene at the end so shock-
ingly gory. Though it is the first
scene that lived up to its literary
counterpart, it wasn't enough
to save "Breaking Dawn" from
breaking down.
If Summit doesn't fix what-
ever caused this movie to go so
hopelessly awry in time for part
two, "The Twilight Saga" might
A Christmas
story for 'U'
6
Th
the g
tality
the b
huma
obsess
after"
of po
lore it
or in
geous
for hi
ers, al
ing ab
How three 'U'
alums helped craft
holiday musical
By LUCY PERKINS
Daily Arts Writer
becom
own s(
pires
TV NOTEBOOK
. Tv6ie -Qrop of strong female ch
ByKAYLA UPADHYAYA
DailyArts Writer
A witch, a vampire, a queen,
a federal agent and a scheming
socialite - at first glance, these
characters don't seem to have
much in common. But together
they make up an A-team of tele-
vision's best new female charac-
ters. All six are dynamic, strong
female characters for varying
reasons. Forevery Liz Lemon and
Leslie Knope, there are at least a
dozen one-dimensional and sex-
ist representations of women on
television (look no further than
most of FOX's new program-
ming), which makes these six
outstanding female characters all
the more valuable.
Let's start with Carrie Mathi-
son (Claire Danes) of Showtime's
new fast-paced political drama
"Homeland." Early in the show,
we find out Carrie suffers from
a personality disorder. Though
we have yet to see the form her
condition takes when she's not
on medication, Carrie is a fireball
who always seems on the brink of
exploding. Though high up in the
CIA ranks, she's marginalized
by her coworkers for her radical
theories. Sometimes the sexism
is subtle and sometimes it's a
bit more obvious, like when one
male coworker jokes that Carrie
might owe him sex after he helps
with one of her cases. But Carrie
remains strong and determined
in her work and life, even taking
on a gang of neo-Nazis in a bar.
Granted, she was drunk, but it
was still awesome.
Teen witch Faye Chamberlain
(Phoebe Tonkin) of "The Secret
Circle" is unstable and unpredict-
able like Carrie. She is brutally
honest and more perceptive than
the other characters, able to see
what is happening before anyone
else. Faye could have easily been
written as the beautiful, bitchy
popular girl, but instead she is
lonely. She's a bad girl with self-
esteem problems who tends to
say rude things to her friends but
always has their best interests in
mind. She is also the most realistic
of the witches on the show in that
she just wants to have fun with
her powers. Hey, if I found out I
was a witch, I'd be casting spells
left and right, too.
This television season has also
been great for new female vil-
lains, like Rebekah (Claire Holt) of
"The Vampire Diaries." Rebekah
is super-villain Klaus's (Joseph
Morgan) sister, which makes her
one of the Original Vampires. She
is vicious and powerful, having
little regard for human life. But in
usual "Vampire Diaries" fashion,
Rebekah isn't wholly evil: Family
is the most important motivator the hi
for her, and she loves passion- is all-
ately. And though Rebekah thinks What
humans are weak and inferior, she fascin
enrolls in high school, joins the refres
cheerleading squad and worries is all s
about choosing a homecoming and ni
dress. She is a thousand-year-old latter
vampire and all she really wants is in soa
to be a normal girl. Like I
ily fir
heels,
ton sc
Spoiler: No tonest
role tI
Deschanel here. impri
six wo
harde
And then there is Regina Mills acteri
(Lana Parrilla), better known as We've
the Evil Queen, of "Once Upon A acters
Time." The Evil Queen was the ers wI
one to place a curse on fairy-tale make,
world, sending all of the famil- believ
iar characters to a place where Wh
they would no longer have happy Whed
endings: our world. As both The Slayer
Queen and Regina, she is cold and writes
calculating. But as with Rebekah, charac
there's depth to her. She runs this you're
town (literally, she is the mayor tion."
of Storybrooke) and though she others
doesn'thave the bestway ofshow- dynan
ing it, I'm convinced she cares presei
abouther son. this yi
I saved Emily Thorne (Emily neys a
VanCamp) of "Revenge" for last that fe
because she doesn't really fit in a wor
e more of a joke than its Christmas is only 34,026 min-
atirical counterpart, "Vam- utes away as Ralphie and the
Suck." gang count down in the opening
number of "A Christmas Story,
The Musical!" at Detroit's Fish-
er Theater. On a stage framed
by cosmic sparkling snowdrifts,
e] y ] a1 GG11c ;erS the trials and tribulations of an
r aCters all-Americn Christmas take
the audience for a wild holiday
ero or villain category and ride through the musical styl-
around hard to figure out. ings of 2007 'U' alums Justin
I do know is that Emily is Paul and Benj Pasek.
ating and complex. I find it Under the musical direc-
hing that her elaborate plan tion of 2003 alum Ian Eisen-
o she can avenge her father, drath, the Parker family argues
ot a lost lover. I feel like the about who gets to pick out the
scenario is a bit played out Christmas tree, where the fish-
py dramas like "Revenge." netted, high-heeled burlesque
tebekah, Emily places fam- lamp should be plugged in and,
st. She is Robin Hood in of course, whether Ralphie will
taking out wealthy Hamp- ever get a Red Ryder Carbine
cialites one-by-one for the Action BB gun ("You'll shoot
hey played in her father's your eye out!").
onment. "We tried to capture the
at I love most about these mania of (Christmas) and the
imen is that none of them is quirkiness of the family without
ned. A strong female char- ruining it," Pasek said.
doesn't need to be invincible. The musical, based on the
seen each of these char- movie of the same name, first
cry, care and rely on oth- hit the stage in 2006 in Kansas
hen necessary. This doesn't City. But the music and lyrics
them weak - it makes them changed entirely when Pasek
able, complex and human. and Paul became involved and
en director and writer Joss rewrote the score and lyrics.
on ("Buffy the Vampire During this holiday season, the
") was once asked why he production is touring the coun-
so many strong female try, stopping in Detroit from
cters, he replied, "Because Nov. 15-27 before heading to
still asking me that ques- Chicago.
These six characters and According to Paul, big-time
prove that well-written, musical productions like "A
nic female characters are Christmas Story" are always
nt on primetime television being perfected by the producer
ear. But there are still Whit- and musical team and often go
nd New Girls reminding us through major musical and lyri-
minism on television is still cal changes as they grow.
k in progress. Eisendrath was musical direc-
tor for the show's first production
in Kansas City and experienced
its reincarnation after Pasek and
Paul joined the group.
According to Eisendrath, five
or six teams tried out for the job,
each given the task to write a
new opening-number.
"I was immediately taken
with Pasek and Paul's take on
the opening," Eisendrath said. "I
wanted to go with what sounded
the best and the most theatrical
- I didn't even realize that we
had gone to the same school."
In fact, Esendrath had just
missed the creative duo at the
University. In the summer of
2003, Eisendrath had just grad-
uated, and Pasek and Paul came
to Ann Arbor for the first time
as incoming freshmen, becom-
ing friends after meeting at ori-
entation.
But regardless of timing, the
three 'U' alums had little diffi-
Federall culty working with one another
NCUA Insed Y on the show's newest version.
NU "Because we've all received
training from (the University),
we're all very much on the same
page and have similar points of
view and similar vocabularies to
work with," Eisendrath said.
After Pasek and Paul were
hired in March 2010, they had
three months to compose a score
and write new lyrics before pre-
senting their progress in June.
"Our situation was really
advantageous and daunting at
the same time," Pasek said. "The
show had already been done
successfully in Kansas City, so
the structure and script were
already there andehe moments
'were akeadly ripe for sngs."
Pasek and Paul began their
work by "song spotting," look-
ing for places in the script where
they thought there should be a
song but previously wasn't.
According to Pasek, an addi-
tional song created by the duo
entitled "Ralphie to the Rescue,"
stemmed from a 45-second clip
from the movie. In the film, Ral-
phie daydreams about saving his
family with his Red Ryder BB
gun when robbers break into his
home.
"In the musical, this became a
big number where Ralphie gets
to live out his fantasy and be a
cowboy," Pasek said. "There's
a saloon shootout scene in the
song, he rescues his teacher and
family, and there's a bank rob-
bery scene all in one song."
The team struggled to uphold
the story's integrity, fall within
a reasonable run time and all
the while avoid the cheesy glitz
sometimes found in musical
productions.
Because of their friendship,
the music and lyrics team were
able play off each other while
staying true to the story.
"If I don't like what he writes
or he doesn't like what I write,
we don't have to tiptoe around
each other," Pasek said. "At the
end of the day we're friends and
collaborators, so even if he hates
my ideas he doesn't hate me."
The duo has come a long
way since their orientation at
the University. As sophomores
in 2005, they wrote the musi-
cal "Edges." The production,
which was performed the Ker-
rytown Concert House, marked
the beginning of their careers as
composers and lyricists.
When Pasek and Paul's pro-
duction of "A Christmas Story"
premiered last year in Seattle,
Paul remembered the over-
whelming pre-show feeling,
tinged with excitement.
"I remember being in the the-
ater before the show opened,"
Paul said. "I was sitting in
the balcony looking down at a
2,300-seat house and realizing
our show would be onstage."
Though "A Christmas Story"
has been immensely well
received wherever it's gone,
Eisendrath, Paul and Pasek
are especially excited to bring
the show home to Michigan,
the state where their musical
careers began.
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