The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, November 30, 2011- 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - 5A
Netflix looking for money
in'Arrested' banana stand
ByKELLY ETZ
Daily Arts Writer
The Bluth family is making
a comeback. That's right - the
wonder that is "Arrested Develop-
ment" is back for a fourth season.
Netflix landed exclusive rights
to the new season, which will
air sometime in 2013. The online
streaming service beat out other
major playerslike Hulu and Show-
time for the rights, presumably
aiming to redeem its reputation
after that disastrous price-raising
nonsense.
"Arrested Development" is
actually the third series Netflix
has purchased the rights to, fur-
thering the company's push to
produce more content in addition No touching!
to supplying it. The streaming
PARAMOUNT
"Do I look like fucking Santa Claus to you?"
Scorsese's-3-D gem
'Hugo' a majestic
invention in cadre
of classic film
By SEAN CZARNECKI
Daily Arts Writer
In the wake of "Avatar," 3-D
films continued to double-dip
a formula James Cameron had
already outdat-
ed. They threw
monsters and
explosions Hugo
at the audi-
ence, but never At Quality 16
invited us into and Rave
the film itself
- the so-called Paramount
"immersion"
left viewers feeling violated and
disenchanted. It seems prudent
that a filmmaking legend would
show the world how to make a
3-D movie. And Martin Scors-
ese ("The Departed"), the fur-
ry-eyed maestro, has answered
with his first children's movie,
."Hugo."
It's clear from the opening - a
long continuous shot that is pure
"Scorsese" - this film's use of
3-D was premeditated, unlike so
many post-conversion produc-
tions (see "Clash of the Titans").
As the audience is invited into
the world of Hugo Cabret (Asa
Butterfield, "Nanny McPhee and
the Big Bang"), the camera moves
through throngs of people, mak-
ing the viewer feel so very small
and helpless. It climbs catwalks
and clock towers as drifts of snow
and plumes of steam literally bil-
low in the audience's faces.
While "Hugo" is a technologi-
cal marvel, it's still a Scorsese pic-
ture at heart. The great filmmaker
once said his true interests in his
craft were stories and characters.
His love for both has never been
more apparent than in this film.
Living secretly in the walls of
a Parisian railway station, Hugo
steals spare partsto fix an autom-
aton his deceased father never
finished - but alas, no parts will
do. He shares this dream with a
girl named Isabelle (Chloe Grace
Moretz, "Kick-Ass"), a bubbly
and precocious wordsmith who
also lost her parents.
In addition to the duo, the
secondary characters color each
scene with comic relief and sub-
stance. Like Hugo and Isabelle,
they possess a gooey vulnerabil-
ity that none would like to admit
to. Wounded from the Great War,
Sacha Baron Cohen's ("Bruno")
Inspector Gustav drags his leg in
a brace and admires a flower shop
girl, always at a distance (which
the 3-D beautifully captures),
afraid his deformity doesn't
make him "man" enough for her.
Gustav is the antagonist, but it's
hard not toslove him. , K -
But the most important char-
acter to Hugo (and the film) is
none other than the real-life film
visionary Georges Melies ("A Trip
to the Moon"); a man known as
the world's first cinemagician for
his ability to transform reality on
the silver screen. To Hugo and
Isabelle, he is Papa Georges (Ben
Kingsley, "Gandhi"), a frank toy
shop owner in the railway station.
After Papa Georges is revealed,
it's clear this film tackles much
more than the cute story of an
orphan named Hugo.
Ultimately, this is the closest
Scorsese has come to blending
his life and journey as an artist
with his work. As an asthmatic
boy in Little Italy, he was seques-
tered from the world outside. He
observed people, how they inter-
acted, why they did things - it's
actually how "Goodfellas" came
about.
Like the director, Hugo is an
alienated observer who desper-
ately wants a place in society. He
fixes machines to give them their
purpose, but more than anything
he wants to fix himself. In doing
so, however, he heals the heart of
an old man - George Melies.
Scorsese's life's passion is cine-
ma. One of the underlying themes
of "Hugo" is film preservation,
an issue the Oscar winner has
spearheaded, and he treats this
topic with honesty and care. The
background may be filled with
visual sparkle, but the foreground
always belongs to the characters
he crafts. Butterfield pierces the
screen with his eyes. Moretz is
charming, and her transforma-
tion from the foul-mouthed mini-
hero in "Kick-Ass" to Hugo's
only friend is astounding. As for
Kingsley, Scorsese allows him to
to fill the screen with emotion.
If Melies were alive, he would've
been honored.
With this tour-de-force in 3-D
filmmaking, Scorsese asks his
audiences to embrace this new
form of storytelling. With this
magical cinema love letter, he
reminds the world why films are
so important. With this tale of an
orphan boy, a broken old man, a
lively wordsmith and a hilarious
railway inspector, he reaffirms a
faith in humanity and filmmaking
that should never be forgotten.
Mr. Martin Scorsese: For
your salute to George Melies, we
salute you.
service
tor Da
Netwot
British
Cards"
Is The
ator of
Lc
B
b
also bought both direc- air successful webisodes, often
vid Fincher's ("The Social coming away with little result.
rk") revamp of the original However, put these webisodes
political drama "House of under the umbrella of the success-
and a new series, "Orange ful company like Netflix and they
New Black," from the cre- instantly become more credible.
"Weeds." Instead of glorified advertise-
ments, webisodes could become
actual mini-episodes in their own
right, able to be viewed alone on
oks like our a subscription service, or in com-
3luths have plenentwith the actual series air-
ingonT.
een saved The new season of "Arrested
Development" has been described
as webisode-ish, in that each epi-
sode will follow one character,
he Netflix launch of such instead of the traditional format
ve content is a success, of following all the characters in
he company's streaming interconnected storylines. Once
offers a whole new way of the new season airs, Netflix will
g TV. Though in the future have an idea of how such a webi-
ternet might replace cable sode-type format willbe received.
ts entirety, there's also the If it's successful, the streaming
that streaming services service could continue producing
etflix could be used as an original content, trying out mini-
paniment to cable pro- episodes or even releasing deleted
ing. scenes along with the episode, as a
iy series have attempted to consumer would get with a DVD.
Additional series, besides
"Arrested Development," could
jump on the Netflix bandwagon
as well. Why not bring back other
cancelled cult favorites - "Fire-
fly," "Freaks and Geeks," "Terri-
ers" and countless more?
There is the potential problem
as to how Netflix will finagle the
financial side. It doesn't seemlogi-
cal that many fans of "Arrested
Development" - or fans of any
other series for that matter, die-
hard as they may be - will actu-
ally buy a subscription to Netflix
simply to watch the new episodes.
The company may have to move
to airing advertisements as well
(a first), which could also be unde-
sirable.
If Netflix manages to smooth
things out financially, it may have
a very profitable idea here, one
that could change the way we
view TV altogether. And why not?
As it stands now, the system could
do with a change. All in all, it's
easily summed - out with the
old, in with the new.
If tI
exclusi
then t
service
viewinj
the Int
TV in i
chance
like Ne
accom;
gramm
Man
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
WHAT DO
tHODESIMARSHALLIMITCI*.LL
SCHOLARS-.
DO AFTER THEIR STUDIES
Well, this guy became governor
A lli Iklof Louisiana.
Dimensions of childhood
By ANNA SADOVSKAYA
DailyArts Writer
Recollections of childhood
are limited to certain impor-
tant events: the first toy truck,
learning to
ride a bicycle, Paul Kaiser
a summer on
the beach. But Tomorrow at
where memory 5:10 p.m.
fades, photo
albums, old The Michigan
letters and Theater
grandparents' Free
stories fill in
the blanks. Combining digital art
with choreographed movement,
Paul Kaiser of the OpenEnd-
edGroup will present "Drawing
on Childhood: a 3D Presenta-
tion," which explores the recess-
es of childhood imagination and
experience, tomorrow night.
Kaiser formed OpenEnd-
edGroup with his two partners.
The group is a digital-art collec-
tive based in New York City that
focuses on non-photorealistic
rendering, motion-capture pho-
tography and body movement.
Kaiser's 3-D presentation,
part of the Penny Stamps series,
focuses on how children's inter-
pretations of their surroundings
have influenced his artwork. His
particular interest lies in uncov-
ering the hidden complexities of
childhood games, explorations
and adventures.
Amanda Krugliak, the arts
curator at the University's Insti-
tute for the Humanities, said Kai- "cat's cradle" display of famed
ser's lecture partly results from choreographer Merce Cun-
his past with teaching children at ningham's sensor-laden hands
various levels of disability. as he recreates a performance.
"(Kaiser) started thinkinghow "Packard in 3D" tells the story
they saw the world differently of an abandoned plant through
and how they met the challeng- the perspective of an inquisitive
es of communicating," Krug- child.
liak said. "He always thought of "After seeing the lecture and
childhood in the way we trace hearing his influences, you expe-
human movement or think about rience the installations and really
memories and the unique way begin to understand the nature of
each of us sees the world." his work and understand where
After creating OpenEnd- it comes from," Krugliak said.
edGroup, Kaiser pursued his "One builds off of the other."
interest in childhood and began Kaiser's work, though highly
to create pieces of art that cap- digital, allows a human presence
tured the youthful outlook and to be felt. Rather than distancing
combined it with digital move- from human contact through dig-
ment and fluidity. ital rendering, it allows for anoth-
er area of human interaction to
open up: memory reflection.
Paul Kaiser's "Yo eelike you're looking
back over your experiences,"
digital draw. Krugliak said of Kaiser's work.
"It'sa dreamlike state and as
children, that's kind of the con-
stant state. The work opens you
"(Kaiser) was already putting up in a waythat a child is open to
digital elements into his work his sensory experience."
and as he began thinking about Rather than letting media
tracing human movement and alienate audience members, this
capturing performance or dance, journey through time uses tech-
(OpenEndedGroup) began inves- nology to strengthen personal
tigating different ways to capture interaction.
that movement in a digital way," "It's about preserving art and
Krugliak said. humanity in a digital age," Krug-
Along with a lecture, Kai- liak said.
ser brought two installations And as we progress in the digi-
through the Institute for the tal age, this preservation creates
Humanities: "Loops" and "Pack- a confluence Kaiser's childhood
ard in 3D." "Loops" uses a digital curiosity will have to explore.
What will you do?
Anything you want.
You've written your own game
plan so far in life. Why not take
it one step further and become
a Rhodes, Marshall, or Mitchell
Scholar?
Come to a Rhodes/Marshall/Mitchell Orientation Session:
Monday, January 23, 2012 * 5:00-6:00pm
Henderson Room, Michigan League, 3rd Floor
Thursday, January 26, 2012 . 5:00-6:00pm
Anderson Room ABC, Michigan Union, 1st Floor
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 « 5:00-6:00pm
Pierpont Commons, East Room
SPECIAL SESSION:
How to Write a Rhodes, Marshall, or Mitchell Essay
Thursday, March 1, 2012 * 5:00-6:00pm
Vandenberg Room, Michigan League, 2nd Floor
To learn more, please contact the Provost's Council on Student Honors at
734-763-8123 or visit the website at
www.provost.umich.edu/scholars/
4