The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January U7, 2012 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, January17, 2012 - 5A
Polanski's'Carnage'
is tense, not intense
Giving up and getting
off the 'Glee' train
Adrenaline can't
replace reality in
star-studded film
By AKSHAY SETH
Daily Arts Writer
"Carnage," a dark comedy from
Roman Polanski ("The Pianist"),
is an unfortunate depiction of
Hollywood's
take on modern
parenthood.
The stereotypi- C a
cally apathetic
fathers and the At Rave and
equally phony the State
mothers are
played to per- Sony Pictures
fection by an Classics
A-list cast, but
we leave the theater with a sense
that Polanski took his material
too seriously - like he thought
his film would hit harder than it
really did.
The movie is like a 75-minute
adrenaline rush, quickly pick-
ing up speed until it reaches a
palpable breaking point. The
context behind all the mayhem
is an awkward meeting between
two couples whose children
were recently involved in a
physical altercation that result-
ed in one of the kids losing two
teeth.
The victim's parents are the
smugly "politically correct"
Penelope (Jodie Foster, "The
Silence of the Lambs") and her
crass husband Michael (John C.
Reilly, "Step Brothers"). They
square off against workaholic,
down-to-earth Alan (Christoph
Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds")
and his weary wife Nancy (Kate
Winslet, "Titanic"). Things
begin slowly enough; both cou-
ples hesitantly agree that the
best course of action would be
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
"We shouldn't have gane on Chtroulette."
to allow the two children to sort
out their differences without too
much parental involvement.
Penelope, however, takes
offense when Alan passively
calls her son a snitch for ratting
out another boy his age. This
initial spark is all that's needed,
and before long, every character
has lost any remaining sense of
restraint or dignity. First, it's
couple versus couple, then hus-
band against wife and, finally,
men against women. Eventu-
ally, everyone's drinking scotch
while hurling insults at the clos-
est person.
It's this spontaneous decom-
position of civility that Polanski
tried to capture on screen - to
somehow expose it as the B.S. it
really is. And even though most
of the exchanges among the
characters are hilariously acer-
bic and witty, we never get the
sense that they're quite plausi-
ble. Rather, it seems as if what's
happening on screen is more a
byproduct of how screwed up
the characters are. It's only nat-
ural that when you get two failed
marriages in the same claustro-
phobic room, crazy shit is going
to happen.
That sense of claustrophobia,
which Polanski is known for
using so effectively to create vol-
atility between his characters,
feels rushed and incomplete this
time around. The conversations
take place in close proximity,
and all four characters are never
more than a few feet apart from
each other. The problem is that
Polanski doesn't use the camera
to make his audience feel like
they are a part of the dialogue.
The failure to do so allows us
to remain coolly detached and
adds to the feeling that what's
happening in the movie is not a
depiction of real life.
"God of Carnage," the 2009
play from which this film is
adapted, also featured high-cal-
iber actors and superb writing.
But somehow, the chemistry
between those actors felt more
relatable, more believable.
In Polanski's adaptation, the
actors are delivering the lines
wonderfully, but it looks like
they're just spouting them for
the sake of spouting them. The
undeniable intention to harm
that we saw in the play never
surfaces behind the lines in the
movie, making Polanski's anti-
civility message seem more and
more like an oddity. In short,
yes, "Carnage" is funny and
entertaining, but it's also a dark
comedy that lacks any real con-
text for darkness.
This year, I did something
I rarely do - I gave up
on a television show. As
someone who claims to watch
all the TV, it takes a lot for me
to place a
show on the
chopping
block. Typi-
cally, it has
to repeatedly
offend me
or leave me
fuming at KAYLA
episode's end UPADHYAYA
week after
week before
I decide it isn't worth my time.
This TV season, "Glee" finally
got the axe.
Let's be honest, "Glee" frus-
trated me before this season even
began, but I held out hope that it
would improve. After the season
three premiere, I decided I'd had
enough of Ryan Murphy and his
show from hell (nope, I'm not
talking about "American Horror
Story"). But when this season's
Christmas episode received an
'F' from A.V. Club critic Todd
VanDerWerff (a grade I've only
seen once before ... coincidental-
ly, also for an episode of "Glee"),
I was so shocked "Glee" had
managed to further decline that
I had to go back and watch what
I'd missed. Sure enough, I was
met with the show's trademark
incoherency and idiocy.
But what kills me the most is
that "Glee" hasn't always been
this horrible. When it first began,
it was a show about a group of
misfits longing for acceptance
and a man struggling to hold
onto his youth and mend a failing
marriage. Where did it all goso
wrong?
Sure, the "misfits" of McKin-
ley High are played by an unreal-
istically beautiful cast, but I was
willingto let that slide. "Glee"
is, after all, musical theater on
television, not a realistic expos6
of high school life. The glee club
could burst out in harmonized
song and synchronized dance,
backed by a full band, all without
a single piece of sheet music, and
I wasn't
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and is u
his own
preachy
creepy.
Will's
going to question it. have been enough for me to quit
e first season progressed, "Glee" in its second season, butI
d more continuity prob- kept grasping at the few things I
ose, and I couldn't give still enjoyed about it. Those few
musical-theater free pass things can be succinctly summed
vriters anymore. Quinn up with a single name: Santana
a Agron) is kicked out (Naya Rivera). The only strong
ouse, then kicked out of female character on "Glee" can
Cory Monteith) house, be a bitch, but she can also be a
e writers don't bother caring friend and show moving
ing where she's living, so moments of vulnerability. When
assume she's homeless. she started questioningher sex-
rns out she's living with uality midway through season
lark Salling), and then two, her are had the potential to
ually invited to live with be one of the most poignant sto-
es (Amber Riley) in an ries the show had ever tackled.
that makes Quinn-Mer- In usual "Glee" fashion, the
ok like the ultimate best- writers messed it all up. This sea-
hip - almost making you son, after the other girls of the
hat it has never before glee club stick up for Santana,
tablished that these two they all burst out in a chorus of "I
e each other. So that's Kissed a Girl." Yes, they followed
u missed on "Glee?" a scene meant to indicate that
being a lesbian isn't a choice San-
tana made with a song all about
ll Schuester straight girls making out with
other girls for funsies. For being
the worst, a show that supposedly champi-
ons gay teen story lines, "Glee" is
really missing the mark.
Ultimately, the greatest failure
second season, "Glee" of "Glee" is its inability to adapt.
from one underdevel- Sue (Jane Lynch) is still trying
ory to the next, switching to destroy the glee club, Will's
d focus so often that it still the worst, and these kids
a perpetual drunken still care more about popular-
leading nowhere. Speak- ity than supporting each other.
runken stumbles, remem- And I can't help but notice the
one episode "Glee" did lack of glee this season. None
en drinking in which of these characters are happy. I
e kids basically became thought this show was supposed
oholics overnight? I wish to explore serious issues and pro-
say that was the show's vide some musical escapist fun.
t move in season two, but I think this is the end for
on't think it even makes "Glee" and me ... again. Though
five. I used to be a bona fide "gleek,"
ne It on the Alcohol" our relationship has become far
looks like a masterpiece too tumultuous to be healthy.
isode compared to "The Full disclosure: I'll probably
Horror Glee Show." In never stop listening to Mat-
aster, Will Schuester thew Morrison and Neil Patrick
ew Morrison) is officially Harris's version of"Dream On"
hed as the worst charac- or Naya Rivera's original hit
levision. By this point, "Trouty Mouth," but in all other
ly cares about himself, respects, I'm officially severing
sing the kids to further ties.
FILM REVIEW
Lazy story, typical action
can't carry 'Contraband'
goals. He's pathetic,
, and frankly, a little
s irredeemability should
Upadhyaya is murdering TV
shows in her dorm room. To assist,
e-mail kaylau@umich.edu.
'Future' is too bright
By PHILIP CONKLIN
Daily Arta Writer
There's a certain stigma
about movies that come out at
this time of year. Out of con-
tention for
awards season,
these January
releases are Contraband
usually forgot-
ten among the AtQuality16
hoopla sur- and Rave
rounding the
Golden Globes Universal
and Academy
Awards. "Contraband" epito- "I love you."
mizes this kind of movie. It's
exciting enough to hold a view- end the sm
er's attention but offers nothing Iceland
resembling originality or wit, Kormakur
and is forgotten as soon as one Icelandic
leaves the theater. Rotterdam
Mark Wahlberg ("The Fight- traband"
er") stars as Chris Farraday. directoria
Once a legend in the smug- never deve
gling community, he's now a of hand-I
family man with two kids, a become th
beautiful wife (Kate Beckin- movies
sale, "Everybody's Fine") and Bourne Id
a safe distance from the crimi- some of t
nal underworld he once thrived quite excit
in. That distance is evaporated rise above
when his brother-in-law Andy shootout o
(Caleb Landry Jones, "X-Men:
First Class") gets in bad with a
ruthless drug dealer (Giovanni Co
Ribisi, "Avatar"), and Chris has
to pull one last smuggling job to has i
save Andy and his own family.
All this may sound familiar. th
That's because there's noth-
ing in "Contraband" that hasn't
been seen before. The movie
misses its best opportunity for The file
originality in not delving into is in the
the specifics of smuggling. If nothing
There's the suggestion of a keeps the a
dark, intriguing world of con- the edge of
traband trafficking, but the film many effe
only hints at this world, rather ing scenes
than exploring its nuances. The movie, at a
result is that the viewer neither feels quic
understands nor feels particu- as the film
larly invested in how or to what Orleans t
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tuggling is done. the stakes get higher), becomes
ic director Baltasar so convoluted and undergoes so
r (who starred in the many twists and turns that the
movie "Reykjavik- climax feels unsatisfying.
," on which "Con- It's also hard to care about
is based) has a sure characters who are sketched so
d hand, but his vision broadly. The only thing we really
elops beyond the sort know about Chris, the only thing
held style that has that keeps us invested in his
he norm for action character, is that he has a fam-
since 2002's "The ily. However, it's really only the
dentity." And while outline of a family: The kids sim-
he action scenes are ply remain cute, faceless targets
ting, they never quite of sympathy, and Beckinsale, as
the everyday movie the wife, is the concerned, beau-
r car chase. tiful wife type. The villains are
so extreme as to be caricatures
- as drug dealer Tim Briggs,
rntraband Ribisi is just a snarling, tattooed
criminal, and completely one-
never been dimensional. When someone is
so totally evil, it's hard to believe
is bland. or connect at all with what he's
*doing.
In the end, "Contraband"
isn't a bad film, but that's about
m's greatest strength the best that can be said about
way it builds tension. it. It's just entirely mediocre -
g else, "Contraband" not good enough to rave about
audience members on and not bad enough to hate.
f their seats. There are The film just trots along at a
ective, heart-pound- familiar pace through familiar
- enough that the events, never diverging enough
lmost two hours, still from the expected path to be
k. But the narrative, memorable. And it will be for-
traverses from New gotten like so many other Janu-
o Panama City (and ary action movies of years past.
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By KATIE STEEN rus: Fu
DailyArts Writer over at
it or n
ou get a chance to talk to head u
g Pink in the near future, Robert
make the London duo indign:
ad. Insult The
mothers. Grounc
nd them off pro
inevita- a sini
of death. with w
bout how Future This cyborg
where out Furze i
a polar 4AD ics in
s strand- it's bee
an ice floe. It doesn't mat- songs.'
just make them unhappy. offers
such more conducive to form c
music. and -i
their sophomore album tar? Ye
e This, electro boys Robbie tion, h
and Milo Cordell decided detract
ty from their darker sound imalist
in 2009's A Brief History But the
ve. In an interview with of "Hit
Cordell gave his opinion on robo-la
but LP: "I think that first distinc
I wasn't fun," he said, elab- sample
g on the shift in strategy Supern
ture This. "We just tried to the ori
something more positive, made i
upbeat, something more Big Pit
dance to." to theF
In an attempt to make their
fans happy, Furze and Cordell
have fully embraced the temp-
tation of pop, but the fun soon
fizzles, and consuming too
much of their bloated, bubbly,
artificially-flavored electro-pop
leaves the listener with a pound-
ing headache.
"Stay Gold," the first track
and single off the album, starts
off with an intro of "Sweet Child
O' Mine"-like quality. At that
point, there is still hope, but
then Furze begins singing lyr-
ics that don't really make any
sense at all ("Up is up and so is
down") in an irritatingly British
monotone. Then there's the cho-
arze pleading "stay gold"
nd over - a line that, like
ot, will get stuck in your
pon first listen. Honestly,
Frost would have been
ant.
next track, "Hit the
d (Superman)," also starts
misingly, beginning with
ster beat accompanied
hat sounds like a cackling
. But next thing you know,
s screeching out trite lyr-
a chorus that sounds like
4A0
en done in 50 other pop berating xylophone so meek it's
There is an interlude that almost adorable. "77" is similarly
some sort of relief in the toned down - lucid and uncom-
sf warbling synthesizers plicated in its instrumentation,
is that an unplugged gui- with a less-shrill-than-usual
s, yes it is! Even this sec- chorus. Even the lyrics are more
owever, is highly layered, candid, discussing how Furze
ting from the precise min- misses someone. As soon as the
n the song begins with. music becomes unguarded and
e most disappointing part remorseful, it loses its over-
t the Ground" is that the hyped sweetness and is actually
tughter - the song's most digestible.
t aspect - is simply a The most captivating track of
of Laurie Anderson's "O the album, "1313," has an almost
nan." The sparseness of six-minute length - daunt-
ginal track is part of what ing to say the least - but the
t so well received, but the time frame allows the Big Pink
nk complicates its sound to distribute melodies moder-
point of unpleasantness. ately rather than vomiting out
electronic white noise for three
minutes. The song has pleas-
antly distinct sections, finishing
Weet, p p with a stream of distortion and a
unes don't 40-second drum solo.
The Big Pink's biggest prob-
rork for Big lem with Future This is that it
tries too hard to please. Furze
ink's latest. and Cordell have jammed as
many electronic flourishes as
possible into this album in an
attempt to sound poppy and
simplicity that does exist danceable, but what is meant to
ure This is what offers be lighthearted and energetic
emblance of a break from instead leaves listeners light-
nstop barrage of indistin- headed and exhausted. The Big
ble electronic noises and Pink needs to be reminded to
accented whining. "The focus on the music first, and the
" begins with a rever- enjoyment will come naturally.
t
P
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some sE
the not
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overly-
Palace'
k