The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 -
Adaptations not 'Great'
Uplifting follow-up
The "Harry Potter" movies
were better than the books. Now
that I have your attention, it's
time to discuss an important
matter: adapting a book into a
movie. It's an
old topic, but
an important
one nonethe-
less, given a
movie slated
to hit the-
aters one year
from now: JACOB
"The Great AXELRAD
Gatsby."
Despite
its distant release date, a recent
article in The New York Times
reminded me of an important
fact concerning this oft-adapted
novel: You can't make a good
movie version of "Gatsby."
I first learned this lesson
when my 11th-grade-English
teacher showed us the third
incarnation of "The Great Gats-
by" on film after finishing our
unit on the book. I was stunned.
How could they take a novel I
really liked and make such an
awful movie that was so stilted,
slow and boring?
As the story goes, Nick Car-
raway, a young Ivy League grad,
moves to the West Egg of Long
Island upon graduation to begin
his life. The year is 1922 and it's
the Jazz Age - the film's inclu-
sion of all of that era's gaudy
splendor creates a rich backdrop,
complete with bootlegging and
phrases like "old sport." Nick
soon meets his neighbor, the
mysterious Jay Gatsby. Gatsby
is in love with Daisy Buchanan,
who is in turn in a relationship
with Tom Buchanan, a kind
of meathead in fancy clothes.
Gatsby throws lavish parties
and pines after Daisy, but does
not ultimately get the girl of his
dreams. That's about it. Seri-
ously.
So far, there have been six
film versions made of "Gatsby,"
including a silent film and a
Korean adaptation. After the
lacklus
Robert
they tr
been) t
version
("DieA
on A&]
of Fitz
transla
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and me
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But.
and the
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11th gr
the tea
how G:
Buchar
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I'm sur
factors
(in fact
forced,
topic),l
and all
well al'
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filmed
The
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try tha
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new fil
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But I c
story p
greater
a movi
camera
an exte
explain
ter 1974 version starring the disintegration of American
t Redford in the title role, values in an age of cynicism and
ied for (what should have hope lost.
he last time in 2000: a TV Unless Luhrmann and Co.
starring Toby Stevens plan on adding in a shootout,
knother Day") that aired or a government conspiracy, or
E. Each time, the beauty time travel, audiences can likely
gerald's words was lost in expect a simple, frivolous movie
tion. When read, the nov- about deeply complex people.
ening words are powerful Perhaps Leonardo DiCaprio in
r lyricism: "In my younger the lead role will be eye candy
ore vulnerable years my enough to propel the movie
gave me some advice through two-and-a-half hours
ve been turning over in of what amounts to characters
nd ever since." Fitzgerald thinking intensely about the
write, and he pulls us in things they really want out of
-om the get-go. life. Maybe Luhrmann will use
3-D technology (yes, he's releas-
ing it in 3-D, but that's a conver-
ne books are nation for another time) to wow
us. But I'm douhtful.
dull for film. To return to my original
claim, can we say the Gatsby
problem holds true for all books
making the leap to the silver
a film has got to move, screen? Of course not. There's
e minute you rely on mere "The Godfather," "The English
ge to spur a plot forward, Patient," "The Lord of the Rings"
k inviting the audience (all three of them) and, yes,
book club - back to that "Harry Potter," to name a few.
ade English class in which These films grab the audience
cher went on and on about with their narratives and don't
atsby's longing for Daisy let go, keeping us perched on the
nan was supposed to edge of our seats to see the next
ent the American Dream. development of Frodo's journey,
e the American Dream or Harry's or Michael Corleone's.
heavily into the book in a way, they do the same thing
, I even remember being Fitzgerald does with language:
to write a paper on the They mesmerize.
but a book of metaphor The task for filmmakers lies
usion deserves to be left in recognizing when a story has
one, if only because the reached its pinnacle in a respec-
plot is BORING when tive art form, whether that be
novel or book, TV show or theat-
novel may explore the rical performance. "Gatsby" will
xg materialism of a coun- continue to confound 17-year-
t has increasingly lost olds for years to come. Let it stay
f its core values - a key that way. Don't subject moviego-
Baz Luhrmann, the ers to the false allure of a block-
m's director, cites as to buster come Christmas 2012,
teliness of the remake. only to deliver a film that's more
ouldn't care less. The a critique of capitalism than an
lays second fiddle to the action-driven narrative. It's not
r themes. Unfortunately, fun to watch; not at all.
Chairlift's new
release 'Something'
evokes nostalgia
By KATIE STEEN
Daily Arts Writer
If you've heard "Bruises," the
song popularized by a 2008 iPod
commercial, then you've heardthe
music of Chair-
lift. The band ****
has changed
a bit since its Chairlift
one-hit suc-
cess. Two of its Something
members ended Columbia
their romantic
relationship, resulting in the dude
quitting the band and the threat
of legal action, but singer Caroline
Polachek has handled the split
just fine. In Chairlift's latest music
video, made for the song"Amanae-
monesia," Polachek does not have
grass stains; she has a mint-green
unitard. She's not falling down;
she's prancing around in a trans-
fixing interpretive dance. And she
is neither black nor blue.
For the band's sophomore
album Something, Polachek and
partner-in-crime Patrick Wim-
berly made an effort to ditch the
moodier sound of their first LP,
Does You Inspire You. Polachek
aimed to please a much wider
audience with this album, telling
Pitchfork, "I want to make stuff
that a 10-year-old might bear
coming outof the radio and think,
'Yeah! I love this!'"
Not all of the songs off Some-
thing are completely kid-friendly,
though. In the first track, "Side-
walk Safari," Polachek con-
templates various methods of
vengeance - guns, hit men, poi-
son and eventually hitting her
victim with a car. But "Sidewalk
Safari" is fun: a blend of Atari-
esque melodies and the elongated
Steve is sad because he ate his twin.
advantages of female vocals. The
song's ending sounds slightly like
a futuristic race car speeding
away - a reminder that Chairlift
may seem sweet, but really, its
singer may want to run you over
with her car.
But Something isn't spiteful.
The album enters a sort of dreamy
void in its second half with the
track "Frigid Spring." Polachek's
voice surfs over melodic lines,
changing direction with rapidity
and smoothness. The next song,
"Turning," has a similar, REM-
cycle-inspired feel to it. Almost
everything about it remains vague
and ambiguous - where the song
is going, what the emotion is, what
Polachek is actually singing, to
name a few. The most unexpected
aspect of "Turning" is its lack of
change; the song is repetitive and
seems to build up to nothing. But
Chairlift doesn't frustrate -it
turns monotony into serenity.
While Something has a shorter
length than Does You Inspire You,
Chairlift takes its time with each
song. For its first album, the band
slapped together a peculiar array
of ideas, resulting in a scatter-
brained mix of tracks with subject
matters ranging from witches to
condoms. With Something, the
songs are more inspired and con-
nected, maintaining a heavily
'80s-inspired sound that remain
consistent but doesn't become
tedious or unoriginal.
However, when Chairlift
becomes too enthralled with '8s
throwbacks, it ends up with track-
like "Cool as a Fire" that becon:
cheesy and tired with their over:
the-top nostalgia. The song -
heartfelt proclamation of despair
over a lost love - lasts four min
utes and shows up in the middi:
of the album, a mopey interludc
whose primary purpose seems to
be to stall before the subsequem
track, "Amanaemonesia." tt'sn
little soothing, but mostly soppy.
"Amanaemonesia," the clear
superstar off of Something, isa
single whose strength derive4
almost completely from the shift-
ing "oh's" of Polachek. Her voice
performs tricks, somersaultin:
and leaping up and down octaves.
No longer constrained by th
cutesy couple duos with her
then boyfriend, Polachek has the
freedom to experiment with het
voice, and Wimberly is the obe
dient friend who will stay by her
side no matter what she does - in
real life and in his instrumenta-
tion. While Polachek may have
been failing at handstands in
"Bruises," in Something she soars
and hounds to heights previously
ungraspable.
e can't just hold the
ton the characters for
nded period of time and
n the deep implications of
",
Axelrad is protesting the filming
of "Gatsby." To join the picket
line, e-mail axelrad s umich edu.
'Underworld'is too shallow
By SEAN CZARNECKI .
Daily Arts Writer
Unless audience members
are unfamiliar with the "Under-
world" series's concept - that
is, blood, gore,
black leather **
and (who could
forget?) Kate Underworld
Beckinsale
they know what Awakenng
they're getting At Quality16
themselves anwRv
2" ro-and Rave 4_
into. And hon-
estly, they're Screen Gems
getting exactly
what they paid for..
In the latest outing, titled
"Underworld: Awakening," the "i win at laser tag"
story is once again centered on its
vampire heroine, Selene (Beckin- wearing full-body leather on teenage drug dealer from "Ameri-
sale, "Click"): an icy but gorgeous casual Fridays do tend to stick can Beauty") has a brief stint
ex-Death Dealer (the occupation is out, but it doesn't take a vampire as some sort of scientist, but is
fairly self-explanatory). Following rocket scientist to brainstorm a promptly killed off. And that's
a series of purges that have broken few solutions to these problems. basically the cycle of character
the aristocracy of their species, construction in "Awakening."
vampires are scattered into hiding, They move the plot forward,
some surviving, others looking to they tell Selene what she needs
return to their former glory. Black leather to know, and the audience could
Plot spoiler (not really): After care less.
a 12 year cryogenic hibernation, canlt substitute "Awakening" promises blood
Selene wakes up; Selene wants and pays the audience back by the
answers; Selene uncovers a con- for plot. gallons. There are enough whoa
spiracy that goes all the way to moments packed into 88 min-
the top. Where on Earth do the utes to fill a Keanu Reeves script.
writers come up with these ideas? Beckinsale is the same stoic but
They must be geniuses. The story really is inconse- sensual heroine who fans of the
And that pretty much sums up quential. In fact, it just gets in original film loved. It's entertain-
the world of "Awakening." Aside the way of the movie's bloody ingin the bloodiest, campiest way
from the series's staple gothic action scenes. And damn they possible, and it makes the audi-
atmosphere, cyberpunk costume are bloody. Selene slices, shoots, ence want to see the next entry.
design and melodramatic acting, ducks and dives through each But the biggest problem with
there isn't too much to say about scene like a pissed-off Tomb "Awakening" is its inability to
its intricacies. Its mythology used Raider on a rainy Monday. She provide a satisfying ending.
to be one of its greatest appeals, has style, she has panache, she Sure, there's blood and gore,
but the world of "Awakening" is has what rapper Tyler, the Cre- and that's all fime. But the story's
all moody music and lighting, not ator would call "SWAG." But climax sneaks up on the audience
politics or intrigue. when Selene isn't taking on (prematurely would be the word,
One might like to know how hordes of bad guys, boredom but that's too easy ofan innuendo,
vampires came to be targeted by ensues. Instead of asking its isn't it?) and then the film ends
the government. After all, they'd viewers to stake an emotional abruptly. It would be like "Star
remained hidden for many years. investment or thrilling them Wars: A New Hope" without
Also, how did they become so vul- with twists and turns, the story the epic explosion to cap off the
nerable and weak when they're is mostly just used to cycle Death Star battle. The plot coasts
capable of jumping off buildings through each confrontation. without emotional buildup or sus-
as easily as Shaq stepping off a The characters lack any emo- pense, taking its audiences to an
booster seat? Sure, humans have tion whatsoever. Wes Bentley ending that leaves them thinking,
ultraviolet bullets, and people (that "everything is beautiful" "Was that it?"
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