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 el's ope in their and me father that I'v my mi couldv right fr Sor too But. and the langua you ris into a b 11th gr the tea how G: Buchar repres I'm sur factors (in fact forced, topic),l and all well al' actuall filmed The growin try tha sight o reason new fil the tim 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?" The polls are now open! Vote now in the Best of Ann Arbor Survey! Go to Michigandaily.com and click on the icon to vote!