2B - Thursday, March 8, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
2B - Thursday, March 8, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
ARTS RECOMMENDS
In this feature, Daily Arts writers will give their endorsements
for the arts you need to experience to help you deal with current events.
"All the President's Men"
Super Tuesday and the hoopla surrounding the
Republican primaries really puts you in the mood
for a good old political thriller. "All the President's
Men," the breathtaking and devious take on the
Watergate scandal, provides dirty politics mixed
with some inspiring investigative journalism. Plus,
fabulous performances from Dustin Hoffman and
Robert Redford make this an instant classic.
WARNER BROS.
Hunky Dory - David Bowie
Hunky Dory is an album that's silly, lovely and
tragic all at the same time, with tracks ranging
from hopeful pop tunes to acoustic heartbreakers.
Yet they all somehow flow effortlessly, tied together
by Bowie's dynamic voice and soulful piano play-
ing. It's an album about uncertainty, with Bowie
singing about lamentingthe past, being uncomfort-
able with the present and unclear about the future.
_______Who can't relate to that these days?
RCA
"Dune" - Frank Herbert
Missing the beach after a sunny spring break?
Escape back to the sandy paradises of last week's
much-needed hiatus with "Dune." Frank Her-
bert's classic may have been published when your
parents were toddlers, but it's far from dated. Fol-
low Paul Atreides as he struggles to survive in a
strange land - and don't forget: "The spice must
flow."
ACE TRADE
"How to Make it in America"
You're probably done with midterms. Now it's
back to those desperate last-minute applications
for internships and jobs. If that's you, HBO's "How
to Make It in America" is perfect procrastination
material. It's derided by many as too "Entourage"-
esque, but the sitcom about young hustlers trying
to make it in New York's fashion game isn't tit-
filled feel-goodery, but a motivating story of ideal-
istic struggle.
( S "
Stephanie Barnhill
Ten Thousand Villages volunteer
How did you start volunteering at Ten Thousand Villages?
I actually came in as a customer. I spoke with the manager and
the staff and I was really intrigued. Having parents that are
missionaries, I wanted to get involved, and this was a really good
way to do it.
What do you like about volunteering?
It's really fun to learn about the people that make the products, the
organizations and even the countries they come from.
Excerpts are taken from the B-Side Buzz video,
which can be found on MichiganDaily.com.
Interview by Jeff Waraniak
0
9
SINGLE REVIEW
TRAILER REVIEW
If your world was shattered
by the electronic turn Sufjan
Stevens took in his last album,
you may want
to start gath-
ering pitch-
forks and Museum
torches now. Q
The indie-
folk super- s/s/s
star, joined by
Son Lux and Anticon
rapper Seren-
geti under the moniker s / s /
s, has just released "Museum
Day" - a song that replaces
buttery vocals with Auto-Tune
and is virtually devoid of any
of Sufjan's well-loved acoustic
guitar.
The song is a far cry from the
Stevens the music world once
knew, droning on with slow,
stifled energy and fluttering
sound effects for six minutes
flat. This Stevens doesn't wel-
come listeners into his mem-
An anti-hero has to break
into a futuristic prison, res-
cue the president and do it all
before the
things the
government
injected in his LCW
neck blow up.
Sound famil- Film District
iar? It should.
"Escape from New York" is a
cult classic. If you haven't seen
it, do.
And then when you see the
"Lockout" trailer, you'll notice
a lot of familiar things. There's
the anti-hero, played by Guy
Pearce ("Memento") and
described, literally, as a "loose
cannon."
There's the futuristic pris-
on, which is in space this time.
And then there's the president
that needs rescuing - except
in this case it's his daugh-
ter, played by Maggie Grace
("Taken").
ory-scape, but creates a cold
distance from them instead.
The electro-vocals are too
abstract to be endearing, as is
the hookline "I am recoloring"
that echoes throughout the
track.
It's catchy, no doubt, but
nothing more than that -
especially when you factor in
Serengeti's mediocre lyrics
("Double double triple dare
/ Yeah let's get out of here")
and forced rhymes that flop in
every verse.
-CHLOE STACHOWIAK
You might say the whole ter, sliding into the role of wry,
thing is a long listof'80s action sarcastic action star with ease.
tropes. And you'd be right. But He's got great chemistry with
the trailer imparts so much Grace, there's a creepy yet
personality that it doesn't mat- mildly charming Irish villain
ter. and things blow up real nice.
Pearce does Kurt Russell, What more can you ask for?
but, if you can believe it, bet- -DAVID TAO
EPISODE REVIEW
TRAILER REVIEW
Not for the first time, "Once
Upon A Time" presented an
episode based on the mistaken
presump-
tion that the
audience
cares about Once Upon
an obscure a Time
peripheral
character. Season 1
Certainly D ,m
the evolution "Steamy"
of Grumpy ABC
fhe dwarf
isn't nearly as trying as the
genesis of Jiminy Cricket
(what even happened to him?),
but it feels like filler nonethe-
less.
Lee Arenberg does a fine job
as the aforementioned protag-
onist, who at the beginning of
the episode goes by the name
"Dreamy" - hence the episode
title - until he's disillusioned
by the pain of love.
Unfortunately, it's tough
The only thingthat's keeping
"The Amazing Spider-Man"
from the hype it deserves is the
fact that it's
just too soon.
The abomi-
nation of The
"Spider-Man
3" is a fresh
wound that's $pider-Man
not even five
years old, and Columbia
its predeces-
sors were solid films that don't
need rebooting.
Still, the team behind "The
Amazing Spider-Man" looks to
have repackaged the franchise
fittingly for the post-"Dark
Knight" world, adding a lot
more raw action and a conspic-
uously darker tone (and the
word "vigilante," in case the
comparison just wasn't clear
enough). Andrew Garfield
brings his signature sincer-
ity to a high-school-age Peter
*I
to carry the episode when his
love interest, a fairy named
Nova (Amy Acker) is such a
ditzy damsel.
Contrastingly, the team of
Leeroy - Grumpy's Story-
brook alter-ego - and Mary
Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin),
or Snow White in the parallel
universe of Storybrook, is sur-
prisingly successful. The two
emerge as a clever pair and set
the stage for future episodes
with Snow White and the
dwarves.
-PROMA KHOSLA
Parker infatuated with Gwen
Stacy (the ironically blonde
Emma Stone), as he takes on
all of New York City's criminal
baggage, including a promis-
ingly disturbed Rhys Ifans,
playing a researcher with con-
nections to Parker's past.
The movie will also incor-
porate Spidey's homemade
web slingers from the original
Marvel comics, suggesting that
the new franchise will benefit
from rediscovering its roots in
"The Amazing Spider-Man."
-PROMA KHOSLA