The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 7B The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, April 11, 2012 - 7B Arresting TV habits PAUL SHERMAN/Daily Brothers and co-directors Chris and Mike Farah explain their inspiration before yesterday's "Answer This" screening. Discussing A2 soul of 'Answer This' N ow, the column about a boy who lost his favorite TV show, and the one event that gave him no choice but to keep it together - it's "Arrested Develop- ment." Feel free to read this in the voice of Ron Howard. Saying goodbye is the worst. KAVI Everything SHEKHAR inevitably PANDEY comes to an end, but once you utter that vile word, you actually have to accept the fact that it's all over - be it precious time spent with a friend or a significant chapter of your life (one semester of college left - taste the sadness). As I bid farewell with my final column, here's the story of my struggle to let go of "Arrested Develop- ment." With the help of a Blockbust- er within biking distance, I was already on top of my cinematic game in middle school. A "Fight Club" here, a "Desperado" there - I could recite Ezekiel 25:17 with every Sam Jackson inflec- tion when seventh graders should be thinking of Tarantino as the guy who made frozen pizza rolls. But when it came to televi- sion, my viewing habits were stuck in a perpetual state of adolescence. One could call it arrested development. (Hey, that's the name of the show!) I still clung onto Chuckie Finster and Arnold of football-shaped cranium lore, filling the rest of my airwaves with Dis- ney Channel powerhouses "Even Stevens," "Boy Meets World" and "Smart Guy," and when I was feeling especially bold, the occasional episode of "The Simpsons." Because of a friend's recom- mendation, I started watching "Arrested Development" mid- way through its first season on air (who knew middle school- ers had such good taste?). One episode in, and I was hooked like Buster Bluth's seal-assailed hand. Beyond its own virtues, the show was my gateway drug, stronger than anything uncle-father Oscar ever toked. "Arrested Development" showed me the world of pri- metime network television, shining, shimmering, splendid. It was the springboard for "Scrubs," "24" and the rest of the obscene number of shows I've seen since. FOX dropped the guillotine on "Arrested" during its third season, banishing the final four episodes to a cold Friday night i the fin, (Moths throug preven record have or - "Doi for fate Onc( was rel entire; But wh four ep Finishi mean t mistak dances I pictu never s from B refusec Sanche goodby B u' n February. I had to tape series finale of "Outsourced" ale because of a conflict are all waiting for me to press erboy XIV was rolling play. Through an accidental *h the UP.), but a mishap trick (illusion!), I've even been ted the episodes from able to save part of "Lost" - I ing. Mr. Eko would only watched through "The End" but ne thing to say about that skipped the season two episode not mistake coincidence "Collision," meaning there's ." another furious glare from e the season three DVD Sayid, another joke from Hurley leased, I re-watched the that I've got in my pocket. series as a grand sendoff. Then came the whopper last en I reached the final month that Netflix willbe pro- risodes, I couldn't go on. ducing new episodes of "Arrested ing those episodes would Development" to put everything he end - no more huge into perspective. Now would es, never-nudes, chicken I finish season three and not or cracks at Egg Veal. watch the new batch? If there's a red a world where I'd movie, doI avoid that and watch ee new shenanigans the new episodes? The steps on luth and company and this staircar led to nowhere, and d to live in it. No, Kitty they had to end sometime. rz, I wasn't ready to say Forget my middle school re to those. viewing habits. The actual arrested development was my inability to grow up and watch these shows to comple- Saving the tion. It's grim to admit the end 1uth family of an era, but clinging to the 11111 strands of the past advances nothing. College is going to end and I'm going to have to leave end. all my friends - so when I go home for Christmas, I'll start by saying goodbye to "Lost," "Outsourced" and "Arrested Development" (for now). five years, I carried that If you haven't noticed, this satisfying feeling of is my final paragraph as a col- ng there are more Tobias umnist for The Michigan Daily. flubs and Gob dumbshit- I'm glad you didn't pull a pre- r me to enjoy. Along the revelation Kavi Shekhar Pandey nce I recognized the joy and save this piece of impec- ng episodes, I started cable prose for eternity. Thanks ng the philosophy to for reading until the end. For f hugely knowir Funke tery for way, or of savir applyis Farah brothers' latest film arrives at the Michigan By MATT EASTON Daily Arts Writer Oct. 24, 2011 - Last night was not the premiere of "Answer This!" but it felt like one. As film- makers Chris and Mike Farah walked onstage to the sound of raucous applause, one couldn't help but get caught up in the moment. The Farah brothers gave shout-outs to local high schools, which were received with loud screams, and the two actors in the audience, Chris Parnell ("30 Rock") and former University Professor Ralph Wil- liams, stood up to receive their dues. Sitting in Espresso Royale last Monday, Chris and Mike were much calmer: Scenes from their first feature film "Answer This!" were shot near here. "Moving out to L.A.... it's just nice to come back to Ann Arbor," said Mike, producer of "Answer This!" and "Funny or Die," in an interview with The Michigan Daily. "It feels very comfortable, it's a comfort zone. Just walking here from the car, just the smell of leaves on the ground." In the past year or so, film- makers have come to Ann Arbor - and Michigan in general - for tax breaks and Midwestern scenes. But have any of them known this place well enough to express the intimate simplic- ity of "leaves on the ground?" To have movies like "The Ides of March" filmed here is not quite the same as to see a film that understands what it means to be in Ann Arbor. "Answer This!" doesn't use unmarked buildings in a generic Midwestern town, but instead celebrates the Diag, the Big House - the things stu- dents hold dear. We love Clooney and Gosling, but do they love us? "I'd tried writing a bunch of broad scripts," said Chris, the "Answer This!" writer and direc- tor, in an interview. "(But) they weren't anchored in things I knew or connected with. So I decided that for my next script (I wanted) to do something that was really rooted in something that meant a lot more to me." Few things are more ingrained in people than their hometown, the place they grew up and the place they went to college. But "Answer This!" doesn't just cel- ebrate the University - it also seems to transform it. "Something about movies, and this movie particularly, has the effect of making these places that are so familiar look incred- ibly big and epic," Chris said. He motioned down State Street to Ashley's, the center of most action in the film, and dis- cussed how the movie made this simple piece of sidewalk seem like so much more. The brothers hope the entire film can allow University students to see our campus and our city from a new, epic perspective. The two also enjoyed giv- ing some shout-outs to some, of the "traditions" around cam- pus. Laughing, Chris discussed a sex scene that takes place in the Hatcher Graduate Library "stacks." "It was fantastic to see how people here responded differ- ently than people in Hollywood," he said with a slight smirk. The talk ended with Chris recalling how sometimes, when driving to their parents' house in Ann Arbor, Mike used to say, "Let's take it downtown," get- ting off at an earlier exit - not because it's faster, but just to take it all in. The Big House, Main Street, the leaves on the ground; Ann Arbor, their town, our town. For 90 minutes during yester- day's screening event, hundreds of individuals were transformed into a community of friends cel- ebrating the triumph of a city. Every new Ann Arbor locale, inside joke and recognizable actor brought laughter, cheering, applause and excited chattering. It wasn't about seeing a movie, it was about knowing that after- wards you would walk down the street and pass Ashley's, and you would be standing where trivia jock Izzy threw up. Or it was see- ing the theater you were inside of, in the movie, while watch- ing the movie. It was a moment for happiness, a giant raising of glasses to our city, to simply enjoying what we know best. The movie showing was com- plimented by unreleased "Funny or Die" shorts (so in a way it was a premiere), and a Q&A session with the brothers and Parnell. They drew laughter in their setup to "Answer This!" After the film the brothers and Par- nell answered questions, any- thing from "Why was Professor Williams's name changed in the movie?" to "What kind of advice would you offer young comedic actors?" The three exited behind the red curtain to cheering and unanswered questions, inform- ing everyone that they would be going to Ashley's - the locus of the trivia battles in the film - for drinks and food. every show I loved and was about to lose - season three of "Deadwood," season two of "Rome," the last few epi- sodes of "Twin Peaks" and the Dec. 12, 2011 - Pandey plans to invest in horse racing. To understand, e-mail kspandey@umich.edu. Summer Storage Tired of the hassle of packing and storing your belongings over the summer? Then give us a call. 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