8A - Monday, October 8, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com FINE ARTS COLUMN Why do students say 'I do'to indelible ink? "Will yego to prom with me?" DISNEY Burton electrifies in 'Frankenweenie' ad hon B Does beef jerl indeed I somewh in Ne More it tantly, Tim ton ally ma movie out Jo Depp or ena Bon the quei sane hu in the la rest assu latest fil doubtsi you're g But ii kenweer ative ge animate is the be "Sweene ber of Fl any oth film, " alive in FILM R Animated Everything about the little town painstakingly created by the venture pays team'of talented animators from 3 Mills Studio screams "horror mage to horror movie homage." Each of the quirky characters y AKSHAY SETH running around are direct and Daily Arts Writer indirect references to some of the most influential scary mov- Bigfoot really make ies in cinematic history, the most ky commercials? Is Elvis direct being main character Vic- iving out his golden years cor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan, ere "Charlie St. Cloud"). Victor is the vada? * * typical outcast, a strange child mpor- who has an even stranger fascina- can Frankenweenie tion with scary homemade mov- Bur- ies and science. It's the type of actu- At Quality16 character Burton has embraced ike a and Rave in every one of his films - out- with- Disney landish, imaginative and, above hnny all, isolated. In some views, the Hel- character is perhaps a represen- aham Carter? These are tation of Burton's own childhood stions that can keep any - one probably enveloped by a man tossing and turning shell of seclusion that indirectly ite hours of the night. But nurtured a blossoming sense of red, tortured souls: In his imagination and weirdness. m, Burton responds to our In any event, Victor's only with a resounding "Yes, friend is his dog, Sparky, who oddamn right I can." unfortunately meets his end at n all seriousness, "Fran- the hands of a speeding car. Vic- nie," the proclaimed cre- tor is obviously devastated and rnius's latest foray into eventually finds inspiration to d children's films, really bring Sparky back to life using a st movie he's made since technique very similar to the one ey Todd: The Demon Bar- used in a certain Mary Shelley leet Street." And just like novel. Before long, the town dis- ter worthwhile Burton covers Victor's method of reani- Frankenweenie" comes mating dead animals and the fun its attention to detail. begins as everyone races to bring EVIEW their own dead pets back to life. Before long, the town is overrun by an army of zombie beasts, and havoc ensues. All of the characters Burton has created in this film are dis- tinct and memorable, but perhaps the funniest and creepiest one is Edgar (Atticus Shaffer, TV's "The Middle"), an Igor-like hunchback who eventually becomes Victor's "friend" and accomplice. Voiced with a certain childlike malevo- lence, Edgar's presence on screen is likely to scare younger audi- ence members, but that subtle scariness, coupled with a strange sense of likability, is a demonstra- tion of Burton's ability to flesh out interesting characters. Apart from the collection of surprisingly complex characters, "Frankenweenie" is also memo- rable for its distinct approach to claymation. Unlike previous films that have adopted the same tech- nique, "Frankenweenie" is shot in black and white with 3D. It seems like a strange combination, but works perfectly with Burton's take on the innate creepiness of everything around us. The bleak Victorian houses and crooked trees in the form of skeletal hands grasping for life are just a few examples of how well the approach works. Ultimately, it's this visual brilliance that make this movie an otherworldly expe- rience. Peeking out from under- neath her coral sundress was a long, fiery dagger. It was casually placed, add- ing a touch of danger to her otherwise pastel outfit. The blade swept up her ' neck, edging dangerously close to her cropped head. Stray ANA ivy, wound S around the hilt, crept across her shoulder blades, seemingly growing from her skin. Fearlessly demonstrating mythical prowess, the tattoo shone as a beacon of rebellion, an homage to those brave enough to take the plunge and commit to something - anything - for longer than a second. "No" is the way conversations always end when it comes to body art. "No, Anna," my mom would say, throwing me the evil eye. And even though I've always wanted a small, simple tattoo, they're all fiery, ivy-clad daggers to my parents. Negative associations with body art started long before prison gang tats and biker ink. Associated with folklore and rac- ism, body art has been generally cast off as a delinquent identifier since the 19th century in North America and Europe. But tattoos go back further than that - all the way to Neolithic times, when they were used as a healing tech- nique, a Eurasian practice mim- icking acupuncture. Now widespread, the art of tattooing is embraced and encouraged by younger gen- erations. Redefining the art, professional tattoo artists boast high-quality indelible ink and painless procedures. Whether it's a drunken dare, a meaningful symbo am I b ting to been si to ink i don't k feels li "I th ing ove girl, so has tha on her1 "Cat Yeah, l Get it?' day. No his calf Nc to gr You imagin as a pe way yo - ther "Ant someth tant," & fannin, heat. S1 secret l green f ago. "It's never g day you think,'( I teeter her bre myself er knos but she Ther permar hair dy marker relatiot are an vows. T l or an "I'm really bored, when your skin starts to sag and oring? Oh god, Iam," get- your wrinkles increase. They a tattoo parlor has never stay with you until the end, going mpler. And committing through the wear and tear of life s a lot easier when you along with you. now what permanence Eternal companions, tattoos ke. become a source of terror for ink I want a butterfly fly- some: picking the right design, r a rainbow," said some placement, colors. All of a sud- mewhere. And now she den, you're tearing out your at exact image emblazoned hair, worried thatyour future lower back. workplace will one day host a n I get the number 42? beach volleyball tournament ike, I'm the answer to life. and everyone will see your "said my friend the other love for dolphins on your upper w he has a magenta 42 on thigh. f. Suddenly, it's less of a per- sonal choice than a statement: Getting something lame is only one 'vants acceptable if it's ironic. Tattooing o one wants your mom's name is not ironic. know where Coming up with a coolness fac- tor adds to the stress. It's much easier to keep getting those ee aryis 25-cent temporary tats while you get your shit together. Tattoos are a relationship. can get whatever you can And in the monogamy-fearing ie designed on your skin culture of University students, rmanent reflection of the it's a surprise that tattoos are so u felt in a single moment prominent. Are you really going ein lies the problem. to love Justin Bieber in 15 years? na, I'm going to tell you I sincerely hope not. But some- iing really, really impor- thing continues to draw people aid my mother's coworker, to ink. Whether due to street g herself from the August cred or for bragging rights, he whispered to me the tattoos are becoming less of a ocation of her tattoo, a taboo and more of an art form. airy she got over 20 years I have a secret: I'm going to go against my mom's wishes and so important that you get a tattoo. I've always wanted et a tattoo, because some- a tattoo-of the snake eating an 're going to look at it and elephant from Antoine de Saint- Good God, I'm an idiot."' Exupdry's "The Little Prince." 'ed from the alcohol on That's all I've wanted - a small, ath and smiled, excusing simple snake eating an elephant. from the patio. My moth- And even though it looks like a ws how to throw parties, hat, and maybe no one else will won't allow a tattoo. get it, like any other relation- e are plenty of semi- ship, I'm willing to take the next nent things in life: black step - I'm committing to com- e, knock-off Sharpie mitment and I'm not going back. 6 6 s and your Facebook nship status. But tattoos embodiment of eternal they don't get up and leave Sadovskaya is getting her tattoo right now. To hold her hand, e-mail asado@umich.edu. F IL M R EVIE W SButter' lacks subtlety as a s atire o f Midwestern life Not'Taken'with sequel By NOAH COHEN Daily Arts Writer In "Taken 2," Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson, "Taken") and his family are taken. Mills shoots a bunch of people and saves his family. That's not a synopsis Taken 2 of the plot - that is the plot. At Quality16 Roll credits. and Rave Liam Neeson Twentieth is not by any stretch of the Century Fox imagination a bad actor, but this script does everything in its power to make him look like a hack. At one point, his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace, "Lost") asks him, "What are you going to do?" He gravely replies, "What I do best." Laughter was not the intended effect of this line, but the theater rang with it. As thoughtful and deliberate as the man is, Neeson's talent is compromised of delivering lines that stray from epically trite to downright ridiculous. Grace, as Kim, is as emotive and charming (read: sexy) as ever, but somethinginthe wayshe portrays her fear bullies our suspension of disbelief into near-rupture. The shallowness and motivation of the villain, Murad Krasniqi, (Rade Serbedzija, "Batman Begins") also damage the credibility of the storyline. His compulsion, revenge over the murder of his son (who, before being killed by Mills in "Taken," had committed serial child-enslavement, rape, torture and murder), seems oddly resolute. Perhaps it is ignorant to presume anything, but one would think the bond between a father By SEAN CZARNECKI Daily ArtsWriter In "Butter," the Iowa State Fair is a hillbilly pageant of igno- rant country people. They are simple-minded fools who care about but- ter. They don't Butter think dinosaurs existed. They At the live in isolation Michigan from minori- ties. They're The Weinstein stupid. They're Company idiots, corn-fed American jingoists, rednecks, war The buttermobile is equipped for butter battle. "Shhhhhh..." and son might end somewhere (Famke Janssen, "X-Men") and short of condoning child sex traf- Serbedzija do fine jobs in their ficking. respective roles of absolute help- lessness and absolute evil, there is something missing in their chem- W e're not istry that keeps the audience from fearing for the wife's life. Maybe gonna take it. we never believe harm will come to her, or maybe we simply don't care about her, but whatever/it is, the apathy removes most of the "Taken 2" does some unsubtle suspense from the hostage situ- footwork to persuade the audi- ation and renders about a half of ence that its villain is deserving the movie boring. of death. We've had enough of Lastly, this movie commits the male villains putting their vio- unforgivable sin of sneaking its lent-threat-whispering mouths title into the protagonist's dia- uncomfortably close to the logue. As soon as the audience necks of their female hostages. hears Neeson say, "Kim, your That expositive proof-of-evil is mother and I are going to be so tired, it feels like Hollywood taken," everyone knows, instinc- paternalism. But this movie is tually, that it's time to sneak out not entirely without feminist of the theater and find a better flair: When Bryan tells Kim to get movie. Ultimately,, though Nee- herself to the American Embassy, son, Janssen, Grace and Ser- she begs instead to be brought bedzija aren't lacking as actors, into the mortally dangerous the director, Olivier Megaton, conflict to help save her parents and the screenwriters, Luc Bes- - and Bryan, needing her help son and Robert Mark Kamen, badly, relents. manage to make the cast look Although Bryan's wife Lenore foolish. mongers, Neanderthals - carica- girl who has recently moved into a tures who should not represent foster home, possesses an incred- the majority of fair-goers, or the ible gift for this niche Midwestern people of the Midwest. craft. And so ensues a story whose See, "Butter" is too smug, too quaintness is blown outofpropor- lacking in nuance. It goes for the tion - butter-sculpture turns into jugular, but lacks the teeth - an allegory of power. that requisite sharp insight - so Plainly said, Pickler is a carica- it flails instead. "Butter" never ture of the Sarah Palin or Michelle enlightens, never makes its audi- Bachman archetype. Beneath that ence ponder the new far right of prim dress and punctual attitude the Republican Party. Whatyou're is a scandalous past and a big ball left with is a ham-fisted farce, a of crazy. The "dumb, conserva- condescending, glorified soapbox, tive female politician" image has a sneering "fuck you" from those become so massive a comedic tar- liberal elitists who give liberals a get, you don't need a sharpshooter bad name. like Hawkeye taking aim to hit a bullseye - you need a meme. But to be fair, Garner's perfor- An unrefined mance is an unqualified success. Her scenes are nicely balanced film, between addled ideology, hypoc- risy and desperation. While she has no real "I can see Russia from my house!", moments, she does Jennifer Garner ("The Odd rally a few laughs from the audi- Life of Timothy Green") plays ence with a couple of brainless LauraPickler, the wife ofabutter- quotables. sculpture champion who's been on the other side of the spec- asked to step aside after having trum, completely devoid of poli- dominated the competition for 15 tics, Shahidi hands in an innocent years. Not wanting to give up her portrayal of a girl who has been husband's streak - butter is all she through hard times, but responds has - Pickler enters the competi- with optimism, graciousness and tion herself. Little does she know beauty. A minority character her foremost competitor, Destiny stuck in a mostly white town, the (Yara Shahidi, "Salt"), an orphan story would've done well to focus on either her journey as a foster child in an increasingly multicul- tural society, or Pickler and her obsession with social status. As it is, writer Jason A. Micallef's script ends up fum- bling both. "Butter" is never able to easily juggle both the two main storylines and the subplots, the most burdensome being Brooke Swinkowski, played by Olivia Wilde ("People Like Us"). Wilde is funny, sexy, "wild," raunchy - and completely unnecessary. After the first twentyminutes,her role in the film is inconsequential, with almost her entire screen time devoted to being an irrev- erent gag. "Butter" loses inertia where none should be lost, bring- ing all its loose ends together in a schmaltzy, uninspiring finale, the satiric elements left ripe and unexploited. Director Jim Field Smith ("She's Out of My League") brings little style to the picture, too. Besides a nice monologue scene with Garner, for the most part he can pointa camera in the general direction of the action. It's competent cut-and-piste- the-script filmmaking. By the time you get home, almost every featherweight punch thrown at you will have melted away. But- ter, indeed.