6A - Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam
6A - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
"I still can't believe Amy and Will are over."
'Parks' still one of
the best on television
"You've never played Kings? Really?"
Wise 'Wallflower'
By PROMA KHOSLA
Daily Arts Writer
Now more than ever, NBC's
"Parks and Recreation" begs the
question: Why isn't everyone
watching this
show? ****-
A show that
started with the Parks and
basic format of Recreation
"The Office" in
hopes of tap- Season Five
ping into the Midseason
latter's viewer Thursdays at
base, "Parks" 9:30 p.m
is now exem- 9BCp'm
plary televi- NBC
sion comedy far
superior to most of its contempo-
raries. After breaking out of the
"Office" prototype, creators Greg
Daniels and Michael Schur have
cultivated a show populated with
engaging characters and charm
so irresistible that watching an
episode feels like spending half an
hour with your funniest friends.
In its fifth season, "Parks" falls
effortlessly back into the rhythm
established in season three with
the pivotal arrival of Chris (Rob
Lowe) and Ben (Adam Scott) to
Pawnee, Ind. Every single charac-
ter is likable, from lovably dumb
Andy (Chris Pratt) to sassy pow-
erhouse Donna (Retta), to guests
who have become Pawnee staples,
like Je
and Pe
This
liancec
meticu
to tru
chemis
Chris,.
ri) see
they ba
any gr
Better
other;
be a po
izes he
perfect
E
sh
And
Washir
of apat
and ne
almost
find ba
becom(
during
Pawne
The
proved
writers
an-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) duced last season, it seemed like a
rd Hapley (Jay Jackson). sort of negative deux ex machina
season extends the bril- - another way of keeping Ben and
of these characters beyond Leslie (Amy Poehler) from happi-
lously crafted individuals ness after the numerous hurdles
ly believable people with they jumped to be together. But
try in any combination. Leslie and Ben are as flawless as
Andy and Tom (Aziz Ansa- ever, encumbered by distance but
m an unlikely group, but still very much in love. Even more
nd together as naturally as impressive is the fact that having
oup of friends really would. ongoing stories in two locations
yet, they learn from each isn't holding "Parks" back from
Andy becomes motivated to plot development. Characters
lice officer and Chris real- grow, people change and all to the
wants more in his life than tune of the kind of silliness one
health and physique. can only expect from the Pawnee
Parks Department.
One of "Parks" 's greatest
yen a bacon strengths the past few seasons
has been the ability of the its
orta e can't writers to blend marvelous com-
edy and quality drama - noth-
w this down ing as dark as "How I Met Your
Mother" 's explorations of death
and infertility, but those everyday
moments like Ben and April mak-
who could forget the ing fun of their congressman or
ngton, D.C. shenanigans Leslie standing up for her beliefs
hetic April (Aubrey Plaza) even if they defy city laws. It is
rdtastic Ben? The two are not uncommon among fans to get
polar opposites, yet they a little teary-eyed during the sea-
lance in the workplace and son four finale or freak out every
e actual friends outside it time Ben and Leslie kiss for the
their failed road trip to first time. That kind of resonance
e. is what differentiates an average
D.C. plotline itself has comedy from a superb one, and
tobe asmartgamblebythe "Parks" is the latter, without a
. When it was first intro- doubt.
Nuanced characters
perfectly embody
teenage dysfunction
ByKAYLA UPADYAYA
Senior Arts Editor
"The Perks of Being a Wall-
flower" is not a perfect movie. The
film adaptation of the 1999 young-
adult novel of
the same name *
starts off a bit
choppy, and The Perks
the pacing
remains erratic of Being a
to the end. But Wallflower
its flaws are
oddly fitting, At Quality 16
because "Perks" and Rave,
never tries to
give a gloss to Summit
its portrayal
of growing up. It's a story about
dysfunction and introversion, its
narrative unfolded by a tortured,
unstable protagonist. So, its messi-
ness is appropriate, even beautiful.
Charlie (Logan Lerman, "The
Three Musketeers") just started
high school, and he's already
counting down the days until
graduation. His best friend, Mike,
shot himself last May - a reveal
so matter-of-fact and hushed that
it'd be easy to miss completely.
But Charlie meets Sam (Emma
Watson, "Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows: Part 2") and
Patrick (Ezra Miller, "We Need to
Talk About Kevin"), two eccentric
step-siblings who welcome him
into their island of misfit toys.
As the director, screenwriter
and producer (not to mention
the author of the original novel),
Steven Chbosky ("Rent") knows
this story inside and out, and the
celebrated care he pours into the
camerawork - like the effortless
blend of Charlie's memories with
the present - makes for a capti-
vating display.
Some of the more peculiar
direction choices are mesmeriz-
ing. At a post-homecoming party,
Sam tells Patrick about how Char-
lie lost his best friend. She does
so in a whisper, but not the kind
of stage whisper you usually see
in the movies. You have to strain
to hear - she breathes the words,
her body angled away from the
camera.
With an impressively penetrat-
ing voice and style for someone
so new to filmmaking, Chbosky
transforms the rigid epistolary
structure of the novel into a story
that dances. The tempo might be
wobbly, but the script is immacu-
late, untangling and probing very
dark, very complicated issues
in a way that's as genuine as it is
elegant.
Also relatively inexperienced
are the film's trifecta of young
stars. While Watson is hardly a
newcomer, she does an about-face
from the character she played for
a decade. Sam, an uninhibited and
passionate girl trying to shed her
turbulent past before college, is
no Hermione, and Watson brings
a magnetic honesty to her perfor-
mance, never allowing Sam to slip
into a bad-girl cliche.
Miller similarly sheds the skin
of his haunting performance
as the titular teen sociopath of
"We Need to Talk About Kevin."
Patrick is the beating heart of
"Perks." On the surface, he's the
class clown, the guy who orga-
nizes the senior prank and does
impressions of teachers. But like
Charlie and Sam, he too harbors
intense pain - he's involved with
a closeted football star whose
father would kill him if he ever
came out. And Miller is wholly
mindful of all of Patrick's intrica-
cies in his approach, dominating
some scenes with his infectious
comedy and others with a quiet
anguish.
But the film's most indelible
images come from Lerman, who
has the staggeringtask of captur-
ing Charlie's internal struggles
without dipping too far into the
macabre. We have to believe just
how tormented Charlie is for the
character to work, and Lerman
manages to make that happen
without taking the character to a
point beyond empathy. The story
is told from deep within Charlie's
head, which would feel suffocat-
ing if not for the delicacy of Ler-
man's touch.
The script zooms in on the
specificity of these characters'
anxieties, with enough close-ups
to enliven and augment even the
minor characters. But "Perks"
also doesn't belong to a certain
time or place, painting broad
strokes with its more peripheral
details.
This is a world in which you
pour out your feelings in a mix-
tape and who you sit with at lunch
can seem like the most important
thing in the world. And no matter
how distantof a memory teenage-
dom is for viewers, "Perks" will
resonate.
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
RELEASE DATE- Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Pt
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
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HEROINES
From Page 5A
proves she is anything but.
Without completely spoiling
the movie, suffice it to say that
appearances can't be trusted,
and that the gravest mistake any
character makes in "The Dark
Knight Rises" is underestimat-
ing a woman. Christopher Nolan
may be disconcertingly unaware
of the existence of women, but
the few he allows into his hal-
lowed interpretation of Gotham
City aren't afraid to fight for
their radical beliefs.
Women have always been
present in superhero movies, but
contributing minimally to plot
and character development. In
the modern movie climate, these
blockbusters are indispensable,
but the old female formula is
beyond archaic. The women who
were once just barely visible are
makingtheir presence known.
Personally, I'll know female
representation in superhero
movies is incontrovertibly
changed for the better when I
see a young girl dressed as Black
Widow among all the boys who
spend Halloween as Iron Man
and Captain America. We may
finally live in a society where
being Catwoman is as enticing
as being a princess - and that's
about as super as it gets.