6 - Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
0
'Creatures' unable
to find beauty
Supernatural teen
drama doesn't know
what it wants to be
By NOAH COHEN
Daily Arts Writer
The best thing that can be
said for "Beautiful Creatures"
was that it wasn't sure what it
wanted to be.
Another angsty (
teenage love
story wherein Beautiful
one of the teens creatures
happens to be
supernatu- At Quality16
rally talented? and Rave
Yes. But where
"Twilight" Watter Bros
monopolized on
romance and "Hunger Games"
forced its young adults into
macro-scale heroism, "Beautiful
Creatures" is more quaint, and
brushes up against a lot of differ-
ent moods. The way its execution
fluctuates between serious and
goofy (and occasionally swerves
into stupid), saves it from the dol-
drums of cliche that its plot easily
falls victim to.
Ethan Wate (Alden Ehren-
reich, "Tetro") is a sophisticated
high schooler in a small town in
South Carolina where thinking
can get you into trouble, and his
closest company - Kurt Vonne-
gut, Anthony Burgess, Charles
Bukowski - just can't occupy a
16-year-old boy like a 15-year-old
brunette can. Cue the new girl,
Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert,
"Ginger & Rosa"), some darkly
mysterious fresh blood from that
old mansion over the way, whom
all the Good Christians shun and
whom our protagonist approaches
like amothto a flame.Ethan comes
to support Lena as she faces her
own challenges: the challen es of
a young woman coming of age in
a town that does not respect her;
the challenges of a young woman
with magical powers doomed by
'her witch mother's influence to
0
'Hi, msm'
Marsalis's 'World' full
of polyrhytlims
Humpty Dumpty.
be claimed by eternal darkness
on her 16th birthday. Needless to
say, the script doesn't suffer from
a lack of conflict.
Lena's evil mother, Sarafine,
and the Boo Radley-esque Macon,
Lena's protective uncle (Emma
Thompson, "Sense and Sensibil-
ity," and Jeremy Irons,"The Man
in the Iron Mask" respectively)
play it heavy as the creep adults.
It's very strange to see these Eng-
lish veterans of the theater chew-
ing the Southern scenery with
clownish swagger, and it makes
you think that the director, Rich-
ard LaGravenese, is having a bit
too much fun with the whole
enterprise. Having written "The
Fisher King" and directed such
films as "Paris, je t'aime," it seems
that LaGravenese, whether con-
sciously or not, considers himself
above the likes of teen angstblock-
busters, and so he strips the meat
of the film away and commands
his actorsto dance, which isjust as
well, because every single actor in
this production is better than his
or her lines.
Particularly one Viola Davis
("Won't Back Down"), who plays
the stereotypical "Wise Black
Woman" Amma, and frankly,
that might have been her actual
tagline in the credits, because it
was intensely unclear what spe-
cific role she actually held. The
household librarian? The mag-
nificent Emma Thompson, too, is
ill put to use in her double role,
and, playing two caricatures, is
twice wasted by LaGravenese.
The protagonists, at least, are
given some dynamism, and the
silly-serious Ehrenreich and
anxious Englert do admirably in
their parts despite holding them-
selves a bit too well to pass for
high schoolers.
The film is a mixed message.
It promotes freethinking and
imaginative rebellion against
one's culture, yet it is not free-
thinking or imaginative itself.
Indeed, for a movie that pokes at
Christian traditionalism, the val-
ues that ",Beautiful Creatures"
sponsors as "the Light side of
magic" are as Christian as it gets.
The film does not go pink enough
to ride "Twilight" 's coattails
and does not go blue enough to
ride "True Blood" or, God for-
bid, "Fifty Shades of Gray." It is
a tentative romantic fantasy that
skates easily over itself and does
not leave a mark. The film's finish
(and the fact that it is based on a
book that is the first in its series)
puts it in potential-for-a-sequel
territory, but only the box office
can decide whether or not the
franchise will get the chance to
improve, because it does not win
that opportunity on merit.
By SHAMIK GANGULY
For the Daily
Jason Marsalis defies expec-
tations on In a World of Mallets,
his new album with the Jason
Marsalis
Vibes Quartet.
This master of
rhythm from
the First Fam-
ily of Jazz has
made Dave
Brubeck-like
strides with
his use of time
on the drum
In a World
of Mallets
Jason Marsalis
Vibes Quartet
Basin Street
set. Now, with a vibraphone as
his weapon, he makes Wayne
Shorter-esque explorations in
his compositions.
Jason Marsalis condemns
the reduction of jazz into exclu-
sive technicality. In fact, he
wrote "Blues Can Be Abstract,
Too," the second track on Mal-
lets, to elaborate on this. He
fancies himself a guard of the
true essence of jazz, and he
stands his ground in his new
release. Marsalis exhibits tech-
nical mastery, but shows how it
can be used to express unique
melodic and rhythmic ideas.
Polyrhythm, the combina-
tion of different rhythms and
meters, has always. fascinated
Jason Marsalis, given his use of
it on The Year of the Drummer
and other earlier releases. This
expertise surfaces at the begin-
ning and end of the LP. "Dis-
cipline Discovers a World of
Mallets" and "Discipline Gets
Lost in a World of Mallets"
show off his rhythmic ability
in the form of layered melodies
- as a drummer, polyrhythm
appeared in the background,
but now he uses it to play many
contrasting vibraphone lines
all at once.
His experimentation with
time reaches in more direc-
tions than just polyrhythm in
this album. The tempo changes
often and abruptly, allowing his
band to showcase its tight com-
munication and comfort with
time as it nails the transitions.
In songs like "Blues Can Be
Abstract, Too," "Ballet Class"
and "Blues for the 29-ers," the
tempo varies just as much as
the chords - whenever you get
used to one speed, the band
will suddenly drop into a slow
groove or accelerate to a frantic
pace. Marsalis uses this extra
element of surprise to spice up
his composition.
As far as the vibe goes, a lot
of the quartet's recordings glide
and sing in a way that reminds
you of the Modern Jazz Quar-
tet, but it grooves with that
deep New Orleans pocket.
Marsalis runs down the vibra-
phone like he's Milt Jackson in
"Characters" and "Ill Bill," but
the rhythm section grinds deep
into the beat, reminding us that
their heart lies in the delta.
Jason Marsalis makes some
notable thematic choices, too.
"Ballet Class" sounds like a tra-
ditional waltz, and the chord
changes and lead voices show
heavy classical influence. The
first track, "Discipline Discov-
ers a World of Mallets," rings
of eastern themes. His use of
chromaticism and atonal melo-
dies intrigues even more - the
vibraphone lines in "My Joy"
defy the ear's expectation and
transcend key signature. The
dissonant intro and chromatic
solo licks in "The Nice Mail-
man's Happy Song to Ann" lilt
and inflect like human voices.
Do they give
a Grammy
fnr bncrt >Ueso
0
0
0
6
i
vibrophone?
Call: #734-418-4115 Just as the oldest of the Mar
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com salis brothers has a knack fo
hearkening back to the root
of jazz, the youngest has a
r-
ar
is
no
RELEASE DATE- Tuesday, February 19, 2013 III
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzlez
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS
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New Zealand
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briefly
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chain
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Htch atfIUtah
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agreement
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nickname
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buddy
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farm
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something"
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club, in sports
crawl lines
56 Census datum
57 Sibling who
stereotypically
feels left out, and
a hint to the little
one hiding in 17-,
23-, 34-and 50-
Across
61 Having four
sharps, in
music
62 Bit of broccoli
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Tennessee _
Ford
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record 21
H6 Quantoath
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a cocktail named
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seen in Canada
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orchestra
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territory
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country
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baking, as bread
dough
47 French
judge in '90s news
51 Not in a
predictable way
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59 "The _ Patrick
Show": sports
talk program
so Centuries-long
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recordings, Jason Marsalis
has run the risk of letting his
technique overpower his com-
positions - despite his strong
disdain for others who make
the same mistake. In a World of
Mallets pierces with his inner
voice, and there's no denying
that Marsalis has grown to be a
wiser musician. This is a break-
away record for 21st-century
jazz.
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(c)203 Tribune Media Services, Inc.,
02/19/13