The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, March 25, 2013 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, March 25, 2013 - 7A The rewards of reading No narrative in 'Stoker' here's something inher- ently solitary and all- encompassing in a book. You go to the movies to indulge in over-buttered pop- corn and whispered exchanges with the gaggle of people who tagged along because "that one scene ANNA with that girl SADCKsiAYA from 'Prin- cess Diaries' looks brutal." And then there's the rest of the theater, each couple of seats their own cos- mos, trying to stay unaware of neighbors across the row. TV can be lonely, especially if it's a Saturday night and the rest of your housemates are at a house party while you decided to stay in because it's almost April and going outside is depressingly freezing. So, it's off to Netflix and its collection of shows. And then it's probably a bit of texting or Snapchatting your friends to let them know you're warm and have "Gossip Girl" reruns on. There's no texting and read- ing. There's no turning away from the pages to have a quick discussion about the main character's hair. Delving into a book means being taken to its universe, one where you leave everyone else you know behind. And when the book is fin- ished, it's like coming back from the dead - resurfacing, only to find six hours have gone by and the world is different. It's dark out, and there are no lights on except for the little book light, and somehow, no one has both- ered to make dinner. Reading requires a specific patience: It might take a while to pick the story up, introduce all the characters and dra- matize the plot. It might take centuries for the protagonist to get to the bottom of an evil plot. Authors of series are the best marketing strategists, leaving you hanging with just enough information to keep you from perpetually sobbing. Patience is such a slutty virtue, and books tease the persistence of many readers. Comparing TV, film and reading is sort of unnecessary. Because what's the point of hav- ing a winner? There's nothing a book can do to provide the same level of sensory overload as an IMAX 3-D movie experience. There's nothing a TV show can do to seamlessly weave each storyline and episode into an hour-long episode the way a 500-page novel can. But there's nothing to stop anyone from indulging in all three. Movies, TV, books and music are art - different styles, dif- ferent formats, but all essen- tially made with the purpose of entertainment. I don't want to argue against all other forms of media, insisting that literature is the only safe route towards becoming properly cultured. In a culture with high-speed Internet, that seems impracti- cal. But there's something nov- els offer that no other type of entertainment can, and that's the total engulfment of your life into another. Since reading relies so heavily on the reader to create the sounds, the smells and the people in another world, it becomes your own cre- ation. It's paralyzing; watching people read for hours at a time is unimaginably boring. It's unfortunately less com- mon to find people with their noses in a book, and even less so for pleasure than off a syllabus. You can truly lose yourself in the universe of a book. Chapter-by-chapter read- ing is pretty common for the assigned-reading few who actually complete the assign- ment. But it's dull, and lacks imagination - getting ripped from its universe every 70 pages doesn't help. Who has time to read a full novel, though? Who has time to sit through endless page-turning? It's about a delicate balance. It's about quality over quan- tity. And when you finally find enough time to dedicate, the novel better be rewarding and satisfying - it should change your world. Rather than cut- ting out reading, it's time to sift through the mediocre writing and focus on the truly worth- while. Just like picking a TV series or a movie, choosing a book can take a while. It might not mesh with your style; the writ- ing could be too leaden for the Saturday you've set aside for reading. So continue your search! Because there are truly remarkable experiences waiting for you on the other side of book covers. Sadovskaya has her nose in a book. To get her attention, e-mail asado@umich.edu. Park's psychosexual thriller lacks humanity By MATT EASTON Daily Arts Writer "Stoker" disorients. After the first opening segments - drifting memories and fragments of nois- es - one might beseechingly reach out an arm for support, Stoker or for a tangible detail to provide AtState some basis for Fox Searchlight understanding. But alas, this would be a fruitless task. "Stoker" brushes aside coherence of narra- tive and stability in favor of flour- ishes of the camera and a sense of the eerie. The moments of clarity, while few and far between, prove that "Stoker" could've been one of the movies of the year, but ulti- mately, the clutter overwhelms. In a word, "Stoker" tries. The script, penned by Wentworth Miller ("Prison Break"), strives to intrigue with a story (actually, story might be too coherent for "Stoker"; it's more of an idea) of incestuous, erotic murderthemes. India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska, "Lawless") loses her father in a tragic accident; she's moody and strange. Her mother (Nicole Kid- man, "The Paperboy") seems to get over the death quickly; creepy, charming Uncle Charlie (Mat- thew Goode, "Watchmen") moves in with the two after "traveling the world." What follows is a lot of hinting at menace. There's ten- sion, but it ultimately adds up to the movie pleasuring itself. "Just let me braid your hair." Miller attempts the provoca- tive, but his dialogue and meta- phors move between utterly obvious and horribly clunky. As Charlie "hunts," a TV in the background shows a nature pro- gram on eagles in which they "kill their own family" to ensure their own survival. Hints like this don't only induce groans of "duh," but they also thrust the audience out of the movie. It becomes apparent that someone wrote this film. Moments between the fam- ily at the dinner table also strain credibility. It makes sense that the tension and unhinged nature of Uncle Charlie might make small talk difficult - but it's hard not to wonder, "Have these people ever said normal things outside of the context of poorly shielding underlying motives and emotional/sexual turmoil?" Probably not, because the char- acters in "Stoker" don't embody human emotions. Despite all this, "Stoker" com- pels in small ways and begins to find some solid ground toward the final act. Details of Uncle Charlie are squirmy in all the right ways, and Goode plays the character with occasional depth. His long belt (and the leather slide of him slipping it off his pants) is legitimately frightening, and the piano scene that Goode shares with Wasikowska is slimy and wonderful and gross - it's an uncomfortable (and erotic) dis- play that shows how good "Stok- er" can be. Director Chan-wook Park ("Oldboy") stifles the early scenes, but eventually gives the film more space and sets up some awesome moments. The colors he adds accentuate the overall mood, and some of his transitions show real ingenuity. Park was obviously playing with the film, tryingnew things. In a sense, this defines "Stoker," but it may have been refreshing to havea steadier hand control the movie, espe- cially because the foundation of "Stoker" is already so creaky. Family, what it means and what it makes us - this is the main idea behind "Stoker." The climax centers on that question, and at the height of the film's tension, a mad-eyed Kidman whispers: "You were supposed to love me, weren't you?" It's a heartbreaking appeal, one that nearly salvages "Stoker," almost convinces us that some humanity exists amid the miasma of men- ace and confusion that inundates the rest of the movie. But one line can't lift an entire narrative - "Stoker" proves that. STAYING IN ANN ARBOR THIS SUMMER? LOOKING FOR SOMETHING AWESOME TO DO? JOIN THE DAILY ARTS SUMMER STAFF! . E-mail arts@michigandaily.com to request an application. T V R EVIEW A&E takes a well-aimed stab at 'Psycho' origins with 'Bates' By KELLY ETZ repressed sensuality make up While the series manages depth, or else have been better Daily Arts Writer the formidable Mrs. Bates, to craft the beginnings of a off with a two-hour special or while a truly white-knuckled believably grim backstory for mini-series. Limitations aside, After Alfred Hitchcock rape scene humanizes her. The the famed killer, A&E will the original mama's boy is in ruined showers for everyone subsequent wild stabbing is have to work harder to create fine form. with one iconic vindicated, even gratifying. scene, Norman B+ It certainly proves the series Bates became isn't afraid of a little blood- a household Bates shed to go along with all that name. Now intrigue. A&E fancifully Despite the spurts of imagines the Mondays at action, the premiere coasts beginning of 10 p.m. on the ever-present tension the "Psycho" surrounding mother and son. legacy in the A&E Every interaction is just shy new prequel of too-far; the pair are a little series, "Bates Motel." too close in every way. Each The pilot begins with Nor- touch is oddly and eroti- man (Freddie Highmore, cally charged, while a heart- "Charlie and the Chocolate Fac- to-heart over dumping the tory") finding his father dead in body is a nice foreshadowing the garage, leaving the 17-year- of horror to come. Norma's old in an eerie co-dependence obvious jealousy, paired with with his overreaching mother, Norman's not-quite-oblivious Norma (Vera Farmiga, "Up in attitude, manages to keep the the Air"). Wanting a fresh start, pace from becoming stale. the two pack up for the not-so- For a series destined to I- pleasantville of White Pine Bay end in only one way (unless and the infamous house on the the series rewrites history A hill. la "Inglourious Basterds"), "Bates Motel" needs to do more than subtly play with A whole new the reasons behind Norman's eventual neurosis. While the meaning for the interchange between Farmi- ga and Highmore is superb, term 'mama's it won't hold an entire series together. The end of the pilot S boy' seems to move in this direc- tion, panning over an immo- bilized figure, ankle-cuffed in a concrete room. White Teenage Norman is a deadly Pine Bay gets more "Twin cocktail of hormones and bud- Peaks"-esque with every ding psychosis beneath an passing minute. innocuous baby face. Quot- Shrouded in a patina of the ing "Jane Eyre" and stealing antique - from Peter Pan col- glimpses at a creepily salacious lars to record players - the book of drawings, the younger premiere feels ageless, keep- Bates is true North for every ing viewers off-balance and JIMMYJHN.COM female in town - the well- adrift. The in-and-out set- meaning guidance counselor, ting distances the series from the popular clique, loner Emma the original film, despite the and, of course, the center of his numerous references - stow- world: his mother. ing a body in a shower, Nor- A Y FA F It's almost fitting, then, man's black and white film L IV E K Y ! that Farmiga's Norma steals fetish, hinting at the even- every scene. Richly drawn and tual highway bypass - and shrewdly acted, the ultimate prevents the premiere from mother is fearsome indeed. becoming merely homage to Anger, wit and buckets of Hitchcock.