The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - 9
Global climate change
explored in 'Chasing'
You can't sit with us!"
p Overcrowded story,
ongoing mystery
keep PLL complex
By BRIANNE JOHNSON
SeniorArts Editor
"Pretty Little Liars" is a nev-
er-ending game of Clue. Hints
from opponents mean noth-
ing, the culprit
changes with
each toss of the
dice and Pro- Pretty
fessor Plum is
a hot-for-stu-
dent ex-teacher Midseason
who aspires
to Fitzgerald- Tuesdaysag 8
esque great- ABC Family
ness. And yet,
no one can
bear to quit the game - or stop
watching.
Two years after the death of
Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Piet-
erse), the mystery of her mur-
der continues to unravel. But
the truth has been tangled in a
web of vengeful best friends and
boyfriends, masked - often lit-
erally - as the omniscient trou-
blemaker dubbed 'A.' As Aria
(Lucy Hale), Emily (Shay Mitch-
ell), Hanna (Ashley Benson)
and Spencer (Troian Bellisario)
dig into their friends', parents'
and neighbors' pasts (and back-
gets murky
yards), the girls are forced to friend-turned-stalker, mental
confront their own skeletons. patient, free woman and now
That is, unless 'A' gets to them sympathetic role model, Mona is
first. complex in comparison with her
But who is 'A'? Rather, who fellow A-teamers. Polished and
are 'A'? This question is both the smug, yet desperate for accep-
nail-biting highlight of "PLL" 's tance, her character teeters
third season and its most frus- between a fallen-from-grace Blair
trating failure. Was it Garrett Waldorf and a powerless Carrie
Reynolds (Yani Gellman) in the White (cue: pig's blood). Mona
hall with the candlestick? What may exhibit sociopathic behav-
about Mona (Janel Parrish) in the ior, but at least her motives seem
kitchen with the revolver? Toby well-intentioned -ier, sometimes.
(relative newcomer Keegan Allen) What's your excuse, Toby?
in the hot tub with the six-pack? Revealed tobe one of the many
There is no one answer. 'A' is faces of 'A,' Rosewood's resident
like 'Gossip Girl' 's little sister: bad-boy-gone-good appears to
equally as well-dressed, and as have contracted rabies since
senseless and inconsistent as the the last episode. OK, maybe
show's plot. not rabies. But Toby Cavana-
Though crowded casts are ugh, Spencer's protective, dark
a common issue in television prince, suffers a bout of overact-
(refer to any season of "Glee"), ingsince his abrupt transitionto
the "PLL" writers seem to have the A-team. He's the snarling,
recruited the entire population flexing psycho-boyfriend whose
of Rosewood for their pretty little evil abs have received their own
game. The 'A-Team' more accu- character description since
rately resembles a small village escaping the (probably also evil)
- albeit a mentally unstable and black hoodie. If not even Mona
violent village with perfect hair - can compete with a classic Toby
than a "team." While pin-the-tail- glare, how can viewers expect
on-the-murderer does make for "PLL" 's quartet of high-fashion
a fun weeknight,,this undeniable heroines to drag themselves out
clutter of characters threatens the of Rosewood alive?
storyline's consistency and the But it's this dwindling bit of
audience's patience. hope for answers - yes, this
However, Mona's evolution week we'll know! OK, maybe
throughout "PLL" revives the next week! - that lures viewers
sense of mystery dulled by the in. After all, mustn't every game
show's pace. As the jealous best- declare a winner?
By NATALIE GADBOIS
Daily Arts Writer
Our world is obviously chang-
ing - in the past three months
we've seen beloved towns
destroyed by
Hurricane
Sandy, wild-
fires tear Chasing Ice
through Cali-
fornia and just At the
last Saturday in Michigan
Ann Arbor we
experienced Exposure
a peak tem-
perature of 58 degrees (much to
the happiness of syllabus week
revelers). In the documentary,
"Chasing Ice," photographer
and adventurer James Balog
("ICE: Portraits of the World's
Vanishing Glaciers") sets out to
prove to naysayers that human
influence is the explanation to
climate change, and denial is not
an option.
In 2007, Balog traveled to
more than 30 glaciers in Iceland,
Greenland, Alaska and Montana
and set up time-lapse cameras
to chronicle the chillingly rapid
decay of these glaciers, which
he argues is ultimately the
result of CO2 and other chemi-
cal emissions. Through visu-
ally arresting videography and
easy-to-understand expert opin-
ions, "Chasing Ice" reaffirms the
proverb "seeing is believing"
and gives us a bleak outlook for
the fut
The
group,
theyjo
desola
answer
ice. Th
and in
the fil:
point;
and "a
sobere
er, dir
Strang
Haqq"
stark r
shots c
bluster
that ca
Thoug
politic
refer I
images
ciersr
- the:
yearsa
ure. casually and (almost smugly)
film follows Balog and his admits - due to the rate of glacial
"Extreme Ice Survey," as decay and a steadily rising ocean
urney to these hauntingly - within the next 75 years, more
te places, striving to find than 300-million people around
rs in the disappearingblue the coastlines of the world will
he views are breathtaking be displaced. Using identifiable
describable, and at times and comprehendible statistics,
m fails to come back to its the film avoids political pander-
we are too busy "oohing" ing and persuasion through mis-
ahing" to remember to be information.
d and frightened. Howev- A frequent guest speaker
ector Jeff Orlowski ("The in national and geographic
;e Case of Salman Abd Al news, Balog has given us the
) brings focus back to the visual proof, and it is unavoid-
eality by cutting between able. Where the film falters is
of miles of melting ice with with what we should do about
ring FOX News reports it. There is a pervading feel-
all global warming a hoax. ing of helplessness, which is
h obviously biased in this expounded when a woodsy pro-
al debate, the filmmakers fessor admits that this change
back to these time-lapsed is inevitable. We have reached
s that concretely show gla- the tipping point, once consid-
melting at alarming rates ered impossible, and scientists
same amount in the last 10 believe the glaciers will contin-
as the prior 100. ue receding at a disquieting rate.
The film harkens back to the
PBS programs we were so happy
Beautiful to watch in elementary school in
place of doing ouf multiplication
mages can't tables, and at times the familiarly
dry expert interviews take away
iask lack of from the immediacy of the issue.
But, while inthirdgrade we could
answers. forget the bearded man's confus-
ingwords,we nowhaveasobering
responsibility to do something.
But what? While visually and
staggering to have some- emotionally stunning, "Chasing
as basic as ice show us why Ice" couldn't provide answers to
orld is imploding. As Balog lingering questions.
it
n
It's
thing:
our we
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