8A - Monday, April 8, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 8A - Monday, April 8, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom FRAME BY FRAMEd Afilm editor's' Playbook' FINE ARTS COLUMN Finding the fun in thrift shopping Jay SC On time for fil alum, in Stu lowed answe "I block; end o movie you c you hE as you power Fol Unive his tir Michi for th Cassid ing p a com Gugge "It, (22 ye and su Cassid Aft love f to Los in the When wante point, the we "Th someb everyt he wa "That Comp 'I war script. Cas settle most e "If (movi there. havin; "Peop and se persoi Cassidy invites is the director, and the actors are havinga kind of tortured fun." us behind the - Cassidy added that as an edi- tor, he getsto have the final word enes of cinema at the end of a very long, collab- orative effort. By CARLY KEYES "The editing process is like the Daily Arts Writer third re-write of the script, if the work on the set is the second re- April 5, Jay Cassidy, two- write in that it's an interpretation Academy Award nominee by the actors and the director," lm editing and University he said. "As an editor, you get the sat down for an interview satisfaction of getting to be there idio A of North Quad fol- when (the film) gets to become by a student question and what it is." er session. Cassidy has now had the final don't think you get.writer's word on almost 50 films, includ- I think you just get to the ing influential documentaries f your talent," he said. "A such as "An Inconvenient Truth" isn't going to be as good as and "Waiting for Superman," and an make it in the time that celebrated narratives like "Into ave. It's going to be as good the Wild," which garnered him can make it with the brain his first Academy Award nomina- 'that you have." tion and posed one of an editor's lowing graduation from the greatest challenges - what gets rsity, after spending most of to stay in the film and what gets me photographing for The left on the cutting room floor. gan Daily and making films Sean Penn had penned a five- e Ann Arbor Film Festival, hour script. "And this is some- ly landed a job in 1972 edit- thing when we watched it, it's so olitical advertisements for depressing, you know, you just pany in Washington called wanna die," he said. "I mean, it's nheim Productions. five hours long!" s pretty heavy when you're "But in 'Into the Wild,' you're ars old), cut this ad together dealing with amazing perfor- iddenly it's on national TV," mances and extraordinary pho- ly said. tography and staging, and you er four years, Cassidy's true always want good stuff like that. or narrative film took him More is usually better, but quan- Angeles where he enroll'd tity doesn't always get you better. American Film Institute. There are a lot of movies that are asked if Cassidy knew he really expensive that are really d to be a film editor at this lousy. Hundreds of millions of he described the nature of dollars will get spent on some- orking world in Hollywood. thingthat's nothing." ere is no tolerance for Cassidy's second Academy ody who wants to try Award nomination came five thing or is not sure what years later for his work on the ants to do," Cassidy said. recent critically acclaimed "Sil- 's the wrong thing to say. ver Linings Playbook." This anies like people.who say, first-time pairing between Cas- nt to do this' or 'here's my sidy and director David O'Russell ' "proposed another common chal- sidy said he also wanted to lenge faced by a film editor: work- on the trade that would be ing with a director to achieve the enjoyable. right vision. you spend any time on "It's a relationship, and it's e) sets, you realize that scary because as an editor you aren't a lot of people really have a lot of power over the mate- g fun there," Cassidy said. rial," Cassidy said. "It's a touchy le are lugging lights around marriage, and David had cold etting up scenes. The only feet." n who is really having fun 6 "I'1 have what she's having." But ultimately, Cassidy said that what the director wants, the director gets and that "final word" is always a shared deci- sion. "If (the director) wants to specify everything and you're on the payroll, you gotta do it," Cas- sidy said. "If he says, 'I want to put the scene in upside down,' in it goes! But that doesn't mean he doesn't listen to other people." "'Silver Linings Playbook' wasn't a question of 'final cut.' Harvey Weinstein (the film's pro- ducer) is a great force; he's like an old time Hollywood studio head. He beats you and wants you to push back because he wants to know that the best version of this movie has been made. And that's the final cut." Cassidy mentioned that O'Russell and Robert DeNiro (who acted in the film) each have a child whose life has been compromised by emotional and behavioral issues. These real emotional motivations behind "Silver Linings Playbook" hooked him onto the project. "There's enough people who make movies, and they're just cal- culations," Cassidy said. "I'm not necessarily interested in those, but I am interested in somebody who passionately wants to tell a story." Cassidy described what it was like to work with Jennifer Law- rence, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. "On one hand, she's this grown up, but on the other hand, she's like a teenager talking about surfing with her friends, and it's like, 'Who is this person?'" Cassidy described. "It's like an angel came down to Louisville, Kentucky (where Lawrence is from). Take her out of 'The Hun- ger Games,' and you just have a bunch of teenagers killing teen- agers." At the end of event, Cassidy left the students with one final piece of advice. "Stay out of show business," he said. "You go to Hollywood, and you're a free agent, sure, but freedom is just another word for nothing left to do. You rise and fall on luck and talent and hard work. So, if you have certain expectations on how your life is going to turn out, you better fac- tor that in." This is what it would have always come down to. I could feel it, as sweat coated my palms, that this moment was what my life had always waited for. I was casual, nonchalant at first. I hadn't wanted to show my weakness, my hand. ANNA Gradually, SAIC.S"A the anticipa- tion started to build. I'm sure everyone knew - everyone could see that I was going to lose this battle. There's no way to win when destiny is on the line. I picked the two perpetrators up, holding them side by side as if the light could shine down and give me a hint as to what to do. Which one to pick. Because in my hands, I held the most beautiful finds of my thrift shop exploration: "Checkpoint" and "Gardemariny," two Rus- sian films from my childhood. My life had become a bad Mackelmore song. How was - I supposed to pick? How can anyone pick between something as important and meaningful as these two dis- coveries? I'm no native thrifter. In fact, this was my first out- . ing, and it was looking like I was going to leave broken- hearted either way. "Por que no los dos?" My fel- low adventurer asked, and sud- denly, my whole world shifted. Finding something amazing while thrifting is like winning a prize. Because, believe it or not, thrifting is most certainly an art. There's no way you can spend four hours on a Satur- day morning digging through old clothes, dusty vinyls and broken appliances without despairing. The best part comes at the very beginning of each store: You size the space, the collec- tion of random items, brim- ming with possibility ... and you begin your search. Some places are cooler than others, and are much more inviting. We found a working blender for $10. Magic. But toward the middle of the shopping experience, some- thing slightly terrifying begins to occur. Islowly started fall- ing asleep while standing, as the fourth store we visited blurred by. Everything looked the same - I was even bored of the grandmother sweaters. And then, like a beacon of hope, I found the Russian mov- ies. It was as if the thrift-shop gods were telling me to keep searching. And though waking up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday was terrible, the finds were worth it. Thisisn't news to most thrifters. They scavenge the shelves and hangers in hopes of finding true gold within the rubble. But despite the awesome deals and the envious finds, the greatest thing about thrifting is the amazing opportunity to find rare, old items that hold much more value from a sentimental point of view. Popping tags and saving checks Not limited to the experi- ences of a 6-year-old Russian, sentimental items are every- where. They can creep up on you at Value World as you flick through books, only to stumble upon "Memoirs of a Geisha" with an insert that reads; "To David, who has only brought me hope to fill my memoirs with." That's real life. Novels, films, albums - thrifting to find the finer things in life is like opening the door to a whole new thrift shop adventure. No longer focusing on the 99-cent sheets, taking time to notice the smaller, qui- eter things can lead to an artsy, intriguing shopping quests. I ended up with neither Rus- sian film, but with good reason: The longer I stared at the mov- ies, the more I realized I loved the idea of hunting more than the result. I went on to find crazy paintings, fun posters and a book I've been meaning to pick up. But the movies shall remain a symbol - for every- thing possible to find as long as you remember to look. Sadovskaya is wearing you grandad's clothes. To ioin, e-mail asado@umich.eda. 6 *I .0 Defending the antics and gags of USA's crime-comedy 'Psych' By REBECCA GODWIN DailyArro Writer I love USA's show "Psych." I've loved it ever since it began in 2006, and I could barely contain my excitement when the long-await- 4 ed seventh season finally started back in February. But when I tried to share my love with a group of friends, they stared at me in con- fusion. They, like so many other people, had no idea what "Psych" was, which is a complete shame - because it's easily one-of the most entertainingshows on TV. The show centers around Shawn Spencer (James Roday, "Don't Come Knocking"), whose father, a former police officer, .trained him from a young age to have remarkable powers of obser- vation and retention. Shawn uses "He started it." these skills to call in tips to the police, a good deed that ultimately the masses m results in him being accused of a greater variet crime. He manages to avoid jail from run-of-t by claiming to be a psychic and elevated satir offering to help the police. The references ( lie proves so successful that he 1980s). decides to open his very own _ psychic detective agency - thus begins "Psych." If the premise sounds a bit Dont ridiculous, don't worry. It's sup- posed to be. There is very little about the series that isn't silly, but TWat that's what makes it so fantastic. Y There are so few shows on TV right now that are willing to poke fun at themselves, while "Psych" A major sc rarely stops. the show is tl One of the best parts of the bits the cast h show is that jokes are never over- viewers have blown and obvious. Too many enjoy. One of t other comedies rely on overused around Shawi or outrageous gags to ensure no duce his bu one misses the punchline, but best friend, B the writers on "Psych" don't care (Dul? Hill, "T if you don't understand every his realname. joke. This refusal to pander to Doughnut Hi HAVE YOU HEARD RAY-J'S NEW JAM? 0 HAVE ANY THOUGHTS? WANT TO BE A REAL MUSIC CRITIC? BECOME A MUSIC WRITER OR BLOGGER FOR DAILY ARTS THIS SUMMER. 1 t /C, l it :1 , t . i. 3 T [ eans the show has a Jacob "Jingly" Schmidt and Hum- y of humor, ranging mingbird Saltalamacchia are just he-mill slapstick, to a few of the many names Shawn e, to obscure movie has come up with over the years. usually from the Some of the funniest jokes, though, are created when the writers address events happening inthe real world. A prime example be a rabid can be seen in the countless jabs at CBS's "The Mentalist," a show that was created after "Psych." That show's main character, Pat- ch this. rick Jane (Simon Baker), just hap- pens to possess many of the same abilities Shawn has. Each episode is also 100-per- ource of humor on cent unique, and while story lines :he many continuing between characters carry over as implemented that every week, you will never find come to expect and Shawn and Gus in the same situa- he best bits revolves tion twice. In just the first few epi- n's inability to intro- sodes of the seventh season, the siness partner and pair has already joined the circus, urton "Gus" Guster hunted for Bigfoot and stopped a 'he West Wing"), by serial killer on an online dating MC ClapYo Handz, website. Not to mention the many olschtein, Jonathan homage episodes, the most recent of which was a shout-out to the cult classic "Clue," the 1985 movie based off of the board game. But the best part about, the whole show is how dedicated and thankful the cast and crew are to their fans. Many of them con- nect with fans on a regular basis through various social media plat- forms, often live-tweeting an epi- sode. In 2011, the show even had its own"FanAppreciation Day" in New York City, where they had a Q&A panel session as well as tons of contests and giveaways. They even allowed fans to choose the ending to the highly anticipated 100th episode. There are dozens of other things I love about "Psych," and if you tell me you've never heard it, don't be offended if I tell you to "suck it" and then follow that up with a "don't be a rapid por- cupine." You'll just have to watch the show to figure out what I mean. 40 WE HIT IT FIRST. 0 E-mail arts@michigandaily.com to request an application!