The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - 7
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - 7
Speaking the language
o bilingual difficulties
Taxi!
N ostalgic, bruising
lnEscape Pa'
Stallone and ed. I call it purity. These are not
Nolan-esque tortured souls (how-
Schwarzenegger are ever compelling those can be).
These are giants hewn from gun-
an action dream team metal steel that operate on a single
speed. They walk big, they talk big,
By SEAN CZARNECKI they smash.
Daily Film Editor Explosions and fistfights only
carry an actioner so far before
The pretentious moviegoer it starts to look like you're com-
would say the most pain Arnold pensating. For me, the watchabil-
Schwarzenegger ("The Termina- ity of hyper-machismo fades fast
tor") and Syl- each year. Pin it on the political
vester Stallone climate. Pin it on progress. But
("Rocky") ever what bad actioners lack are lead-
bruise up in Escape Pla ing actors possessing the cha-
"Escape Plan" risma of a Schwarzenegger or
is inflicted on At Quality16 Stallone.
the audience. and Rave When Schwarzenegger picks
Yeah, they put Summit up a machine gun, the audi-
the hurt on your ence flashes back through "Ter-
wallet. A word minator," through "Predator"
of advice: Leave your brain behind and so many other classics, and
watching this troglodyte drivel. the theater erupts in applause
Those moviegoers miss what a and laughter. Who else but the
joy it is to watch this tag team for Ah-nold could make something
the ages slug it out. For "Escape so macho-mugging and prepu-
Plan" is a movie about heroes. It's bescent this hilarious and fun?
nostalgic. It's thrilling and funny. Schwarzenegger stole this movie.
It brings the enormous weight of It's just unfortunate all the
two historic careers to the screen intellectual heavy-lifting of
with the gusto of 1980s popcorn "Escape Plan" 's overly compli-
cinema. cated plot should be done by these
Stallone is Ray Breslin, a pris- two linguists. Together, they've
on-break expert, who is assigned practically redefined what quali-
a new job in an undisclosed loca- fies as speaking English. But the
tion, who is double-crossed, who real problem are the contrivanc-
befriends another head-knocker es of the screenplay, written by
named Emil Rottmayer (Arnie) relative-newcomer Miles Chap-
and together they try to escape. man and Jason Keller ("Machine
Some may stigmatize "Escape Gun Preacher"). Many charac-
Plan" by callingit simpleton-mind- ters' motives are unclear, their
involvement tenuous at best, and
other characters superfluous.
Take 50 Cent's character
("Get Rich, or Die Tryin' "),
Hush. Almost all his lines, how-
ever few, involve some sort of
mumbled four-letter word that
sounds surprisingly fake, con-
sidering the rapper's career. The
film would've literally turned out
the way it did with or without
him. Even Stallone's love interest
(Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone")
could've been crossed off. It's a
bad sign the story and characters
distract you from the movie.
But Chapman and Keller man-
aged to craft a convincing vil-
lain in Willard Hobbs, played by
Jim Caviezel, whom you know
best as Jesus ("The Passion of
the Christ"). He's a clean, suited
psychopath with the sole life goal
of control and cruelty. At times,
Caviezel's performance bor-
ders self-parody, but overall his
contribution to the film is a fine
asset. As for his minions, I'm still
turning over why the hell Black-
water dropouts are dressed like
Jabbawockeez.
When Stallone 'and Schwar-
zenegger turn these trick-or-
treaters into pudding, "Escape
Plan" barely misses a step. It daz-
zles us with violence when it's
supposed to. It makes us laugh
when it tries to be funny. It's
solid moviemaking if you have
the good nature to be entertained
by old-fashioned brawling and
wry humor.
E st-ce que je peux
prendre deux choc-
olat-au-pains et..."
I clamp up. Ican see the name
handwritten on the golden card. I
can read that.
I know how to
pronounce it.
I know how to
do this.
Four years
of classes, j
two in AP r
and six weeks ANNA
in the actual SADOV KAYA
country, and I
still clamp up
when speakingFrench.
"Um ... quest-ce que c'est ca?"
The girl behind the counter sighs
and points to the sweet raisin
bread. I nod.
"It's sweet raisin bread," she
says in crisp English, no panic
attack in sight.
"Ah. Oui, merci. Je veut deux,
s'il vous plait." Even though I've
been caught red handed as a
foreigner, I keep up the charade.
Maybe it's dedication to learning,
maybe just embarrassment, but I
leave the boulangerie with an "a
demain, merci," as ifI was a born
Parisian. The store girl's "good-
bye" stings.
Foreign languages had always
"come easily to me" in high
school, in that it would only take
a quick glance-over of the mate-
rial for most of my exams and
quizzes. I would expect an A in
both Spanish and French, and
considered the two my easiest
subjects.
In my little 18-year-old bubble,.
my pronunciation was mag-
nificent. Grammar? Acceptable.
Writing
"coup-d
Fast-
and the
the mid
two mil
Eiffel T
had lea
sette ta
Lear
is easy:
foreign
in hand
conjuga
consum
easy. Yr
concept
know w
formula
ings wi
in anotl
sometir
manage
CIC
lea]
Spea
howeve
increas
tionshii
your to:
Too afr
and say
(myself
? Did anyone else use way to learn to speak than to
le-grace" in their paper? have a conversation with a
forward three years, native.
re I was, standing in I knew all this first hand.
Idle of a bakery, in Paris, My Russian would improve
nutes away from the markedly anytime I visited
'ower, speaking as ifI St. Petersburg, just by being
rned French from a cas- around others who spoke it -
pe on the flight over. being constantly immersed in
ning a new language it.
Sitting down with a So when I arrived in France,
book and dictionary I was prepared to take on the
[is easy. Memorizing baguette-loving land with my
ations and tenses is time magnificent pronunciation in
aing, but ultimately, tow.
u already have a basic Less than two hours later, I
t of language - you was silently eating a delicious
vords, you know how to meal, smiling and nodding and
ate thoughts and feel- whispering questions in Eng-
th them and doing this lish to my poor, bilingual host.
her language is strange, Eventually, Iwarmed up to
nes complicated, but the idea of whipping out my
able. (not surprisingly) poor French.
Words that I had thought I
was saying correctly, I wasn't.
LearnWhat I thought I was reading
Lern ng. correctly, I wasn't. But getting
French in those mistakes out of the way
made room for improvement.
3ssroom Vs Not as noticeable as my Russian
- I'm bilingual, and in Rus-
rning in life. sia, I forget the English word
for something - but enough to
count. I even had a two-hour
long conversation on topics
king a new language, ranging from coincidences to
r, is difficult. It's an fate to cooking. I was powering
ingly frustrating rela- through myinfinite ineptitude
p between your mind, to come across the point of
ngue and your memory. learning any new language: to
aid to make a mistake connect with others. To speak
something stupid, most to people whom I wouldn't oth-
included) opt out of erwise be able to speak with.
saying anything. But there's
no point to learning a new lan-
guage without actually speak-
ing it - and there's no better
Sadovskaya is practicing
her French. To talk to her,
e-mail asado@umich.edu.
Documentary'Cutie and the
Boxer' paints a fresh take on love
'Birthday' presents a comedy gift
By JOE REINHARD
For theDaily
Sketch-comedy shows can
sometimes disappoint if too many
sketches fall flat, even when there
are moments
of comedy gold B-
mixed in. IFC's
"The Birthday The
Boys" barely Birthday
manages to
avoid this com- Boys
mon undoing, Pilot
and while some
sketches were Fridays at
much better 10:30 p.m.
than others,
the premiere IFC
remains consis-
tent enough to deliver 30 minutes of
solid comedy.
Part of this consistency comes
from the show's ingenuity: Each
sketch features a major twist on
expectations, so that even if one
doesn't appreciate the humor,
there's still plenty to appreciate in
the creativity and wit. One sketch
presents itself as a documentary
about a bunch of tech geeks who
work on the first computer in their
garage, but in reality the men are
much more proud of their garage
renovations (such as their invention
ofthekeyboard, aboardwherethey
could hang their keys) than their
technological breakthroughs. In
general, the premise behind each
sketch proves enjoyable, and even
when a sketch lacks in execution,
some comedic genius does manage
to show through.
Indeed, the show boasts consid-
erable talent with executive pro-
ducers Bob Odenkirk ("Breaking
Bad") and Ben Stiller ("The Ben
Stiller Show") on board. Odenkirk
lends his talent more directly and
actually plays major roles in many
of the sketches, but whether or not
You definitely better call Saul.
he'll co
extentr
while, T
sketch
son Du
Kalpaki
VanArt
Mike M
out fron
they ar
the ope
simplyt
Boys," t
and if a
from th
ing it m
bunch c
to outdo
Jul
drat
Taki
from "i
cus," th
fluid st:
really k
could e
when a
another
ing issuo
ntinue to contribute to this would have lost a lot of momentum
remains to be seen. Mean- if it had instead adopted a "Satur-
'he Birthday Boys, a comedy day Night Live" style of contained,
group made up of Jeffer- finite sketches. The unpredictabil-
tton, Dave Ferguson, Tim ity keeps the show engaging even
s, Michael Hanford, Chris whenthe humor faltered.
sdalen, Matt Kowalick and Some sketches suffer from this
Mitchell, never really stand structure, however, preventing
m one another. Seeing how real gems from rising to greatness.
tot named individually in Whereas a few bits never amount to
ning title sequence and are much in the first place, others start
credited as "The Birthday off funny but continue on need-
his is probably purposeful, lessly. The aforementioned garage
nything, the show benefits sketch grows tiresome once the
eir interchangeability, mak- clever premise stretches too far.
ore of a group effort than a Weavingthe sketchin and outofthe
f funny individuals trying premierekeptup the lively pacebut
one another. itstill can't hide the gradual decline
in quality. If the show wants to use a
sketch throughoutthe show for the
S don't let sake of its structure, first it needs to
be sure that the material warrants
g on too long. repeated use.
Nonetheless, "The Birthday
Boys" still delivers a satisfying pre-
miere. The sketches hit more than
ng apparent inspiration they miss, though pure comedy
Monty Python's Flying Cir- gold proves to be a rarity. For now,
le show sets up a rather the show still needs more disci-
ructure, in that one never pline to deliver truly noteworthy
nows when the sketches material. That doesn't mean it isn't
nd or start up again, or worth watching though, and if the
sketch might connect with premiere's any indication, one can
This creates some pac- be safely optimistic that the show
es, but overall the premiere will only getbetter from here.
By AKSHAY SETH
Daily B-Side Editor
Ushio Shinohara prods his
81-year-old hands into a new pair
of boxing gloves. He pauses, and
with the air of
someone who's A
been doing
this for close Cutie and
to five decades, the Boxer
examines the
bulky sponges At the
strapped on top Michigan
of the gloves.
After motion- RADiUS-TWC
ing for his wife
Noriko to make
a few adjustments, he plunges
his hands into two large vats of
paint. His eyelids droop behind
a pair of safety goggles and loud,
rhythmic smacks of sound fill the
cramped New York studio.
Ushio punches an empty can-
vas, blobs of paint exploding
through the whiteness in front of
him. His art represents a tumul-
tuous release of emotion - a
tumultuousness that has come
to embody the years he has spent
honing his craft as a well-known
yet struggling artistin the United
States. Noriko watches quietly
from the side, her eyes hidden
behind a coat of sadness.
Documentary "Cutie and
the Boxer," newcomer Zachary
Heinzerling's stirring directorial
debut, is her story.
It's a story framed by her love
for Ushio, but defined by the sac-
rifices she made to keep their
marriage together. A 19-year-old
art student from Japan, she met
her then-41-year-old husband,
already arecognized avant-garde
sculptor, at an art showing in his
studio. "I'd never seen art like it
before," she recalls in the film.
Ushio took her under his wing
and intrigued, she began spend-
ing more time with her new men-
tor. Six months after their first
encounter, they had already mar-
ried and soon, she was expecting.
Heinzerling's film is power-
ful because it treats their mar-
riage with honesty, filming the
couple's interaction without any
speculative fluff to dilute the sig-
nificance of what we're watch-
ing. He lets the fights play out
and doesn't avert our eyes when
the ugly consequences of Ushio's
former alcoholism take center
stage.'
approa
isn't of
filmma
the me
iko's p
poigna
As I
chef fo
forced
career
Alex, n
alone.
shows
tered
of the:
to side
alcohol
wrench
them
eyes. Sl
ing dog
the un
in Ushi
the har
There's a relaxed, tolerant "The New York Times called me
ch to the storytelling that amazing, but I have nothing. You
ten seen in documentary throw your life awayto be an art-
king these days, making ist. It's like a monster that drags
elancholy nature of Nor- you along." It's the art that guides
redicament all the more us through the story. As Nor-
nt. iko finally begins revisiting her
his unpaid assistant and roots as a painter, she creates a
r close to 40 years, she's comic-book-like character called
to sideline her own art Cutie, an obvious extension of
and look after their son, herself. Cutie, naked to represent
now himself an alcoholic, financial and emotive deficiency,
The scenes in which he struggles to deal with a blatantly
up to his parents' clut- detached husband named Bully.
apartment in the middle She raises a child on her own
night, sloshing from side and eventually, by giving life to
and begging for more a repressed anger, is able to tame
, are the film's most heart Bully, "bending him to her will."
sing. Heinzerling gives An animated version of
to us through Noriko's Cutie's story is used sporadi-
he teeters between break- cally throughout the narrative
wn and looking away, but to describe the earlier stages of
mistakable sense of denial Noriko's marriage. Toward the
io's demeanor is what hits end of the film, she says she
dest. always had a choice to leave
behind her husband and regrets
not being able to give their son
Romance a better environment to grow up
in. But she still loves Ushio. This
w ithout film is a moving portrait, of the
trials ofthatlove.
the fluff. Noriko wears that coat of sad-
ness as she watches her husband
pummel away at an empty can-
vas. It's what has made her the
rchival footage, we see a person she is today, the artist she
n, sobbing Ushio exclaim always wanted to be.
"All eyes on me in the center of the ring."
RADIUS-TWC
In a
drunke