The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, November 4, 2013 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, November 4, 2013 - 7A "That's 'Mr. Solo' to you." Ambitious'Game' F str S On fictio canon Orson Card consi filma Card has reluct at t bring novel big "End moral respe youth ance of its young fictio serio of ch ble to space WI say t win a gin ( is as less, this name, job ( ance) 'ilm adaptation intended in Ender's character. The whole cast of young actors ays too far from holds their own remarkably in an adult script and under the ource material questionable direction of Gavin Hood ("X-Men Origins: Wol- By NOAH COHEN verine"). DailyArts Writer However, it feels as though Hood ought to have read the .e of the greatest science- book a couple more times n books in the genre before directing this film and n, "Ender's Game" by crafting the story's sci-fi boy n Scott genius. Despite the foolish had been B lightness with which Hood dered un- handled the children-forced- ble. Even Eders into-adulthood motif and the himself strangely fast pace of the movie expressed (which should have been a half stance AtQualityl6 hour longer), the cast is, bet- rying to andyRav terthan a hardcore fan might his own Summit expect. The integrity of the is to the franchise is preserved by the screen. barest margin. er's Game" balances its This movie serves as a fierce l maturity with heavy defense of child-acting. But- ct for the intelligence of terfield and Hailee Steinfeld h, and this uncommon bal- ("True Grit"), as Petra, share puts the book in a class an unusual romantic chemis- own, in limbo between try: The saccharine undertones g adult and high science in this retelling, which are pure n. Both the youth and Hollywood, undermine the usness of the story's cast severity of the plot but add to aracters makes it impossi- the ihtrigue of the characters, manipulate into a normal and so can be forgiven. Even -age thriller. Bean, who readers pegged as hy? Well, (spoilers) let's an impossible cast, was por- he good guys don't just trayed with spunk by Aramis and celebrate. Ender Wig- Knight ("Crossing Over"). Asa Butterfield, "Hugo") Guided by a grave (read: empathetic as he is ruth- sexy) Harrison Ford ("42") as and it kills him to kill. In Colonel Graff, our young heroes film adaption of the same confront a military atmosphere , Butterfield does a fine constructed to mold them into despite his soft appear- merciless tacticians. "Ender's ) of carrying the severity Game" compresses much of what makes these children brilliant and dramatizes the quietly philosophical Ender into an orchestral conductor of war, but it effectively addresses the strange world author Card makes of Battle School. The brittle hardness that Ender develops so quickly is a believ- able side effect of the tension that Ford brings to the seqeen as his superior. But there isn't enough run- time to appreciate the scope of Card's universe. Because of the film's brevity, one of the more complex relationships of the film, the intimacy Ender shares with his sister, Valentine (Abi- gail Breslin, "Little Miss Sun- shine"), comes off as slightly incestuous. On a positive note, fans will enjoy Mazer Rack- ham's (Ben Kingsley, "Iron Man 3") half-Maori descent. The true-to-text explanation of his moko - a face-painting tradition that connects a war- rior to his roots - gains a spe- cial gravity in. the context of Mazer's present living situa- tion: Even after having aban- doned Earth, he is still Maori. Still, there's no getting around the fact that this film is too ambitious and ultimately fails the book. But the sheer possibility of "Ender's Game" finding box-office success is a raised fist in the air for any fan who has witnessed a number of studios struggle to bring this film to life. The movie is both an honorable attempt and a worthwhile ride. J.K. Rowling is really trying to re-invent herself. Commitment problems stall weak ...D. N EW ME D IA NOT E BOOK Resurrecting podcasts from their perceived grave By KELLY ETZ can't-miss "How Did This Get ment of his live shows - it's not Daily Arts Writer Made" - dominating the scene. recycled material, and even if it The only (kind-of-important) was, there's nothing else like a Lately, when the subject of problem with these little nug- live show. new media comes up, it seems gets of awesome is that they Maybe I'm a little bit biased all anyone wants to talk about is make virtually no money. Not as I've acquired a bit of a the new Twitter IPO or Google exactly a sustainable business (healthy) podcast obsession. If Glass (which admittedly, model. Sure, there's advertis- podcasting were to go the way sounds intriguingly futuristic), ing (if I have to hear one more of the tape recorder, I'd really but I have a special place in my Audible soundbite ...), but most miss Jason Mantzoukas's ("I'm heart for the humble podcast. podcasts are ultra-niche, mean- not on Twitter, guys") theories I know what you're think- ing they don't garner significant about movies and learning stuff ing. This isn't 2005. As Apple downloads. Unfortunately, not I never knew I wanted to know just keeps rolling out those everyone can be Dan Savage. from Steven Levitt. upgrades, it's easy to dismiss But is this really an issue? And while I'm on the subject, podcasting as part of the Dane Sure, money makes the world go I'd be remiss if I didn't plug both Cook era. There were only round, but with more and more fabulous Andy Zaltzman co- two iPod generations at that podcasts starting up every day, hosted podcasts - firstly "The time, and everyone was a bit monetizing may not be the key Bugle" featuring Zaltzman more naive. But seriously, even to success anymore. Companies and John OliSrer. As the birth- though the just-a-tiny-bit- like Slate have credited much place of the fuckeulogy and stuffy New York Times axed of their overall success to pod- everyone's favorite purveyor of nearly all of its podcasting con- casts - Slate editor David Plotz bullshit, it's a must-listen every tent in the last few years (fol- acknowledged the less-than- week. Even the Andy-only sub lowed by many major news and stellar profitability of podcasts, episodes aren't that bad. And media outlets), podcasts are far while also highlighting the second, "Answer Me This!" from irrelevant. boost they give to brand recog- with Helen Zaltzman and Olly Sure, my first listen was nition. Man - an indescribably British around the time I was rocking a half-hour that answers all the lime green iPod mini and when questions you never had about "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Get into the what's up with the Queen's Fire" was still in theaters. But gynecologist and how not to be podcasting is hardly ancient heads of some attracted to nuns. news. Apple announced they My point is: Podcasts are passed the 1-billion-subscribers of your favorite worth your time. For me, it's a mark earlier this year (much to fulfillment of that oh-so-human everyone's collective astonish- artists. need to know everything about ment), and some pretty illustri- everyone - remembers fran- ous people are just now jumping tically flipping through the into the podcast game. pages of Teen Beat's 'N Sync In fact, in the comedy-centric While some lament a discon- interview, dying to know Jus- arena, there's almost too many nect for comedians between live tin's innermost thoughts and fabulous .podcasters to choose performances and their pod- desires? Podcasts let you get from these days, with power- casting cousins, I've found this into somebody's head - they houses like Marc Maron and the to be patently untrue. Listening are literally speaking right into overwhelming program lineup to Jim Gaffigan on "The Nerd- your ears - and that's endlessly, from Earwolf - which hosts the ist" only heightened my enjoy- timelessly, fascinating. By KARSTEN SMOLINSKI DailyArts Writer Much like his main character, writer and first-time director Stu Zicherman seems afraid to take love seriously in this romantic C+ comedy about the effects of A.C.O.D divorce on a generation of At theMichigan young Ameri- Film Arcade cans. In "A.C.O.D." - which stands for Adult Chil- dren of Divorce - restaurant owner Carter (Adam Scott, "Parks and Recreation") discov- ers that as achildhe unknowingly participated in a study on the psy- chological effects of divorce. The original researcher, Dr. Judith (Jane Lynch, "Glee"), decides to begin a study on how his parents' divorce affected his adult life right as his naive younger broth- er Trey (Clark Duke, "Hot Tub Time Machine") decides to get married to his girlfriend of four months. When Clark attempts to get his parents, Hugh (Rich- ard Jenkins, "Step Brothers") and Melissa (Catherine O'Hara, "Where the Wild Things Are"), to agree to attend the same wedding, his own carefully con- trolled life gets shaken up. A mediocre 'Crazy, Stupid, Love.' While the entire cast per- forms commendably, the sto- ryline neglects to give it much emotional depth with which to work. The film never finds any strength in the connec- tions between its main charac- ters, making their relationships seem tenuous at best. Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recre- ation") and Jessica Alba ("Val- entine's Day") pop in and out with minimal character devel- opment, Carter's parents can't commit to anything and Trey comes off as a dumb kid rush- ing into marriage. Carter him- self fears committing to his girlfriend of four years (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, "Scott Pil- grim vs. the World"), and their relationship feels woefully underdeveloped. "A.C.O.D." doesn't neces- sarily come across as cynical on the subject of love; it just never ceases treating it like a farce. This wouldn't present a problem if the jokes delivered enough laughs, but the per- formers struggle against the limitations of the script here as well. Genuinely humorous situ- ations fill the plot, but none of them manage to elicit anything more than the lightest chuckle. Focused mainly on the unique details of several intricately entwined relationships and the unpredictable nature of love, "A.C.O.D." resembles a less amusing, less poignant version of 2011's "Crazy, Stupid, Love." The movie tries to legitimately portray the effects of divorce on adult life, perhaps even hoping to help people in similar circum- stances as Dr. Judith suggests her research will. However, the plot fails to offer compelling insight or guidance. When the credits roll, they frustrate audi- ence expectations with a clever ambiguity, but they also leave many of the film's conflicts unre- solved. Carter's improved under- standing of himself becomes the storyline's primary resolu- tion. Undermined by the farcical treatment of the conflicts Carter confronts, this personal real- ization hardly carries enough emotional weight to make an impact. Perhaps for those audi- ence members familiar with the effects of divorce, this film will hold more affectation and enter- tainment. However, for most audiences, "A.C.O.D." provides a thoroughly mediocre experi- ence, not witty enough to suc- ceed as a comedy and not moving enough to succeed as a romance. FREAKY FAST DELIVERY!. I I 02011 JIMMY JOHN'S FRANCHISE. LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. '