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iV - i n icnIiganI dI Laiiy - Itlull~y, july 21, LVIIS
ARTS
WHAT'S NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT
JACKO NEEDS FAMILY SUPPORT
(I.E. CASH) --The British music news
hounds at NME.com reported that
Michael Jackson will be reforming the
Jackson 5 with brothers Tito,
Jermaine, Marlon and
Randy for a full reunion
tour in the near future.
Brother Jermaine told the A
BBC that an album is
likely to be released
coinciding with the
tour. Far be it for us to
ever turn a cynical eye
toward anything
involving His Pale-
ness, the King of Pop,
but we won't be surprised to see the
whole project collapse in a classic dis-
play of Jacko insanity.
A high-profile platinum-selling
record and a victory-lap tour might help
Jackson cast off his financial problems
and perpetual inquiries into his personal
habits. Or it might simply let the Gloved
One take his freak show of a life on the
road. Watch for tour dates and falling
babies ina town near you.
DRaVING WIME UNDER THE INFLU-
ENCE OF A RECENT OSCAR NOMINEE
- As our friends at the Detroit Free
Press dutifully reported, the White
Stripes have officially cancelled 16
North American tour dates through mid-
August, including the Aug. 10 stop at
the Masonic Temple in Detroit and two
headlining gigs at the T in the Park
and Witnness festivals in Britain (the
Flaming Lips are kindly filling in
for those shows).
Mr. John Gillis, better
known as Jack White of the
international blues-rock darlings,
suffered a compound fracture of ,
his left finger in a car accident
in Detroit on July 9, oddly
enough the guitarist's 28th
birthday. White's new girl-
friend, Renee Zellweger,
was also in the vechical
when another car ran
into them, but Bridget
Jones was not injured.
What a baby Jack is. Jerry Garcia
played without his middle finger for
his entire career!
Ticket-holders can direct questions
about refunds to Ticketmaster (248-645-
6666) or the point of purchase. Tickets
will be honored for new dates.
IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU, KELLY -
According to CNN.com, MTV's
Osbourne family lost a beloved member
when Sharon's black Chihuahua, Lulu,
was attacked by coyotes outside the
family's Beverly Hills home.
It wasn't the first time that an
Osbourne dog came under attack
from coyotes, however. Earlier
this month, their Pomeranian
Pipi was attacked, but fortu-
nately Ozzy tore her from the
coyotes clutches just in time.
The Osbournes and
their reality TV show plan to
carry on without Lulu this
fall, when filming for the
show's next season begins.
I
Courtesy of Newmarket Film Group
Consider the lilyas of the field.
flya' .eiece
Guster stay the course
By Jared Newman
Daily Arts Writer
MUSIC REVI EW* *
Whether or not Guster have fallen into the acoustic
rock trappings of stale guitar lines and trite lyrics in the g
past is up for debate, but their latest album, "Keep It
Together" avoids the abyss with enjoyable lyrics and
engaging, varied riffs blended seamlessly with some
slick studio effects, all the while ditching their stripped-
down double-guitar and percussion setup in favor of the
more traditional guitar, bass and drums, with the occa-
sional piano and horn.
What results is a warm and intimate album that
explores a variety of textures without straying too far
from the tried-and-true Guster style. Most of the tunes
begin with utter simplicity and work their way toward
higher and more elaborate goals in the end. It is refresh-
ing to hear choruses that are full of digressions and vari-
ations in songs such as the radio-friendly "Amsterdam."
Where other bands might cease, Guster pushes, fiddles,
and rearranges things to give their songs just a little Cult," a Beatles-e
more individuality. with its dynami
It's.a formula that works, but it shame that "Keel
also leaves room for improvement. since it really hel
"Keep It Together" is at the very least Gluster Nonetheless, t
a solid album, but it still lacks an Keep It variety of new in
overwhelming punch of sharp con- Together ing, and the suri
trasts and fresh ideas. Its homogene- Reprise Records as one would e.
ity, while it is relaxing and rock. Their wor
well-crafted, eventually becomes a letdown. The only them great insi
song here that doesn't quite fit the mold is "Red Oyster effort with full iI
on Together
sque iant iat Keeps th eisteneron rueag
c changes and quirky rhythms. It's a
p it Together" doesn't have more of this,
ps to shake things up.
he attention to nuance provided by the
struments warrants some deeper listen-
face aesthetic is every bit as enjoyable
xpect from these masters of acoustic
rk with the bare minimum has given
ght in creating rich-sounding studio
nstrumentation.
By Todd Weiser
Daily Arts Editor
MOVIE REVIEW****I
Whether writer/director Lukas
Moodysson intended for the viewer to
anticipate his every move in the dizzy-
ingly depressing "Lilya 4-ever" or that
predictability simply stems from the
film's focus, a downtrodden 16 year-
old Russian teenager without a family
or a future, one can take comfort in the
fact that it just does not matter. Count-
less summer movies take hits from
critics for their cookie cutter storylines,
but "Lilya 4-ever" is not a film
designed for the
box office rat race
that summertime Liya4-ever
brings. "Lilya" At Madstonel
does not belong on Newmarket
the same billboard
as "T3 or "BB2" or "LB2" for itsis not
product but art. And great art at that.
Riding high on the success of his
2001 release "Together," a more light-
hearted but equally impressive tale ofa
Swedish commune in the '70s,
Moodysson throws away all language
barriers. For Moodysson is a Swedish
director and his cast and dialogue for
the majority are Russian. However, on
the basis of the performances he has
evoked from his inexperienced actors,
most awardingly from his leading lady,
the compellingly naive Oksana Akin-
shina, the difficulties of communicat-
ing with his cast were easily overcome
and never visible in the finished film.
Lilya never leaves the screen dur-
ing the 100-minute running time
forcing Akinshina into the uncom-
fortable make-or-break role that
actors often covet and regularly falter
in. In only her second onscreen cred-
it, Akinshina steals the show in a
breakout performance reminiscent of
Emily Watson's similarly emotionally
demanding debut in Lars von Trier's
"Breaking the Waves."
We first meet Lilya proudly telling
friends and strangers about her upcom-
ing move to America with her mother
and her mother's boyfriend. While
most residents of her city in an
unnamed part of the former Soviet
Union only fantasize of leaving the
opportunity-less cold concrete of their
surroundings, Lilya's "American
Dream" seems to be coming true. But,
as we will cheerlessly come to see
through her experiences in the film,
Lilya's hopes of a better life in a new
place never meet the expectations she
is promised by the likes of her mother,
her best friend and her new boyfriend.
After her mother leaves for the
States without her, and later renounces
her rights as Lilya's guardian, Lilya is
forced into moving into a smaller
apartment with the belongings of its
now deceased owner still garnishing
the space. Left with only a malicious
aunt to look in on her, Lilya stops
attending school and fails to pay the
bills. Moodysson perfectly employs
occasional trips to the grocery store to
show Lilya's deteriorating financial sit-
uation. Soon her best friend has paint-
ed Lilya as a whore and left her behind
as well. Lilya finds her sole compan-
ionship in her 14-year-old admirer
Volodya (Artyom Bogucharsky), who
has been kicked out of his home and
spends most of his time imitating his
hero Michael Jordan, shooting hoops
with a soda can.
Lilya and Volodya's sibling-like
relationship simultaneously feels like
a high and a low for both orphans.
They huff glue together, console each
other and constantly argue over every-
thing from the makeup of heaven to
whether Lilya should follow boyfriend
Andrei (Pavel Ponomarov) to Sweden
for a mysterious high-paying job. In a
hopeless situation you still can't help
but cheer for these familial outcasts,
hoping that some miracle will finally
shine down, lifting them from this
constantly abusive life.
"Lilya 4-ever" never comes out with
an explicit political statement. Besides
the abandoned government building
that Volodya sometimes calls his
home, there is almost no reference to
the state overseeing the destitute chil-
dren. As the film tackles abandonment,
prostitution and finally the internation-
al sex trade, all is seen through the
innocent eyes of this lost soul with
only angel-wannabe Volodya as sup-
port. Asking where the institutional
help is for girls like Lilya is a natural
response but one that Moodysson cor-
rectly leaves only in subtext.
"Lilya 4-ever" is as bleak, depress-
ing and ugly as film can get. But it is
also absorbing, unique and powerful.
And that makes for beautiful cinema.
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