ARTS MONDAY JULY 26, 2004 michigandaily.com/arts 'BOURNE' REIGNS SUPREME Furnaces lilrht a ire *By Andrew M. Gaerig Daily Arts Editor E E The much-discussed summer of sequels has surprisingly produced more worthwhile films than not: "Spiderman 2" and "Shrek 2" have atoned for The Bourne past summer disas- i i ters, such as "Men Supremacy in Black II," and At Quality 16 they've far out- Universal Pictures paced the likes of "The Chronicles of Riddick." "The Bourne Supremacy" is the last block- buster rehash to launch this summer, attempting to capitalize on the success of 2002's "The Bourne Identity," which found protagonist Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) traveling across Europe to find his identity, realizing along the way that he is an instinctual, resourceful killing machine. The initial challenge of "Supremacy," therefore, seems to be motivation: After all, your lead character can only discover that he is an brainwashed, military- trained super-assassin once, right? The success of "Supremacy," even more than other sequels, hinges on the ability of director Paul Greengrass ("Bloody Sun- day") to build a believable story around Bourne, who seemingly exorcised his demons at the end of the first film. The film begins with Bourne waking in the middle of the night, next to Marie (Franka Potente, "Run Lola Run"), his confidant in "Identity." And so begin the intrusive flashbacks that plagued Bourne in the first film. Quick, grainy, and loud, these flashbacks add to the dark ambience of the film rather than inform the audience of past events. The film moves slowly at first, but when an assassin accidentally kills Marie and Bourne's prints show up at the murder scene of two CIA agents, things get rolling quickly. An angered Bourne sets off across Europe, hell-bent on finding Marie's killer. The plot is revealed in pieces through- .Courtesy of Universal Hey, you've got the wrong guy - I'm not the one with the gambling problem. out the rest of the film, and while it's not but he's flanked by a faceless cast: nearly as driven as "Identity," it is capti- Pamela Landy (Joan Allen, "Pleas- vating - and complicated - enough to antville") is a stereotypical Hollywood carry the film. Throughout, it becomes strong female, and Nicky (Julia Stiles) apparent that Greengrass isn't just returns for an unnecessary bit role. The shooting for a typical sequel: Instead of Russian politicians/mobsters who upping the explosion quotient and sup- Bourne eventually finds are cookie- plying Bourne with an arch-nemesis of cutter European villains. equal skill, he drowns the film in grays The film has minor problems as and blacks and holds a shaky lens to well: The shaking camera adds to the Bourne's quest to find a nameless feel of the film, but it's troublesome enemy. In fact, the grainy textures and during high-action scenes. Late in the bleak sets are one of the movie's movie, after myriad flashbacks and strengths. "Supremacy" comes off as a much investigating, Bourne confronts sort of art-house action flick, leering in the daughter of his first victims in the the shadows and shying away from con- movie's weakest scene. It's tawdry, ventional blockbuster wisdom emotional and completely ancillary to The lack of a true nemesis is a the plot. strength as well. It allows the film to In the end, though, "The Bourne focus on Bourne, who has become more Supremacy" is a smart, engrossing film clever and self-aware since the last that plays to its strengths, namely movie. In fact, his ability to escape, cou- Damon's stoic; conflicted Bourne. pled with his ingrained ability to strike Greengrass overcomes the lack of moti- quickly and brutally lend him unlikely vation that could've buried this movie superhero qualities: He seems untouch- before the opening credits rolled, and he able, and by the end of the movie, he's paints Bourne into the shadows of a more myth than action star. gray, unfeeling Europe. "Supremacy" is The travails of those chasing Bourne a worthy, intriguing sequel that sets up are less interesting. Brian Cox ("Adap- Bourne as the thinking man's action tation") returns as Ward Abbot, a retir- star. "The Bourne Identity" introduced ing CIA director who has one last Bourne, but "Supremacy" cements him mess to clean up. Cox excels, as usual, as a franchise. By Alex Woisky Daily Arts Writer MUSIC REVIEW ** Though he quit music over 20 years ago, Captain Beefheart still casts a long shadow over rock'n'roll's avant-garde. Though his albums never The Fiery sold well, their Furnaces influence has Blueberry been enormous, Boat and his work has been a touch- Sanctuary/Rough stone for bands Trade ranging from Pere Ubu to the Clash. The brother and sister duo of Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, AKA the Fiery Furnaces, have taken heavy doses of Beefheart as well, and it shows on their sophomore LP Blueberry Boat. Their debut, Gallowsbird Bark, merely hinted at te experimental boundaries the duo would push with Blueberry Boat. It strays far from the strangely jolly, vintage flair of their debut and fully embraces their exu- berant, whimsical ideas. Their music is theatrical - part Captain Beefheart ("Quay Cur"), part Gilbert and Sullivan ("Mason City"). Eleanor's sultry vocals cascade over Matthew's slinky guitar lines on the start-stop rhythms of "Straight Street," creating an astonishing combination of soulful conventionality and auda- cious invention. The other side of the Fiery Fur- naces' coin is garage-rock - they imitate their predecessors (the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith), yet try to distance their sound from others'. "Straight Street" and "Chris Michaels" both drive with heavy, dis- torted guitars which guide Eleanor's trigger-happy vocals. The duo's music carries much more of the garage-rock attitude than a sonic similarity. "I Lost My Dog" is full of fuzz-tone guitar coupled with the quick, sleazy vocals of the garage-rock movement - they create that charming kitchen-sink feel with plenty of edge to keep you engrossed. Matthew's playing is engaging as well, with a fluidity that grounds the music in blues even while pulling it away from garage-rock's predictabili- ty. The most impressive trait of Blue- berry Boat is its stylistic range, which stretches from the doo-wop-derived harmonies of "Spaniolated" to the airy, ambient "Bird Brain" and the piano ballad "Catamaran Man." But Blueberry Boat can't quite keep its focus. Individual songs fea- ture more hooks, time changes and melodies than whole albums may contain. Throughout some of the disc's longest tracks, it's nearly impos- sible to tell when one song ends and another begins; each track feels the same way. In the end, this weakens Blueberry Boat because listeners are too busy trying to figure out what just hap- pened to realize what's happening here and now. But in time, its quick, odd movement becomes rational, and while many of the transitions don't work, those that do sound wonderful- ly sequenced. Yet, like Captain Beef- heart before them, the Fiery Furnaces' music is often misunder- stood even by their most cherished suitors, who seem dazzled by its vir- tuosic weirdness without understand- ing any of its brilliantly laid, underlying structure or intensely focused stylistic discipline. . :. .. . . ... . ..................... . ...... r "Don't let your HHAIR get ahead of SYou DASGOLA BARBES A304 1/2 S. STATE ST. 2ND FLOOR ANN ARBOR, MI 48104 6e 9329 WWW.DASCOLA BARBERS.COM BY APPOINTMENT F UI. fL 1ooUUUAutumn Woods Condominiums ML- Is 000Ed 1 W ;,, BREAKFAst ANYTims " Lun " DINNER " LATi Rion Specializing in Homes le Cooking 1 FREE smoothie $2.00 OFF with $10 minimum purchase any m eal Not valid with other offers $10 Minimum Purchase - Not valid with other offers With Coupon - One Coupon per Table i With Coupon - One Coupon Per Table Kng of Queens-Expircs8/31/04 1% King of Queens - Expires 8/31/04 Starting at $158,900 Call 734-482-9000 for more informationu+ Model Hours: M,T, and F 10:00-6:00 Saturday and Sunday 12:00~5:00 -