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01

MONDAY
AUGUST 2, 2004 6

'CANDIDATE' RETURNS BUT LACKS FLAIR OF ORIGINAL

By Joel Hoard
Daily Arts Writer


John Frankenheimer's 1962 Cold
War film "The Manchurian Candi-
date" works as both a suspense-
thriller and a dark
political satire The
along the lines of Manchurian
"Dr. Strangelove."
It so effectively Candidate
captures a feeling At Quality 16
of national para- Paramount Pictures
noia and cynicism
that it feels as if it were made just
yesterday. So with the nation once
again falling apart at the seams and
gripped by terror, Jonathan Demme's
timing for a remake couldn't have
been better.
But while Demme's timing is
impeccable, he lacks the execution to
remake "The Manchurian Candidate"
into a film of our times. While the
basic premise is preserved, the sus-
pense elements of the original film
are trumped up to unrealistic levels,
and its satirical edge is polished
clean. What's left is a run-of-the-mill
political thriller that is only half as
effective as its predecessor.
In Demme's version, a shadowy
corporation known as Manchurian
Global (See: Halliburton) brain-
washes a platoon of Desert Storm
soldiers, turning them into a band

was the focus of the original. And
taking Shaw out of the role of tor-
tured and brainwashed assassin and
placing him in the role of brain-
washed vice presidential candidate is
a miscalculation, as it makes the
character much less sympathetic.
Perhaps most disappointing is the
updated ending, which is largely san-
itized and lacks the punch of the
original.
The performances of Washington
and Streep, who fill the shoes of
Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury
as Bennett Marco and Sen. Eleanor
Prentiss Shaw, respectively, partially
redeem the story's faults. Washington
embodies Marco with a palpable
feeling of fear and confusion, as he
tries to figure out what's happening
and who's responsible. Streep takes a
different approach than Lansbury in
her role as Raymond's overbearing
mother. While Lansbury played the
character as manipulative and icy,
Streep plays her as more standoffish;
she steamrolls anyone who tries to
stand in the way of her ambitions.
Any political or social worth in
Demme's "Manchurian Candidate"
is buried beneath convoluted plot-
ting and sci-fi claptrap, and given
the freshness and relevancy still
exhibited by Frankenheimer's film
even 40 years after its production,
the necessity of this remake is ques-
tionable. One wishes Demme had
reconsidered.

Where was Denzel when Varitek jacked A-Rod?

of assassins and one of them, Sgt.
Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber,
"Kate and Leopold") into a vice
presidential candidate. In a modern
sci-fi twist, each soldier is outfitted
with a chip in his brain that places
him at the mercy of Manchurian
Global. Their aim is to place a
sleeper in the White House. The
notion of a powerful corporation
controlling a president, however, is

far from a novel one.
Shaw's commanding officer, Capt.
Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington)
grows suspicious when he and mem-
bers of the platoon are haunted by
recurring dreams, and even more so
when he find a tracking device plant-
ed in his back. Marco sets out to fig-
ure out what it all means, and most
importantly, where Raymond Shaw
fits into the picture.

The plot revisions that Demme and
screenwriters Daniel Pyne and Dean
Georgaris seem as if they were put in
place just to differentiate the film
from Frankenheimer's rather than for
the sake of updating or improving
the original. More of the emphasis is
placed on Washington's character
than on the relationship between
Shaw and his domineering mother,
played here by Meryl Streep, which

Wayne benefits from stellar beats on Tha Carter, but still lacks maturity

By Cyrl Cordor
For the Daily
MUSIC REVIEW **I
New Orleansa
rap label Cash Li'Waynel
Money Records c r
entered the hip Carter
hop scene in the Cash Money
late '90s when R
Southern bounce
was only beginning to hit national radio

airwaves. Its roster is mainly known for
being the originators of bling-bling rap,
not talented lyricists.
On the first single of his latest album,
Tha Carter, Dewayne Carter, better
known as Lil' Wayne, presumptuously
ends the song saying that he's the "Best
rapper alive I Since the best rapper
retired." He is referring, of course, to
Jay-Z. Is Lil' Wayne at the level of Hov?
Hell no, but Wayne might have partially
closed the canyon-sized gap on Tha
Carter.

Despite much of the flatness of sub-
ject matter on songs such as "This is the
Carter," "Cash Money Millionaires"
and "Hoes," every now and then Lil'
Wayne can drop a clever rhyme or
punchline. Lines like "They tellin' me
I'm the shit / Like a nigga don't piss"
and "My niggas call me little Russell
Crowe for my Beautiful Mind" from the
song "Ain't That a Bitch" would bring a
smirk to any hip hop head's face.
Lil' Wayne's Southern accent adds to
his delivery on tracks like "Tha Heat."

Nevertheless, this attribute is limited by
his sing-rapping, which makes much of
the album sound monotonous.
Wayne's not-so-hidden weapon is
producer Mannie Fresh. His tex-
tured beats are the album's high-
light. "BM J.R." has heavy bass and
drum with syncopated snare taps
and a dark melody filled with harp
sounds and bell chimes in a minor
key. On "Go DJ," he provides Lil'
Wayne with a strong bass line, elec-
tronic synth sounds and hard-hitting

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drum that complements Wayne's
lyrics about DJ Mannie and his
Cash Money partners-in-crime:
"Birdman, put them niggas in a
trash can / Leave 'em outside of
your door, I'm your trash man."
Although Lil' Wayne shows some
potential, this album is, at best,
average. Fresh does supply Wayne
with decent beats, but Wayne still
has to step up his lyrical content and
raise his maturity. Beats alone don't
make an album.
"Don't let your
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