Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 9

PREVIEW
From Page 8
unplugged, with Tunstall on acous-
tic guitar. Her jazzy sound should
work particularly well here, and the
concert has all the ingredients to be
a hit.
ANN ARBOR ART FAIRS
JULY 16-19
WWW.ARTFAIR.ORG
It doesn't really matter that the
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (one of
the four fairs, held simultaneously)
was ranked first among art fairs in
the country in 2004, or that it's been
in the top 10 every year since. Who
follows art fair rankings, really?
And what does that mean for an art
fair - that it has more wicker bas-
kets than any other art fair? No.
What makes the Ann Arbor Art
Fairs unique is the vast dearth of
wicker baskets, painted signs,
and the other takes-a-mother-
to-love-it art you might find at
another Michigan art fair. The
fairs are packed with legiti-
mately talented artists from all
over the country, many of them
'juried,' or individually select-
ed by members of the fair's
board. The result is some of the
finest photography, sculpture,
pottery, oil painting, and jew-
elry you'll find on sale anywhere.

And art-geekiness is no prerequi-
site; if you've ever seen a painting,
the fairs will hold some interest.

ARTS IN BRIEF

Film

ANN ARBOR BOOK FESTIVAL New comedy fails
MAY 15-18 p n
WWW.AABOOKFESTIVAL.ORG to meet potentl

In a city famous for both festivals
and academics, the Book Festival,
the pinnacle of literary dorkiness,
was inevitable. That doesn't mean
it will be any less engaging - in
fact, with a host of visiting authors,
panels, and a street fair, the festival
should be a satisfyingly substantial
event.
Although the visiting authors
lack name recognition (sorry, Ste-
ven King couldn't make it), they
more than make up for it in eclecti-
cism and real talent. Among them
is a National Book Award Finalist,
the author of a book on Mayan bee-
keepers in the Yucatan, a wildly
popular Iranian jokestress
and a Guggenheim Fel-
lowship recipient. Unlike
the Street Art Fair and
the Summer Festi-
val, the Book Fes-
tival will take a
little effort to
be involved in,
but it should
be well worth
it to anyone even
vaguely interest-
ed in literature.

"Baby Mama"
Universal
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler,
famous for being the first female
duo on Saturday Night Live's
Weekend Update, fall consider-
ablyshortoftheir comedic poten-
tialinthemediocre"BabyMama."
Fey(ofTV's"30 Rock") playsKate

Holbrook, the vice president of an
organic foods retailer whose ambi-
tions and professional success,
among other things, have prevent-
ed her from finding Mr. Right and
the baby she has always wanted.
After repeated unsuccessful vis-
its to the sperm bank and various
adoption agencies, Kate resorts
to surrogacy and is matched up
with the indigent and immature
Angie Ostrowski (Poehler, "Blades
of Glory). With Angie's scheming
boyfriend (Dax Shepard, "Employ-
ee of the Month") and the token
black doorman (Romany Malco, of
TV's "Weeds") in tow, the narra-

tive bumbles along formulaically,
ending with as convenient and
frustrating a deus ex machina as
possible.
Fey and Poehler lack both the
chemistry and individual come-
dic grace for which they're both
known, though they're not entire-
ly to blame. The script by Michael
McCullers (who also directed)
is full of recycled jokes and half-
laughs, and, despite the talent of
supporting actors like Steve Mar-
tin ("Shopgirl") and Greg Kinnear
("Little Miss Sunshine"), fails to
distinguish itself.
NOAH DEANSTAHL

KUMAR
From Page 8

the film still lies in the
friendship and banter
shared between the two
leads.
Despitetheirexcessive
vulgarity and coarse-
ness, Harold and Kumar
turn out to be pretty
sweet, even romantic,
guys. Maturity has start-
ed to rear its ugly head,
as the motivation behind
their actions turns out
to be love, not drugs.
Kumar even delivers a
romantic speech at the
end, in a scene that could
have felt hokey and false
but instead feels genuine

and fresh. Of course, it's
also delivered amidst
fighting and flatulence,
but such is the universe
this film lives in.
The credit should go
to Cho and Penn, who
both make us care about
these two stoners who
just can't quite keep
themselves out of trou-
ble. These same duos
have been seen before
- Bill and Ted, Cheech
and Chong - but here it
is more than just a ste-
reotype. These charac-
ters are fully fleshed out.
While the trouble and

situations they manage
to get into often seem
too impossible to be real
(smoking weed with
George W. Bush any-
one?), Harold andKumar
are plenty enjoyable.
Summertime is a time
for films that practically
require you to turn off
your brains. That's not
necessarily a bad thing
all the time, and you'll
find that if your brain
is switched off, "Har-
old and Kumar Escape
from Guantanamo Bay"
proves to be a surpris-
ingly good time.


MORE ONLINE
at michigandaily.com
H
o c
Y Y ,i
y

Sharp College Grads Needed
We're searching for smart, passionate people who
want to achieve great things. Improving healthcare
is one of the biggest challenges of our time and we're
creating award-winning software that enhances pa-
tient care, reduces costs, and saves lives.
As a Project Manager for Epic, you'll get the train-
ing you need to do something extraordinary. You'll
work hard and collaborate with the brightest minds
to ensure that our clients successfully implement
our software.
Candidates should have a bachelor's degree (all ma-
jors) a history of academic success, and a willing-
ness to travel at least 50%. Relocation to the Madi-
son, WI area is required and reimbursed.
For fastest consideration please apply on-line at:
www.epicsystems.com/jobs/
Epic Systems Corporation
Attn: SCG804
1979 Milky Way
Verona, WI 53593

1 ' StudentUniverse.com I