Monday, July 26, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com '9 'U' in the spotlight Copy-cat Cosentino Michael Moore partners with SAC students and faculty for Traverse City Film Festival By ANDREW LAPIN Editor in Chief In late July 2009, Screen Arts and Cultures pro- fessor Jim Burnstein was at the annual Traverse City Film Festival in northern Michigan with students from his advanced film production class. Burnstein, the coordinator of the Screenwriting Department, had convinced the festival's founder, Oscar-winning documentarian Michael Moore, to screen the students' films alongside the event's normal big-name theatrical fare. Burnstein had also taught an introductory course in screenwriting for festival patrons. His involvement, along with that of his students, was supposed to be a one-time thing. But Moore had other ideas. "He said to me, 'So we'll do this every year, right?' " recalled Burnstein of his companion on the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council. "And I said, 'Sure, great.' I mean, that was our hope." One year later, Burnstein and his students are coming back - and then some. This year the Tra- verse City Film Festival, which is being held from July 27 through August 1, announced a special partnership with the University that will dra- matically increase the presence of students and faculty at one of the biggest film festivals in the Midwest. "This is one of the great universities in the world, and I think that the people there don't want it to exist within a bubble," Moore said in an inter- view with the Daily. "It needs to be part of the greater community, at the very least in the state of Michigan." The "Fahrenheit 9/11" director noted he was excited by the promise of the partnership. "I think this is the beginning of a long-term rela- tionship, and I say this as a Spartan fan," he joked. Two student short films from last semester's SAC 423 class ("Practicum for the Screenwriter") will be screened at the festival: "Camp Chapel," written by recent LSA and Ross School of Busi- ness graduate Michael Burke and directed by LSA senior Bhanu Chundu, and "Margaret and Izzey," written by recent LSA graduate Erin Whittemore and directed by LSA senior Ben Ellmann. In addition, Burnstein will be bringing a group of SAC faculty members to serve as judges, host panels on topics like film literacy, teach classes and moderate film screenings. Though the student films received an auto-bid into the festival, Moore, who watches every one of the over 400 festival submissions himself, wasn't as lenient on American independent films this year. "Fewer ones are being made, fewer good ones are being made," he said. "I think we need your generation to make the next great batch of movies and to take this art form into the 21st century." That generation, as represented by SAC 423 screenwriters Burke and Whittemore, is ready if nervous to take its hard work to Traverse City. "We can't have (the films) be awful and not be invited to Traverse City next year," Burke said. Yet he and Whittemore amiably postulated what they would like to walk away from the festival with. "Best-case scenario, I think, is we both have agents, managers and have sold our scripts for six, seven figures," he said. "Realistically, I would love to get-" "An e-mail," Whittemore finished, laughing. But no matter the outcome of the festival, for a few days this week by the shores of the Grand Tra- verse Bay, the University of Michigan will step into the film industry spotlight. By BRIGID KILCOIN Daily Arts Writer "Oh I hate Katy Perry so much, you do not represent California girls, bitch." Golden State native Bethany Cosentino's tweet about Perry's recent chart-topper underscores ** the inspiration behind Best Coast's Crazy for You. Best Coast Instead of embracing the "I Kissed A Girl" song- Crazy For You stress's Barbiesque vision of Mexican Summer 1990s Californian summer fun, Crazy for You harkens back to the more demure 1960s. Think Annette Funicello in "Beach Blanket Bingo," not Shannen Doherty in "90210." Crazy for You is a study in Brill Building cliche: The album tirelessly replicates the multitracked cooing, handclaps and jangly tambourine of that label's girl groups. The warm fuzzy drone is appealing in moderation - opener "Boyfriend" is a standout. But while lead singer and songwriter Cosentino (one half of Best Coast, along with instrumentalist Bobb Bruno) has a strong voice, her attempts to emulate Connie Francis's blandly wistful phrasing seem inorganic. As a whole, Crazyfor You apes the warmth of 1960s pop a little too faithfully, making the sound less a reference than a direct ripoff. The album's subject matter is similarly nar- row: Crazyfor You provides a 35-minute rumi- nation on boys with a few brief mentions of weed and cats. While the sexism of the record's reference points can be partly attributed to 1960s gender norms, Cosentino's unwaver- ing, obsessive devotion to an unnamed male seems uncomfortably dated in 2010. Each half- formed song blends into the next, and simplis- tic lyrics reminiscent of a mopey 17-year-old ("I can't get myself off the couch / I don't want to talk to anyone else") don't make it any easi- er to distinguish tracks. The affected childish- ness quickly wears thin, invoking memories of Kimya Dawson's "Juno" soundtrack. Crazy for You is textbook beach pop - its perma-sunny sound is a suitable soundtrack for dog days of summer-induced ennui. The album, however, seems like a disingenuous attempt to maintain Best Coast's sloppy to-fi aesthetic. As Cosentino's fame increases, the "lovelorn nobody" conceit rings false: A recent collaboration with the decidedly middle-of- the-road rapper Kid Cudi for Converse and an aggressively public relationship with fellow beach enthusiast Nathan Williams (Wavves) illustrate that she's far from anonymous. 'Crazy' is formulaic beachy girl angst. While Crazy for You isn't a radical depar- ture from Best Coast's past work, it seems possible that several of its singles could find crossover success. While the repetitiveness grows grating by album's end, Costenino has a gift with a pop hook evident even when buried under layers of reverb: Closing track "When I'm With You" is agem. Crazyfor You isn't des- tined for beach immorality like Surfin' USA or All Summer Long, but it'll undoubtedly make the August playlists of Urban Outfitters and Starbucks locations from the east to the west coast. HAVE YOU HEARD .a THE NEWS? STARTING AT $599 The Courtyards is Pre-leasing for Fall 2010! 4-NO service fees! 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