2B — Thursday, January 8, 2015
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Best Films of 2014
FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
2. “The Grand Budapest
Hotel”
Wes Anderson’s “Grand Buda-
pest Hotel” is based loosely on
Stefan Zweig’s novel “Beware of
Pity,” where Zweig writes plain-
ly, “To the person who has over
and over again tried to trace
human destinies, many tell their
own story.” This quote captures
one of the film’s most essential
beauties: the opening and clos-
ing of doors. Pages to dramas
left half-open, entire stories left
unconcluded, character motives
and plot points left completely
unhinged. “Grand Budapest”
in its heart of hearts is a story
about stories.
With hand-crafted sets, on-
location shooting, a script with
relentless
momentum,
char-
acters touched by neuroses,
strong historical time frames
and
his
signature
organic
clockwork
effect,
Anderson
spins “Grand Budapest” into a
film of remarkable wit and can-
dor, one that daftly draws audi-
ences deeper into its fantastical
realm. Films like these make
the “barbaric slaughter-house
known as humanity” a little
more tolerable and a whole lot
more inspiring.
-BRIAN BURLAGE
3. “Gone Girl”
Gillian Flynn’s novel was
one of the top-selling, most-
hyped,
most-beloved-by-peo-
ple-named-Chloe books of the
decade so far. Everybody and
their mother (especially moms,
though) has read “Gone Girl,”
or at least has some familiar-
ity with the story. So what’s
gained by a movie adaptation
where most of the audience has
already treaded every twist and
turn and cracked the skulls of
its impossible characters? A lot,
actually. Director David Finch-
er wrung every drop of ten-
sion from the source material,
dressing it in bleak realism and
naturalistic acting. Rosamund
Pike gave a career-defining per-
formance as Amy Dunne, the
eponymous missing wife who’s a
lot more complex than her diary
entries imply. Ben Affleck was
wonderfully inscrutable as Nick
Dunne, conveying just the right
combination of smarminess and
scariness. (You also get to see
Ben Affleck’s penis. Where was
that in your novel, Ms. Flynn?)
Even with the excitement sur-
rounding the book, “Gone Girl”
proved that the film could stand
as a darkly fascinating thriller of
its own right.
-CHLOE GILKE
5. “Whiplash”
On some level, “Whiplash” is an
exposé into the higher education
rat-race and a cautionary tale about
encouragement and goal-setting,
but really, its moral sermons float
on the periphery behind the crux
of the film: pure, unadulterated
drive. “Whiplash” strips away all
wider contexts and invokes the
same tunnel vision spawned by
first-year music student Andrew’s
zealous dedication to becoming
one of jazz’s greats. The camera
zooms in on the most immedi-
ate details of ambition: rivulets
of sweat streaming down cheeks,
bloody calluses hastily bandaged
and subjected to more drumming,
more friction. It’s all about fric-
tion, this film; it’s as physical as
it is emotional and the genius is
that it drags the viewer into the
fray. When the visceral imagery,
emotional anguish, and drum-
beat’s tempo accelerates, so does
the tension you feel, heart pump-
ing faster and faster alongside the
screen until you, like Andrew, are
left gasping for breath.
-VANESSA WONG
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Best Performances of 2014
1. Cabaret
In mid-October, SMTD per-
formed “Cabaret,” an award-
winning
musical
from
the
1960s, for their fall production.
“Cabaret” tells the story of the
performers and patrons of the
Kit Kat Club, a nightclub in
Weimar Republic, Berlin just
before the Nazi rise to power.
Director and visiting profes-
sor Joe Locarro added sev-
eral touches to make SMTD’s
version of the show unique.
First, they transformed the
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
into an old-fashioned cabaret
by building the stage over the
orchestra pit and placing the
band onstage. Second, Locarro
added six new characters to
the show to perform some his-
torically accurate songs before
the musical began to allow the
audience to feel as though they
really had been transported
back in time.
-REBECCA GODWIN
3. Sea Legs:
A Nautical New Musical
At the end of February, Basement
Arts, a student-run theatre organi-
zation that provides free produc-
tions to the Ann Arbor community,
staged a new student written and
student composed musical called
“Sea Legs: A Nautical New Musi-
cal.” The show, which was written
by graduate Tyler Dean and com-
posed by Wayne State University
graduate Michael Tooman, tells
the story of four friends who live
in the quaint New England seaside
village of Sweet Ann Harbor and
dream of adventure. Their dreams
come true in a big way when the
quirky residents of Periscopia, an
underwater utopia, wash up on
their shores, determined to find
the person responsible for sinking
their underwater haven. The show
was Dean’s love letter to Ann Arbor
as his graduation approached and
he was set to enter the real world.
“Sea Legs” had an off-Broadway
run in September thanks to The
Araca Project, which helps recent
graduates from several universities,
including the University of Michi-
gan, get a jump start in their careers
by putting on their work.
-REBECCA GODWIN
4. Doing White Nights
While the number of student
productions that are conceived and
performed in the Ann Arbor com-
munity continue to grow, it’s still
relatively rare for a performance to
be entirely student organized and
executed. Many things account for
this, school being an enormous and
obvious factor, yet “Doing White
Nights,” a completely student-run
original play, was able to pull off
three consecutive nights of fan-
tastic drama and humor while the
participants juggled school and
other extra-curriculars. A story
of two best friends on a road trip
gone sour, the play explored the
themes of mental illness, sexual-
ity and belonging in a tasteful and
touching way, all while utilizing
the uniqueness of the venue, The
Yellow Barn, to create the central
setting of an off-road cornfield.
-KATHLEEN DAVIS
5. superposition
Ryoji Ikeda
Born in Japan and working
primarily out of Paris, Ryoji
Ikeda
is
an
internationally
acclaimed visual and electron-
ic musical artist whose work
forges a bold and thoughtful
connection between ideas and
theories from quantum mechan-
ics, experimental modes of visu-
al representation, and principles
of classical composition. In
November, he brought his most
recent project, superposition, to
the Power Center. In a live set-
ting, his aesthetic pioneering
translates into an austere, beau-
tiful and immersive experience
at the limits of sight and hear-
ing. One of the great interests
of Ikeda’s work lies in his ability
to craft tensions and resolutions
gleaned from the likes of Bach
but brought into a register of
sonic and visual harshness that
challenges the artistic vocabu-
lary many audiences bring to
the table.
-COSMO PAPPAS
4. “Boyhood”
Filmed over 12 consecu-
tive years, director Richard
Linklater’s epic masterpiece
“Boyhood” bucks tradition by
including an aspect of life that
Hollywood so often neglects —
reality. The film has redefined
the genre of coming-of-age
through the vivid illustra-
tion of Mason and the flow-
ing authenticity of his life.
Though the film is centered
on Mason, the gradual aging of
his divorced father and moth-
er, played by Ethan Hawke and
Patricia Arquette, is a testimo-
nial to the struggles of modern
parents. With genuine cultural
milestones of the ‘90s and early
2000s,
Linklater
gracefully
welcomes the beautiful and
fleeting experience of time. It
is the simplicity of the story of
“Boyhood” that casts a spell
over its audience. There are no
dramatic twists or gimmicks,
only the loveliness of an ordi-
nary life coexisting with its
ticking clock.
-REBECCA LERNER
Best Singles of 2014
4. “i”
Kendrick Lamar
When
I
heard
the
Isley
Brother’s sample at the begin-
ning of Kendrick Lamar’s “i,” it
was immediately clear that the
Compton rapper had created
something special in the TDE
laboratory. With a smooth retro
guitar track, and a peppier beat
than a typical Kendrick song, “i”
stands out in the Lamar antholo-
gy. The song divided fans – mak-
ing some nostalgic for his older,
darker material. But Kendrick
isn’t looking to simply replicate
his old work – “i” marks the
beginning of a new, more socially
meditative chapter for the writer.
“i” delivered both in terms of
lyrical substance and musical
quality, while paying homage to
Lamar’s musical forefathers. I
can’t wait to see what Kendrick
does next in 2015.
-NICK BOYD
5. “Red Eyes”
The War on Drugs
Few lines in The War on
Drugs’s outstanding single “Red
Eyes” register audibly. While
this mumbling bumbling tactic
is, so often in the world of rock,
aligned with a too-cool-to-care
persona among most larger-
than-life musicians, in Adam
Granduciel’s case it isn’t. He’s
endured as much heartbreak
and bitter love as any these last
couple years, but instead of sing-
ing loudly and proudly to beat
the bad emotions away, he seems
to do the exact opposite: these
emotions, experiences and senti-
ments are as much a part of him
as the Neil Young-type reso-
nance in his voice. When he sings
phrases like “To beat it down
/ To get to my soul” that ring
clear as a bell through a thick
haze, he sings them not to dem-
onstrate strength, not to outline
any plan for healing, but rather,
as a self-centering mantra. “Red
Eyes” is rock music’s latest and
greatest testament to what the
Japanese call jishin, which is the
synchronizing of one’s energy
with belief. This song describes
one of the greatest emotions of
all, one we’ve all felt and one we
hope to feel again: understand-
ing. And when Granduciel belts
a “whoo!” before returning to his
guitar-meditation, we know his
understanding is absolutely a cel-
ebration.
-BRIAN BURLAGE
1. “Blank Space”
Taylor Swift
2014 was undeniably the
year of Taylor Swift. Saying
1989 was a huge success is an
understatement, largely due
to the popularity of “Blank
Space.” The song drives along
with a ringing yet punctuated
backbeat, while the lyrics, and
awesome music video, per-
fectly capture and challenge
the media perception of Swift’s
“serial dater” persona. It is, on
one level, entirely honest and
real, and, on another, a per-
fect, fun pop song. After listen-
ing the first time, it is almost
impossible to resist putting it
on repeat. The combination of
an infectious overall sound and
unforgettable lyrical blurbs,
like “Darling I’m a nightmare
dressed
like
a
daydream,”
make “Blank Space” the jam of
2014.
-CARLY SNIDER
2. “Chandelier”
Sia
After all the writing invested
in other artists, it’s only fair that
Sia saves the cream of the crop
for her own record. But what a
shame it is that one of the year’s
most hypnotic power ballads
is also the year’s biggest lyrical
buzzkill. In combination with
an eerie modality and hover-
ing electronica, Sia’s seemingly
fatigued vocals fittingly narrate
the self-destructive repetitions
of a broken spirit. “Party girls
don’t get hurt, can’t feel a thing,
when will I learn? / I push it
down, push it down.” And while
the track’s “1, 2, 3, drink” pre-
chorus hook is enticing on its
surface, it’s a cry for help further
below. Perhaps the only fault of
“Chandelier” is that its repeti-
tion, heavy synth and rhythmic
hip-hop production transform it
into a jam-track worthy of over-
seeing its pointed lyrical core.
-GREG HICKS
3. “Take Me To Church”
Hozier
Fee-fi-fo-fum.
Smell
the
blood of an Irishman? That’s
just
the
brooding
Hozier
lamenting the self-deprecating
power of his love all over the
Billboard charts. Once every
year or so, if we’re lucky, a
really unexpected, pure and
truly musical song sashays its
way into the pop music atmo-
sphere. It not only is critically
adored; it’s played on almost
every radio station, sung in the
shower, on “The Voice,” in a
Beats By Dre commercial. It’s
a marvelous feat, maximum
exposure, an accomplishment
for the music industry and a
testimony to the sheer beauty
of the song.
This
all
happened
most
charmingly in 2014 with “Take
Me to Church,” Andrew Hozi-
er-Byrne’s eerie, metaphori-
cal, somber and passionate
religious ballad. Not only are
the lyrics literal poetry (“If
I’m a pagan of the good times,
my lover’s the sunlight / to
keep the Goddess on my side
/ she demands a sacrifice”),
but Hozier’s voice is absolute-
ly irresistible. Sonorous and
pleading, he cries out the lyrics
with more passion than most of
his contemporaries. The song
is both sexy and sad, loving and
masochistic — but above all,
it’s surprisingly catchy. Right-
fully nominated for a Song of
the Year Grammy, Hozier had
an extraordinary year marked
with a rapid ascension to fame.
We can only hope this rookie is
here to say, for the sake of ears,
hearts, poets and minds every-
where. Amen.
-MELINA GLUSAC
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2. Rocky Horror Shadowcast
Deep in the heart of East Quad
on Halloween night, hundreds
of students gathered outside the
doors of the Keene Theater, hop-
ing to see the first Rocky Hor-
ror Shadowcast in Ann Arbor in
years. Since its release in 1973,
“Rocky Horror Picture Show,”
a musical, has emerged as a
hyper-sexualized, melodramatic,
indescribably weird cult clas-
sic. In some circles, it’s become a
Halloween tradition to perform
the show via shadowcast – lip-
synching the dialogue and lyr-
ics in front of a screen projecting
the original film, starring Tim
Curry and Susan Sarandon. The
RC Players, a student-run theater
group known for their bi-annual
Evening of Scenes and Kami-
kaze (24 hour theater), tackled
the show, complete with Rocky
Horror traditions like audience
participation, low budget hilar-
ity, obscure props, and, of course,
the “ceremonial virgin sacrifice.”
Don’t know what I’m talking
about? See the show next fall. Just
get there early. This past produc-
tion was standing-room only.
-ALEX BERNARD
RYOJI IKEDA