6A — Monday, January 12, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

‘Inherent Vice’ a 
difficult head trip

Anderson is a great 
director, but can’t 
engage audience 

By AKSHAY SETH

Daily Film Columnist

Seconds after the last Satur-

day night showing of “Inherent 
Vice,” a 70-year-old man sporting 
a frayed pony-
tail and what 
looked like a 
knitted Hawai-
ian 
poncho 

stared into the 
trashcan. Mov-
iegoers dropped 
empty cartons 
of 
popcorn 

inside. 
They 

walked by. The 
old man gaped, seemingly mes-
merized by its butter-smeared 
bowels. In a crowded Michigan 
multiplex populated mostly by 
youngish college students, mostly 
lamenting how they ‘“should’ve 
seen the movie high,” the man 
appeared out of place — an anach-
ronism lost in a ditty of time. He 
looked like he listened to sea-
shells, owned beach shorts before 
they were called beach shorts.

And for a few seconds, as I 

stared at the old man who stared 
into the trashcan, I thought 
maybe I’d found an incarnation 
of what Paul Thomas Anderson 
spent 148 minutes (and $35 mil-
lion) constructing. An ode to a 
bygone era forever doomed to 
lament its own demise, to stare 
into nothingness as indifferent 
descendants strolled by.

Then, with a noticeable swell 

of his Hawaiian poncho, a bobble 
of his frayed ponytail, the old man 
threw up his head. He leaned back 
for a moment. I leaned in for a rev-
elation.

He throatily hawked some snot 

into the can. “Well, that was a 
shit-boring movie” was what he 
said before disappearing into the 
night.

I agreed, kind of.
During the car ride home, 

when a friend made an exasper-
ated comment about the film’s 
impenetrable plot — which is to 
say, its unfathomably complex 
clusterfuck of a story — I nodded, 
but clung to a hollow doubt that 
maybe the perplexity was intend-
ed. Maybe Anderson wanted half 
the theater to collectively mutter 
“whaaat the shit” under its breath 
as credits rolled. After all, the 
writing does accurately convey 
the tortuous Thomas Pynchon 
prose that inspired it. So maybe 
the head scratching was all part of 
the high? Maybe destiny intended 
me to look for answers in a pon-
cho-draped geezer? Maybe?

Nah.
The film’s most obvious failing 

comes in the form of its unfor-
giving storytelling. It starts and 
ends with Doc Sportello (Joaquin 
Phoenix, “The Master”), an eter-
nally-stoned 1960s private eye 

tasked by his ex, Shasta (Kather-
ine Waterston, “Being Flynn”), to 
pinpoint the whereabouts of her 
current beau, the millionaire land 
developer Micky Wolfman. From 
there, this otherwise straightfor-
ward noir rambles through hazes 
of marijuana fumes to greet Nazi 
bikers, cocaine-addled dentists, 
lesbian prostitutes and Owen 
Wilson’s Nose in a journey that 
climaxes in achieving not much 
more than further muddlement.

The head trip escalates in 

paranoia as Anderson and Pyn-
chon’s threadbare strands of plot 
bind and intertwine themselves 
around an ethereal criminal orga-
nization called The Golden Fang, 
which seems to have sunk its teeth 
squarely into every illegitimate pie 
baking in fringe Los Angeles. Then 
as the film progresses and sinks 
deeper into conspiracy-laden con-
fusion, something weird happens.

The audience gives up. It set-

tles back, it reclines in cinema 
hall seats, it watches as Anderson 
attempts a brand of comedy inher-
ently tied to Phoenix’s mutton 
chops. He’s what would happen if 
Winnie the Pooh met a few pounds 
of reefer — so well-intentioned, 
you often wonder how he manages 
to even fathom an act of wrongdo-
ing let alone confront it. An air of 
optimistic puzzlement frames his 
every move, and Phoenix uses the 
lethargy well, drawing consistent 
laughs with the smallest facial tics 
awkwardness can allow.

The 
whimsical 
physical-

ity of that portrayal is contrasted 
sharply by Josh Brolin’s (“No 
Country For Old Men”) Christian 
“Bigfoot” Bjornsen, renaissance 
LAPD officer, lover of chocolate-
dipped bananas and hater of 
all things hippie. Where Sport-
ello whispers, Bjornsen screams. 
Where Phoenix toddles, Brolin 
marches. Yet, there’s a weird 
kinship developing between the 
characters that Anderson wants 
us to see. It’s emblazoned some-
where in that bygone-era ethos 
evoked throughout much of the 
movie, but subtler notes slip 
through in the two actors’ inter-
actions. We see it when they play 
off each other, when they talk.

There’s 
never 
any 
doubt-

ing how Doc’s earnest, carefree 

behavior is going to be gobbled 
up by the impending ’70s, as is 
Bjornsen’s squareness, but there’s 
also solace in knowing the hippie 
lived/smoked a life he wanted in 
the time he had. The sunset feels 
decidedly more cataclysmic for 
his companion.

Brolin conveys a hidden vul-

nerability in his character’s oper-
atic chest-beating that rings like 
a cry for help. He’s been hiding 
behind the straight lace for so 
long, even the drawn out, slow 
scenes where we see him doing 
nothing but sucking away at his 
chocolate-dipped bananas feel 
fraught with homoerotic under-
tones. It’s enough to warrant a 
laugh, and Anderson makes sure 
to offer them up every chance he 
gets, though the subtext here is 
gloomy at best.

The humor carries the free-

wheeling, lowbrow feel Pynchon 
wrote into his novel, and often, 
the punchlines are clearly better 
on paper than when stretched out 
on screen. But the movie doesn’t 
suffer for want of steadiness — 
there are enough chuckles to be 
had in the utter absurdity of the 
images to keep audiences watch-
ing. Confused, but watching.

The real culprit is hollowness, 

an impermeable “why” you keep 
asking yourself at the end of every 
scene, and, ultimately, a “why” 
that stretches itself across the 
whole film. Anderson’s response 
to that “why” would likely be 
to forget it even exists: Let the 
strangeness wash over you, mar-
vel at the way it seeps into the 
smallest of plot devices, and only 
if you get the time, lean in for the 
much nastier shit growing inside 
— the class warfare, the racial 
tension, the hard drugs power-
ing it all forward. The stuff that’s 
inevitable.

Making a film about the beach, 

coursing with soft dissolves and a 
cleansing sanguinity redolent of 
the tides, may just be Anderson’s 
way of finding some nostalgia in all 
that violence. It may simply be Doc 
curled down in a fetal position, 
thinking about that ex who will 
never really be just an ex, as a pha-
lanx of police officers steps over 
him. What it’s not, well, at least not 
completely, is a shit-boring movie.

B+

Inherent 
Vice

Rave 20 and 
Quality 16

Warner Bros.

WARNER BROS.

“Two ounces of weed, please.”

By RACHEL KERR

Daily Arts Writer

When hundreds of great songs of 

all genres are released every year, 
it’s no surprise that The Michigan 
Daily’s “Top Songs of the Year” bal-
lots are consistently wide-ranging 
and diverse, with plenty of worthy 
tracks snubbed in the final annual 
list. With this in mind, Daily Arts 
Writer Rachel Kerr would like to 
present an alternative list: her own 
personal choices for 2014’s best 
music.
1. “2 On” – Tinashe ft. School-

boy Q

Tinashe told ThisIsRnB that “2 

on” means “when you’re like a lit-
tle too turnt up. It’s like being extra 
just like whatever you’re doing.” 
And Urban Dictionary tells us it 
literally means to be on two differ-
ent substances — “to be drunk and 
high at the same time.” Whatever 
the hell it means, this undeniably 
catchy song channels the univer-
sal feeling of going out and making 
some regrettable — but enjoyable 
— decisions. Who can’t relate?

2. “After Ur Gone” – Alex G
Alex Giannascoli, better known 

as “Alex G,” is a Temple Univer-
sity student who has quietly been 
uploading music to the Internet for 
years now. Reminiscent of indie-
rock favorites such as Built to Spill 
or the late Elliot Smith, “After Ur 
Gone” succeeds by contrasting the 
rocker’s fragile vocals with hectic 
bits of electric guitar. The track 
appears on Giannascoli’s first full-
length album DSU.

3. “Gone Down the River” – 

Fletcher C. Johnson

There’s something about this 

track that just feels right — it’s 

both authentic and natural. “Gone 
Down the River” sounds senti-
mental, but not sappy; meaning-
ful, but also fun. It’s hard not to 
appreciate the infectious rhythm 
of the 7-minute track as it dances 
beautifully between country and 
rock-n-roll.

4. “Continental Shelf” – Viet 

Cong

“Continental Shelf” is the kind 

of postpunk I love. It’s loud and 
unsettling and makes you a bit 
nervous. The clanging of the gui-
tar could be overwhelming, if not 
for the hypnotizing melody car-
rying the track. It sounds very 
Interpol-esque, but back when 
they were young and still making 
good music.

5. “Tuesday” – ILOVEMA-

KONNEN ft. Drake

As a loyal Drake fan, I first 

listened to this song only for 
his verse. After my first listen, I 
believe I even called this song “ter-
rible.” But the song has a way of 
growing on you. Makonnen’s jag-
ged, unconventional rapping style, 
which I once found annoying, is 
actually pretty upbeat and catchy. 
You can’t help but sing along as he 
sings, “Got the club goin’ up, on a 
Tuesday,” no matter what day it is.

6. “Brother” – Mac DeMarco
Mac Demarco’s Salad Days was 

hailed by many as one of the best 
albums of 2014. With its release, 
DeMarco’s already large cult fol-
lowing grew even larger. “Broth-
er” showcases everything that is 
great about the album – dreamy 
lyrics, lackadaisical guitar riffs 
and some good advice about grow-
ing up – “you’re better off dead / 
when your minds been set / from 
nine until five.”

7. “Without U” – Spooky 

Black

It’s hard not be intrigued by a 

white kid wearing a turtleneck and 
du-rag who starts uploading music 
to the Internet. What’s even more 
intriguing is how difficult this kid 
is to define. Spooky Black is in the 
same league as rising irony-tinged 
rappers Yung Lean and Lil B, art-
ists whose creativity is constantly 
questioned and rarely understood. 
“Without U” demonstrates Black’s 
surprising range as an R&B artist, 
proving that he should be taken 
seriously.

8. “Hella Hoes” – A$AP Mob
If you like ignorant rap, you 

can’t not love this song. What’s 
better than A$AP Mob standouts 
Ferg and Rocky, along with their 
counterparts, literally just rapping 
over and over again, “I got hoes?” 
Doesn’t get much better than that.

9. “Blue Suede” – Vince Sta-

ples

Beginning with its siren-like 

intro, “Blue Suede” seethes 
with urgency and paranoia. The 
beat is loud, and Vince Staples’s 
lyrics are explicit. It was the 
first single from Staples’s first 
official EP Hell Can Wait. The 
track is best played at maxi-
mum volume, so you can’t hear 
yourself attempting to rap along 
as Staples aggressively tell us, 
“Bitches ain’t shit but hoes and 
tricks.”

10. “Off the Corner” – Meek 

Mill ft. Rick Ross

I once had a friend say he’d kill a 

person for this beat. Dramatic, but 
a testimony to the strength of the 
track (or my friend’s sanity.) But 
when Rick Ross goes in, it’s hard 
not to agree.

By DREW MARON

Daily Arts Writer

One of the treats of the Marvel 

Cinematic Universe is the manner 
in which creators have portrayed 
its 
intricate 

design through 
various settings 
and 
perspec-

tives. Such is the 
case with Mar-
vel’s most recent 
television series, 
“Agent Carter.”

It’s 1946 New 

York City and 
Agent 
Peggy 

Carter (Hayley 
Atwell, “Captain America: The 
First Avenger”) is picking up the 
pieces of her life following the 
end of World War II and the loss 
of Steve Rogers/Captain America 
(Chris Evans, “Snowpiercer”). But 
the show is more than just a “Cap-
tain America” spin-off. Creators 
Christopher Markus and Stephen 
McFeely (“The Life and Death of 
Peter Sellers”) bring the sly politi-
cal commentary that made “Cap-
tain America: The Winter Soldier” 
such a hit. The duo write a solid 
pilot, albeit one that is somewhat 
safe, before they give the reins over 
to the more-than-capable show-
runners Tara Butters and Michele 
Fazekas (“Reaper”).

Whereas “Winter Soldier” was 

a paranoid political thriller and 
“First Avenger” a nostalgic pulp 
swashbuckler, 
“Agent 
Carter” 

finds itself somewhere in the mid-
dle. In the pilot, inventor Howard 
Stark (Dominic Cooper, “My Week 
With Marilyn”) is accused of trea-
son and branded a fugitive. He 
enlists the help of Carter to use her 
connections with the Strategic Sci-
ence Reserve to clear his name and 
bring those responsible to justice. 
As Carter evades her male supe-
riors, she stumbles upon a secret 
organization called “Leviathan” 
which may or may not be stealing 
Stark’s weapons and selling them 
on the black market.

The revelation of a secret orga-

nization with an ominous name 
might not be the most origi-
nal move, but it does clue comic 
fans in on the potential thematic 
path of the series. In the comics, 
Leviathan is an organization that 
stems from Stalinism in the same 
way Hydra stems from Nazism. 
Though it’s too early to say for cer-
tain if “Agent Carter” will be the 
MCU’s take on McCarthyism, it 
would make sense given Marvel’s 
love of “pop with purpose.”

A lot of the heart in “Agent 

Carter” is thanks to its lead, Hay-
ley Atwell. The pilot has plenty of 
gunshots, punches and supernatu-
ral craziness, but it also features 
Atwell’s confident and soulful 
performance. If some found Peggy 

in “First Avenger” as just another 
beautiful 
love-interest, 
“Agent 

Carter” smashes that notion with 
a roundhouse kick to the face. She 
balances action chops, wit and a 
tragic sense of loss with subtlety 
and charm.

Though Atwell is great, some of 

the cast in the pilot feel a bit unde-
rused. Shea Whigham (“Board-
walk Empire”) is a little shallow 
as Carter’s sexist supervisor — a 
shame given the actor’s spectac-
ular resume. Nightclub owner 
Spider Raymond (Andre Royo, 
“The Wire”) was killed off early 
in, which was also disappointing. 
That being said, it was fascinat-
ing seeing Chad Michael Murray 
(“One Tree Hill”) embrace the 
sleaziness of his pretty boy image 
as Agent Jack Thompson. And it’s 
interesting to speculate where 
the show might take Enver Gjokaj 
(“Dollhouse”) as a well-meaning, 
wounded war-vet and fellow agent.

While the pilot of “Agent Carter” 

doesn’t reinvent the wheel, Marvel 
has created an exciting action-
adventure series that announces a 
brave new talent in Hayley Atwell. 
The upcoming “Daredevil” series 
might be Marvel’s bolder television 
property, but “Agent Carter” does a 
hell of a job proving that the House 
of Ideas can make mainstream hits 
outside the movie theater and still 
attract the best talent in entertain-
ment.

‘Carter’ a promising 
new take on Marvel 

The alternative 
Best Songs of 2014

ABC

Power suit.

TV REVIEW

B+

Agent 
Carter

Series Pilot 
Tuesdays 
at 9 p.m.

ABC

MUSIC NOTEBOOK
FILM REVIEW