Classifieds Call: #734-418-4115 Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com ACROSS 1 Ones calling the shots? 5 Rock blasters 9 Californie, for one 13 Apple variety 14 Goal for a runner 15 Renaissance painter Veronese 16 Deep-sea creature, literally 18 Mozart’s “King of Instruments” 19 Seat of Dallas County, Alabama 20 Alternative strategies, literally 22 Churchill, for one 24 “Who, me?” 25 1,000 G’s 27 Goes out for a bit? 30 Fusion, for one 35 Receptionist on “The Office” 37 It’s frowned upon 39 Yellowish tone 40 Infomercial offers, literally 43 Time to say “¡Feliz año nuevo!” 44 Pioneers’ journey, say 45 Unpopular spots 46 Buck 48 1980s surgeon general 50 Dennings of “Thor” 51 __ lane 53 “Who, me?” 55 Toddler’s transport, literally 61 Alley wanderers 64 Certain Middle Easterner 65 Preflight purchase, literally 67 Pirouette, essentially 68 Settled down 69 “Truth in Engineering” automaker 70 First place? 71 Bothersome parasites 72 Block (up) DOWN 1 Steals, with “off” 2 Former “Fashion Emergency” host 3 Surface fractures 4 Blockhead 5 Fire proof 6 Courses taken consecutively? 7 Depressing atmosphere 8 Energy 9 “Downton Abbey” title 10 Draped garment 11 The first “A” in A.A. Milne 12 Piles 15 Michael Jackson, e.g. 17 Tip off 21 One on the other side 23 Half a philosophical duality 25 “The Seven-Per- Cent Solution” author Nicholas 26 Adler of Sherlock Holmes lore 28 Look down 29 Snideness 31 Numerical prefix 32 “Look at this!” 33 Battleground 34 Start over, in a way 36 Sushi seaweed 38 Layered snack 41 Venue involving a lot of body contact 42 “Right Now (Na Na Na)” artist 47 Rogers Centre team, on scoreboards 49 Majestic display 52 Like some popular videos 54 Big brass 55 “Heavens to Betsy!” 56 Crossword component 57 Collapsed 58 Aware of 59 Where many subs are assembled 60 Really, really cool 62 Stir 63 Pass over 66 Downed By Paolo Pasco ©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 01/30/15 01/30/15 ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: RELEASE DATE– Friday, January 30, 2015 Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis xwordeditor@aol.com 2,3,4 BEDROOM APARTMENTS South Campus Fall 2015‑16 1015 Packard ‑ $1370‑$2680 + Utilities Call 734‑996‑1991 to sched a viewing 2 BED. 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Fall 2015‑16 $3,995 + utilities. 734‑996‑1991 SERVICES FOR RENT SUMMER EMPLOYMENT 6 — Friday, January 30, 2015 Arts The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com New musical ‘Boom!’ For God’s sake, just watch ‘The Fall’ GENDER AND MEDIA COLUMN A police chief hiding behind a scruffy beard and meekly bloody nose asks, “Why are women emotionally and spiritu- ally so much stronger than men?” This happens after he drunkenly forces him- self into the bedroom of a former flame — blonde, enigmatic Stella Gibson — and ineptly tries to make a pass at her. Stella responds with char- acteristic softness, “Because the basic human form is female. Maleness is a kind of birth defect.” Mic dropped. Game changed. Feminist icon born. For a while it seemed as though my mom and I were the only people in the world who watched “The Fall.” I wrote about it in this publication — twice, actually — and talked about it to everyone, includ- ing the deli counter person at Meijer and the entirety of my 90-count Marketing lecture. So you could say I like “The Fall.” The smart and surpris- ingly erotic BBC crime thriller expertly meandered through its first season, following “50 Shades of Grey” star Jamie Dor- nan’s disturbingly seductive serial killer and Gillian Ander- son (TV’s “Hannibal”) as Stella, the coldly brilliant investigator out to find him. Season one, which appeared on Netflix in 2012, spends much of its five episodes quietly building a feminist argument that parallels the misogyny of its woman-killer lead. Season two, which came out on Netf- lix last Friday, takes those ideas and amplifies them, explicitly attacking the violent patriar- chal structures women face. Paul Spector preys on young professional women; inde- pendent, unabashedly sexual, beautiful. While season one preoccupies itself with Paul’s actions — stalking, strangling, lovingly bathing the dead bod- ies — season two develops the psyche behind his hatred towards women; the abandon- ment via suicide of his mother, his conflicted love of his daugh- ter and tenuous relationship with his wife, who is blonde and soft and nurturing (read: noth- ing like his victims). But ultimately, he just feels threatened by these women, as Stella shows us. In a memora- ble moment in the first-season finale, Chief Burns calls Spec- tor a monster, a murderer of the most debased degree, inhuman. Stella answers with a requisite lack of dramatics: “No, he is just a basic misogynist.” She is a breath of fresh air in a trend of bullshit feminism on televi- sion — she doesn’t make care- fully politicized statements or brand herself as a “strong” woman. Stella states the facts the way they are, outlining our sexist world without self-pity or apology. Season two begins with Stella interviewing Spector’s sole sur- vivor, only recently awakened from an injury-induced coma. Many “strong female charac- ters” on television struggle con- necting to other women; strong is termed as standoffish and iso- lated, a one-woman army. While Stella cannot be described as warm, this scene portrays her incredible depth for empathy, and her passionate, concen- trated hatred towards men who perpetuate violence. Stella may be a slight misandrist, hating men and using them for sex, but she is not a robot, and her emo- tions are deeply tied to her pre- cise instincts. While “The Fall” is still relatively unknown (its odd release schedule and slow burn structure don’t add up to a far- reaching hit), Anderson has been making waves for her per- formance as Stella, a character unlike any other on TV. (Not to say that Dornan isn’t revelatory as Spector; brooding, magnetic, conflictingly foxy. But his sexy serial killer schtick isn’t exact- ly new, whereas Stella’s mix of frankness and adeptness is rare.) Anderson wrote a profile piece for Yahoo, in which she directly addresses the enigma of Stella: “Is it that Stella is at once in touch with her femininity in a way we have not seen, and yet still able to stand up for her- self with strength, intelligence, grace and self-containment? … I’m not so sure, and yet none of the usual (independent, intel- ligent, focused, serious, profes- sional, strong and, yes, feminist) character descriptions seem to define or explain the whole of her.” That’s the crux of it. I just spent 700 words trying to describe why I love Stella, and why we need Stella on television today. But like any real woman, she defies explanation, a mix of complexities, mysteries and idiosyncrasies. Please, please, for the love of God, watch “The Fall,” if you don’t already. If well-devel- oped and stylishly executed feminist manifestos aren’t your thing, watch for the terrify- ing suspense. If you don’t like regular crime thrillers, watch for the fascinating dichotomy between killer and investigator, the blurred lines of right and wrong. And if none of that does it for you, there’s skewed power dynamics, salacious crimes and impeccable dialogue, even a pretty memorable make-out scene between Anderson and “The Good Wife” ’s Archie Pan- jabi — you know, if that’s your thing. Gadbois is re-watching that scene with Gillian Anderson and Archie Panjabi. To join, email gadbnat@umich.edu. NATALIE GADBOIS EVENT PREVIEW By CAROLYN DARR Daily Arts Writer The term “musical” is often associated with certain images, usually involving large casts, show- stopping songs and elaborate dance num- bers. However, Ann Arbor Civic The- atre’s (A2CT) upcoming pro- duction of the three-person musical “tick, tick … BOOM!” fights against these precon- ceived notions. “tick, tick … BOOM!” is an autobiographi- cal musical written by Jonathan Larson, composer of the hit musi- cal “RENT.” The show details the life of Jonathan, a struggling musical author nearing his 30th birthday, who is trying to juggle a girlfriend that wants to get mar- ried and move to the suburbs and a best friend that wants him to give up on his dreams and come work for him at his big firm. “Jonathan Larson wrote (this show) in response to getting another work rejected on Broadway,” said director Rachel Francisco, who is also the Manager of Marketing, Promotion & Special Events at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. “So it talks about him trying to come to grips with his choices in life. So it’s about him kind of wrestling with where he is.” While Francisco has directed and performed in a number of A2CT’s shows in the past, “tick, tick … BOOM!” was a new experience for her, particularly when it came to directing such a small cast. “When you work with only three people, you can immediately jump in and start some really heavy work on music and character and dialogue because you’re not trying to coordinate 20 people, which is sometimes hard to even get them all in the same room at the same time,” Francisco said. “So it’s created an incredibly intimate and tight cast.” The show is not very well known, as it never opened officially on Broadway, instead premiering off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theater in 2001. Because it is so small, there aren’t a lot of past productions that directors can draw inspiration from. Francisco, however, was lucky enough to see the show when it opened and went into the production with a clear image. “There’s only so much you can do with this particular show. It’s very clear on what it is and when it is,” Francisco said. “It’s also meant to be a small show so it doesn’t call for crazy sets or lots of costume changes, so it really has to be all about the characters.” Despite being limited in set and costume choices, Francisco found a way to make the show more character-focused and unique. “There was one song in particular that really didn’t seem to fit the show at all. It didn’t do anything for the plot, it was pretty misogynistic, it was just not working,” Francisco said. “So, instead, my music director wrote a new song to put in the show that actually takes the characters further along a path that is really only hinted at, but ends up giving the entire show much more depth.” In the end, though, Francisco simply wants the audience to have a good time at the show. “I just hope they enjoy it because it’s a great production and we have really great performers in it,” she said. “But also, just a moment of thinking about choices we make in life and how sometimes, in the moment, you think you’ve made a mistake but maybe later on you’re able to look back and say ‘no those kind of choices helped create who I am today.’” ‘tick, tick ... BOOM!’ Jan. 30-Feb.1 & Feb. 6-8 Fridays at 8 pm., Saturdays 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. A2CT Studio Theatre $15 Aussome ‘Babadook’ FILM REVIEW By ANDREW MCCLURE Daily Arts Writer Horror movies are almost invariably funny. Until they’re not. There’s a good reason that, to cineastes and armchair moviegoers alike, Kubrick’s “The Shining” and Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” have remained in the horror canon, the discourse — the millennial atten- tion span — for this long. And that reason is the same reason why the tits-every-two-scenes “Hallow- een” or “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchises loop without end on cable, as if shown by sheer con- tractual obligation and not in any remote effort to, you know, scare. And the reason is this: Good hor- ror movies make you look inward, in the mirror, wondering, “What if I, rather than some monster, could be breathing behind that chestnut door”? Rookie director Jennifer Kent splashes big and dark in her debut, “The Babadook,” which is not only among the best pictures of 2014, but one that’ll surely secure her seat at the not-big table of Aughtie indie filmmakers to watch. By all accounts in the first half- hour of this 90-minute horror pic, this is less a horror pic, more a drama bleeding into comedy. Kent is in no rush to force-feed us obvious narrative omens, ones that lead to death knells of char- acters we (probably) couldn’t care less about. She stays local, opting for the brain-space of the mother Amelia (played sleeplessly by Essie Davis, TV’s “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries”) whose sev- en-year-old son Samuel (played with brilliance by newcomer Noah Wiseman) redefines what it means to “have it rough” as a widowed mother (the father died on the car ride to the ER, survived by the pregnant Amelia carrying their son). He acts out at school, has no friends, obsesses over DIY magic kits and, most importantly, drives his mother mad, whose blondish hair grows whiter, thin- ner, her forehead more wrinkly — parenting taking its toll, and fast. This well-directed dramedy then inhales darker fumes. One night while Samuel demands his mother read him to sleep, she grabs an unfamiliar, ancient- looking red book titled “Mister Babadook.” The black-and-white words and illustrations quickly signify that Mom definitely made the wrong choice. Uttering the rhyming pages aloud, like, “You start to change when I get in / The Babadook growing under your skin … ,” Amelia has summoned something inhuman. What fol- lows is sort of what you’d expect: Samuel claims to have had con- versations with Mister B, bizarre noises at night, a knowing dog. But Kent only flirts with these tired exercises to unpack fur- ther what becomes increasingly unclear: Does Amelia’s flagging disposition make her so less a credible, protagonistic character that we may have to entertain less linear alternatives? The best monster movies have none. Jack Torrence in “The Shin- ing” saw weird stuff, but his reli- ability as our guide was always moot, his psyche unfamiliar with emotional equilibrium. The mon- ster rested inside Torrence, hun- gry to disrupt yet smart enough to be patient. Ultimately, this is what we find in Amelia, a woman whose eyes avert so incessantly to her wild child that she cannot see, or acknowledge as real, the terror before her, inside her. Make no mistake, “The Baba- dook” can be most easily shelved as a cheap, albeit clever allegory to motherhood. And your point? If anything, this speaks to the film’s gilded strength: its inher- ent femaleness. Kent uses old tricks, yes, but eschews the shitty ones, like the vapid talking pair of breasts or the pitiable mother or the bitchy bitch. Her gender-neu- tral, egalitarian approach works because nobody is your friend, everyone has demons and Mister Babadook is inarguably haunting with his cutlery fingers and black lips. The finest scene happens when, after a couple failed attempts to destroy the book, it appears magi- cally on the doorstep after a door- bell ring. Amelia tentatively totes it onto her kitchen table, opening it with glacial care. The images shown within this revised edition of the book could be the scariest minute of filmmaking in recent memory. No editing gimmicks, no athletic lensing, just a book and nothing else. The film itself feels like this. A- The Babadook State Theater IFC Films IFC FILMS “What the fuck, Mom?”