6A — Monday, March 23, 2015
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Young cast carries 
lackluster ‘Insurgent’
More hype than 
depth in ‘Empire’

By NOAH COHEN

Daily Arts Writer

The idea of partitioning people 

by virtue – bravery, cleverness, 
service – was believable in the 
case 
of 
Hog-

warts 
because 

it was a school 
whose 
single, 

final arbiter was 
a 
talking 
hat. 

In “Insurgent,” 
the adult society 
commits to the 
wildly 
childish 

trope of separat-
ing by kind, and when our action 
kids inevitably break the bounds 
of that artificial division, it encour-
ages the young adult viewer to be 
bigger, more complex than what 
society tells her she’s allowed to be.

Imagining people complexly is 

a common theme in movies star-
ring nerdfighter Shaliene Wood-
ley (“The Fault in Our Stars”), a 
privately weird young adult who 
has been rising through a familiar 
starlet-to-star channel these past 
five years. Woodley plays Tris, the 
“100% Divergent,” who possesses 
the virtues of all five segments 
of society and who has abruptly 
become the face of an uprising 
which looks suspiciously like a 
similar rebellion of virtuous young 
people against conniving adults, 
where the true leader of the young 
protagonists is one more cruel 
adult. Sound familiar?

Woodley, playing the true-

blue mascot and allegory, does a 
remarkably good job. Given a role 
that demands rigid compliance 
to certain expectations, Woodley 
fulfills those expectations. She’s a 
good role model for the teens and 
tweens whose parents are crazy 
enough to take them to see this 
actually startlingly violent movie.

More praise for Woodley: her 

young adult movies actually have 
sex in them, and the sex isn’t total-
ly messed up. In “Insurgent,” the 
romance could easily have strayed 
into 
uncomfortable 
territory. 

Her partner, Four (Theo James, 

“Bedlam”), had been her instruc-
tor and a figure of authority over 
her, but as he and Tris show each 
other their true colors, they reach 
an equilibrium of trust, and by the 
time Tris chooses to have sex with 
Four, he’s every bit as emotionally 
vulnerable to her gaze as she is to 
his. The chemistry between the 
two of them is stellar.

Ansel Elgort (“The Fault in Our 

Stars”), meanwhile, has a softer, 
more familiar sort of chemistry 
with Tris playing her brother, 
thanks to Elgort and Woodley’s 
history as onstage romantic oppo-
sites. In their case, it was better to 
go from playing lovers to siblings 
than siblings to lovers. At least, it 
helped “Insurgent.”

Young adult books-turned-

movies have been getting very 
dark, so Peter (Miles Teller, “The 
Spectacular Now”) is a breath of 
fresh air, one realistically goofy 
frenemy in a sea of murky joke-
less subterfuge. In a small way, 
he carries the action through 
dramatic junctures where the 
plot begins to spin off its wheels.

The plot’s general direction 

is trite and known, so the direc-
tor’s job of shaking things up is 
not an easy one. Robert Schwen-

tke (“The Time Traveler’s Wife”) 
does a better job than Neil Burg-
er (the director of “Divergent”). 
Schwentke creates something 
that manages by the barest of 
margins not to insult the intelli-
gence of the young adult viewer. 
However, both of them fail the 
higher standard of constructing 
lastingly good movies.

Ordinarily, I would decry the 

pillaging of a book for the sake 
of moviemaking profit, but the 
Divergent series is a whore of the 
young adult genre, capitalizing 
on the successes of its betters. It 
can’t expect to be remembered, 
so it might as well get paid. The 
final book in Roth’s trilogy, Alle-
giant, will be split into two mov-
ies, dooming the remainder of 
the franchise.

Elgort, Woodley and Teller, 

on the other hand, each seem 
to have bright futures, and can 
expect deeper roles as they age. 
The eldest “kid,” 31-year-old 
Theo James, is adequate eye-
candy to roll forward on his 
looks and penchant for action 
roles. It’s rare that you have a 
young cast carry a badly struc-
tured film, but here’s one exam-
ple. Not bad.

Mega-hit FOX show 

proves spectacle 

sells big

By ALEX INTNER

Daily Arts Writer

From the moment “Empire” 

debuted, it was a hit. In its first 
week, 
it 
tied 

“How 
to 
Get 

Away 
with 

Murder” for the 
largest 
drama 

premiere 
of 

the 
broadcast 

season in the 
key 18 to 49 
demographic 
and scored 9.9 
million viewers (which fell below 
“Murder” and the new CBS dra-
mas). The vast majority of shows 
drop somewhere in the range of 
10 to 25 percent in their second 
week, but “Empire” grew, adding 
400,000 viewers. In its last epi-
sode, it garnered 17.6 million view-
ers and a 6.9 rating with a 21 share 
in the demo. This means that one 
out of every five people watching 
TV between ages 18 to 49 were 
watching “Empire,” making it the 
highest-rated network drama tele-
cast since the “House” season pre-
miere in 2009. The finale ratings 
will also easily surpass 20 million 
viewers when a week’s worth of 
DVR viewing is counted.

Numbers 
like 
that 
cement 

“Empire” ’s place as a cultural 
phenomenon. What are the pieces 
that supported it’s meteoric rise? 
Primarily, it’s how well the show 
does with African American view-
ers. According to ratings-guru Joe 
Adalian at Vulture, among Afri-
can Americans aged 18 to 49, the 
highest-rated episode of this show 
in that demo had more people 
watching than the Super Bowl. In 
addition, FOX was able to stack the 
episodes on their VOD and online 
platforms, meaning that they could 
keep more than the normal five 
episodes online at one time, giving 
people the opportunity to catch up. 
In fact, earlier this month, Gaude 
Morose, a FOX publicist, tweeted 
that 100,000 people were watching 
the pilot every day. There’s also the 
music. The “Empire” soundtrack 
sales were so high in its first week 
of release that they actually topped 
the sales of Madonna’s new LP, the 
first time she didn’t have the num-
ber one record during a debut week 

since the ’90s.

Notice that I haven’t actually 

mentioned anything related to 
the actual content of “Empire” ’s 
finale. That’s because “Empire” 
the cultural phenomenon is much 
more interesting to me than 
“Empire” the TV series, because 
“Empire” the show is a bit of a 
mess. The finale had some fantas-
tic moments, yet it shoved aside 
some of the best elements of the 
series and wasted some of the con-
siderable talent in its arsenal.

Both hours of the finale of 

“Empire” put the focus on Lucious 
Lyon (Terrence Howard, “Iron 
Man”). The main story of these 
episodes is about the characters 
gearing up for a tribute concert to 
the music mogul. Over the course 
of the season, Lucious has been 
the most frustrating character on 
the show because he is probably 
the furthest from an actual human 
being. These episodes had those 
same silly moments, like him giv-
ing a pillow as a “gift” to Cookie 
to represent her trying to smother 
him, or him looking at the camera 
through the bars at the end of the 
episode saying, “it’s game time 
bitches.” However, him repairing 
his relationship with his son Jamal 
(Jussie Smollett, “Revenge”) was 
enough to salvage his charac-
ter. Those moments appeared to 
be genuine, and getting over his 
homophobia 
actually 
showed 

character growth.

This focus on Lucious occurred 

at the expense of some of the show’s 
best pieces. In the role of Cookie 
Lyon, Taraji P. Henson (“Person 
of Interest”) is the show’s heart 
and soul. (I would be surprised if 
she’s not nominated for an Emmy 
in September.) She was brilliant in 

her featured moments, including 
the meeting with Malcolm (Derek 
Luke, “The Americans”) in her 
office and her attempted murder 
of Lucious after realizing he killed 
her cousin. However, there wasn’t 
enough of her. She was pushed 
aside to service Lucious’s story 
and that’s a shame. The series also 
had Jennifer Hudson (an Oscar 
winner for “Dreamgirls”) on for 
several episodes and never really 
found a way to give her an interest-
ing character. She got to sing, and 
she sounded gorgeous when she 
did, but her character never got to 
evolve beyond the religious music 
therapist. It was a slight waste of 
her talents.

Despite some of the story issues, 

the “Empire” finale maintained 
the show’s strong production 
qualities. The episodes had a slick 
look, especially the second hour 
which was directed by the talented 
Debbie Allen (“Fame”). The music 
continued to shine as well, with 
two memorable performances by 
Smollet in the rap battle and in 
the final performance of the new 
Luscious song (which featured the 
incomparable Patti LaBelle).

“Empire” is not even close to 

a perfect show. Some of its story 
twists and characterizations dur-
ing the first season didn’t make 
sense. However, the series has 
enough intrigue left to support a 
second season, with Lucious in 
jail, the hostile takeover of Empire 
in progress and the possible rami-
fications of the murder of Vernon 
(Malik Yoba, “Alphas”). It remains 
to be seen whether the show can 
maintain its momentum after a 
lengthy break, but it has enough on 
the table to make it worthwhile for 
those who return.

B

Empire

Season 1 
Finale

FOX

By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY

Daily Arts Writer

Australian singer-songwriter 

Courtney 
Barnett’s 
debut 

album Sometimes I Sit and Think 
and Sometimes 
I Just Sit is 
exactly 
what 

the title says. 
It 
depicts 
a 

fascinating 
trip 
through 

Barnett’s 
mental 
workings; 
sometimes 
profound, 
sometimes 
nonsensical, 
but more than 
anything else, 
fascinating. 
In 
some 
facets 

she seems to know herself 
and everyone else better than 
anyone 
deemed 
possible, 

but in others she admittedly 
knows absolutely nothing. The 
juxtaposition 
of 
stream-of-

consciousness rambling, slow 
crooning 
with 
oh-so-subtle 

cymbals 
and 
in-your-face 

guitars successfully reveals a 
world of contradictions cloaked 
in a sleek sheet of tongue-in-
cheek humor.

The LP’s opener, “Elevator 

Operator,” recounts the day of 

one Oliver Paul. The first half 
of the song is hard to follow 
due to Barnett’s quick deliv-
ery, but once Paul finds himself 
in an elevator with a woman, 
they’re both headed to the roof. 
“Don’t jump little boy, don’t 
jump off that roof,” she says. “I 
think you’re projecting,” is his 
response. We don’t know what 
happens to her, but Paul heads 
to the room to play an imaginary 
game of SimCity. “Pedestrian 
at Best” is Barnett’s recogni-
tion that she is fully capable 
and prone to dick moves. She 
chants the chorus “Put me on a 
pedestal and I’ll only disappoint 
you / Tell me I’m exceptional, I 
promise I’ll exploit you / Give 
me all your money, and I’ll make 
origami, honey / I think you’re 
a joke, but I don’t find you very 
funny,” over head-banging gui-
tar riffs.

“An Illustration of Loneli-

ness” feels like a night alone in 
an apartment filled with mari-
juana smoke. You stare at the 
ceiling, think about palmistry 
and miss someone a lot. At this 
point in the album, it’s con-
firmed that Barnett seems to 
know stuff we don’t. Her depic-
tion of stories is poignant to the 
point where listeners will take 
anything she has to say as fact. 
She’s in the know in the same 

fashion as Jayden Smith, but less 
annoyingly so.

The narrative style present in 

“Elevator Operator” returns on 
“Depreston” and “Aqua Profun-
da.” The former is a combination 
of the words “depressing” and 
“Preston,” the town in which 
she finds herself looking at a 
house. The mundane delivery of 
the mundane subject turns into 
a social commentary. She is sad 
to move away from coffee shops, 
and then she sees a picture of the 
deceased owner and is unable to 
concentrate, but nearly instantly 
finds herself thinking, “I won-
der what she bought it for?” 
The track comes to a close with 
her agent stating, “If you’ve 
got a spare half a million / You 
could knock it down and start 
rebuilding” six times. With 
each repetition the irony in her 
voice becomes consistency more 
prominent to reveal the ridicu-
lousness of the statement.

“Aqua Profunda” narrates her 

experience attempting to impress 
a fellow swimmer at the pool, but 
in her vain attempt, she passes 
out from holding her breath and 
once she awakes, he is gone.

It is the storytelling present in 

tracks that make the album inter-
esting. The lyrics are not miracu-
lous themselves, yet somehow 
through delivery and produc-

Lyrical wit abounds 
in Barnett’s debut

B+

Sometimes 
I Sit and 
Think and 
Sometimes 
I Just Sit

Courtney 
Barnett

Mom + Pop Music
tion, Barnett manages to make 
impressive songs that don’t even 
have infectious choruses.

The stand out track of the 

second half of the album, “Nobody 
Really Cares If You Don’t Go to 
the Party,” is a commentary on 
extroverts and introverts: the 
party girl vs. Barnett. She sees the 
girl’s qualities as valuable. “You 
always get what you want,” she 
sings. After the chorus, her tone 
changes. “Why are you so eager 
to please?” She appreciates her 
own social style. The repetition of 
the chorus “I wanna go out, but 
I wanna stay home” closes the 
track. The conflicted persona she 
presents may be one of the most 

relatable of all time.

Dropped in her three-minute-

song-style is a pair of seven-minute 
tracks. Her crooning introspection 
on “Small Poppies” is balanced by 
a small dig: “I’m sure it’s a bore 
being you.” On “Small Poppies” 
and “Kim’s Caravan” Barnett is 
confused. “Small Poppies” dis-
plays that she simply (or compli-
catedly?) does not know who she 
is and searches for answers in 
her tumultuous relationship over 
rock-band-level guitars. In “Kim’s 
Caravan,” she likens the Great Bar-
rier Reef to a whore who has been 
raped out of greatness. Finally, she 
sees Jesus (whom she refers to as 
“she”) and runs out of things to say. 

Has she said everything already? 
Is she simply dumbfounded? Deal-
er’s choice.

The album closes with “Boxing 

Day Blues.” This track, specifically 
placed as the album’s finale, seems 
to be reflective of her work as a 
whole. Lines like “I know that I 
let you down / You’re not keen on 
what you found” are inferences 
on how listeners feel at the end of 
her work. Her parting words, “I’ve 
got no idea,” allow listeners to 
wait for her. Despite her feelings, 
it seems she has a wealth of ideas: 
some extremely poignant, others 
extremely mundane. Nonetheless, 
her ideas are worth hearing (and 
enjoying).

LIONSGATE

Needs some Vitamin D.

B-

Insurgent

Rave and 
Quality 16

Lionsgate

New stars of summer

FILM REVIEW

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

By CATHERINE BAKER

Daily Arts Writer

Temperatures hit a high last 

Monday, and my spirits skyrock-
eted alongside them. (Seriously, 
where did that 70 degree weather 
come from? And where did it go?) 
While it might not be summer 
quite yet, there is no stopping my 
Spotify 
playlists 
transforming 

from soothing, contemplative bal-
lads to summer songs. Yes, you 
know the ones — upbeat, dance-
able, sometimes obnoxious, songs 
reminiscent of Carly Rae Jepsen’s 
“Call Me Maybe” that will govern 
the radio for the next four months.

Named one of Nylon magazine’s 

South by Southwest Artists to 
Watch, HOLYCHILD is a front-
runner to dominate the summer 
song scene this year. Self-diag-
nosed as “brat pop,” the LA-based 
duo takes traditional pop music (or 
as traditional as pop music can be) 
and adds a sarcastic spin to its con-
struction, pairing experimental 
chords and an intense drumline to 
create an entirely new subsection 
of pop. A remix of HOLYCHILD’s 
most recent release, “Running 
Behind,” is currently featured the 
new Apple Watch commercial, 
allowing brat pop to take to televi-

sion screens across the nation.

HOLYCHILD, comprised of Liz 

Nistico and Louie Diller, formed 
when the pair met as juniors at 
George Washington University in 
Washington, D.C. With a sound 
similar to Icona Pop (whose love 
child with Charli XCX, “I Love It,” 
monopolized the summer of 2013), 
Nistico and Diller make music 
that should be listened to with the 
volume turned up and the win-
dows rolled down. It’s fun, sugary 
sweet and inventive in ways that 
haven’t been explored yet. “Run-
ning Behind,” characterized by 
powerful, steady percussion and 
looping choruses, sets the stage for 
these new methods and dictates 
the direction of HOLYCHILD’s 
vision. Although much of the focus 
remains on syncopated beats and 
repetitive electronic riffs, the 
sarcastic lyrics of “Playboy Girl” 
explore the unrealistic expecta-
tions placed on women in rela-
tionships. Despite its bubblegum 
pop sound, many of the songs on 
HOLYCHILD’s first EP MIND-
SPEAK indirectly address larger 
societal issues without alerting the 
casual listener.

These up-and-coming artists 

often take to their Twitter to 
interact with fans and express 

their desire to stay true to them-
selves amid the hectic journey to 
fame. While their authenticity is 
refreshing in a world primarily 
revolving around appearances, 
it’s also interesting to see the 
reflection of their personalities 
in their music. Liz and Louie’s 
rebellious tendencies frequently 
manifest themselves in their 
mocking lyrics, singing “I would 
lie if I say I did know / My true 
love and my silly symbol” in “Pre-
tend Believe.” Set to release their 
first full length album on Jun. 
2, HOLYCHILD’s The Shape of 
Brat Pop to Come will attempt to 
define this new genre and kick-
start the summer with catchy 
and innovative musical tech-
niques fit for the Top 40.

Some songs are meant to be 

summer songs. They aren’t ones 
that will be remembered in 50 
years or played in the back-
ground of a graduation slideshow 
(my mother was partial to Billy 
Joel’s “Vienna”), and that’s okay. 
These are songs that that you’ll 
find on that throwback playl-
ist and they’ll launch you back 
to that road trip or those nights 
in the park. This is exactly what 
HOLYCHILD strives to do — cre-
ate songs that make memories.

TV REVIEW

FOX

Empire State of Mind.

ALBUM REVIEW

