The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Friday, October 23, 2015 — 5
Amagatsu
uses
Butoh
as
a
medium
with
which
to
explore
the
prehistory
of
the
individual,
linking
the
movement
of
dancers’
bodies to a primordial human
“correspondence with gravity,”
using Amagatsu’s phrase, that
begins in the womb.
“I basically think that Butoh
is a dialogue with gravity. That
is not repulsion to gravity, but
it is closer to conformity with
gravity.
Therefore,
a
little
careful way of corresponding
with gravity is necessary. In
this view, some people might say
our dance is a slow-motion, but
it’s not,” Amagatsu said. “It is a
result of careful correspondence
with gravity.”
Related to this, Amagatsu
said
in
an
interview
with
“Vogue Hommes 98-99,” that
“dance is composed of tension
and relaxation of gravity just
like the principle of life and
its process. An unborn baby
who is floating inside mother’s
womb faces to the tension of the
gravity as soon as s/he is born.”
The whole excerpt is available
in the UMS program booklet for
the performance.
Sankai
Juku’s
spectacular
achievements are founded on
an aesthetic that weds form
and content, the doing and
the
saying
seamlessly.
The
choreographic
technique
Butoh itself communicates the
primordial conflicts with which
Amagatsu and the rest of the
company are interested. With
Amagatsu at the helm, Sankai
Juku explores what Jean Viala
and Nourit Masson-Sekine call
“a kind of human archaeology”
in their book “Butoh: Shades of
Darkness.”
UMUSUNA
From Page 1
COURTESY OF UMS
“Worst strep throat ever.”
‘Bridge of Spies’
good, not great
FILM REVIEW
Latest Spielberg
drama fails to live
up to promise
By CONRAD FOREMAN
Daily Arts Writer
It’s Spielberg. It’s Hanks. Of
course “Bridge of Spies” is pretty
damn good. But not great.
In the thick
of
the
Cold
War, insurance
lawyer
James
B.
Donovan
(Tom
Hanks,
“Toy
Story”)
is called to an
unorthodox
patriotic duty:
Defend a Soviet
spy in order to
demonstrate the fairness of the
U.S. legal system. But, although
the task was set as a formality
and a nod to his ability, Dono-
van defies his bosses, his family
and, in many an eye, his country,
when his involvement with the
case leads him to the Supreme
Court and, ultimately, Berlin.
Given the current climate of U.S.-
Russian relations, Cold War politics
feel especially relevant. War mov-
ies with huge directors and stars
are about World War II, Vietnam.
Spy movies are supposed to thrill,
twist and intrigue at every turn.
“Bridge of Spies” carries a fast pace,
but there’s no mystery to solve and
no world to save. The significance is
understated, yet understood. This
was a world perhaps on the brink
of destroying itself, and these were
the men taking measured steps to
avoid destruction.
Though he begins fighting for
the rights of a Soviet, Donovan
truly fights for the American ideal.
He instills a hard work ethic in
his young associate. He advocates
extension of basic rights, and
embodies basic humanity. He can-
not decline a call to duty. He refus-
es to leave any man behind.
Director Steven Spielberg and
cinematographer Janusz Kamin-
ski have won two Academy
Awards each, working together
on “Schindler’s List” and “Saving
Private Ryan.” The mastery shows.
A pair of shots juxtapose children
jumping a chain link fence and
people fleeing over the Berlin Wall.
A cut between the courtroom and
the classroom comments on edu-
cation and governance through
allegiance and obedience.
Hanks is one of the best actors
of our time, but the performance
won’t go down as one of his best.
The film is about the big picture;
like its main character, “Bridge of
Spies” sacrifices personal conse-
quence to serve a greater purpose.
Minimization of familial drama
was the right decision (especially
anything that might have been
between Donovan’s daughter and
his young associate), though a
deeper understanding of Soviet
spy Rudolph Abel (Mark Rylance,
“The Other Boleyn Girl”) might
have made a richer emotional arc.
Perhaps his anonymity was part of
the point, but because his motiva-
tions aren’t explored, his exchang-
es with Donovan don’t impact as
strongly as they could.
Based on a true story, the film
highlights an era that can be easy
for us to overlook, since the war
never heated up. The quality of
filmmaking, from shot composi-
tion to editing to acting, is top
notch. But “Bridge of Spies” won’t
move you like “Schindler’s List,”
won’t scare you like “Jaws,” and
won’t amaze you like “Jurassic
Park.” It isn’t great.
B
Bridge of
Spies
Dreamworks
Studios
Rave & Quality 16
DREAMWORKS STUDIOS
Power suit.
By SELENA AGUILERA
For The Daily
As I sat down in Starbucks, I stuck
my headphones in my ears to be
completely immersed in Deerhunt-
er’s new release,
Fading Frontier.
My expectations
were pretty low,
considering this
was their sev-
enth album since
the band formed
in
2001.
The
increasing trend
is that bands sell
out after their third or fourth album
as their music boils down to simple
four-chord progressions with repet-
itive lyrics that are dull and shallow.
I only suspected Deerhunter to fol-
low the trend since their time was
past due.
After ignoring the girls that were
shrieking about their pumpkin spice
lattes and pressing the “Skip Ad” but-
ton, Fading Frontier started flood-
ing into my brain. Within seconds,
every low expectation that nested in
my head was washed away. I guess
I shouldn’t have underestimated the
band’s musical talent considering
their second record, Cryptograms,
was recorded in a matter of two days
and the bands four members are all
proficient in more than one instru-
ment.
Frontman Bradford Cox also
stated (likely to spite pop culture) “…
I decided to be gay, so I never have
kids who love Taylor Swift,” just to
have a spoken promise to us that
Deerhunter will never sell out. Deer-
hunter will never succumb to pop
culture and no album Deerhunter
has released has broken that prom-
ise.
Fading Frontier was released
after Cox sustained serious injuries
from a traumatic car accident. In the
haze of his post-accident depression,
Cox wanted to release something
that put out a good vibe, contrary to
the previous albums filled with the
usual anger and angst. The band
succeeded with songs like “Break-
er” and “Snakeskin” that resemble
the catchy tunes that reached the
top of the charts in the ’80s. They
put out a “feel good” vibe, and
when they’re playing no one dares
to turn them off. The songs surge
calming energy through your
veins.
Cox expressed that he wanted
the record to feel like the first day
of spring after a long winter, and
that’s exactly what it feels like.
The first song, “All the Same,” lets
you enter a world where worry
disintegrates from your body like
seasonal depression disappears on
that first sunny day. The music is
sensual, and you can’t help but to
close your eyes and sit in euphoria
while listening to it.
The lyrics go a long way toward
setting the record’s emotional
tenor, with the words in songs like
“Leather and Wood,” where Cox
chimes, “I believe the sun will
rise/ In the east now/ I believe
we will find/ That elusive peace
now,” summoning a feeling of
serenity when the music vibrates
in your eardrums.
Each song off Fading Frontier
is composed so wonderfully that
it regulates your heartbeat. It
has you in a state of meditation
without realizing it. The known
indie rock style Deerhunter has
contrasts with the futuristic alien
sound in certain songs like “Ad
Astra,” and “Duplex Planet,” creat-
ing an out of body experience with
each listen.
Listen to Fading Frontier with
no distractions from beginning to
end with your eyes closed. It will
feel like you are traveling among
the stars. Deerhunter never disap-
points, and Fading Frontier is out of
this world.
Deerhunter’s latest
LP feels like spring
A
Fading
Frontier
Deerhunter
4AD
4AD
Doesn’t look like they caught any.
‘Truth Be Told,’ new
NBC show is stale
TV REVIEW
By DANIELLE YACOBSON
For The Daily
Truth be told, it’s hard to find a
redeeming quality in NBC’s latest
sitcom. Originally titled “People
Are
Talking,”
the series pre-
miere
of
DJ
Nash’s
“Truth
Be Told” com-
pletely
missed
the mark. Domi-
nated by clichés,
the dry script is
further
suffo-
cated by the stiff
actors’ attempts
to deliver what
could only be
interpreted as “comedy” with the
help of an overused laugh track.
While “Best friends. Real talk.
Uncensored” may be the show’s
slogan, viewers should utilize their
uncensored, real talk and warn
their best friends to stay far, far
away.
Mitch (Mark-Paul Gosselaar,
“Saved by the Bell”) and Russell
(Tone Bell, “Bad Judge”) are best
friends and neighbors. Paired
with Mitch’s wife Tracy (Vanessa
Lachey, “Disaster Movie”) and
Russell’s wife Angie (Bresha Webb,
“The American Mall”), the multi-
racial couples pass commentary
on race and ethnicity as they go
about their daily encounters. For
these characters, a trip to pick up
Chinese food immediately leads to
questioning the authenticity of the
waitress’s Chinese accent. Though
the show advertises an outlet for
candid and witty dialogue, the pre-
miere falls short on both fronts, as
the characters shy away from any
controversial comments as soon as
a sensitive topic is breached.
The sitcom attempts to use
Mitch and Russell’s dynamic
friendship to challenge everyday
racism, but rather than encourag-
ing their confrontations to become
a social norm, their frank remarks
are instead coined as “uncen-
sored.” For example, when a valet
assumes that a luxurious sports
car belongs to Mitch, who is white,
(though it actually belongs to Rus-
sell, who is African American),
Mitch takes the opportunity to
point out the valet’s inadvertent
mistake. However, instead of deliv-
ering a witty comment to this
effect, Mitch aggressively accuses
the man of being a racist, to which
the valet responds that it was
actually the John Mayer CD that
tipped him off. The friends awk-
wardly shy away, the laugh track
plays and the show quickly moves
on to a completely unrelated scene,
contradicting the original premise
of “real talk.”
The script continues to barely
scratch the surface of various ste-
reotypes, as weak punchlines are
delivered about stealing their Jew-
ish neighbors’ “ethnically ambigu-
ous” babysitter on a Friday night.
Clearly, the cultural remarks on
racism and religion are supposed
to offer comedic relief, but they are
instead overused and often taste-
less. Without any original humor
or insight, the script falls flat and
fails to follow a clear direction.
Every scene seems to touch on a
different stereotype, and there
are at least three discrete story-
lines within the first episode alone.
Not only does jumping from topic
to topic lose the viewer’s interest
in the cluttered plot, but it fails
to establish any emotional con-
nection between the characters.
Even Mitch and Russell, whose
bromance is at the center of the sit-
com, severely lack chemistry and
depth.
Perhaps the most disappoint-
ing flaw in “Truth Be Told” is the
abundance of tropes that plague
the premiere’s plotline. Looking
through a significant other’s texts
and hiring a hot babysitter have
been the premises of one too many
comedies already, like “Friends”
and “How I Met Your Mother.”
The audience has seen both these
scenarios play out before, and
there are no surprises this time
around either. Moreover, for both
plots to be crowded into a single
episode gives the impression that
the writers don’t have anything
new to say from the beginning.
From the stilted acting to
the cringe-worthy jokes, Fri-
day night’s premiere of “Truth
Be Told” was disappointing in
every way. The 22-minute epi-
sode seemed to drag on as each
failed attempt at comedy felt more
uncomfortable than the last. In
order to recover post-viewing,
watching a classic episode of
“Friends” is the perfect way to
remember what an enjoyable
experience a sitcom can be.
D
Truth Be
Told
Series
Premiere
Fridays at
8:30 p.m.
NBC
Truth be told,
it’s hard to find
a redeeming
quality.
ALBUM REVIEW