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Arts
Tuesday, March 29, 2016 — 5
Zayn’s solo start puts
the lust in lackluster
By DANIELLE IMMERMAN
Daily Arts Writer
Allow me to introduce you to
the new and improved Justin
Timberlake.
A year after
escaping One
Direction,
Zayn Malik —
the most tal-
ented member
of the British
boy band, for-
mer
12-year-
old
girls’
obsession and
Gigi
Hadid’s
best accessory — just put out his
first solo album.
Sick of the tight pop param-
eters placed on One Direction,
Zayn quit the band real quick
in pursuit of creative freedom,
and that’s exactly what Mind of
Mine is. It’s Zayn being Zayn.
What does that mean? It means
the virginal boy band image is
tarnished with 18 songs packed
with references to sex, alcohol
and sex. It means basic pop bal-
lads are ripped apart and shred-
ded with R&B flare. It means
One Direction homogeneity is
replaced with a diverse set of
club bangers, seductive R&B
soothers and stripped down bal-
lads.
Let’s start with the club
bangers. These are the Justin
Bieber “What Do You Mean?”
frat party hits: “Tio,” “Pil-
lowtalk” and “Like I Would” are
rated R One Direction hits with
sexy lyrics and techno beats.
They won’t matter in five years,
but for now, look forward to
hearing them at the bars.
Where things get interest-
ing are with the seductive R&B
soothers: “Wrong,” “Truth” and
“Rear View” are pretty solid
but “Befour” is the essence of
Zayn. Slow, steady beats are lay-
ered with subtle instrumentals
to let ears catch every marvel-
ous note Zayn hits, because at
2:15 he belts that falsetto like no
other contemporary artist can.
His voice just keeps soaring and
seducing and working. Yes, the
lyrics may be basic, but with a
voice like that, dull diction can
be overlooked.
But just when you thought you
were listening to a former boy-
bander, the intermission hits and
it hits hard. “Flower,” lasting for
just a minute and 44 seconds,
is a minute and 44 seconds of
artistic genius. As legend has it,
Zayn completely improvised this
Pakistani ghazal interlude. Sung
in Urdu, “Flower” is probably
the most notable track on Mind
of Mine. It effectively turns just
another R&B/pop album into
something more. Nodding to
his Pakistani Muslim heritage,
this folky “let me practice some
yoga poses” interlude is not only
meaningful to Zayn, but lovely
for the rest of us to listen to.
However, between “Befour”
and this stand-out intermission,
it’s hard to really appreciate the
rest of the album. Zayn attempts
to pull at our heartstrings with
stripped down ballads like “It’s
You,” “Fool For You” and “Blue,”
but from the lack of powerful
instrumentals to the absence of
his entrancing vocals, they all
fall short of anything but aver-
age.
Though at first listen Mind of
Mine positions Zayn as the next
Justin Timberlake, there’s no
doubt that something is lurk-
ing behind his music that would
say he’s something — someone
— more. Once you get past some
of the essential club hits he had
to produce to stay relevant,
“Truth” and “Flower” prove that
Zayn has more to offer than just
a few club hits and R&B jams.
Whatever Zayn does next will be
interesting, but for now respect
the existence of “Flower” and
add those R&B tracks to your sex
playlist.
FILM REVIEW
‘Dawn of’ a letdown
By RACHEL RICHARDSON
Daily Arts Writer
There’s
a
new
mentality
toward superheroes in Gotham
City. Residents no longer wel-
come them into
the
city,
but
banish them to
its outskirts —
they’ve become
completely fed
up with these
cape-wearing
creatures, and
by
the
end
of
“Batman
v
Superman:
Dawn of Jus-
tice,” we are,
too.
Basically, there’s a lot of ten-
sion
between
Batman
(Ben
Affleck, “Argo”) and Superman
(Henry Cavill, “Man of Steel”),
and the public hates both of them,
thanks to Lex Luthor’s (Jesse
Eisenberg,
“American
Ultra”)
manipulative
tactics.
Luthor
wants both of them dead, so their
feud allows him to get what he
wants with minimal effort on his
part (although he does go to great
lengths to create a backup plan).
On the sidelines is Lois Lane
(Amy Adams, “Man of Steel”),
who desperately tries to repair
Superman’s broken image. Sadly,
no one vouches for Batman’s
greatness, making him look like a
ruthless killer lacking any morals
whatsoever. Even more depress-
ing is the romance between Lois
and Clark; its destructive power
can only be matched by kryp-
tonite.
Producing one coherent plot
proves to be a difficult task for
screenwriters
Chris
Terrio
(“Argo”) and David S. Goyer (“The
Dark Knight”). Even if you’re not
a DC Comics fanatic, you’ll most
likely predict 90 percent of the
film’s events at least 10 minutes
before they happen because of
the
excessive
foreshadowing.
And while we’re given far too
many hints about what’s going to
happen next, we don’t get enough
backstory. Then there’s the issue
of new characters suddenly being
introduced, only to be killed off a
few scenes later.
Nothing is inherently wrong
with big-budget superhero mov-
ies produced by production com-
panies like Warner Bros., and
many are remarkable. But when
the companies churn out a movie
with the sole purpose of creating
hype for the sequel, the movie at
hand inevitably suffers a tragic
fate. “Batman v Superman: Dawn
of Justice” suffers from this
unfortunate mistake; annoyingly
obvious promotional inserts fur-
ther deteriorate the already loose
narrative storyline.
Performance-wise, the por-
trayal of Batman wins, hands
down. Affleck delivers his lines
with just enough emotion to
nicely humanize Bruce Wayne’s
character without seeming melo-
dramatic. But the feats of a hero
are only impressive if he defeats a
formidable adversary. Luckily for
Affleck, Eisenberg perfectly por-
trays the infamous Lex Luthor.
The ever-present but only slightly
detectable quiver in Eisenberg’s
voice emphasizes Luthor’s inse-
curities, which fuel his mali-
cious desires. His freakishly high
intelligence alone, demonstrated
by his well-written, almost pro-
phetic lines, is enough to make
both opponents and audience
members feel like hiding. But this
is Jesse Eisenberg we’re talking
about — he already brings a fan-
tastically versatile awkwardness
to every character he portrays,
which can make us see him as
anything from insanely adorable
to totally evil. He also provides us
with the only moments of comic
relief that are actually humorous.
As for their female counter-
parts, Adams’s talent is taken for
granted, as she is quickly reduced
from a keen, independent woman
to a damsel in distress. On the
other hand, Gal Gadot (“Furious
7”), who plays Wonder Woman,
is only allowed to demonstrate
her badass combat skills for a few
scenes, most of which are spoiled
in the trailer anyway.
It’s pretty obvious from the
opening sequence how this film
cost nearly $250 million — the cin-
ematography is astounding. The
shots of young Bruce Wayne fall-
ing down a hole, running through
what seems to be a graveyard and
experiencing the death of his par-
ents are extremely aesthetically
pleasing. There’s a beautiful color
contrast between the vibrant blue
sky above Bruce as he falls and
the darkness surrounding him as
he runs through the graveyard.
Another remarkable scene is the
car chase that happens after Bat-
man/Bruce Wayne realizes the
true identity of the White Por-
tuguese. Somehow his armored
car, which looks like a Batmobile
designed in the year 2020, can
withstand explosives, machine
gun bullets and everything else
Lex Luthor’s henchmen throw at
it. Cinematographer Larry Fong’s
special effects are a perfect visu-
al spectacle here: they’re quite
unbelievable, but not entirely
unrealistic.
The
captivating
powers of this scene are further
enhanced by the constantly shift-
ing camera angles from which the
viewers witness the event.
Unfortunately, the rest of the
film is riddled with cheesiness.
This isn’t your barely tolerable
level of corniness either — it’s
an exasperated sigh, a facepalm-
inducing level of awfulness. Slow
motion is used far too often,
turning what should be glori-
ous moments into comedic ones.
Another unfortunate trope is the
superhero stare — the close-up
shots that emphasize his gaze,
then, ideally, quickly cut to what
he was looking at. In the film,
these shots are held far too long,
making us feel incredibly uncom-
fortable as we watch.
Essentially, “Batman v Super-
man: Dawn of Justice” suffers
from an identity crisis. It falters
trying to assert its belonging in
the superhero genre by over-
emphasizing numerous clichés.
Furthermore,
the
amped-up
romantic subplot between Lois
and Clark attempts to inject
romantic drama into a superhero
adaptation, but it only results
in dryness. Luckily, Eisenberg
and Affleck’s performances are
superb enough to provide us with
a sense of stability. Despite the
chaos that the script generates,
they understand that the essence
of this story is the same as every
other superhero flick: the battle
between good and evil.
TV REVIEW
‘Heartbeat’ doesn’t
have any sign of life
By MEGAN MITCHELL
Daily Arts Writer
“Heartbeat” is the melting pot
of the medical daytime drama.
It’s like the network dropped
Dr.
Mahoney
(Eliza
Coupe,
“Quantico”)
from the last
season
of
“Scrubs” onto
the set of “Red
Band
Soci-
ety” with the
cast of “Grey’s
Anatomy.”
But
instead
of
the
super
cool
mash-up
it sounds like, “Heartbeat” falls
short of expectations, becoming
a Viagra infomercial that never
ends.
Actress Melissa George (“The
Good Wife”) leads this soap as Dr.
Alex Panttiere, a brilliant and out-
spoken heart transplant surgeon
whose role is loosely inspired by
the work of Dr. Kathy Magliato,
one of the few female cardio-
thoracic surgeons in the world.
However, “loosely” is an under-
statement. Even though the show
reports to be completely based off
of Dr. Magliato’s personal expe-
riences, the delivery is artificial.
Where Dr. Magliato is a profes-
sional and leader in her career,
Dr. Alex displays overly reckless
actions and insulting behavior
towards both her colleagues and
patients. She blatantly disregards
a midair medical crisis to finish
preparing a speech and knocks
impatiently on the glass window
during an important legal meet-
ing. Although Dr. Gregory House
(Hugh Laurie, “Tomorrowland”)
also displayed these uncomfort-
able qualities, at least House took
the time to learn the names of
his colleagues and interns. Alex
knows them by nicknames like
“spray tan” and “glasses.”
The dynamic of “Heartbeat” is
uncomfortable, at best. Although
her family is broken and her job
runs her life, the writers managed
to jam in a love triangle between
Panttiere, Australian McDreamy
doppelganger (Don Hany, “Off-
spring”) and her internal sur-
geon boyfriend (Dave Annable,
“Brothers & Sisters”). The only
real romantic relationship in her
life is with her ex-husband and
famous rocker, Max Elliot (Josh-
ua Leonard, “If I Stay”) who is,
unfortunately for her, gay. But
he’s a good father to their chil-
dren, who show up about one
time per episode to remind us
of their existence. At work, the
nurses throw racist comments
at one another and doctors tease
with sex jokes that are more
uncomfortable than funny. The
only slightly funny joke is when
the interns seem to pop out of
thin air, crowding the M.D.’s with
notepads a few inches in front of
their faces. Otherwise, this is not
a hospital where you would want
to be a patient.
However,
jokes
aside,
the
human aspect of “Heartbeat” is
compelling, pulling at our heart-
strings with the intense situa-
tions Dr. Alex’s patients seem to
find themselves in on daily basis.
In the second episode, a pair of
conjoined twins face the emo-
tionally taxing decision of perma-
nent separation when one sister is
diagnosed with cancer and can-
not
undergo
chemotherapy
without harming her twin. After
a 24-hour operation that show-
cases Alex’s command over both
the operating room and her male
colleagues, the sisters wake up to
fully see each other for the first
time as the staff huddles anx-
iously in the cramped room. It’s a
touching moment that showcases
the best of medicine and the pay-
off that comes with the high-risk,
high-reward lifestyle of the hos-
pital’s staff. Then it’s back to the
drama for Dr. Alex, who stares
into Aussie McDreamy’s eyes as
her boyfriend looks on jealously
during an operation. I’m not a
doctor, but even I know that she
should probably focus on the
open chest in front of her over
those gorgeous eyes.
“Heartbeat” seems to be NBC’s
delayed response to ABC’s “Grey’s
Anatomy.” They try and try to
showcase the role of women in a
man’s profession, but ultimately
end up showcasing an uncaring,
troublemaker doctor who cares
more about getting blood on her
outfit than helping a dying patient.
Unfortunately, “Grey’s Anatomy”
might just be better than this glo-
rified soap opera, which, unlike
its namesake, doesn’t seem to
have a pulse.
COLUMBIA RECORDS
“Oh, Rover, the way that you flip your tail gets me overwhelmed.”
ALBUM REVIEW
B
Mind of
Mine
Zayn
Columbia Records
D+
Heartbeat
Pilot (First
two episodes
reviewed)
NBC
Tuesdays
at 9 p.m.
A
few months ago, in my
other life as the film beat
editor for The Michigan
Daily, I was looking over a Daily
Arts application. After giving the
application a once-over and more
thoroughly
reading the
writing sam-
ples, I put an
enthusiastic
YES in the
voting Google
Doc. Almost
instanta-
neously, I got
a text from a
fellow editor,
reading “did
you see what
[they] said about your lit column
tho.” I went back to the applica-
tion and, sure enough, I saw the
phrase: “the literary columns
are often pretentious and seem
uninviting to those who are not
extremely well versed in litera-
ture.”
I’d like to take this opportu-
nity to say that this person is
now on my beat and is a great
writer and contributor to the
Daily. When I bring this incident
up, I’m not trying to call anyone
out — but this comment made
me consider the way I write, in
terms of readability.
Readability, the ease with
which a reader can understand
a given text, hasn’t always been
at the forefront of my mind in
my writing. Before college, when
beginning to consider myself a
“writer,” I would meticulously
look through the thesaurus, try-
ing to improve my vocabulary
and find big words to annoyingly
throw into casual conversation.
Even last year, I had a list of
pretentious words next to my
bed that I would put into my
film reviews (at which my editor
would raise his eyebrows).
But after reading that fairly
innocuous comment in the Arts
application, I began to consider
language as a barrier. In Langs-
ton Hughes’s anthology of Afri-
can short stories, “An African
Treasury,” he explicitly says
he chose “those pieces which I
enjoyed most and which I hope
others will find entertaining,
moving, possibly instructive, but
above all readable. For me, cre-
ative writing’s first function is
readability.”
When I first read this passage
in the introduction to Hughes’s
anthology, I was in total agree-
ment. It seems reasonable that
authors in general would want
as large a potential audience
as possible, but especially for
Hughes, who witnessed incred-
ible inequality throughout his
life. After seeing the effects of
segregation, Hughes wanted
to break down the barriers
between people, including those
in literature. Still, with the enor-
mous disparities in wealth and
education in this country, these
obstacles to learning and reading
exist even today.
But when looking at both past
and present literary celebri-
ties, there’s no question that
not all authors share Hughes’s
approach. Some authors want to
make you work hard to under-
stand their work, and since the
start of literature there have
been people like this. They’re
often the same authors who want
to exclude minorities and women
from literature, using both their
status and their words to keep
others from the literary world.
And yet there’s a sort of pride in
getting through an unwelcoming
text, one that the author clearly
wants to make difficult for you.
By engaging with texts spe-
cifically designed for an elite
reader, are we constructing the
very economies that create this
exclusivity? In reading authors
like Jonathan Franzen and Lau-
rence Stern, are we playing right
into their literary gatekeeping?
Should we never read again?
Probably not. As both readers
and writers, it’s important to be
conscious of who the audience
is meant to be — and what struc-
tures we’re reinforcing with that
work. But even if that work is
emphasizing a point that we dis-
agree with, it’s still substantive
to look at critically.
When we were discussing
balancing these concepts in one
of my classes, a peer aptly stated,
“Some of the most important
work in the world makes you
feel like an inadequate slug.” I’ll
admit, literature has made me
feel slug-like on many occasions:
when people hate my work,
when someone uses a word I
don’t know and even when I
struggle through some of the
reading in my harder literature
classes that combines difficult
vocabulary with convoluted
concepts. In both reading and
writing, there’s a necessity to be
cognizant of what words can do.
While it can feel easier to hide
behind big words, the benefits
of literature come from its big
ideas.
Lerner is not pretentious, nor
uninviting. To find out for yourself,
e-mail her at rebler@umich.edu.
LITERATURE COLUMN
The rarity of
readability
REBECCA
LERNER
C-
Batman v.
Superman:
Dawn of
Justice
Rave & Quality 16
Warner Bros.
The new and
improved Justin
Timberlake.