Classifieds
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
ACROSS
1 Vanna’s cohort
4 Smidgens
9 Thicket
14 Boston Marathon
mo.
15 Meat and greet
patio party?
16 Skylit courtyards
17 Yes, to a
cowboy?
20 Sunday service
providers
21 Switz. neighbor
22 Pollen carrier
23 “M*A*S*H”
Emmy winner for
acting, writing
and directing
24 German autos
26 Women’s
undergarment,
briefly
27 Yes, to an
architect?
31 __ joint
32 Cracker with a
scalloped edge
33 [uh-oh]
34 Provides with a
soundtrack
35 Components of
many tips
37 Give in to
wanderlust
39 Shakespeare’s
river
40 Stockholm carrier
43 Yes, to a traffic
court judge?
47 Author Rice
48 Final, e.g.
49 Medicine Hat’s
prov.
50 Shoot the breeze
51 Org. for docs
52 Exited quickly, in
slang
54 Yes, to the Magic
8 Ball
58 “Divine Comedy”
poet
59 “Fun, Fun, Fun”
car in 1960s hit
60 Make faces for
the camera
61 Labor day doc
62 Church chorus
63 Mini-albums,
briefly
DOWN
1 Choose paper
over plastic?
2 Ill-fated 1967
moon mission
3 Made even, to a
carpenter
4 “__ your pardon”
5 Cheerios
descriptor
6 “Give it a go”
7 Blood-typing
letters
8 Kick up a fuss
9 Uber competitors
10 Platte River tribe
11 The majors
12 Online guide
13 Enter gradually
18 Muffin mix additive
19 Con job
24 Orders with mayo
25 “Les __”: musical
nickname
26 PCs’ “brains”
28 Karen
Carpenter’s
instrument
29 Member of the
fam
30 One who helps
you find a part?
34 Prom partner
35 Fallopian tube
traveler
36 Rejections
37 Drink on credit
38 Noise from a 55-
Down
39 Multi-platinum
Steely Dan album
40 “I was so foolish!”
41 Pays for cards
42 Old salts
43 Get hitched
44 Viral Internet
phenomenon
45 Two-horse wager
46 Go up in smoke
51 Yemeni port
52 Capital near
Zurich
53 Supplements,
with “to”
55 Type of pen
56 Tech giant
57 Cube that rolls
By Bruce Haight
©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/30/16
03/30/16
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
5 BEDROOM APT Fall 2016‑17
$3250 + $100/m Gas & Water
+ Electric to DTE, 3 parking spaces
1014 V
aughn #1 ‑ multilevel unit w/ carpet
CALL DEINCO 734‑996‑1991
4, 5 OR 6 BEDROOM FALL 2016‑17
Central Campus House ‑ 335 Packard
$2800 ‑ 3500 based on # of ppl
Parking, Laundry, Lots of Common area
www.deincoproperties.com
734‑996‑1991
4, 5 OR 6 BEDROOM HOUSE
1119 S. Forest ‑ May or September
$2800 ‑ $3500 based on number of ppl
Tenants pay all utilities.
Parking and laundry available
Showings M‑F 10‑3; 24 hour notice
required. www.deincoproperties.com
734‑996‑1991
1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Apts on Arch
Avail Fall 2016‑17
$1050 ‑ $2500 + electric contribution
CALL DEINCO 734‑996‑1991
2, 3 & 4 Bedroom Apts @ 1015 Packard
Avail for Fall 2016‑17
$1400 ‑ $2700 + gas and water; Tenants
pay electric to DTE; Limited parking avail
for $50/mo; On‑site Laundry
CALL DEINCO 734‑996‑1991
4 BEDROOM HOUSE
NORTH CAMPUS/HOSPITAL
1010 CEDAR BEND ‑ $2400 + utilities
PARKING & LAUNDRY
734‑996‑1991
1 & 2 Bedroom Apts on Wilmot
Avail Fall 2016‑17
$975 ‑ $1575 Plus Electric to DTE
Coin Laundry Access, Free WiFi
Parking Avail $50‑$80/m
CALL DEINCO 734‑996‑1991
! NORTH CAMPUS 1‑2 Bdrm. !
! Riverfront/Heat/Water/Parking. !
! www.HRPAA.com !
WORK ON MACKINAC Island
This Summer – Make lifelong friends.
The Island House Hotel and Ryba’s
Fudge Shops are looking for help in all
areas beginning in early May: Front Desk,
Bell Staff, Wait Staff, Sales Clerks,
Kitchen, Baristas. Housing, bonus, and
discounted meals. (906) 847‑7196.
www.theislandhouse.com
NEAR CAMPUS APARTMENTS
Avail Fall 16‑17
Eff/1 Bed ‑ $750 ‑ $1400
2 Bed ‑ $1050 ‑ $1425
3 Bed ‑ $1955
Most include Heat and Water
Parking where avail is $50/m
Many are Cat Friendly
CAPPO 734‑996‑1991
www.cappomanagement.com
ARBOR PROPERTIES
Award‑Winning Rentals in Kerrytown,
Central Campus, Old West Side,
Burns Park. Now Renting for 2016.
734‑649‑8637. www.arborprops.com
THESIS EDITING, LANGUAGE,
organization, format. All Disciplines.
734/996‑0566 or www.writeonA2.com
HIRING TEMP. ASSISTANT
Needs exceptional computer skills incl.
Apple and Microsoft word. Problem
Solving. Bookeeping and accounting
background. Small familiy owned
business. Weekdays only. No weekend.
Part time, Flexible hours. References
needed. $13/hr. (734) 995‑5575
ATTRACTIVE WOMEN
For Semi‑Nude Victoria’s type lingerie
photography.
Great $! For interviews call the studio
734‑369‑5300 or email photos to
crimsonapplestudios@gmail.com
NOW A
V
AIL. FOR FALL 2016!
Hill & State, fully furnished 1 & 2 bdrm
apts w/ heat, water, parking, laundry &
A/C ‑ 734‑904‑6735 or 734‑497‑0793
SERVICES
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
HELP WANTED
FOR RENT
A
s far back as I can
remember, I always
wanted
to
be
a
superhero. When I was younger,
I read a few comics, but mostly
I
played
superhero
video
games and
watched
cartoons
(my
favorites
were
“Batman:
The
Animated
Series”
and the 1994 “Spider-Man”).
With my boundless imagination
extrapolated
into
reality,
I
believed it was possible to
receive
superpowers.
When
I was seven or eight I was at a
playground and saw what was
probably a small mosquito bite
on my wrist, but managed to
convince myself that it was, in
fact, a bite from a radioactive
spider. It would only be a matter
of minutes, I thought, until I
collapsed from exhaustion as
the new spider DNA worked
itself into my own, and I would
be reborn as the wall-crawler
himself.
I
was
incredibly
disappointed when this did not
happen.
I
own
two
superhero
Under Armour dri-fit T-shirts
(Superman and The Punisher, if
you were curious), and when I
wear them I feel just a little bit
stronger and more powerful.
But that’s about as close as I can
get to realizing my superhero
dreams. Anything more must
be lived vicariously through
the
never-ending
string
of
superhero
movies
that
get
pumped out each year.
I’m hooked on this genre,
along with a huge proportion
of American filmgoers. I saw a
Rolling Stone article the other
day titled “How Superhero
Movies Became Too Big to Fail,”
and, though I did not read the
article given this publication’s
track
record
of
embodying
the worst parts of pop culture
journalism, the headline is not
wrong. This genre is so safe
because the sizeable population
of people like me will continue
to throw gobs of money at it,
regardless of the quality of the
product.
“Batman
v
Superman”
represents the pinnacle (or
perhaps the nadir, depending
on
one’s
perspective)
of
the superhero event movie
phenomenon. This movie was
universally panned and still
made $166 million at the box
office in one weekend. Hell, I
read some 10 negative reviews
and had three different friends
and my brother tell me to save
my money, and I still went. I am
a slave to this genre.
And it is of course that
very devotion to the idea of
superhero
films
that
will
continue to generate mishaps
like “Batman v Superman.”
If there’s a profit to be made,
then studios will simply throw
together
a
half-thought-out
story, give it a gimmicky little
title and proceed to rip my heart
out with its shoddy content.
But for as much as I disliked
“Batman v Superman,” one
scene in particular stood out
to me: the day “the world is
introduced to the Superman,”
the fight between Superman
and General Zod that took
place during “Man of Steel.”
This
first
action
sequence
finds Bruce Wayne, clad in
his pleated pants, vest and
tie,
frantically
traversing
downtown Metropolis as the
city collapses around him in an
attempt to save his friends at
Wayne Enterprises. With the
events of Brussels still fresh in
my mind, I could not help but
view the scene as a parable of
urban terrorism.
I’ve read a lot of criticism
of this franchise because it
attempts to ask the question:
what would happen in a world
where the Superman existed?
These critics say a comic book
movie is escapism and shouldn’t
attempt to portray our world.
While I find this assessment
fair, it deprives us of a very
captivating potential cinematic
experience.
This
opening
sequence
very
effectively
captures the complete horror
of the spectators of a cosmic
death match, who peer up from
the streets and catch two small
figures wreaking havoc on our
world. This scene, at least, is a
superhero movie for a post-9/11
world, a world embroiled in
seemingly never-ending terror.
While the rest of “Batman
v Superman” falls decidedly
flat, this one scene possesses
incredible power. Cartoonish
fun and zany characters in
“Ant-Man” and “Guardians of
the Galaxy” can be enjoyable,
and in fact I liked them very
much, but they do not resonate
on a more visceral level in the
same way that this opening
sequence did.
The only other superhero
film that accomplished this
same visceral experience that
I’ve seen is “Captain America:
The
Winter
Soldier.”
This
was less a superhero film,
more
an
espionage
thriller
that happened to star Captain
America, and it offered an
overt metaphor for surveillance
in the age of terror. Replace
SHIELD with the NSA and
replace hovering warships with
surveillance
programs
and
the result is, essentially, the
modern world. This compelling
take on the balance between
liberty and security is and
will continue to be relevant
for years — the recent Apple v.
FBI showdown was yet another
example of the issue.
Like
the
Western
genre
before them, superhero movies
have become so pervasive that
to simply see another good
guy-bad guy showdown with
explosions, or (god forbid)
another origin story, wastes the
very rich superhero framework
that raises thought-provoking
questions
relevant
to
our
world. Superheroes are not
simple characters; often their
motivations are ill founded,
their actions are suspect and
the
consequences
of
those
actions can be quite profound.
To relegate them to the basic
good guy framework flounders
the potential to tell a modern
cinematic allegory.
I believe this is the direction
to which superhero movies are
starting to turn. The superhero
movie as a closed-off comic
book film (and the pulp and
tone that the medium offers)
was perfected by “Spiderman
2” and “Sin City,” and has since
been run into the ground. This
next series of superhero films
will fall more in line with
“Captain America 2” and the
first “Iron Man” in that they
can be fun but also tackle and
reflect our real world.
I
know
some
will
find
this disappointing: as I said
above
many
believe
that
superhero
films
are
peak
escapist
entertainment.
But
entertainment
should
not
mean
unchallenging
and
unintelligent, nor should it
mean naïve and ignorant. The
best superhero film will have
something to say and will
execute its message strongly,
while offering a compelling
cinematic experience.
This is the most important
lesson of “Batman v Superman,”
a film that had something to say
but couldn’t execute its message
or provide the entertaining
experience. It takes a strong
creative mind to balance these
many aspects — not a director
with an eye for visual flair —
and studios would be wise not
push out these minds in favor of
a quick buck.
Because though I enjoyed the
eight-minute short film tucked
into “Batman v Superman,” my
blind devotion to the genre has
its limits.
Bircoll may be a superhero
behind the glasses and
journalist gig. Jamie doesn’t
have a bat signal, so email
him at jbircoll@umich.edu.
FILM COLUMN
A slave to the
superheroes
JAMIE
BIRCOLL
‘Vogue’ a pop flop
By SHIMA SADAGHIYANI
Daily Arts Writer
You would expect that an
album titled More Issues Than
Vogue would vaguely resem-
ble
Britney
Spears in the
early
2000s:
fun,
spon-
taneous
and
fucking wild.
Instead,
K.
Michelle’s lat-
est
12-track
album vague-
ly
resembles
the terrain of Kansas: flat,
repetitive and prone to causing
drowsiness.
K.
Michelle
begins
her
album with a trap; “Mindful”
is upbeat, fast-paced, entertain-
ing and completely different
from the other sluggish songs
on More Issues Than Vogue.
The contrast between “Mind-
ful” and the rest of the album is
discerning at best and brings an
unfinished, unconnected qual-
ity to the album as a whole.
Nonetheless, it’s not that
the songs themselves are bad.
On the contrary, K. Michelle’s
voice brings a very Adele-esque
quality to classic R&B beats,
creating soothing, girl-positive,
power ballads. For example,
“Ain’t You” has an organic, hazy
rhythm layered well under-
neath lyrics like “Oh, I got
my own shit, don’t want your
money / Nope, I drop a hundred
bands like it’s easy money.” K.
Michelle’s honey-sweet voice
makes you think she’s blowing a
kiss when she’s really swinging
a punch, which, when paired
with the minimalist beat, pro-
duces the perfect amount of
likeable “fuck you.” The same
persona is seen in “Night-
stand.” K. Michelle proudly
croons “just being honest I
promise that jewelry you gave
me / I never even wear it and
I like Drake better than you.”
Throughout More Issues Than
Vogue, K. Michelle is unapolo-
getically both a powerful singer
and a powerful woman, creating
compositions that are simulta-
neously sensual and centered
around female empowerment.
However, there is no differen-
tiation between different songs’
tempos, styles and rhythms.
More Issues Than Vogue, when
listened through start to finish,
seems to be one behemoth song
instead of a conglomeration of
varying songs paired together in
complementary ways. A major-
ity of the album is structured the
same way: a steady beat in the
background supplementing K.
Michelle’s soaring vocals. And
while the individual songs are
beautifully crafted, they are all
beautifully crafted in the exact
same way, resulting in a monoto-
nous album that has no zing or
any level of excitement.
For example, from “Ain’t You”
to “If It Ain’t Love” or from
“Nightstand” to “Time,” are
stretches of time in the album
where the songs are so similar
they all blend together to the
point where you don’t know
where one song ends and the
other song begins. Accompany
this unclear and uncertain dis-
cernment between songs with
a painfully slow tempo, and
you get music to fall asleep to
(or music you wish you were
asleep to avoid listening to).
K. Michelle, take a page out of
Missy Elliott’s book and get ur
freak on.
The only two songs from
More Issues Than Vogue that
stray from the dreary norm are
“Rich” and “Make The Bed.”
With the help of both Trina and
Yo Gotti, K. Michelle upped her
game in “Rich” and produced
an attention-grabbing song that
stood out from its sea of sur-
rounding tedium. Although “I
got rich people problems / only
way to solve ‘em / keep on get-
tin’ rich” is a bit unoriginal, it
at least provides some variation
that stops the album from truly
becoming the epitome of lack-
luster. With the help of Jason
Derulo, K. Michelle finally
increases the speed of the dying
tempo in “Make The Bed” as
she asks the age-old question
of “why do we, why do we, why
do we / make the bed?” By the
end of the song, she still hasn’t
found the answer, but at least
we, as listeners, are revived and
energized enough to make it to
the end of the album.
Overall, K. Michelle is an
amazing singer with a monu-
mental voice, but she doesn’t
push her potential or her tal-
ents. Instead, she stays well
within her comfort zone. While
that ensures she doesn’t make
any truly horrible songs, it also
results in products like More
Issues Than Vogue — an album
uninspiring and unremarkable
in its uniformity.
ATLANTIC RECORDS
Some people put their kid’s artwork on the fridge.... K. Michelle takes it a step further.
ALBUM REVIEW
C
More Issues
Than Vogue
K. Michelle
Atlantic Records
THIRSTY FOR MORE
ARTS CONTENT?
QUENCH YO’ SELF AT
MICHIGANDAILY.COM/SECTION/
ARTS
My blind
devotion to the
genre has its
limits.
6A — Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com