The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, April 14, 2016 — 5
Teller and Kendrick
make a terrible film
By RACHEL RICHARDSON
Daily Arts Writer
Remember those kids in high
school who, despite being given
all the tools for success, refused
to put forth
an
effort
to make a
decent proj-
ect? Whose
final
prod-
ucts
ended
up being so
god-awful
they
must
have exerted effort to make
them that horrible? It seems
that these kids maintained their
passion for awfulness, moved to
Hollywood and produced “Get
a Job.”
From the giveaway title to
the
rudimentary
dialogue,
there’s no question as to what
this film is about. “Get a Job”
details the struggles of Will
(Miles
Teller,
“Whiplash”)
as he tries to improve life for
himself and his girlfriend Jil-
lian (Anna Kendrick, “Pitch
Perfect”) by seeking employ-
ment as a videographer. Will is
a pathetic excuse for a human
being, but his three bizarre,
unsanitary
and
substance-
abusing housemates, Charlie
(Nicholas Braun, “The Perks
of Being a Wallflower”), Ethan
(Christopher
Mintz-Plasse,
“Superbad”) and Luke (Brandon
T. Jackson, “Triple Thunder”)
make the millennial genera-
tion appear absolutely despi-
cable. If you were looking for
an older, wiser parental figure
to teach these helpless clowns
how to get their lives together,
you won’t find one — Will’s
father, Roger (Bryan Cranston,
“Breaking Bad”), becomes com-
pletely delusional on his quest
for employment. The collective
strangeness of characters and
plot suggests that “How Not
to Get a Job” would serve as a
more accurate title.
Once we listen to a few of the
characters’ conversations, it’s
obvious why no one wants to
hire any of them. Their vocabu-
lary is limited to sexual lingo,
with “dick” “fuck” and “come”
being
among
the
favorites.
Then, during the last 20 min-
utes, there’s a dramatic tonal
shift. Suddenly the film is try-
ing to take itself seriously by
having each character, in his
own weird way, preach the
same idea: it’s not just about
feeling special, but actually
being special.
While crude humor may
have been the intent, the mate-
rial can better be described as
downright disgusting. Direc-
tor Dylan Kidd starts by test-
ing viewers’ stomachs as they
are subjected to watching Luke
chug a mason jar full of deer
semen in order to obtain his
own desk at the office. More
worrisome is the scene where
a young Asian boy ends up
unconscious on the gym floor
after Charlie lobs a basketball
at him. No one, not even the
surrounding parents or one of
his classmates exhibits any sign
of concern.
Another
disappointing
aspect of the film is its por-
trayal of women in power.
Roger, the old timer in despair,
basically begs the young baris-
ta, Cammy (newcomer Mimi
Gianpulos) to fix him. Sure
enough, a few scenes later, his
once-graying hair is now solid
black and Cammy’s constantly
hanging onto Roger, indicating
that she’s providing him with
something more than caffeine
and hair dye. Meanwhile, his
son is being controlled by a con-
niving older woman, Kathleen
Dunn (Marcia Gay Harden,
“Into the Wild”), who openly
admits that she’s only promot-
ing Will so she can have more
control over him.
Of course, this wouldn’t be a
film about the 20-somethings
of America if substance abuse
wasn’t prevalent. While a little
party never killed nobody, the
presence of beer and weed is
so overwhelming in this film
it might as well be a painfully
long
advertisement.
Alcohol
isn’t just used to alleviate mis-
ery
and
heighten
euphoria
— it’s viewed as the key to pro-
fessional success, as demon-
strated by Will’s insistence on
Roger getting hammered before
Will records him for his video
resume.
No amount of alcohol or mar-
ijuana will ever allow watching
“Get a Job” to be a non-tortur-
ous experience. At least those
who make the drunken mistake
of pressing play can mostly for-
get the ordeal the next day. I
wish I was so lucky.
CBS FILMS
“What do you say we get out of here and head to my Love Shack?”
FILM REVIEW
F
Get a Job
CBS Films
Video on Demand
FILM REVIEW
Netflix streams the
sci-fi ‘Advantageous’
By VANESSA WONG
Daily Arts Writer
The
most
terrifying
sci-
ence fiction is not the stuff of
nightmares, but of reality: dys-
topian worlds
that
actually
loom
ahead.
Set in a near-
distant future
where automa-
tion
squeez-
es
humans
—
especially
women — out
of jobs, the fac-
tors that lead up into the world
in “Advantageous” have already
been laid out today. It’s just a
matter of following the threads
into years ahead, and watching
order unravel into quotidian
chaos.
Facing increasing pressure to
look younger and more racially
ambiguous, Gwen loses her job
(Jacqueline Kim, “Red Doors”)
as the figurehead of a plastic
surgery company (ironically
named the Center for Advanced
Health and Living). The timing
couldn’t be worse. She strug-
gles to pony up tuition for her
daughter,
Jules’s
(Samantha
Kim, “Futurestates”) expen-
sive prep school, her only shot
at staying in the rapidly disap-
pearing middle class. To get
her job back, Gwen agrees to
undergo an invasive full-body
transplant at a major sacrifice
to herself. The film follows how
the decision impacts Gwen and
Jules’s close relationship.
The world of the future is
assembled
quietly.
Director
Jennifer Phang (“Half Life”)
economizes
her
shoestring
budget, using minimal CGI for
a realistic blend of present day
and high-tech urban skylines.
Overly precocious children and
stiff dialogue reveals an evolved
communication form that pri-
oritizes facts, speed and logic.
Throwaway dialogue hints at an
AI economic takeover, as well as
possible terrorist uprisings and
rising child prostitution due to
soaring unemployment rates
– all events that could reason-
ably occur in the near future.
Still, nothing is ever explained
outright; the viewer draws the
connections themselves. The
expository narrative is revealed
seamlessly, leaving the dialogue
nimble and the focus on Gwen
and Jules’s relationship.
With glacial lighting and ele-
gant cinematography, the pac-
ing is deliberately restrained
so that the nuances in the rela-
tionship between Gwen and
Jules can flourish. Gwen faces
a catch-22 where she must sac-
rifice herself to give her daugh-
ter a leg up in the capitalist rat
race, but to do so would rob
Jules of an intimate relation-
ship with her mother. The film
questions what it truly means to
be “advantageous” in a chang-
ing world. The only pitfall is
that for all its careful buildup,
in the last half-hour, the film
feels anxious to race to its fin-
ish line.
Directed by an Asian-Amer-
ican woman and featuring a
diverse cast, “Advantageous”
also marks a successful leap in
media representation. It ques-
tions the pressures that society
places on women, features mid-
dle-aged characters actually
played by middle-aged actors,
and gives Asian actors non-ste-
reotypical, multi-faceted roles.
The story “Advantageous” tells
is ultimately its own, not one
where identity is used as a plot
point.
Like any science fiction film,
“Advantageous”
occasionally
questions the humans-versus-
technology
distinction.
But
above all, it’s first and foremost
a story of mothers, daughters
and providing for those you
love. Situated among technolo-
gies that can perform faster,
and more efficiently, charac-
ters ask themselves, “why am
I alive?” and overwhelming-
ly, Gwen’s fierce love for her
daughter is the answer, ground-
ing the reason for life in emo-
tional connection.
Advantageous is streaming on
Netflix.
A
Advanta-
geous
Netflix
Exclusive
EVENT PREVIEW
‘Guys and Dolls’
brings NYC to A2
SMTD celebrates
Frank Sinatra
centennial with
classic musical
By MERIN MCDIVITT
Daily Arts Writer
As the world celebrates Frank
Sinatra’s centennial, songs, trib-
ute concerts and even figure
skating
rou-
tines
paying
homage to the
beloved
Rat
Pack
mem-
ber are every-
where.
But
the School of
Music, Theatre
and
Dance’s
nod to the leg-
endary crooner
comes in a dif-
ferent
form
altogether.
This weekend,
the Power Center will usher
audiences into a different era,
where the bright lights and shad-
owy side streets of New York
City give way to Prohibition-era
Cuba, swaying with Jazz Age
rhythms.
After taking on “American
Idiot” last fall, the musical the-
ater program was ready for a
blast from the past.
“We wanted to do something
with more traditional musical
theater to balance it,” said direc-
tor Mark Madama, an associate
professor of music. “It’s going to
be fun. It’s going to be colorful.
It’s going to be exciting.”
The classic musical showcases
Sinatra’s talents alongside those
of Marlon Brando and Jean Sim-
mons in its 1955 film version, but
the show’s real origin lies a little
earlier, in 1950, when it debuted
on Broadway. “Guys and Dolls”
charmed audiences and swept
the Tony Awards, worming its
way into the American zeitgeist
in a way few cultural phenomena
ever do.
Its vivid portrayal of the seedy
underbelly of New York City has
inspired countless imitations
and riffs. It popularized the
multi-ethnic slang of this col-
orful era in Manhattan, bring-
ing words like “fly-by-night” (a
short-lived romance) and “the
heat” (the police) into popu-
lar consciousness. So deeply is
“Guys and Dolls” intertwined
with American culture that if
you’re ever near Detroit, you can
stop by Little Guys and Dolls
Preschool on Six Mile Road.
One can’t help but imagine tap-
dancing toddlers playing craps
or maybe a couple of kindergar-
teners placing bets at the races.
The spirited world of “Guys
and Dolls” will be on full dis-
play at the Power Center thanks
to set designer Edward Morris,
an alumnus who has worked
all over show business since his
time at the University of Michi-
gan. The click-clack of tap shoes
will echo through the theater
as the set flashes and shimmers
with an overwhelming profusion
of neon signs that has rendered
the stage almost unrecognizable
— a bustling metropolis in the
middle of a college town.
One of the show’s many unex-
pected delights is the high-
quality writing — in addition to
captivating musical numbers,
the show packs jokes and refer-
ences slung at the audience as
rapid-fire as a sawed-off shotgun
in a Havana alleyway. The script
was so well-received that it near-
ly won the 1951 Pulitzer Prize for
Drama. Sadly, writer Abe Bur-
rows was under investigation by
the House Un-American Activi-
ties Committee, an investiga-
tive Congressional committee
whose activities during the time
mirrored then-U.S. Sen. Joseph
McCarthy’s
anti-Communist
push. That push ruined many a
career in media. Burrows con-
tinued to write, but his Pulitzer
aspirations were dashed forever.
His script for “Guys and Dolls,”
however, remains one of the best
in the business.
“I love the idea of doing a tra-
ditional musical comedy that has
a great book,” Madama said.
Before television took off in
a big way in the late 1950s and
variety shows began to dominate
the airwaves, Broadway musi-
cals were an outlet for some of
show business’s most talented
writers. Dialogue was snappy
and inventive, leaving perform-
ers plenty of wiggle room to
bring life to their characters.
“Every character that gets
played by a different person
brings a different interpretation
to that character,” Madama said.
“They have to bring their own
personality.”
From salsa to tap, romantic
duets to an athletic “crapshoot-
er’s ballet,” “Guys and Dolls” is
as engaging, relevant and just
plain funny today as it was when
the Chairman of the Board held
court at the Rainbow Room.
Guys and
Dolls
7:30 PM Thurs.,
8 PM Fri. and
Sat., 2 PM Sun.
Apr. 14 to Apr. 17
Power Center
$12 with
Student ID
New Atlanta is no doubt indebt-
ed to their ubiquitous triplet flow.
Quavo, likely the group’s most
known member on account of his
features (gracing Donnie Trum-
pet’s Surf and a number of Young
Thug’s tracks) was at the lead as
the night took off. He posed for
pictures, hyped up the crowd,
and represented the University of
Michigan in a Denard Robinson
jersey. Offset was the only mem-
ber not donning Michigan attire,
but his Mike Tyson Supreme tee
was more than acceptable for the
occasion.
Most of their first raps went
unrecognized by the audience, as
they bobbed best they could in the
unfriendly-to-standing Hill audi-
torium. The venue was admittedly
unfit for this kind of high-energy
hip-hop show, but the energy
picked up as the group segued
into more known territory. The
drop of “Hannah Montana” was
synchronized with a not whol-
ly unexpected Jim Harbaugh
appearance, who jumped around
stage for a bit and, of course,
dabbed — much to the apprecia-
tion of the crowd. Water bottles
flew through the air as kids threw
their faces into their arms. That
moment was the clear highlight
for the night, where Migos and
the audience seemed most in sync
with one another.
The majority of the night
moved quickly back and forth
between those kinds of radio-hit
highlights, and slower moments
when the members called out
their raps like lists, leaving the
audience to stand back and appre-
ciate (or check their phones). The
front of the venue was filled with
kids dabbing with one hand and
taking a selfie with the other. To
Migos’ credit, they seemed to
gauge the room relatively well,
doling out popular tracks when
they were needed and interacting
with the audience when the per-
formance slowed. That was clear
during the DJ Carnage-produced
track “Bricks,” as the lights shut
off and the group called for the
room to turn on their phones
(lighters are out these days). Dim
iPhones waved around as the
members rattled off their verses
and jumped with the crowd,
another high-energy point of the
show.
Sometime around “Handsome
and Wealthy,” the group jumped
off stage and into the crowd. Take-
off climbed over a row of seats and
danced with the students for most
of the track, much to the disap-
proval of the classically-trained
security team.
Not too long after that high-
intensity
crowd
interaction,
Migos left, possibly mid-song, and
the slightly confused audience
tentatively filed out, to murmurs
of “Wait, is it over?” It was a fitting
ending to a very stop-and-start
event. The peaks of the night,
though, still remained. Daps were
exchanged and Migos left with a
salute, their work here still unfin-
ished.
For those wondering, they
were, apparently, headed towards
Rick’s for an afterparty.
MIGOS
From Page 1
The most
terrifying sci-fi
is the stuff of
reality.
CHECK OUT BEST OF ANN ARBOR!
IT PROBABLY FELL ON THE FLOOR
WHEN YOU OPENED THIS PAPER!
(YOU’RE WELCOME.)
The jokes can be
described best
as downright
digusting.
Water bottles
flew and kids
threw their
faces into arms.
A Harbaugh
dab.