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.