The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Friday, September 16, 2016 — 5A

Classifieds

Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

ACROSS
1 Shot in the dark
5 Mild expletive
9 Contraction used
with “up”
14 Confining room
15 River originating
in Manchuria
16 Assails
17 Woodstock
performer before
Joan
18 Sci-fi guru
19 Rodeo maker
20 Number on
some beer
bottles?
23 Make even the
slightest
comment
24 Hall of Famer
Musial
25 Some suits,
briefly
28 Egg foo __
30 Depot worker
32 Flight regulatory
org.
35 Washateria
wear?
38 “__ turca:
allegretto”:
Mozart rondo
40 “Is that __?”
41 Floor option
42 Musical work
played where
Brits go?
47 Sci-fi craft
48 Exotic journey
49 Kennel calls
51 Terrestrial
wiggler
52 Storm sound
55 Jefferson bills,
slangily
59 Smokeless
chimney duct?
61 Courts in some
hotels
64 Bend for a swan,
maybe
65 Woodworking
tool
66 Contemporary of
Beethoven
67 Trouser parts
68 Chatted with
online
69 Quirky
70 2015 World
Series-winning
manager Ned
71 Much of the MTV
generation

DOWN
1 Natural skin
protection
2 __ firma
3 Way in the back,
often
4 Pass easily
5 Prestigious
NASCAR venue
6 Lima love
7 Many Renoirs
8 Foster __:
sunglasses brand
9 Self-titled 1987
pop album
10 Diner concoction
11 Phil Mickelson’s
alma mater: Abbr.
12 Toon devil
13 “The Simpsons”
disco guy
21 Subject of an evil
negotiation
22 “Dumb and
Dumber” actress
25 Parental control
device
26 Italian soccer
great Rossi
27 Dash datum
29 Tortilla chip
topper, informally
31 It’s not observed
in P.R.
32 Pseudo

33 “Half __ is ... ”
34 On high
36 San Antonio-to-
Dallas dir.
37 Small craft
39 Picasso’s here
43 Picking site
44 Giza’s river
45 Like the
maximum sum
46 Multinational
energy gp.
50 Less, when
added?

53 To an adequate
degree
54 __ diet
56 Versifier’s
weather
57 Calculus pioneer
58 Origins
59 Echelon
60 Touring jobs
61 “What a darling
baby!”
62 Golfer’s support
63 Cred for bringing
someone home

By Mark McClain
©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/16/16

09/16/16

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Friday, September 16, 2016

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

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FOR RENT

HELP WANTED

FROM THE VAULT
Why ‘Jack and Jill’ 
will never be a classic

By WILL STEWART

For the Daily

In “From the Vault,” Daily 

Arts takes a new look at old films.

Adam Sandler’s career is 

that of an 8th grade boy who 
gains 
overnight 
popularity 

from a hidden talent — making 
strangely accurate fart noises 
under his armpit during lunch-
time. The entire grade cannot 
get enough of this talent, and 
it never fails to win over the 
laughter and hearts of his class-
mates. But one day, the entire 
grade suddenly realizes how 
immature this gag was all along, 
ending the joke’s reign. The 8th 
grade boy is forced to quit the 
act and resort to sitting alone at 
lunch, just like old times. Adam 
Sandler, unlike the boy, never 
stopped making the same joke.

Sandler’s 
filmography 

includes comedies that domi-
nated the ’90s, like “Billy Madi-
son” and “Happy Gilmore.” 
He proved his capability for 
serious roles in Paul Thomas 
Anderson’s 
“Punch 
Drunk 

Love.” Sadly, audiences would 
never see another Sandler per-
formance as captivating, as the 
actor moved on to a series of 
movies condemned by fans and 
critics alike.

In 2011, Sandler reached a 

new low point as an actor and 
screenwriter with “Jack and 
Jill.” He stars as the two titu-
lar characters, a pair of twins 
engulfed in years of trivial fam-
ily turmoil. Sandler doesn’t shy 
away from unleashing his arse-
nal of poop and offensive Mexi-
can immigrant jokes that would 
make 
even 
Donald 
Trump 

cringe. The film lasts 90 min-
utes and feels as if it were cre-
ated in 30.

At five years old, “Jack and 

Jill” can be evaluated different-
ly. Already lampooned by critics, 
the film might offer more than 
what was initially perceived. 
It is possible that this disaster 
can be such a mess that it man-
ages to pick up a few laughs and 
warm the hearts of its viewers. 
Certainly, the aforementioned 
armpit-farting 8th grader could 
be somewhat laughable; every-
one can appreciate the intricacy 
of a well executed fart joke.

“Jack and Jill,” on paper, 

has the potential to be a cult 
classic. Weak acting, lazy plot-
twists and uninspiring dialogue 
are qualities that define such 
movies, like Tommy Wiseau’s 
catastrophic masterpiece “The 
Room.” To much disappoint-
ment, in “Jack and Jill,” these 
qualities are just brutal. 

Subtlety was never Sandler’s 

forte, and this movie is no 
exception. Every joke feels like 
it is forced down the viewer’s 
esophagus until it aggressively 
hits the stomach, leaving noth-
ing but nausea. A scene in which 
a grandma menacingly stares at 
Jill during a Mexican family’s 
outdoor party — which doesn’t 
shy away from cheap jabs — 
has potential to be so bizarre 
that it’s enjoyable, but even this 
fails. The gags revolve around 
lazy slapstick comedy — in the 
party scene, the elderly woman 
is hit over the head with various 
objects and fed habanero pep-
pers until she is revived.

The choice between sitting 

through “Jack and Jill” and 
ingesting a raw habanero pep-
per is conflicting. The most 
painful quality of the movie is 
Sandler’s performance as Jill. 
Her shrieking voice will haunt 
the viewer for days. It feels 

forced but seamless, contrived 
while effortless. Often, soap 
opera-esque acting can be the 
funniest of all; cringeworthy 
displays of emotion can just 
bleed hilarity. Here, any effort 
just feels pathetic.

If Adam Sandler weren’t such 

a phenomenon, the acting and 
cheap gags would maybe go 
over better. But audiences are 
too familiar with his style that 
it is hard to disassociate the 
actor from the character. The 
world knows Adam Sandler far 
too well for “Jack and Jill” to 
ever feel like an accidental gem, 
a work that is so awful that it’s 
really an artistic feat. It could 
be that the film feels passion-
less. With movies like “The 
Room,” at least every line of dia-
logue and every shot was fueled 
by a deep love for the project. 
It’s impossible to believe that 
Sandler ever thought this work 
was even worthy of his own 
approval.

“Jack and Jill” will never gain 

a cult following; the world will 
never see the day where its mid-
night showings will flood with 
devoted fans quoting Sander’s 
jokes and dressed as Jill. As ter-
rible as it is, laughing at others’ 
pain or failures can be fun, but 
even that is nearly impossible 
with “Jack and Jill.”

FILM REVIEW
‘Equity’ is anti-
feminist & weak

This gender-

reversed “Wolf of 
Wall Street” is just 

as sexist

By SYDNEY COHEN

Daily Arts Writer

“The Wolf of Wall Street” and 

“The Big Short” are giants in 
the realm of films about invest-
ment 
bank-

ing. 
Their 

exclusively 
male 
casts 

are expected, 
with big name 
actors fulfill-
ing 
roles 
of 

power-hungry men infiltrating 
the system and climbing the 
financial ladder. However, as 
the first in this genre to sub-
stitute male protagonists for 
women, ‘Equity” heavily dis-
appoints on its promise of a 
feminist look at the high stakes 
world of investment banking.

“Equity” tells the story of big 

shot investment banker Naomi 
Bishop (Anna Gunn, “Breaking 
Bad”) as she works on a deal 
with a startup to market their 
IPO. Simultaneously, federal 
prosecutor Sam (“Alysia Rein-
er, “Orange is the New Black”) 
works to uncover a thread of 
corruption and insider trading 
centered around Naomi’s boy-
friend Michael (James Purefoy, 
“The Following”). It is a classic 
white-collar crime thriller, but 
one with a female protagonist.

The film is a weak attempt at 

female empowerment. Naomi is 
characterized as the archetyp-
al independent and ambitious 
Manhattan working woman, 
her voice working to break 
the taboo of women speak-
ing openly about money and 
power. A supplementary female 
cast includes Naomi’s VP Erin 

(Samantha 
Megan 
Thomas, 

“Backwards”), 
and 
banking 

corruption investigator Sam, 
both professional women work-
ing in male-dominated fields.

Throughout the film, the 

leads struggle to maintain their 
power, status and reputations 
among other male professionals 
in their field who consistently 
undermine 
and 
undervalue 

them. However, these women 
are wholly one-dimensional. 
Their uncomplicated person-
alities are emphasized through 
acting and dialogue that is flat, 
predictable and cheesy, doing 
nothing to add complexion to 
the characters or the plot and 
becoming essentially unneces-
sary. The result is that these 
elements work to undermine 
what the film is trying to do. 
Instead of portraying realistic 
and strong women, the film 
offers stale and robotic women 
acting in ways expected of the 
independent female Hollywood 
stereotype — that is to say, 
unwaveringly 
power-hungry 

and unabashedly ambitious.

Somehow a film that is sup-

posed to be about women winds 
up being about men, as femi-
nism is shredded even further in 
“Equity.” The two major motifs 
in the film are perception and 
manipulation, with men pre-
sented as malleable objects 
whom the women must mold 
for their own personal gain. 
For example, in regards how 
Erin should interact with IPO 
founder Ed (Samuel Roukin, 
“Salem”), Naomi advises her to 
handle him “very, very gently.” 

Ed is not a free agent in this 
relationship, but clay in Erin’s 
hand; she has the power to 
influence him and his business 
decisions. In this way men are 
both powerless and powerful, 
as their thoughts and actions 
are controlled by women but 
drive the entire plot.

While the female power to 

manipulate men may seem 
feminist at first glance, it is 
actually extremely sexist. In 
“Equity,” the female power lies 
in their perception under the 
male gaze — or in other words, 
their sexuality. For one, Erin 
only influences Ed in tight 
cocktail dresses at sexy, dimly-
lit sushi restaurants. Further, 
Sam 
only 
gets 
information 

out of one of Michael’s insider 
trading buddies through a fla-
grant and uncomfortable scene 
of flirting and sexual baiting. 
Ultimately, the film works to 
reinforce stereotypes of women 
as sexual objects whose only 
power lies in the use of their 
bodies. Interestingly enough, in 
“Equity” this use is conscious-
ly wielded. The women of the 
film understand that their only 
means of power is sex, and they 
wield it strategically and often; 
the film consistently drives the 
message that women can attain 
and maintain power through 
their sexuality, as long as they 
know how to “play the game.” 
This consciousness is perhaps a 
tiny feminist nugget hidden in a 
mountain of objectification.

“Equity,” is not a film about 

women in the word of invest-
ment baking, but instead about 
men who are manipulated by 
women in cunning and sexu-
ally-driven ways. The film is 
glaringly antifeminist and dis-
appointing as a work intended 
to break cinematic tropes of 
the male-dominated banking 
industry. Also, the acting is just 
plain awful. 

Adam Sandler’s 

career is that 
of a farting 8th 

grade boy.

On new LP, Wilco 
still rock-solid vets

By JOEY SCHUMAN

Daily Arts Writer

On “Shrug and Destroy,” the 

ostensible comedown on Wilco’s 
latest release, Shmilco, frontman 
Jeff Tweedy 
repeats 
four 
words 

— 
“Noth-

ing is left, 
rejoice”— 
as the final 
chords ring 
out. 
Four 

words, 
as 

enigmatic as four words can be 
and yet entirely accurate. Wilco 
rests comfortably atop the perch 
of 21st century folk rockers; they 
don’t have much to prove. It’s 
appropriate, then, that Shmil-
co — clocking in at 37 minutes 
long — continues the trend of 
last year’s 34-minute Star Wars 
and is one of their most succinct 
releases to date. Short in length, 
there’s a palpable innocence to 
the album. Instead of walking 
us through emotion, they reflect 
upon it, and there’s something 
peaceful in that.

The opening track, “Normal 

American Kids,” is emblematic 
of this style. The relatively iso-

lated vocals and vulnerable lyri-
cism are fitting, and the combo 
is a nice reminder of the early 
moments of “I Am Trying to 
Break Your Heart” — the mag-
num opus of an opener on their 
magnum opus of an album, 
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Tweedy’s 
winding voice sounds as genu-
ine now as it did in 2002 along-
side a lone acoustic guitar. He 
goes out on one of his furthest 
extending limbs yet with lines 
like “All of my spirit leaked like 
a cut / I knew what I needed 
would never be enough / I was 
too high to change my bed / 
Always afraid to be a normal 
American kid.” For a band that’s 
been accompanied by seemingly 
every possible instrument, such 
simplicity is both welcome and 
well-executed. In fact, it essen-
tially legitimizes their vul-
nerability. Wilco seems to be 
imperfect by nature and stoner-
ish in character — this winding 
ballad of solitude consequently 
tells more than enough about 
where 
Tweedy’s 
been 
and, 

possibly, informs us about the 
future direction of the band.

This introspectiveness hasn’t 

previously been on such an 
album-wide display. On “If I 

Ever Was a Child” there are 
snippets like, “I’ve never been 
alone / Long enough to know / 
If I ever was a child.” Satisfying-
ly straightforward “Someone to 
Lose” finds Tweedy wishing an 
ex-lover has her heart broken 
again, all the while trying to 
understand his own place in it 
all. “Locator,” “We Aren’t the 
World (Safety Girl)” and “Just 
Say Goodbye,” each of which 
has its own sound founded in 
stripped down instrumentals, 
gracefully close out the album. 
Maybe Tweedy and co. feel con-
tent (or at least comfortable) 
enough with their past work to 
make what most would consid-
er, more or less, a 12-track long 
musical diary, but maybe not. 
He has entwined many of his 
songs with a hint of apathy, so 
while fully absorbing the band’s 
new material is important, over-
ly digging for some type of read 
on their trajectory really might 
just be superfluous. The music is 
only there to feel.

And, at its purest, Shmilco is 

12 tracks of calm sentiment. The 
grandeur from “I’m the Man 
Who Loves You” isn’t there, but 
it’s just the right feel for Wilco 
this time around.

DBPM

Shmotograph.

ALBUM REVIEW

B+

Schmilco

Wilco

dBpm

D

Equity

Sony Pictures

A failed attempt 

at girl power.

