The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 — 5A
TBS
Teen angst: not exclusive to teenagers.
What happens when a friend
of yours goes missing? Do you
file a police report, send out an
Amber Alert or post a status
about it on Facebook? Or do you
actually
go
and
seek out the person
yourself?
These questions
linger over TBS’s
dark, hilarious new
comedy
“Search
Party” — not to
be confused with
the atrocious 2014
movie of the same
name
starring
Thomas Middleditch. The TV
show follows a group of four
self-absorbed young adults who
embark on a reluctant quest to
find their missing college friend,
Chantal Witherbottom (Clare
McNulty, “High Maintenance”).
Out of all of them, protagonist
Dory (Alia Shawkat, “Arrested
Development”) shows the most
concern, despite having had only
one interaction with Chantal
back in school. As Dory and her
pack of friends unearth more
clues about Chantal, they learn
a lot more about themselves and
one another than they initially
believed.
Led by a talented young
cast
who
imbue
the
show
with
phenomenal
comic
performances, “Search Party”
twists the existential dread
of
post-college
ennui
into
a
strange,
intriguing
and
satisfying whodunit à la “Nancy
Drew.”
The
show
certainly
appeals to millennials, in that
its
characters
and
dialogue
reflect a lot of what millennials
are like. But to classify it as a
“show for millennials” is simply
wrong. Like Comedy Central’s
“Broad City,” its crass humor
mirrors
the
dysfunctional
antics of shows like “Seinfeld”
and its missing-person mystery
subplot is as compelling as an
episode of “CSI.” It’s a show
that, though somewhat familiar
as a conventional comedy with
an unconventional setup, feels
wholly original on its own.
Thanks to the gifted craft of
its creators — Sarah-Violet Bliss
(“The Color of Time”), Charles
Rogers
(“Fort
Tilden”)
and
Michael Showalter (“Wet Hot
American Summer: The First
Day of Camp”) — “Search Party”
incorporates
absurdism
and
surrealism, while
still
remaining
grounded
in
reality.
Shawkat
is perfect as Dory,
playing the role
of the straight-
woman
with
assured
finesse
and a tinge of
melancholy.
Dory’s
mission
to find Chantal is the show’s
main drive, but “Search Party”
focuses on what this mission
tells us about Dory as someone
who is herself lost in a world that
couldn’t care less about her.
She works in Brooklyn as
an assistant to a rich socialite
(Christine Taylor, “Dodgeball:
A True Underdog Story”), where
she’s given rudimentary tasks
like throwing out unattractive,
expensive clothes. Her love
life also seems to be rather
unexciting; Dory’s sensitive yet
ineffectual boyfriend Drew (John
Reynolds, “Stranger Things”)
lacks both understanding of
her boundary issues and the
awareness to see the strains in
their relationship. The two have
a fight early on in the season,
which turns out to be one of the
funniest curse-laden outbursts
on television in recent memory.
Meanwhile, her two other best
friends, the manipulative Elliott
(John Early, “Other People”)
and the naive extrovert Portia
(Meredith Hagner, “Men at
Work”), are too invested in their
own shenanigans. Nevertheless,
Dory does her best to drag along
the three to help her look for
Chantal, even though the real
reason for finding Chantal lies
within Dory’s own anxiety about
making her life less mediocre.
“I think you’ve decided that
this matters to you because
you have nothing else,” Dory’s
ex Julian (newcomer Brandon
Micheal Hall) bluntly tells her
when she asks for advice.
While
“Search
Party”
is
predominantly
a
plot-driven
show, it also depicts these
characters as three-dimensional,
(somewhat)
nuanced
people.
Dory’s sublimation over finding
Chantal to satisfy her own
needs is incredibly relatable to
anyone who’s ever projected
their anxiety onto other people’s
lives. At first, Drew seems like
a puzzled, immature asshole —
which he is for the most part. But
over the course of a few episodes,
he’s seen as someone who deeply
cares about Dory, even if he
isn’t the best at showing it. On
the other hand, Elliott is an
attention-seeking
narcissist,
but unapologetically so, thanks
to the likable charm of Early.
The only character who needs
a bit more work is Portia, who
occasionally verges on the “dumb
blonde” stereotype. Regardless
of its flawed characters, the show
is exemplary in demonstrating
the power dynamics of modern
friendship, as well as the search
for truth in a society masked
with lies and deceit.
Aesthetically, “Search Party”
also brings a lot to the table with
its enchanting cinematography
and
mesmerizing
synthpop
soundtrack — Purity Ring’s
“Obedear” is the show’s theme
song. Each episode title sounds
like a chilling crime novel
waiting to be read, such as “The
Mysterious Disappearance of
Chantal Witherbottom,” “The
Woman Who Knew Too Much”
and “The Night of One Thousand
Candles.”
It’ll be interesting to see how
“Search Party” will continue
after its first season, which can be
watched in its entirety on TBS’s
online streaming platform. Will
each subsequent season focus on
a different mystery? Will Dory
find the meaning in her life? Will
Chantal join their group once
she’s found? Like many mystery
shows, “Search Party” is filled
with questions, but fortunately it
has all the right answers.
‘Party’ a clever mystery
SAM ROSENBERG
Daily Arts Writer
New TBS drama mixes postgrad ennui with Nancy Drew
A-
“Search Party”
Series Premiere
Sundays at 10 p.m.
TBS
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Only one person in this photo is feeling this hug. Send guesses to arts@michigandaily.com.
“Stardust” is a perfect movie.
It’s perfect because it’s beautiful
and
sentimental
and
might
be made of pure sunshine. Of
course, it’s well edited and the
characters are well-acted and
it looks great and all of that
technical stuff. But “Stardust” is
perfect mostly because it’s just
127 minutes of pure joy.
Let’s be clear: this assessment
of “Stardust” is perhaps the least
objective possible opinion on the
movie you’re likely to ever find.
“Stardust” and I have a history.
I saw it for the first time at the
age of seven, having just finished
devouring the “Harry Potter”
and “Narnia” series and I was
desperate for more fantasy and
otherworldly adventures. I was
transfixed instantly, and have
rewatched the movie once a year
since.
Based on the book of the
same name by Neil Gaiman,
“Stardust” tells the tale of
Tristan Thorn in his quest for
true love. Tristan, played by
Charlie Cox (“Daredevil”), is a
bumbling and sweet shop boy
living in an English village
called Wall, named for the long
wall on its border that no one
is allowed to cross. Tristan is
in love with Victoria (Sienna
Miller, “American Sniper”), and
when he sees a shooting star
one night, he promises to cross
the wall and bring Victoria back
the star to prove his devotion to
her. However, crossing the wall
isn’t as simple as it seems. The
wall is a bridge to another world,
a kingdom called Stormhold,
where the seven sons of the
dying king are on a hunt for a
ruby necklace that will allow
them to ascend the throne.
Tristan does indeed find the
shooting star, only to find that
it’s no lump of rock at all, but
instead takes the form of a young
woman named Yvaine (Claire
Danes, “Homeland”). Yvaine is
in grave danger, because a coven
of witches are chasing after her
to cut out her heart and eat it to
restore their youth and beauty.
If it seems complicated, don’t
worry, that’s only about half the
story. I haven’t even gotten to
the pirates in feather boas or the
Greek chorus of ghost princes.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a
movie that better blends comedy,
action and romance in a way
that serves all three sentiments
equally well. For one thing, the
comedy is genuinely funny and
the action is truly exciting. Action
comedies so often do away with
real emotion because it’s much
easier to turn them into cynical
parody.
Take
“The
Princess
Bride” as an example. Now, I love
“The Princess Bride,” and don’t
know anyone of sound mind and
body who doesn’t, but nobody
watches “The Princess Bride”
for its gentle sentimentality and
precisely expressed emotions.
It’s just not that kind of movie.
“Stardust,” on the other hand,
somehow manages to convey real
romance and emotional stakes
while still being honestly funny.
But that’s not what hooked
me on this movie as a little kid
— little kids don’t care about
balanced tones or any nonsense
like that. No, what got me was
the intangible, yet ever present
magical quality to “Stardust”
that is reinforced by every aspect
of the film: the costumes, the
acting, even the name. “Stardust”
makes anything seem possible —
it makes you feel like a little kid
again. It’s all imagination and
hope, no wise remarks or dark
cynicism.
“Stardust” was directed by
Matthew Vaughn, the director of
“Kick-Ass” and “Kingsman: The
Secret Service.” Both of these
films are pitch-black comedies
that rely heavily on brutal
violence and the crudest of
humor to drive their stories. So
“Stardust” is a bit of an anomaly
in Vaughn’s filmography, what
with its profanity-free script and
its “127 minutes of pure joy” thing
it has got going on. Knowing that
it’s made by Matthew Vaughn, it
would be easy for a cynic to write
“Stardust” off as a parody that
just didn’t do its job very well.
But “Stardust” has little time
for cynicism. And besides, the
cynic’s view is probably the
easiest and least interesting
way of thinking about this
story. Turning your nose down
is easy. Thinking earnestly and
hopefully is harder — so much
harder, in fact, that it almost
never happens once we reach
a certain age. That’s why we
need movies like “Stardust”
to remind us every once in a
while that it doesn’t have to
be this way — that under the
world’s dark, sardonic, derisive
pessimism lies an awful, earnest
belief that things could be good.
That maybe, just maybe, we
could even believe in magic.
ASIF BECHER
Daily Arts Writer
From the Vault: 2007’s ‘Stardust’
perfectly mingles fantasy, comedy
Claire Daines and Charlie Cox portray real romance and emotion
I was transfixed
instantly, and have
rewatched it every
year since.
XO
“This is for my number one fan, Caroline Filips.”
Abel Tesfaye has developed
quite the persona since 2012’s
Trilogy. His smooth, high voice
now rings out tales of sex and
drug use, enveloping the explicit
material in a fog of irresistible
soul and Tesfaye has grown to
great acclaim since that quiet
2012 release. He’s now warmly
welcomed as The Weeknd on
radio stations, the main stages
of music festivals and in front of
a sea of celebrities at events like
the Grammys. The Weeknd’s
latest
work,
the
mammoth
18-track Starboy, confronts his
current status — standing at
the crossroads of purposeful
musicality and pop-stardom.
Starboy opens with its lead
CARLY SNIDER
Daily Arts Writer
The Weeknd breaks free from his
popstar mold with new ‘Starboy’
The album also features Kendrick Lamar, Daft Punk and Future
single and title track, “Starboy,”
playing right into the hands
of eager disc jockeys across
the country. Following in the
footsteps of “Can’t
Feel
My
Face,”
the track draws
on
Daft
Punk’s
funk
and
relies
on
formulaic
pop
repetition
and
seemingly
nonsensical lyrics.
Though not The
Weeknd’s
most
profound effort, “Starboy” gets
the record off to a strong start.
The album goes on to deliver
some of the same expected party
tracks. “Rockin” is a solid track
that prods listeners to, well,
rock. It’s bouncy and addictive
— the kind of song that will
likely be played to a pulp on the
radio in a few months time. The
aptly named “Party Monster”
brings to mind images of a blue-
lit nightclub full of dancing
bodies as the chorus repeats,
“Woke up by a girl, I don’t even
know her name.”
Pleasure
seeking
aside,
there are a few tracks that,
surprisingly, give listeners a
glimpse into The Weeknd’s life
when he’s not bedding women
or getting high. In what feels
like flashes of consciousness,
the lyrics comment on The
Weeknd’s
upbringing,
his
previous
work
and
today’s
current celebrity climate. In
“Reminder,” he takes a dig at the
commodification and celebrity
of his own work, singing “I just
won a new award for a kids show
/ Talking ‘bout a
face numbing off
a bag of blow.” The
track also takes
swaggering
hits
at other R&B-ers
trying and failing
to
mimic
his
Trilogy sound.
The
Weeknd
goes on to address
his upbringing and its stark
contrast to the lavish life he
now leads. On “Sidewalks,”
he alludes to hardships in
his youth and his struggle to
make something of himself.
Although still functioning on
the surface level, the Kendrick
Lamar feature on “Sidewalks”
makes
it
one
of
Starboy’s
most socially aware tracks.
Similarly, “Six Feet Under”
deals with the pressures of
consumerism
and
attempts
to shed light on the problems
that can come with material
obsession. Unfortunately, the
track goes about doing so in
a way that revolves around
the objectification of female
bodies.
On
“Ordinary
Life”
The
Weeknd
acknowledges
the
absurdity
of
his
lifestyle
outright. The chorus consists
only of a repeated, “This ain’t
ordinary life.” He knows that
his music and the life it depicts
act as an outlet, a fantasy for
those who tune in. He even goes
as far as to insinuate that his
life will end early and he will
find himself in Hell. But The
Weeknd’s reminder that his
existence isn’t perfect or readily
attainable is still packaged in
a
romanticized,
intoxicating
track — he’s not trying too hard
to turn anyone away.
The record is bookended by
Daft Punk features, wrapping
with
“I
Feel
It
Coming.”
The track is soft and kind in
comparison to The Weeknd’s
usual depictions of physical
intimacy. There is no rush or
urgency in his voice, no crude
anatomical
euphemisms.
It
shows
the
growth
of
The
Weeknd
as
an
artist
and,
arguably, as a man since Trilogy
hit the Internet four years ago.
Starboy’s range — musically,
lyrically and vocally — is a clear
attempt by The Weeknd to shake
free from his increasingly pop-
heavy mold. Even the length of
the album itself may be taken as
an affront on pop convention.
But The Weeknd is not making
any overt statements; the tracks
largely follow the pop formula
and the album runs smoothly
from start to finish. Though there
are clear markers of attempted
dissonance, Starboy is ultimately
a well-produced, radio-friendly
record that will please current
fans and draw in even more.
B
Starboy
The Weeknd
Republic Records
FROM THE VAULT
TV REVIEW
ALBUM REVIEW