Classifieds

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

ACROSS
1 Anemic
5 Dukes not
among royalty
10 Huge production
14 Rod in a hot rod
15 Kate’s sitcom pal
16 Pilaf base
17 *Rain-X auto
product
19 Like port, usually
20 Lacking a key
21 *Manhattan
theater district
locale
23 Proofer’s mark
25 Feathery layer
26 Oomph
29 Set apart from
the group
33 Org. with the staff
of Aesculapius in
its logo
36 Big name in gas
38 Slam-dance
39 Compressed
video format
40 *Electrician’s
basic knowledge
43 See 22-Down
44 Mane area
45 Like some
buckets
46 Cotillion girl
47 Move more
product than
49 Absorb, as a cost
50 Nonpro sports gp.
52 Trapper’s trophy
54 *Many a military
spouse
59 Subtle difference
63 Continental coin
64 Far-reaching ...
and a literal
feature of the
answers to
starred clues
66 Brought up
67 Like nocturnally
counted critters
68 Unrestrained
party
69 Cotton bundle
70 Archibald and
Thurmond of the
NBA
71 Water testers

DOWN
1 Bedtime drink, in
totspeak

2 Freeway sign
3 Chop House dog
food brand
4 Laments loudly
5 Sources of
morals
6 Not in the pink
7 Cabbage dish
8 Laundry room
brand
9 Views
10 Dry-__ board
11 Risky purchase,
metaphorically
12 Tea preference
13 Relinquish
18 Be frugal with
22 With 43-Across,
fraternal order
24 Alley scavenger
26 Handled clumsily
27 Writer Zola
28 Special-interest
government
spending
30 Aerial maneuvers
31 Not paying
attention
32 Howe’er
34 Greek sorceress
35 Cut taker
37 Sue Grafton’s “__
for Corpse”

39 1988 Motown
acquirer
41 Safari grazer
42 Arrive by auto
47 Sharer’s word
48 You can see right
through them
51 Dwelling
53 Deck that’s worth
a fortune?
54 “Dragnet” star
Jack
55 Subtle glow

56 Triumphant
shout
57 One who insists
on the spotlight
58 Ready for print
60 Fictional sleuth
Wolfe
61 “La __ aux
Folles”
62 “Grand” ice
cream brand
65 Denver-to-Des
Moines dir.

By Jeff Stillman
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/29/17

03/29/17

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

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We often forget how male-

dominated stand-up comedy is. 
While there are a few exceptions 
— Amy Schumer, Ali Wong, 
Chelsea 
Handler, 

Aparna 
Nancherla, 

Tig 
Notaro, 
Jen 

Kirkman 
— 
the 

general 
makeup 

of 
the 
stand-up 

comedy industry is 
predominantly male. 
According to a 2015 statistic from 
online blog Bitch Media, women 
only make up 14.3 percent of 
performers, though that number 
has increased since then. In a 
2014 article from the Huffington 
Post, Lynne Parker, founder of the 
Funny Women Awards, noted this 
gender disparity isn’t necessarily 
due to the lack of female talent, but 
more with regards to women not 
being given enough opportunities.

There has always been a clear 

lack of female visibility within 
the comedy industry, especially 
on television, where FX’s “Louie” 
and HBO’s “Crashing” feature 
male stand-up comedians and 
their quests to make people laugh. 
Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. 
Maisel,” the new 1950s screwball 
comedy from “Gilmore Girls” 
creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, 
challenges that idea and the male 
hegemony of stand-up comedy 
with a story about a female comic.

Like the stand-up act of its 

novice but talented protagonist, 
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” 
starts off a bit shaky, but slowly 
gains traction once it gets to the 
good stuff.

Rachel 
Brosnahan 
(“House 

of Cards”) stars in what could 

be her breakout role as Miriam 
“Midge” Maisel, a spunky and 
sophisticated Jewish housewife 
from the Upper West Side with a 
knack for entertaining people with 
jokes. Initially, she supports her 
devoted husband Joel (Michael 
Zegen, “Boardwalk Empire”) in his 
side career as a stand-up comedian. 

But after a falling 
out between the 
two, Midge takes 
matters into her 
own hands, using 
her 
newfound 

autonomy to put 
her comedic chops 

to the test.

Along 
with 
its 
spectacular 

cast, smart script, impeccable 
production design and captivating 
characters, “The Marvelous Mrs. 
Maisel” also works as a clever 
social commentary with feminist 
undertones. Instead of portraying 
overt finger-wagging or heavy-
handed denouncements of sexism 
in the late 1950s, the show avoids 
clichés by focusing on Midge’s 
journey from domestic homemaker 
to an independent woman. 

Initially, Midge isn’t seeking to 

be a stand-up comic, though the 
opening sequence, in which she 
gives her own toast at her wedding, 
seems to show a secret desire for 
the profession. Later on, when 
she discovers Joel stealing an act 
from comedian Bob Newhart, 
Midge suggests coming up with 
an original idea, which leads Joel 
to doing an awkward, stale set and 
eventually admitting his affair 
with his secretary. Even when a 
devastated Midge asks for help 
from her tempestuous father Abe 
(Tony Shalhoub, “Monk”) and 
mother Rose (Marin Hinkle, “Two 
and a Half Men”), she is coerced 
into finding Joel to win him back.

As the show gradually pulls away 

layer after layer, Midge becomes 
more and more complex, showing 
us that she is more than just the 
thoughtful, 
caring 
housewife 

and mother Joel and her parents 
want her to be. This is mostly 
a credit to Brosnahan, whose 
three-dimensional 
performance 

deftly balances between buoyant 
confidence and vulnerability. 

While 
Sherman-Palladino’s 

trademark for fast-paced dialogue 
and punchy one-liners propels the 
story forward, “The Marvelous 
Mrs. Maisel” truly shines in its 
quieter moments. In an early scene, 
a dolled-up Midge sneaks out of 
bed to roll up her hair and put on 
a face mask, but wakes up just in 
time to do her makeup again, as 
if nothing had happened. This 
moment, as insignificant as it may 
seem, demonstrates just the kind 
of expectations Midge is forced to 
conform to in order to be seen as 
the pristine, perfect housewife. 

Granted, “The Marvelous Mrs. 

Maisel” falters in some aspects. 
Sherman-Palladino’s 
continues 

to incorporate her hallmark pop 
culture references, but the esoteric, 
somewhat 
antiquated 
humor 

might not land with every viewer. 
Occasionally, the show teeters 
into formulaic territory, such as 
when Midge interacts with famed 
comedian Lenny Bruce (Luke 
Kirby, “Take This Waltz”) towards 
the end of the episode. The pilot is 
also a bit long, clocking in at about 
an hour. But perhaps if it’s picked 
up for a full season — the episode is 
one of several in Amazon’s annual 
pilot season — “The Marvelous 
Mrs. Maisel” will definitely find 
ways to improve on its flaws and 
expand on its best qualities. It might 
even help pave the way for female 
stand-up comedians to finally get 
the platform they deserve on and 
off television.

SAM ROSENBERG

Daily Arts Writer

AMAZON STUDIOS

‘Mrs.’ a surprise charmer

“The Marvelous 

Mrs. Maisel”

Pilot

Amazon

SINGLES REVIEW

Nearly six years since their last 
album, Gorillaz return with four 
singles that signal a step toward 
a dancier, more mainstream 
influence. The “band” — actually 
one real player, Damon Albarn, 
and four virtual members — con-
tinue their trend of integrating 
progressive genre trends with 
emerging talents.
In the first and arguably best 
single, “Ascension,” the band 
recruits conscious rapper Vince 
Staples to lend a political tinge 
to the club banger. The track is 
produced by the typical Gorillaz 
duo — Remi Kabaka and Damon 
Albarn — but gains its dance-
floor appeal from Anthony “The 
Twilite Tone” Khan. With a 
track record of songs like Kanye 
West’s “Mercy” and “Don’t 
Like.1,” Khan is likely respon-
sible for elevating the track to 
its current commercial appeal. 
Staples offers his uniquely 
danceable-yet-meaningful lyri-
cism (see “Norf Norf”), having 
people grooving while he talks 
about how “This the land of the 
free / Where you can get a Glock 
and a gram for the cheap.” The 

track not only features produc-
tion curated for hip hop chart 
success, but at two minutes and 
35 seconds, it’s the perfect length 
to crossover to mainstream 
radio.
In “Saturn Barz,” the band con-
tinues to embrace recent trends, 
enlisting dancehall icon (and 

frequent Drake collaborator) 
Popcaan. The track is quintes-
sentially Gorillaz — laced with 
dark beats, Popcaan alternates 
verses with Damon’s classic 
heavily distorted vocals. What 
makes the song stand-out is the 
unexpected nature of Popcaan’s 
feature: The beat is far removed 
from the steel drum percussion 
of Popcaan’s personal discog-
raphy, creating an unlikely, yet 
successful, pairing. The juxta-
position of Popcaan’s usually 
reggae-influenced lyricism with 
the Gorillaz’s deep underground 

hip-hop beats create a pairing 
that’s worth a listen.
In contrast to “Saturn Barz,” 
the third single “Andromeda” is 
heavily dance-influenced. With 
rapper D.R.A.M. contributing, 
the track is the house-iest Goril-
laz song yet; slowly layering beat 
over beat, the single does groovy 
dance music so well that it could 
have Chromeo on production. 
The disparity between “Saturn 
Barz” and “Andromeda” is great, 
leaving listeners interested to 
see how Albarn ties the project 
together.
The last single, “We Got the 
Power,” featuring Jehnny Beth 
of Savages, is hardly listenable. 
Perhaps the single would be bet-
ter received if not on a Gorillaz 
album, but it’s overly empower-
ing lyrics and lackluster beat are 
nauseating, making you almost 
believe it’s a farce of a pop song 
(which it could very well be). 
When considered in context of 
a full album, the song may make 
more sense … hopefully. Stay 
tuned for the full album release 
on April 28th to find out.

- DANNY MADION

Various

Gorillaz 

Parlophone

COURTESY OF THE MODERN JUNGLE

‘The Modern Jungle’ is an 
odd look at globalization

The line between 

a 
film 
being 

experimental 
and 

a film just being 
weird is often pretty 
thin. “The Modern 
Jungle” 
straddles 

that line. Ostensibly 
telling 
the 
story 

of don Juan (Juan 
Juarez 
Rodriquez) 
and 
his 

neighbor 
Carmen 
(Carmen 

Echevarria Lopez), this film is 
part documentary, part narrative, 
part spiritual journey and only 
partway to giving the audience a 
reason to care.

The film opens in a theater, 

and we soon realize the film we 
are watching is in fact just the 
first of several framing devices 
used to compound the story. 
There are spiritual sequences, 
dream sequences, a four minute 
long 
advertisement 
for 
the 

corporation that is the supposed 
villain of the piece and two main 
characters who stumble through 
it all — narrative and cohesion be 
damned, all in the name of art.

“The 
Modern 
Jungle” 

professes 
to 
be 
about 

industrialization, 
globalization, 

and the ways in which these 
things can impact real people at 
the ground level. And while there 

are parts of the film that clearly 
touch on that, there are also long 
stretches of disjointed scenes and 
actions that seem to connect to 

each other in no 
discernible way. 
The director of 
the film, Charles 
Fairbanks 
(“Pioneers), 
explained 
afterwards 
that 

some 
scenes 

were 
filmed 

documentary style with some 
aspects done up and faked for 
the camera. Without knowing 
which scenes are which, it’s hard 
for this film to succeed as either a 
documentary or a piece of fiction. 
If the audience does not know 
what was real and what wasn’t, 
then how can it interpret the 
thing it is watching on the screen?

A number of scenes feature 

Juan talking directly to the 
camera for long stretches with 
no 
response. 
These 
scenes 

are truly uncomfortable and 
confusing to watch as a viewer, 
and no indication is given of who 
he is talking to or why no one is 
responding to him. At the time it 
seemed that he was supposed to 
be talking to one of his employers 
at the corporation, but Fairbanks 
later confirmed that in fact this 
was Juan talking to Fairbanks, 
who said for a variety of reasons 
he did not want to respond. This 

sequence only adds another layer 
to the confusing whole that is 
“The Modern Jungle” rendering 
the audience utterly baffled.

As a work of experimental art, 

the film can safely say it succeeds 
in being experimental, but to the 

detriment of possible enjoyment 
an audience could gain from it. 
It’s hard not to wonder what 
the point of it all is, and when 
the director later confirms that, 
“There really was no specific 
message I wanted to convey,” the 
viewer is left leaving the theater 
with countless questions, but only 
one that truly matters: What did I 
just watch?

IAN HARRIS

For the Daily

“The Modern 

Jungle” 

55th Annual Ann 
Arbor Film Festival

Michigan Theater

PARLOPHONE

The viewer is left 
leaving the theater 

with countless 
questions, but 

only one that truly 
matters: What did 

I just watch?

ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL
TV REVIEW

6A — Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

