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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bid closing date: 21 March 2017, bid
opening date: 22 March 2017. For more
details, go the Reorganization section at

our website at: www.wintek.com.tw

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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