6 — Thursday, January 25, 2018 Arts The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ACROSS 1 Apple Store display 5 Centipede developer 10 Farm digs 13 Tennis legend for whom a “Courage Award” is named 14 French upper house 15 Hershey bar 16 *Tony Hawk legwear 18 Helps out 19 Unpretentious 20 Turned it down 22 Nadal’s birthplace 23 Snatch, as a toy? 24 Composer Franck 26 Luggage attachments 29 Soak up the sun 32 Blue Grotto resort 34 Boy king 35 “That’s gross!” 36 *Stick in the snow 38 Premier __: wine designation 39 Word before watch or window 40 Signs away 41 Israeli politician Barak 42 Nurses, as a drink 44 Chills out 47 “No harm done” 49 Waited nervously, perhaps 52 Wheat protein 53 Tree with durable wood 55 Fellas 56 *Drawing needs 59 Inauguration words 60 Dairy mascot 61 Canal completed in 1825 62 Belly dance muscles 63 Kennel cries 64 “Hairspray” mom DOWN 1 British side 2 Words on a help desk sign 3 Ring leader? 4 Reversal of fortune 5 Trees of the species Populus tremula 6 “Eat Drink Man Woman” drink 7 Former Texas governor Richards 8 “Midnight Cowboy” con man 9 Delivery room cry 10 *Medicated dermal strip 11 Fuss 12 Cen. components 15 1978 Peace co-Nobelist 17 Tahari of fashion 21 Many a low- budget flick 23 Decorator’s choice 25 Corrosive liquid 27 Expert 28 Drywall support 29 Spill catchers 30 Smoothie berry 31 *Military chaplains 33 Sit for a snap 36 Hurry along 37 Creator of Randle McMurphy and Chief Bromden 41 Search dogs’ target ... and a phonetic hint to the answers to starred clues 43 Flatten 45 Garage units 46 Dash dial 48 A high-top hides it 50 Hallmark.com choice 51 Bumped off 52 Snatch 54 On the Pacific 55 Showgirl’s accessory 57 Course for intl. students 58 Lead By C.C. Burnikel ©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 01/25/18 01/25/18 ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: RELEASE DATE– Thursday, January 25, 2018 Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis FOR RENT HELP WANTED SUMMER EMPLOYMENT TICKETS & TRAVEL 3 & 4 Bedroom Apartments $2100‑$2800 plus utilities. Tenants pay electric to DTE Showings scheduled M‑F 10‑3 w/ 24 hour notice required. 1015 Packard 734‑996‑1991 5 & 6 Bedroom Apartments 1014 Vaughn $3250 ‑ $3900 plus utilities Showings scheduled M‑F 10‑3 w/ 24 hour notice required 734‑996‑1991 ARBOR PROPERTIES Award‑Winning Rentals in Kerrytown Central Campus, Old West Side, Burns Park. Now Renting for 2018. 734‑649‑8637 | www.arborprops.com CENTRAL CAMPUS 7 BD furnished house, LR, DR, 2 baths, kitchen fully equipped, w/d, int.cable, parking 4 ‑ 5. MAY to MAY. Contact: 706‑284‑3807 or meadika@gmail. com. FALL 2018 HOUSES # Beds Location Rent 6 1016 S. 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There’s her Joe Wright trilogy, with “Pride & Prejudice,” “Atonement” and “Anna Karenina.” There’s the David Cronenberg film “A Dangerous Method.” And her most recent Oscar nomination came for “The Imitation Game.” This is no insult to Knightley, who reliably fills her characters with a vitality that brings relevance to characters otherwise faded from memory. “Colette” marks Knightley’s return to the genre and, once again, she brings her trademark vigor to the role. Knightley portrays the famous French writer of the title (real name Gabrielle Colette) through a decade and change as she develops her writing with the publication of the “Claudine” series of somewhat-autobiographical novels. Colette, a poor country girl, marries the wealthier Henry Gauthier-Villars (Dominic West, “The Square”), who “writes” novels under the pseudonym Willy, relying on his employees to do the grunt work while Willy markets the novels. After frustrating his laborers, he turns to Colette, oftentimes locking her in a room to force her to write. As it turns out, Colette, whose utterances themselves have something of a beguiling ring, is quite a talented writer, and “Claudine at School” is a hit. The film’s first half, depicting the couple’s ascent, is rather dull, if not perfectly delightful. You’ll like this section if you enjoy the work of Tom Hooper or Joe Wright, who consistently churn out indelible British period dramas, with a few jokes sprinkled in to satisfy a “wholesome” movie experience. But otherwise, patience may be required for those desiring something less risk-averse, since what may have remained a stodgy and stuffy chamber piece transforms into full-on erotic drama by the second half, as Colette explores her attraction to women. Once Colette and Willy find success, and the luxuries of upper class life are available to them, the story opens up to a sometimes bold character exploration, especially of Colette. One scene, in which she flirts with an American woman through hair play, sparkles with sensual tension. A montage depicting a number of sexual encounters including both Colette and West is strangely charming. Unfortunately, West’s character remains somewhat enigmatic. The screenplay sets up a series of contradicting behaviors, abusing his wife and professing his love as if it were the most obvious fact in the world to himself, her and us, and West doesn’t do much to elucidate his thoughts. And while the screenplay is plagued by lifeless and expository dialogue and relies much too heavily on the tiresome tropes of the genre — Knightley gets her Oscar nomination clip with one particularly powerful monologue, a feat of acting but embalmed by stale writing — the film is bubbly and pleasant enough to enjoy two hours with. *** There’s a line in the film “Frances Ha” in which the titular Frances, finally finding an opportunity to smoke indoors rather than leaning cautiously out the window, says that she feels “like a bad mother from 1957.” For better or worse, I think we all know what she’s talking about: The archetypal mother, frustrated by domesticity yet without a Betty Friedan book to articulate it, smoking and neglecting her children. Leave it to Carey Mulligan (“Mudbound”) to breathe glorious life into Frances’s vision. In “Wildlife,” with the exceptionally assured directorial debut of Paul Dano (“Okja”), she’s a mother in 1959, newly moved to Helena, Montana. Jeanette’s husband, SUNDANCE ‘Colette’ & ‘Wildlife’ hint future Oscars at Sundance Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal, “Stronger”), works at a golf course and plays football with his son, Joe (Ed Oxenbould, “Better Watch Out”), who seems less enthused with the rough sport. After he loses his job, Jerry refuses to take a job that a teenager would do. He tries to reaffirm his masculinity by leaving the family to fight a wildfire raging nearby. Jeanette is devastated and, beginning to consider leaving her husband, starts to clue in Joe to the couple’s marital stresses. “Wildlife,” adapted from a 1990 Richard Ford novel of the same name, is a horror movie cloaked in coming-of-age and kitchen sink drama. Joe plays witness to the crumbling foundation of his family. Oxenbould, with a demure and somewhat downtrodden expression plastered on his face, is excellent as Joe becomes disillusioned watching his mother’s life unravel. This is Joe’s story, after all, and Dano trains his focus on him — his confusion, his friendship with a classmate and his employment at the local photography studio. Dano lets his characters live in the scene, often choosing to keep the camera stationary, highlighting the characters’ raw movements and emotions. Oxenbould is a great protagonist, a blank canvas for audience participation, while Mulligan and Bill Camp (“Molly’s Game”), who plays Jeanette’s lover, inhabit their roles with audacity and passion. Gyllenhaal, who disappears for a large segment, seems too young and boyish to play this role, but at certain moments, especially in a late scene in a bar, his intensity matches the others in the cast. The word or phrase “wild life” appears, by my count, twice in the film: Once around the middle, when Joe asks Jeanette what happens to the wildlife when a fire ravages their habitat, and second when Jerry, upon returning home, castigates his wife for her infidelity by exclaiming, only half sarcastically, what a wild life this is. That change — from one word to two — is crucial, because among the pastoral and eerily quiet landscapes of Montana, neither families nor the environment that surrounds them can stay intact for too long. DANIEL HENSEL Daily Arts Writer Books that Built Us: ‘The Glass Castle’’s legacy In the spirit of honesty, writing this scares the shit out of me. Sometimes, a story hits so hard it knocks the wind out of you. There’s never going to be a right way to verbalize the feeling, but you blunder on anyway. So it goes. “The Glass Castle” (2005) is a memoir by Jeannette Walls in which she details her experiences growing up. It’s frighteningly poignant, and it reads as a series of memories, giving a face to human fortitude and finding love in the trenches of broken promises. Jeannette’s upbringing was unconventional, to say the least. Constantly moving her and her three siblings around the country, her parents couldn’t afford to stay in one place for too long, so they made every spot on the map an adventure. Rex, her father, was a visionary, an entrepreneur, a romantic. He was also an alcoholic, spending the little money they had on booze. He would disappear for days until finally arriving home, bruised and enraged. Rose Mary Walls, Jeannette’s mother, was an artist. Her art was passionate, and she loved it like a child. She was also self-indulgent and sometimes reckless with her energy, spending it on her paintings rather than feeding her children. This book took me a whole summer to read because I kept having to put it down. At every shout, every manipulation, every door-slam, I had to put the story to bed — partly because it hit too close to home, and partly because I felt guilty for thinking that it did. Walls — whose world never ceased to disappoint her and whose hero never ceased to fail her — forgives. She seeks out love, and she’s ready for it when it comes, in whatever form it may take. My world has been terribly charmed, and my hero was never supposed to be perfect — but I can’t open myself the way Walls opens herself. I don’t know how to. It didn’t take me long to figure out that my heroes are human like the rest of us. Reading Jeannette’s memories, where this truth glimmers throughout, forced me to revisit every moment that led to this revelation. It took me to the raging letter — tucked away in my sock drawer — that I never had the guts, or the heart, to read aloud. It took me to the top of the steps, where I’d perch myself, waiting for the other shoe but never hearing it drop. It took me through the anger, through the pain, and shot me into the most confusing part: the love. Unconditional love is complicated and exhausting and, more than anything, it hurts. The moment you realize that the person you treasure most in the world — the one on your highest pedestal, who’s never going to hurt you, never going to let you down — isn’t perfect is the moment that leaves the biggest hole in your heart. But you love them nonetheless. Near the beginning of the memoir, Jeannette recounts a Christmas when her family had no money. Her dad takes her and her siblings out under the stars, telling them to pick their favorite. Jeannette writes, “We laughed about all the kids who believed in the Santa myth and got nothing for Christmas but a bunch of cheap plastic toys. ‘Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten,’ Dad said, ‘you’ll still have your stars.’” Rex shattered every piece of her, but when Jeannette finally put herself back together again, she found herself loving him, still. Years later, she still has her star, and it’s because of this feeling — this inexplicable, messy intangibility in clutching on to someone so tightly that you can’t imagine a life in which you ever let them go. Her story, regardless of how far she strayed from it or how abstract the connection became, always revolved around her relationship with her father: learning to loathe him, learning to leave him and learning to live without him. Jeannette Walls doesn’t want your pity. She doesn’t want people to villainize her parents or place blame for how she grew up. Everyone has a story, and I think she wanted us to recognize flickers of ours in hers. I did, and it propelled me in a way that nothing else has. Romantic for a second and hard for years, the Walls’s life together was dazzling. They were unbreakable, even when they broke each other. I’ve never encountered a story in which the resiliency of the human spirit shines as clearly, and as profoundly, as it does in this one. I’ll go back and re-read pieces of it, and, every time, the only feeling I’m left to dance with is love. ARYA NAIDU Senior Arts Editor BOOKS Books that Built us is a Daily series that examines the lasting effect of literature This book took me a whole summer to read because I kept having to put it down I’ve never encountered a story in which the resiliency of the human spirit shines as clearly, and as profoundly, as it does in this one