is hard to come by.
That being said, for what
it is, it’s not bad. “I Can
Only Imagine” is more than
marginally
entertaining
for
those who don’t know who
Bart Millard is, and it’s easy to
imagine it being a great night at
the movies for those people out
there who can belt every note
of Millard’s songs. Quaid gives
his usual performance, elevating
what otherwise would’ve been a
one-note character to someone
who seems to have multiple
layers — even if these layers
are never shown explicitly on
screen. Sadly the same cannot
be said for fresh-faced Finley,
who portrays Millard with all
the depth of a children’s cartoon
character. Some of it can be
blamed on the direction, which
is uninspired but expected in a
paint-by-number picture such as
this. Regardless, a crucial aspect
of any biopic is the performance
of the lead and in this case, that
performance simply falls flat.
“I Can Only Imagine” is
designed to be appealing to
people who have fond memories
and a love of Millard and his
band’s famous song. But for
everyone else, the film will
probably just be a bore. The
Erwin brothers seem to thrive
off of these kinds of Christian
feel-good family films, but for
general audiences, films of this
sort are just no longer relevant.
Netflix’s
new
trend
of
picking
up
acclaimed
TV
and film from around the
world has been its source for
some of the past year’s most
fresh and engaging content.
From the gripping German
historical
drama
“Babylon
Berlin,”
to
the
thrilling
Spanish heist show “La casa
de papel,” international TV
is finally starting to grow in
prominence in a genre that
has
long
been
dominated
by
American
studios
and
producers. “Tabula Rasa,” a
Belgian psychological thriller,
is a worthy addition to this
collection.
“Tabula
Rasa”’s
first
episode, “Spectre,” previews
the
slow-burning
nature
of the show. Shots move at
a languid pace along the
gray,
dreary
environments
they
depict,
including
the
psychiatric ward in which a
young woman named Annemie
D’Haeze
(Veerle
Baetens,
“News from Planet Mars”)
finds herself. Suffering from
short-term amnesia after a car
accident, she discovers that
she is the prime witness in the
disappearance of a man named
Thomas
de
Geest
(Jeroen
Perceval, “The Ardennes”).
Unfortunately for her and
the detectives pursuing the
case, while flashbacks do show
that the pair indeed met in a
seemingly uneventful manner,
Mie cannot remember a thing
about de Geest, nor certain
aspects of her life around the
time of her accident. Much of
her time in the ward is piecing
together details of this time
period.
The
viewer
is
always
alongside Mie as she tries to
remember her past, but is also
made aware that the narrator is
inherently unreliable. A doctor
notes that increased amounts
of stress make Mie susceptible
to
even
more
“deletion”
of memories as her brain
goes into overdrive trying
to fill them in. The superb
cinematography
delicately
balances this line, showing
us
some
oddly
disturbing
supernatural
imagery
—
such as a mysterious red
powder seeping through the
walls — but also occasionally
reminding us that what we’re
seeing
is
not
necessarily
accurate.
Baetens,
a
mainstay
in
Belgian cinema and TV, acts
in a subtle, restrained manner
ALEXIS RANKIN / Daily
“Tabula Rasa”
Netflix
Series Premiere
Stephen Kellogg makes a
family party for everyone
Stephen Kellogg is a family
man, no doubt about it. The
singer-songwriter
has
four
daughters and a wife of 15
years, but his warm presence
could make anyone feel a part of
something bigger, tied together
by the common thread of folk
music.
On
Friday,
Kellogg
brought this sense of unity to
The Ark, making his stamp on
the venue with his beautifully
written songs and engaging
personality. The connection
he made with his audience
that night was uncanny, almost
as comfortable and open as
a house party with friends
and relatives. This is what
makes Kellogg unique and his
shows so inviting — he is truly
committed to making his music
an intimate experience for his
audience, one rambling story at
a time.
Kellogg
kicked
off
the
intimate concert with a bang,
the song “4th Street Moon”
from his time in a band known
as Stephen Kellogg and the
Sixers. Though many in the
audience may have not known
the song already, it was clear
from that first chord that the
night would be memorable.
Kellogg appears as if he was
born on stage, taking the
spotlight and using it to his
advantage, but never letting
go of his connection with the
audience. He let his small
crowd at The Ark know this
early, telling them that he “had
a plan for the night — sing-
alongs, stories and the like,”
with a laugh. This was most
certainly true, as Kellogg wove
in tales of his own life to set up
each song with a warm smile
and touching sense of humor.
The singer has a committed
fan base, who affectionately
call him “SK,” but there were a
fair amount of new faces in the
crowd, drawn to the concert
from Kellogg’s performance on
night one of the 41st Ann Arbor
Folk Festival earlier this year. If
Kellogg didn’t win those people
over by the end of the night, I
don’t know what would have —
his rapport with the audience
grew with every tune he sang,
telling the story of his life and
loves with songs like “1993”
(about meeting his wife at the
age of 16) and “4 Kids,” among
others. The songwriter also
invited opener Hailey Steele up
for two songs, her pure country
voice accompanying Kellogg’s
gritty folk drawl for crowd
favorite “See You Later, See
You Soon.”
Kellogg joked about how his
labels have asked him to “stop
writing songs about specific
dates and people,” but that is
clearly the artist’s forte — it
could easily get old, but he
manages to make every song
stand out from the others. He’s
a true storyteller in every sense
of the word, taking advantage
of his life experience to craft
a unique connection with his
listeners and fellow musicians.
Though his songs are often
specific, it’s this specificity
that makes them universal —
he puts into words what we all
feel about family, love and the
challenges life always presents.
Kellogg closed the show on
this universal note, singing
hit
“Thanksgiving”
with
a
raw and soulful twang which
brought the audience to their
feet. Kellogg is a family man on
his own accord, but he turned
everyone there into a family
for two hours, singing and
laughing until he left the stage,
arms raised in triumph.
CLARA SCOTT
Daily Arts Writer
MUSIC
NETFLIX
‘Tabula Rasa’ is a subtle
and intriguing mystery
SAYAN GHOSH
Daily Arts Writer
TV
that
perfectly
encapsulates
her character’s story. Mie is
clearly rattled and frightened
in the psychiatric ward, yet
stubbornly
determined
to
remember who she truly is.
She is, however, the only actor
who stands out, although little
focus has been placed on any
of the other characters.
The show truly excels at
merging
her
psychological
journey
with
horror
and
supernatural
elements.
Despite
being
marketed
primarily as a supernatural/
psychological thriller, à la
“Memento” or “The OA,” the
horror elements in “Tabula
Rasa” are more effective than
a large majority of horror
films out there. Sure, some
scenes rely on common tropes
(ghastly strings, conversations
that
ominously
foreshadow
future
events),
but
the
combination of Baeten’s acting
and the cinematography is
executed
marvelously
to
create some truly unnerving
scenes, exacerbated by the
uncertainty that Mie and the
audience face.
“Tabula Rasa” is slow and
methodical, with the ability to
draw you in through its dark,
chilling atmosphere and the
sheer amount of new questions
it raises at every turn. None of
it is wholly original in terms of
characterization, storyline or
production, but for fans of any
kind of dark mystery thrillers,
its
meticulous
execution
makes it a must-watch.
Reviewing a film like “I
Can Only Imagine” isn’t really
a fair thing to do. It is a film
designed to appeal to such a
specific subset of the audience
that, unless you are a part of
that subset, it’s hard for you
to properly assess the film on
its intended merits. Directed
competently by Andrew and
Jon Erwin (“Mom’s Night
Out”), “I Can Only Imagine”
tells the story of the events that
inspired the song of the same
name, which is apparently
among the most beloved of all
modern Christian folk songs.
The
film
stars
newcomer
J. Michael Finley as Bart
Millard, whose contentious
relationship with his father
inspired the song. The father
in question is Dennis Quaid
(“A Dog’s Purpose”), who gives
the picture an air of legitimacy
it might otherwise lack.
The story follows a fairly
basic biopic drama formula,
beginning
with
Bart
in
childhood
and
following
him
into
adulthood.
The
complicated
relationship
between Bart and his father
Arthur,
while
interesting
enough, feels as though it
isn’t as well developed as it
might have been were the
script free to go deeper into
the psychological issues at
the root of it. This problem
extends
beyond
just
this
storyline; in fact, much of
the movie feels constrained
by its religious overtones.
What actually leads someone
to become a Christian pop
star and what that does to
a person’s worldview isn’t
particularly well examined
because it feels as though the
movie is mostly preaching
to the choir. No attempts are
made to say anything that Bart
Millard himself might not say
about his own life, and any
deeper meaning in the movie
“I Can Only
Imagine”
Quality 16, Rave
Cinemas Ann Arbor
Lionsgate
‘I Can Only Imagine’ does
little to entertain masses
IAN HARRIS
Managing Video Editor
FILM
6A — Monday, March 19, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com