100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

March 20, 2018 - Image 5

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

On Wed., March 14, Maize
Collective — in partnership
with Universal Music Group
and Innovate Blue — hosted the
first of a series of three music
business panels titled “Industry
Insight: Songwriters, Producers
and Studio Musicians.” Held
at the University of Michigan
Museum of Art’s auditorium,
the panel provided aspiring
Ann Arbor artists with tips for
success in the music business
and
featured
an
array
of
musicians, including Yungblud,
a new signee to Geffen Records
and rising hip-hop star, Evan
Haywood,
a
musician
and
multimedia
artist
based
in
Ann Arbor, Kasan Belgrave,
a
Jazz
Studies
sophomore
concentrating in clarinet and
alto sax and DeNero Montez,
a Detroit native singer and
songwriter who has written for
Justin Bieber.
The panel, moderated by
Veniece Session of Ann Arbor’s
Neutral
Zone,
addressed
songwriting
techniques,
royalties, musical influences
and the overall daily life of a
career musician. Yungblud, who
performed a few hours later at
the Majestic Theatre in Detroit,
was given the most immediate
attention before leaving early
for his show. His charismatic
persona and unfiltered stream
of consciousness was enticing,
providing an example to the
many aspiring musicians in
the crowd of a young and fresh

musician
who
successfully
“made
it”
in
the
music
business while maintaining his
rambunctious attitude. When
asked by Session — who herself
has experience working with
independent artists — if signing
to a major label has hindered
his creative process, Yungblud
replied, “To be honest, I figured

out who I was before I got
signed. And, if you know that
and you deep down know who
you are, then how are they going
to change that? They signed you
for a reason, because they like
you and like your sound.”
Next, Session asked Montez
to elaborate on the songwriting
process. He offered an easy-
to-comprehend explanation of
songwriting and the business
of
copyright,
stressing
the
importance of submitting your

work to BMI (Broadcast Music,
Inc.)
or
ASCAP
(American
Society of Composers, Authors
and Publishers) as well as
registering your lyrics with the
Library of Congress. Haywood
also interjected, advising the
crowd to always run paperwork
by a lawyer before signing,
avoiding any chance that you
as a songwriter would lose the
rights to your masters.
Later, after Yungblud left for
his show and the panel grew
more intimate, the floor opened
for audience questions and the
panel was asked to speak on
how they remain original in
their music while having artists
they admire. Belgrave raised a
point that was met with nods
of agreement from both the
panelists and the audience,
saying, “Automatically, we
are
subject
to
music
that
comes before us so we are
automatically paying homage
to music before us. Music is
always moving, always evolving
so I think you have to hear
things from the past to create
new sounds.”
The
panel
closed
with
Haywood
offering
young
musicians a word of advice:
“Keep
making
music,
keep
putting it out in any way,” he
said. “No one will hear it at
first and eventually you’ll start
getting traction and building a
fan base. Those fans will stick
with you if you’re a nice person.
Be kind and open and caring.
Support your friends and make
a community. Then, when you
get that success, you will have
friends holding you up.”

Maize Collective’s panel
advises hopeful musicians

The panel

provided aspiring

Ann Arbor artists

with tips for

success in the

music business

DANNY MADION
Daily Arts Writer

“Tomb Raider” may very
well be the greatest video
game movie ever made. Of
course, I say this as someone
who believes that there has
never, in the history of the
medium, been a good video
game movie and as someone
who is about to give the film
at
hand
a
predominantly
negative review. But the basic
competency on display here
places “Tomb Raider” head
and shoulders above dreck like
“Assassin’s Creed,” “Warcraft”
or “Resident Evil: The Final
Chapter.” Only rarely could
such baseline mediocrity be
something to be celebrated,
but that’s the state of the video
game movie genre.
“Tomb Raider” takes most
of its inspiration from the 2013
reboot of the popular series,
following
adventurer
Lara
Croft (Alicia Vikander, “Tulip
Fever”) as she goes on a search
for her father years after his
disappearance.
After
being
shipwrecked on a mysterious
island, she becomes a prisoner
of
Mathias
Vogel
(Walton
Goggins, “Vice Principals”)
and must fight to finish what
her father started: Sealing a
tomb that, if opened, could
bring about the end of the
world.
Most of the watchability of
“Tomb Raider” comes down
to Vikander’s performance in
the titular role. From the first
scene, she brings to life the

independence
and
strength
of the character with relative
ease, and her dedication to
performing many of her own
stunts pays off during the
action scenes. While the script
gives her increasingly little
to do as the film wears on —
by the third act, she’s been
reduced mainly to grunting

and screaming — she still
anchors much of the movie
around her, even as it commits
the cardinal sin of wasting
Walton Goggins as a one-note
villain.
It’s
in
the
storytelling
department
where
you’ll
find most of “Tomb Raider”’s
shortcomings.
At
different
points,
it
plays
like
a
combination of “Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade” and “The
Lost World: Jurassic Park,”
and while that may sound fun
at first, Roar Uthaug (“The
Wave”) is no Steven Spielberg;
his film lacks the sense of
wonder and discovery that
both of those films brought
to bear at their best. There’s
some fun to the treasure hunt,
but many scenes feel like a
non-interactive video game,
denying
the
audience
the
opportunity to feel like they’re
solving the puzzles along with

Lara. That’s most of the fun
of any movie like this, and it’s
completely missing here.
For all Vikander’s talents
as a physical performer, the
action falls prey to Uthaug’s
mishandled direction, as well.
They aren’t potential health
hazards like the action of a
“Resident Evil” movie, but
the fights in “Tomb Raider”
are
still
wildly
overcut
and
incomprehensible.
It’s
impossible to have any sort
of
appreciation
for
what
Vikander is pulling off when
you can’t tell what on Earth
she’s doing in the first place.
Even when the editing slows
down, scenes like an extended
bike chase through London
or a foot chase through the
docks add nothing to the
story and instead simply pad
the runtime. Again, this sort
of thing might be fun with
a controller in your hands
— your average video game
campaign runs about 10 to 20
hours and thrives on smaller
scale action like this — but in
a movie, it’s just a distraction
from the plot.
Uthaug’s fumbled direction
is
ultimately
what
dooms
“Tomb Raider” to the purgatory
between good and bad. There’s
nothing
to
outright
hate
here, but there’s also little
that’s memorable. Given that
most video game movies are
memorable only for their awe-
inspiring lack of quality and
apathetic performances and
writing, “Tomb Raider,” in all
its normality, may represent a
small step forward.

‘Tomb Raider’ is a shining
star of a truly awful genre

JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
Daily Arts Writer

FILM REVIEW

WARNER BROS.

“Tomb Raider”

Warner Bros.
Pictures

Ann Arbor 20 +
IMAX, Quality 16

EVENT REVIEW

SETH ALLEN / MAIZE COLLECTIVE

Is it really a dog-movie
if it fails to make us cry?
Throughout
the
years,
cinematic portrayals of the
unbreakable bonds between
humans and dogs have, without
fail, included a moment or
two — if not an entire plotline
— dedicated to tugging at
audiences’
heartstrings.
“Benji” is no exception. The

most
recent
of
numerous
adaptations of the original 1974
picture, this 2018 remake is
proof of the perception that the
storyline of a loyal dog and an
endangered human companion
is
timeless.
Though
the
instances of innocent cuteness
in “Benji” will illicit more than
a few “aww” reactions from
viewers,
the
unexceptional
characters
and
predictable
plotline make everything else
in the film come off rather dull.
Consistent
with
its

predecessors,
the
storyline
that “Benji” adheres to is
fairly simple. Two spirited
and
independent
middle-
school-aged siblings, Carter
(Gabriel
Bateman,
“Lights
Out”)
and
Frankie
(Darby
Camp, “Big Little Lies”), find a
stray dog on the New Orleans
city streets, forming a special
bond with their newfound
friend and naming him Benji.
Matters
escalate
quickly,
however,
when
a
robbery
occurs while the kids are

‘Benji’ will make you cry

SAMANTHA NELSON
Daily Arts Writer

visiting a local pawn shop, a
place they frequent in hopes
of
purchasing
back
their
deceased father’s old watch.
Carter
and
Frankie
find
themselves victim to a robber’s
stupidity, which transforms
a plain, economically-driven
act of theft into a full-blown
kidnapping. One of the only
witnesses
to
the
incident,
despite his being a dog and
an inferior to the — ironically
— consistently clueless adults
around him, Benji must lead
the mission to save Carter and
Frankie and prove his loyalty
and devotion.
The shining moments that
emerge from “Benji” are not
those that add to the forward
momentum of the plot, which
becomes
quite
foreseeable
within the first 30 minutes of
the film. Given the repeated
remakes that this storyline has
undergone, without significant
adjustment to plot, character
or tone, it can be surmised
that director Brandon Camp’s
intentions are not to shock
audiences or push boundaries.
Instead, “Benji” finds another
way to grab viewers’ attention
by evoking pity on Benji’s
behalf.
The
interspersing
of sequences that show an
unwanted Benji trotting along
with sad eyes and a hunched
back are especially effective
in puncturing even the coldest
of hearts, warming any viewer

up to the canine protagonist
and giving viewers a reason
to connect with the events
unfolding on the screen before
them.
In the opening sequence,
audience members observe in
distress as Benji’s mother and
littermates are discovered by
a dog-catcher, locked up and
taken to the pound, leaving
puppy-Benji helpless and alone.

Stunned with pity for Benji, it
becomes virtually impossible
for viewers not to emotionally
gravitate towards and invest
in the poor, lonesome puppy
before their eyes. Thus, even
once the main, uninventive
plotline of the film kicks in,
audiences
find
themselves
rooting for the rescue of the
detained children, not out of
complete,
genuine
concern
for Carter and Frankie’s fate,
but rather out of a desire for
Benji to finally find the home
and the love that he has been
searching for.
Empathy felt for Benji’s
pure intentions of finding a
family aside, viewers cannot
help but impatiently await the
arrival of the end of the film,
an end that from the start, was

far too obviously set-up to be a
happy one. Though audiences
are blatantly aware of where
the children are and how to
find them, “Benji” proceeds
to include segments in which
the authorities take stabs at
detective work, attempting to
solve a mystery that audiences
already know the answer to
for what feels like a painfully
boring
and
frustrating
eternity.
What
is
fundamentally
problematic
with
“Benji”
is that, though it is able to
evoke temporary emotional
responses
from
audience
members, that is all it is able
to do. The mixture of pity
and hope that moviegoers
experience
simply
is
not
enough to sustain attention-
spans for the duration of the
film.
Unlike
contemporary
dog-movie genre flicks such
as, “Marley and Me,” “Hatchi”
and even “A Dog’s Purpose,”
“Benji” is not a film that can
be
thoroughly
enjoyed
by
everyone.
Though
younger
audience members will almost
certainly find entertainment
through this family-friendly
adventure,
no
amount
of
commiseration or desire for
redemption for “Benji” can
induce any viewer beyond
the age of 10 to ignore the
tedious nature and severe lack
of imagination that “Benji”
possesses.

“Benji”

Netflix

FILM REVIEW

NETFLIX

5 — Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Back to Top

© 2025 Regents of the University of Michigan