The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Monday, September 10, 2018 — 5A
ACROSS
1 “We Create
Music” org.
6 “You’re a riot”
10 Sportscaster
Albert
14 Diner counter
alternative
15 Hasn’t paid yet
16 Jai __
17 Job
19 Govt. crash
investigator
20 Weather-
affecting current
21 Give up all
expectations
23 __ Strauss,
female touring
guitarist for Alice
Cooper
25 Greek “i”
26 BB-shaped
legume
29 Switching from
cable TV to
streaming, say
34 Relaxing time in
the chalet
36 Skin ink
37 Four-time
’60s-’70s A.L. All-
Star __ Powell
38 42-yr.-old skit
show
40 Regarding
41 Not at all
abundant
44 Totally loses it
47 Bedsheet buyer’s
concern
49 Observe
50 Pop’s Lady __
51 1982 Disney
sci-fi film
53 Most ordinary
57 Hydrocodone,
e.g.
61 Like un maníaco
62 Composition
for violin, viola
and cello ... and
what the starts
of 17-, 29- and
47-Across
comprise
64 Color of raw silk
65 Sights from la mer
66 Longtime senator
Specter
67 Vintage Jags
68 Not e’en once
69 Wall Street’s
Standard & __
DOWN
1 Having the skills
2 Window box dirt
3 Hartford’s st.
4 Had food
delivered
5 “Hooked on”
language
teaching method
6 In what way
7 GI on the run
8 Valiant
9 Invites to the
prom, say
10 Borough across
the Harlem River
from the Bronx
11 Voice above
tenor
12 Abrasive tool
13 Hard-to-explain
feeling
18 Pics
22 Bluesy James
24 Boats like Noah’s
26 Brew brand with
a blue-ribbon
logo
27 Pleistocene
period
28 Cheering and
yelling, as a
crowd
30 Down Under dog
31 “Who’s there?”
response from a
couple
32 Naples night
33 Golden-egg layer
35 Flagrant
39 Rude dude
42 Actor Scott or his
dad James
43 Enters sneakily
45 2001 scandal
company
46 Temporary
solution
48 Structure
protected by a
moat
52 The “N” in “TNT”
53 Theater suffix
54 What a key
opens
55 Farmland
measure
56 One in a forest
58 Woody Guthrie’s
son
59 Stadium section
60 Many millennia
63 Dead Sea
country: Abbr.
By Matt McKinley
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/10/18
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
09/10/18
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Monday, September 10, 2018
A brief history
of grime
WORLD MUSIC COLUMN
I’ll
admit it, grime
isn’t
everyone’s cup of tea. It is
unapologetically
in
your
face, abrasive and constantly
energetic.
But
it’s
these
characteristics, combined with
a rich history, that make it
such an appealing genre, and
one so embedded in current
British music, so much so that
one of the genre’s stalwarts,
Wiley, received an MBE from
the future king himself. While
many argue that its best days
were in a bygone era, the genre
has experienced somewhat of
a resurgence. Old figures and
new, from Skepta to Kano to
Dave, have revived the genre,
or at least have released works
that have some link to grime.
Even Drake has collaborated
with some of the genre’s biggest
names. In a way, it is the perfect
embodiment of modern music
in general. Proliferated by the
Internet, it has taken influences
from cultures and movements
from around the world to create
a youthful expression of urban
life.
While the genre itself is a
relatively
recent
innovation,
its history and influences go
slightly further back. While the
genre shares some ostensible
similarities with American hip
hop, it is a wholly unique form.
Rather than drawing its earliest
influences from soul, R&B and
jazz, grime builds upon the rich
electronic music tradition of the
U.K., especially the traditions
from
the
early-and-mid-’90s.
This time, the peak of the
original “rave” era continues
to elicit nostalgia from those
who participated in the illegal,
ecstasy-filled warehouse shows
themselves, as well as from those
who weren’t even alive during
them.
A
far
cry
from
the
commercialized
EDCs
and
Tomorrowlands of today, these
raves were dingy, risky and, most
importantly, an outpouring of
the disillusionment of urban
youth (especially among poorer,
immigrant communities) in the
country’s large cities in the post-
Thatcher era. Genres such as
garage, jungle and drum n’ bass
were at their peak, combining
quick, uptempo rhythms with
melodic touches. These genres
themselves owe a lot to music
made in Jamaica and Jamaican
communities in the U.K., namely
reggae and its more electronic
cousin, ragga. Garage tracks
operated around 130-140 bpm,
while drum n’ bass elevated the
energy to a frenetic pace of 160-
180 bpm.
An entire book can be written
about the incredible scene that
dominated the U.K. during this
time, but what is important to
realize about the scene is the
sheer magnitude of its reach at
the time and how multicultural
and fluid it was. Far from being
set in stone, beholden to a fixed
set of characteristics, DJs at
the time took influences from
wherever
they
could
from
around the world, all while
incorporating the unique identity
of the growing immigrant groups
in cities like London, Bristol and
Manchester.
This
particular
scene died down at the end of
the decade and gave birth to the
genre of dubstep, and eventually
grime itself. The godfather of
the genre, the aforementioned
Wiley, adapted the breakbeat
dominated sound of dubstep
and combined it with energetic
rapping to create a genre which
he dubbed “Eskibeat” (aptly
enough, he address this very
topic in this iconic track).
In Wiley’s home city of
London, other young artists
contributed to the growth of this
young genre. At just 19 years old,
Dizzee Rascal released Boy in
da Corner, an album which is to
this day considered the genre’s
Illmatic. Songs such as “I Luv
U” and “Fix Up Look Sharp”
are unmatched in their sheer
ferocity, telling tales of urban,
inner-city struggle intermingled
with
hilarious
interludes
of
teenage life in general.
Wiley and Dizzee Rascal’s
success led to arguably the
genre’s most productive and
influential years, with a host
of new artists ready to take
over London and the rest of the
country by storm.
SAYAN GHOSH
Daily World Music Columnist
Proliferated
by the internet,
it has taken
influences from
cultures and
movements from
around the world
Have
we
reached
“Purge”
saturation? Four movies and now
a TV show later, it’s hard to argue
otherwise. Moreover, it’s not
hard to understand the appeal.
Although the premise of 12 hours
of lawful lawlessness requires
a good measure of suspending
disbelief, the potential character
studies and societal analyses
are abundant. It is unfortunate
that USA’s TV adaptation of the
vaunted
franchise
continues
perhaps its biggest flaw: The
franchise never actually explores
the philosophical questions it
raises.
“The Purge” follows the same
basic premise of the movies that
preceded it. It is set in a dystopian
version of the U.S., one ruled by
a (somewhat overtly) nefarious
political party called the “New
Founding Fathers of America.”
As usual, the NFFA institutes an
annual 12-hour period in which all
crime, including murder, is legal.
This particular adaptation focuses
on a set of new characters. Miguel
(Gabriel Chavarria, “Lowriders”),
a Marine, returns home to find his
sister, who has joined a twisted
death cult that promises eternal
salvation during the Purge. The
cult is one of the show’s strongest
points, a genuinely unsettling
part of a show that tries really
hard (but usually fails) at being
unsettling. In a world already
increasingly filled with truly
bizarre cults (looking at you
Q-anon), it somehow feels like the
most realistic of the organizations
set up in the show.
Another
storyline
follows
Jane (Amanda Warren, “The
Leftovers”), a steely, determined
finance executive who hires an
assassin to potentially climb her
way up the corporate ladder.
Rick (Colin Woodell, “Unsane”)
and Jenna (Hannah Anderson,
“Jigsaw), a married pair of anti-
Purge socialites form the most
mysterious storyline.
While all this seems at least
somewhat compelling, it was
quite impressive how badly the
writers botched nearly every
single
aspect
possible.
“The
Purge” is precisely the worst type
of TV show, but not because it is a
wholesale trainwreck. No, it does
not give the viewer the morbid/
comic satisfaction of watching
a trainwreck. Instead, it is the
very definition of self-satisfied
mediocrity.
Maybe
I’ve
been
spoiled by being able to watch so
much great TV in this so-called
“Golden Age” of the medium, but
I can guarantee that the writers
of the last couple “Purge” movies
were impressed that someone
could phone something in even
harder than them.
Even though the characters are
put in some tricky situations, it is
extremely difficult to garner any
modicum of sympathy for them.
Throughout the pilot, the dialogue
remains stiff and reveals absolutely
nothing about the characters’
inner lives, fears, motivations or
really anything at all to make them
feel human. Rick and Jenna have
all the chemistry of two strangers
meeting on a blind date despite
being a married couple; Jane’s
ostensible anti-hero status is never
solidified because there’s nothing
the audience actually learns about
her. Miguel, who is arguably the
most sympathetic character, is
little more than the classic noble
soldier who returns home to face
a new battle. My five-year-old
cousin has told me stories with
better developed characters.
The show could have used
all of these stories to explore
the nuanced aspects of human
psychology and seek to answer
the philosophical questions of
morality, law, justice, etc. that
surround a concept such as the
Purge. What is the connection
between enforcement of justice
and morality? Is a legal system
that can be switched on and off a
valid one in the first place? Beats
me. Shows like “The Good Place”
prove that it is not impossible
to
balance
easily
digestible
entertainment and the exploration
of deeper themes. Unfortunately,
even this edition of “The Purge”
eschews these questions in favor
of gratuitous violence, cheesy sex
scenes and horror that elicits more
cringe than horror. Don’t waste
your time with it.
‘The Purge’ continues to follow its
namesake franchise’s mediocrity
“The Purge”
USA
Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
Series Premiere
TV REVIEW
SAYAN GHOSH
Daily Arts Writer
USA
The opening scene of “First
Reformed” fades in from black to
gradually illuminate a small white
church. From there the film only
gets darker.
The tired and ill Reverend
Toller (Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”)
manages a struggling church in
upstate New York. When a couple
in his congregation asks for his
counsel over a possible abortion,
Toller descends into a crisis of
faith. However, climate change, not
abortion, becomes the subject of
his troubles. The film begins with
sincere, deep dialogue between
reverend and parishioner. Toller
and
Michael
(Philip
Ettinger,
“Indignation”), a recently jailed
environmental activist and non-
believer in the church, engage in a
frank conversation about the state
of Earth’s climate. Michael has
reached a state of despair so deep
he does not want his wife Mary
(Amanda Seyfried, “Mamma Mia!
Here We Go Again”) to bring a
child into this doomed society.
The extended static conversation
between the two men deceptively
promises a slow-paced, entirely
introspective
film.
However,
“First Reformed” turns into an
environmental-activism
thriller,
building momentum slowly and
then all at once, just as climate
change has as we damage our
planet toward the point of no
return.
As he accepts the reality of his
failing health, Toller also rewrites
the relationship between religion
and science. Rather than pinning
the two against each other, writer-
director Paul Schrader (“Taxi
Driver”) shows these forces as
working in harmony. There’s no
battle between Charles Darwin’s
theory of biological evolution and
the Bible’s descriptions of how God
created the world and all its beings,
as one finds in schools throughout
America.
Instead,
Schrader
argues, concerning the issue of
climate change, religious people —
particularly Christians — should
protect nature, or God’s creation,
not destroy it or await His saving
grace for all men’s sins; a notion in
line with the recommendations of
97 percent of scientists.
As a result of this development,
Toller becomes the martyr for the
cause to save our planet. He is the
product of a convergence between
science and religion. He is a human
being living in a state of passive
denial and passive resistance,
eventually pushed to an act of
extremity it’s a wonder the majority
of us have not already reached. As a
director, Schrader does not coddle
his audience. He does not soften
the truth that certain catastrophe
awaits most of us in the near
future and the rest of us now. In a
stunningly devastating montage,
Schrader contrasts natural beauty
with the polluted hell-scape we
have created.
Although Toller discovers a
conspiracy theory — that big-energy
corporations
are
undermining
efforts to save this planet for their
own personal gain — no part of his
discovery is fiction. His journey to
understanding is not just a crisis
of faith with his own church, but
with the whole of humanity. As
he realizes his own insignificance
and helplessness to make change
through individual action, the only
option becomes clear. The question
that haunts Reverend Toller will
haunt all those who watch “First
Reformed”: “Can God forgive us for
what we’ve done to this world?”
‘First Reformed’ refuses to show
any sympathy toward humanity
FILM REVIEW
MEGHAN CHOU
Daily Arts Writer
A24
‘First Reformed’
turns into an
environmental-
activism
thriller, building
momentum
slowly and then
all at once, just as
climate change
has as we damage
our planet toward
the point of no
return
“First Reformed”
A24
Michigan Theater