The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Monday, November 19, 2018 — 5A
By Jerry Edelstein
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/19/18
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
11/19/18
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Monday, November 19, 2018
ACROSS
1 Fast plane
4 Sultan’s group
9 Prickly seedcase
12 Organ with a
hammer and
anvil
13 Puts money
away, as for
retirement
15 Opposite of
WNW
16 Actress Longoria
17 *Kids’
recreational garb
19 Revolutionary
British soldiers
21 John of “Fawlty
Towers”
22 __ lot: stuffs
oneself
23 *Two-person log
cutter
24 Little chess piece
26 Genetic initials
28 UFO passengers,
presumably
29 On the house
32 Elicit
35 Put on TV
36 *Soar
38 Dickens pen
name
41 City hall bigwig
42 Opposite of cruel
44 Artist’s deg.
46 Moscow’s land:
Abbr.
48 App symbol
49 *Daytona 500,
e.g.
52 Practical joke
55 Inexact lunch
time
56 Mom’s and dad’s
dads
59 Engage in
tomfoolery ...
and a hint to
what goes with
each part of
the answers to
starred clues, but
not in the same
way
61 Set a price of
62 Miners dig it
63 Sides of an issue
64 Michael of “SNL”
65 Snake’s sound
66 Bogs
67 London’s __
Gardens
DOWN
1 Boo
2 Roof overhang
3 *Economic
conflict often
involving tariffs
4 “Papa Bear” of
football
5 Gamer’s game
face
6 “Curious
George” creators
Hans and
Margret
7 Corner PC key
8 Chips in a
garden
9 Order
10 Repurposes to
replace, as a
tool
11 Stitch again
13 Pick out in a
crowd
14 __ sci: college
major
18 Conical home
20 Ray Charles’
“I __ Stop
Loving You”
23 Dry riverbed
24 Links gp.
25 Radio host
Shapiro
27 India’s first prime
minister
30 “__ tree falls ... ”
31 Underhanded
33 “Yuck!”
34 Former Energy
secretary Steven
37 Days long gone
38 *Hiker’s carryall
39 Beatle bride
40 Buddhist
discipline
41 Roger who hit
61 in ’61
43 Take care of
44 Estate homes
45 Bordeaux
brothers
47 Neaten (up)
49 Silver salmon
50 On the ocean
51 Deep depression
53 Raves’
companions
54 Added
conditions
56 Suffix with
movie
57 1975 Wimbledon
winner Arthur
58 Twist, as facts
60 Troy, N.Y.,
school
There’s
almost
nothing
fantastic in this sequel to 2016’s
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to
Find Them.” The magic that once
permeated every frame and page
of Harry Potter’s story has all
but evaporated. All that remains
are one-note characters and an
extremely convoluted series of
subplots that never quite come
together. Directed once again by
David Yates (“Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows”), who has now
helmed six of the 10 films in the
Potterverse, the movie feels like a
final confirmation of what many
already knew: It’s time for him to
move on. J.K. Rowling herself is
again the sole credited screenwriter
here, leaving much to be desired.
The cast is sprawling and massive,
but only Eddie Redmayne (“The
Theory of Everything”), Johnny
Depp (“Pirates of the Caribbean”)
and Jude Law (“The Young
Pope”) — who portrays a younger
version of legendary wizard Albus
Dumbledore — register in any kind
of way.
The story begins sometime after
the first film, following magical
zoologist
Newt
Scamander
(Redmayne) as he attempts to track
down Credence, the powerful and
dangerous wizard who seemingly
perished in the last movie but is
back here and is once again the
MacGuffin that drives almost
the entirety of the plot. All of the
characters from the first movie are
back, along with a whole host of
new characters who only serve to
derail the action and distract from
the main story. None of these new
characters are given nearly enough
to do to justify their existence.
Newt’s brother is introduced and
proceeds to do almost nothing in
the rest of the film. An emotional
moment surrounding him falls
completely flat at the end as a result
of how little build-up he gets. Other
new additions include the human
version of Nagini (who will one
day become one of Voldemort’s
Horcruxes), Leta Lestrange (Zoe
Kravitz, “Big Little Lies”) — a
distant relative of the villainous
Bellatrix Lestrange — and a whole
cadre of aurors and wizards who
work for Grindelwald, none of
whom are distinguishable from
each other.
The appearance of Nagini in this
movie is the perfect small-scale
example of the problems of the
“Fantastic Beasts” series at large.
Seemingly included only to remind
Harry Potter fans of those earlier
and superior films, she serves no
purpose in this movie and is given
maybe five lines. If she does have
a purpose in the overall narrative,
it won’t be clear until some other
movie down the line. That’s how
most of the things in “Crimes of
Grindelwald” feel. Appearances of
Minerva McGonagall and Nicholas
Flamel act as wholly unnecessary
cameos and at this point, it’s
not clear how Newt himself is
possibly going to stay relevant to
the proceedings, as the coming
war between Dumbledore and
Grindelwald begins to take center
stage. Basically, every character
other than those two titanic
wizards could be removed from the
story and nothing of consequence
would change at all. Rowling
steeps her story in exposition,
giving characters who only appear
in this film, don’t make it to the end,
and will probably never be seen
again long flashbacks explaining
their history and motivations.
While that kind of thing can work
in a 700-page novel, on the screen,
it comes across as unfocused and
disjointed. One sequence in the
third act is literally two different
five-minute
monologues
going
into the family tree of a character
whose origins are later revealed to
be entirely different to what was
previously believed. This entire
section of the film is so confusing
that even the most diehard of
Potter fans may find themselves
hopelessly lost. A final twist at the
end is so utterly baffling that it
will leave viewers
wondering if J.K.
Rowling has truly
lost her mind.
There
are
a
few bright spots.
Jude Law shines
as
Dumbledore,
and despite all of
the
controversy
surrounding
his
casting
in
this
film, on a strictly
performance
level, this has to
be Johnny Depp’s
best performance
in
years.
Were
the film to have
focused
entirely
on the relationship
between
Dumbledore
and
Grindelwald
it
might have come
closer to touching
that Harry Potter
magic. With three
more
“Beasts”
movies
in
the
pipeline, it’s hard to
imagine how this
story can possibly
stay
interesting
for six more hours.
In this film, the
plot seems to be
running on fumes
and this only part
two of five. To see
the once perfect
film
franchise
and do-no-wrong
author fall so far
may be hard for
some
fans,
but
general audiences
have been down
this road before.
Prequels, as any
fan of “Star Wars”
or “Lord of the
Rings” will tell you,
just never quite
seem to work out
the way you want
them to.
‘Crimes of Grindelwald’ is
a crime against audiences
IAN HARRIS
Daily Arts Writer
FILM REVIEW
“Fantastic
Beats: The
Crimes of
Grindelwald”
Warner Bros.
Pictures
Quality 16, Rave
Cinemas
Sixty miles across the coast
of Africa lie the Canary Islands,
collectively
an
autonomous
community of Spain built by the
commerce flowing through it
onward to the New World. Its
influence on the music of Pablo
Díaz-Reixa (better known as El
Guincho) is palpable, leading to
some of the most unique, daring
pop music of recent years.
El Guincho, a resident of Las
Palmas (the largest city of the
island Gran Canaria), describes
his music as “space-age exotica,”
and whatever that means, it
makes a lot of sense. Starting with
Alegranza! and Pop Negro in 2010,
he has released music centered on
a diverse set of samples and off-
kilter rhythms. The highlights of
the two albums are loud, brash
and
eclectic,
showcasing
El
Guincho’s wide knowledge of the
world’s music combined with an
intuitive sense for good pop.
El Guincho’s samples range
from Brazil to Ghana, and like
the masters of the art in the hip-
hop and electronic realm, he is
extremely skilled at making his
chops and loops organic and
lively. He does certainly have a
penchant for specific types of
samples, be it West African high
life or Brazilian Tropicalia, but it
lends a cohesive atmosphere to all
of his work.
Arguably his most popular
song, “Bombay” is the best
example of his pop sensibilities
mixed with his experimental
streak. A hypnotic steel drum
pattern
anchors
the
track,
with El Guincho’s thin vocals
(Spanish is particularly perfect
for this kind of music) barely
registering
in
the
mix
and
blending in with the constant,
busy
instrumentation.
The
track’s memorable music video
(disclaimer: It is rather explicit)
is a wonderful companion to the
track and is a perfect translation
of El Guincho’s musical style into
video.
Most of his tracks put rhythm at
the forefront, as the main source
of activity and variation rather
than the melodies. Steel drums
are a common feature, as well as
percussion used commonly in
South American and African folk.
El
Guincho’s
tendency
to
clutter and layer to the extreme
aren’t always successful, and
he can get slightly too carried
away,
detracting
from
the
groove he gets into himself over
the course of the first half of a
track. Nonetheless, the hits that
accompany the misses more
than make up for them. His
work borrows from Panda Bear
and The Avalanches but is more
forceful and buoyant, rather than
the often hazy, dreamlike quality
of the former.
El Guincho’s music is restless
and colorful in a manner which
pop
music
rarely
operates
in.
While
making
music
electronically, he infuses a sense
of messiness and vibrancy that
enhances the diverse set of
sources he works with, resulting
in music with a childlike sense of
wonder.
‘Pop Negro’ by El Guincho
SAYAN GHOSH
World Music Columnist
WORLD MUSIC COLUMN
WARNER BROS. PICTURES
It is no secret that queer
women still lack normalized
representation in the media, but
we already knew that. And with
more and more television shows
mistaking
representation
for
exploitation, it is refreshing to
sit down and watch a television
program in which a woman
chooses to experiment sexually
without the specter of the male
gaze looming over its inclusion.
“Sally4Ever”
is
a
British-
American comedy created and
written by Julia Davis (“Electric
Dreams”), taking its place among
“Chewing Gum” and “Crazyhead”
in the new renaissance of female-
helmed British comedies. The
series
follows
protagonist
Sally
(Catherine
Shepherd,
“Paddington 2”), as she struggles
to come to terms with the
boredom of her existence. This
boredom manifests itself through
the many mundane aspects of
her everyday life: her pointless
job, her dull sex life and her
seeming lack of friends. With her
boyfriend David’s (Julian Barratt,
“Flowers”) recent proposal of
marriage, Sally’s life seems to
be headed towards a permanent
flatline. That is, until she locks
eyes with a stranger named
Emma (Davis) on the tube, and
begins to question what she truly
wants in life.
Where “Sally4Ever” shines is
in its realistic exploration of this
boredom. Showing that someone
is unhappy with pretty much
every aspect of their existence
can be a tough feat — you must
show that the person has a
justifiable reason to be bored, yet
avoid making their lives look like
a farcical mockery of everyday
life. Julia Davis’s writing nailed
this niche to a T. The dialogue
that took place between Sally
and her co-workers and between
Sally and her husband was so
realistically awkward and passive
aggressive that it was hard not to
feel second-hand discomfort.
In addition to the realism that
highlighted the cause of Sally’s
crisis, the authenticity of her
actions while in the midst of her
break also felt sensible. Rather
than writing Sally as going off the
rails and abruptly taking on a new
persona once she is momentarily
tempted by Emma, she stays true
to form. Sally challenges herself
to sneak out to the rave that Emma
is performing at, but attends
dressed like a middle schooler.
Some of the best comedy of the
pilot episode was derived from
this dance between Sally’s clear
internal wanting to be dangerous
and her subpar execution.
However, the downside of a
show that is so realistically boring
is that sometimes there are points
where it just seems boring. Every
secondary
character
retained
more entertainment value than
Sally.
Even
the
supposedly
unlikable characters, like her
co-workers,
were
engaging
enough to make me sit up during
their scenes. I could not say the
same for Sally. Unlike other
“normal person bored with drab
life” comedies, the character of
Sally did not make me believe
that she deserved better than
what she already has. The most
intriguing character on the show
proved to be Emma, not simply
because she is a hilariously
untalented
multi-hyphenate
(actor, singer, dancer, artist),
but also because of the clear
manipulation she uses to lure in
Sally that leaves the audiences
wondering if she actually gives
two shits about Sally or, if she is
just using the poor girl as a form
of entertainment.
“Sally4Ever” clearly has a lot
of ground to cover; I am excited
to see where the show will take
its audience over the course of its
eight-episode order. Hopefully,
on a show with such an exciting
and daring premise, the character
at the center will be able to
experience more development
that elevates her from solely
being defined by her sadness and
boredom into a character who
has multiple facets to her being.
‘Sally4Ever’ excites while
mastering artful boredom
ALLY OWENS
Daily Arts Writer
TV REVIEW
“Sally4Ever”
Series Premiere
HBO
Sundays at 10:30
p.m.
HBO
Unlike other
“normal person
bored with drab
life” comedies,
the character
of Sally did not
make me believe
that she deserved
better than what
she already has
El Guincho’s
music is restless
and colorful in
a manner which
pop music rarely
operates in