The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Monday, February 4, 2019 — 5A
By Winston Emmons
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/04/19
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
02/04/19
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Monday, February 4, 2019
ACROSS
1 Gather in a pile
6 City transport
9 Assume the
role of
14 Dashed in the
direction of
15 Fireplace
remnants
16 Baseball’s
home __
17 Military
decoration
18 China : cha ::
U.S. : __
19 Resistance
member
20 Misdeed
exculpation
23 Garden product
word
26 Lyricist Gershwin
27 Ages and ages
28 Word after photo
or black
29 Done tidily and
without stress
33 Skillful
34 Early riser?
35 Wyatt of the Old
West
39 Bedouin abode
40 Takes out the
sloop
42 Classic cookie
43 Mediocre
44 Suffix with alp
45 Models for some
Adam and Eve
art
46 Precisely
50 Texter’s
“I believe”
53 Louis XIV, par
exemple
54 Badminton
partition
55 Originally called
56 Exercise mantra
60 Minotaur’s island
61 Overtime cause,
in sports
62 Seashore
66 Brother of Moses
67 Right-angled pipe
shape
68 Came to a
conclusion
69 Slope
70 Prefix with -lexic
71 Gives medicine to
DOWN
1 Pitcher’s asset
2 West of “My Little
Chickadee”
3 Plus
4 Ollie’s partner
5 Single singer
6 WWII Philippine
battleground
7 Manipulative sort
8 Causing
disgrace
9 Cooks’ protective
wear
10 Sheet music
symbol
11 Forbidden
12 Consumed
eagerly
13 Disposes of on
eBay
21 60-min. periods
22 Subjects,
usually, in
grammar class
23 Bitty biters
24 Show with
horses and bulls
25 Warning signs
30 Model Kate
married to Justin
Verlander
31 Willow twig
32 South Korea’s
capital
36 Elizabeth of
cosmetics
37 Creator of
yummy “pieces”
38 Entourage
40 Do what he says
or you lose
41 Made sacred, as
with oil
45 Observed
47 “Murder on the
__ Express”
48 Marx co-author
49 Cultural funding
org.
50 Machu Picchu
builders
51 Point of a fable
52 Wagner work
57 Huge amount, as
of homework
58 Slick, like a
garage floor
59 Forbidden
thing, and
what each
of four long
answers is?
63 Spots on
television
64 Understand
65 NFL scores
WORK ON MACKINAC ISLAND
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all areas: Front Desk, Bell Staff,
Wait Staff, Sales Clerks, Kitchen,
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discounted meals.
(906) 847‑7196.
www.theislandhouse.com
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
Classifieds
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
HEY.
YOU'RE
DOING GREAT
AND WE
know you
can do it.
Don't give up!
Of all the memorable moments
to come out of DreamWorks’s
near-perfect original “How to
Train Your Dragon,” the one
most likely to jump to someone’s
mind at the mention of the film
is the flying sequence. In all of
twenty-first century animation,
there have been few scenes that
managed to match the majesty
of those first moments when
Hiccup (Jay Baruchel, “Man
Seeking Woman”) first climbed
atop
Toothless
and
soared
through the air, skimming the
water, whooping with the sort
of contagious joy that classic
movie moments are made of.
The storytelling, the score, the
Deakins-inspired visual — it all
came together for a moment of
complete moviemaking synergy.
The miracle of “The Hidden
World” is that it might actually
surpass that magical original
flight. As the inhabitants of the
dragon-friendly
utopia
Berk
flee from an armada of dragon
hunters, we watch as Toothless
begins a courtship with a female
variant
of
his
species:
the
“Light Fury” to
his “Nightfury.”
To
call
these
scenes beautiful
or
gorgeous
or any of the
descriptors
I
usually
attach
to artistic styles
would be a severe
understatement.
I’d rank them
near “Fantasia” in terms of how
perfectly they tell a story with
nothing but visuals and John
Powell’s (“Solo: A Star Wars
Story”) unbelievable score.
Part of the key to their strength
is in how they’re rendered mostly
in close-ups allowing for a couple
different things. Obviously it’s
easier to appreciate how state-
of-the-art the animation is at a
closer distance — you can actually
see the reflection of other people
in the characters’ eyes, which
is a level of detail so insane that
some
live-action
films
can’t
even match. More importantly,
though, it allows the characters
to speak for themselves, even
effectively
mute
ones
like
Toothless and the Light Fury.
Matt Reeves took advantage of a
similar idea in “War for the Planet
of the Apes” — if the effects are
good enough and the character
is expressive enough, a simple
close-up can tell us exactly what
they’re feeling without having to
use a single word of dialogue. The
result isn’t just something that’s
aesthetically pleasing to look at;
it’s a much more intimate feeling
relationship than we’re used to
seeing in an animated film. Even
“WALL-E” made use of limited
dialogue in its love story.
The rest of the film is fine,
even if it occasionally struggles
to match those epic heights.
Hiccup’s arc sees him having
to confront the reality that his
time with Toothless might be
coming to the end, and while
that’s certainly an emotional
way to close out the trilogy,
it’s never given enough time
to develop, especially because
the third act begins and moves
from the midpoint of the story
to the climax to the resolution
so quickly it’s hard to digest any
of it. It’s strange to say, especially
as someone usually hasty to
criticize movies for overstaying
their welcome, but if “The Hidden
World” was even just five to ten
minutes longer, it would allow for
more development for Hiccup and
his struggle without sacrificing
any of the time we spend with
Toothless and the Light Fury.
It’s the conclusion of a critically
acclaimed trilogy, DreamWorks!
Treat yourself!
Yet, even this is born partially
of a desire to spend more time in
this world: the world of Berk, the
world of its people, the world of
dragons. Over three movies — and
several TV series I admittedly
haven’t watched — DreamWorks
has developed a stupendous cast
of characters brought to life in
bold stories with animation that
never ceases to be striking, and
“The Hidden World” stands as
a resolutely solid ending. It’s an
achievement, and I think I can
safely say that the “How to Train
Your Dragon” trilogy will be one
that parents and children will
watch together for years to come.
When they do, I hope they cherish
their time in Berk as dearly as I
have.
The slight, gorgeous end to
‘Train Your Dragon’ trio
JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
Daily Arts Writer
FILM REVIEW
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
‘How to Train
Your Dragon: The
Hidden World’
Ann Arbor 20+ IMAX
Universal Pictures
Playing “God of War” makes
me feel as if The Game Awards
were established for the sole
purpose of awarding it Game of
the Year. That’s how good this
game is. Despite 2018 being a
very strong year for video games,
“God of War” clearly stood out
from the pack, primarily because
it achieved the lofty goal that
all art aspires to: provoking a
conversation,
which
couldn’t
have come at a more appropriate
time.
In a world where definitions
of masculinity are a contentious
issue, “God of War” delivers a
sophisticated take on topics of
masculinity and fatherhood by
shifting the franchise-defining
protagonist Kratos, from the
hyper-masculine brute of the
previous games to a conflicted
father determined to protect
and train his young son, Arteus.
Throughout
the
game,
this
thematic change is best expressed
when Kratos teaches his son
about the cruel world they live
in. Despite seeming harsh on the
surface, these moments have an
inner tenderness revealing the
true purpose a father fulfills in
a son’s life. Set in the backdrop
of Norse mythology, Kratos and
Artreus embark on a quest to
fulfill the dying wish of their
recently
deceased
wife
and
mother, respectively. This epic
journey takes the player through
the nine realms of Yggdrasil
where
the
pair
encounter
monsters, giants, elves and gods.
Each character in the game,
particularly Kratos and Atreus,
is exquisitely written. At every
line of dialogue, I consistently
found myself hoping that Kratos
would show Arteus just a sliver
of affection, only to realize that
I was missing the point. “God
of War” wants the player to
think Kratos is a bad father. The
player’s unapproving perception
combined with the actual threats
Kratos faces are metaphors for
the unrealistic pressures, both
mentally and physically, that
men face today. Like most men,
Kratos does care, however, when
being hunted by giants and gods
it doesn’t come out in the nicest
way.
Another
shift
that
“God
of War” benefits from is its
reworked gameplay — replacing
the previous 3D, isometric view
with a third person perspective
standard in most current action-
adventure games. The combat
makes use of a cleaver toggle
system that allows the player to
fight in their own style. Enemies
can be taken down from afar with
Kratos’ recallable weapon, the
“Levithan Axe,” or challenged
up close. With each unlocked
move, Kratos begins to feel
almost divine. However, these
supernatural abilities never make
Kratos too powerful, as enemies
also evolve in interesting and
puzzling ways. Though minor
enemies can be fun, the pinnacle
of “God of War” is its boss fights.
These
adrenaline-inducing
encounters against deities and
colossal beasts are packed with so
much ethereal movement, I truly
felt like I was amongst the gods.
Having played every game
nominated, “God of War” stands
far above the rest. It wasn’t the
grandest or flashiest game of
2018, but it was the most artistic.
I can’t think of a more deserving
winner of 2018’s Game of the Year
than the incomparable “God of
War.”
‘God of War’ is an
accomplishment
of a video game
Phoebe
Bridgers
and
Conor
Oberst
are
twin
souls in the music industry.
Oberst, an emo-indie-folk-
rock legend and former
frontman
of
celebrated
band
Bright
Eyes,
has
been writing confessional,
straight-to-the-core
music
since
his
beginnings
nearly 20 years
ago.
Bridgers’s
first
studio
album, Stranger
in the Alps, was
released in 2017.
But despite their
generational
differences, the
duo seem to operate on the
same creative frequency.
In the first promotional
pictures for their new group
Better Oblivion Community
Center, they seem more
comfortable
with
each
other than even a brother
and sister may be. Though
Bridgers has been a devoted
fan of Oberst since she was a
teenager, their partnership
is equal, an intertwined
effort to tell the narratives
that exist between both
of them as truthfully as
possible.
Better
Oblivion
Community
Center
is
Bridgers’s
second
group
effort in the last year after
2018’s boygenius, a similarly
self-titled record by the
silver-haired
songwriter
and
other
folk-nouveau
standouts Julien Baker and
Lucy Dacus as boygenius.
Where boygenius allowed
the three artists to merge
into
one
musical
voice,
separate from each of them
individually, Better Oblivion
Community Center is an
album that allows Bridgers
and
Oberst
to
do
the
opposite. The record is an
interesting mix of the folk-
confessional
sensibilities
that both artists are known
for and a frenetic, inventive
rock edge that takes the
listener by happy surprise
on
songs
like
“Dylan
Thomas” and “Exception
to the Rule.” They started
writing together after first
meeting a few years ago,
and
eventually
realized
that those songs needed
a home bigger than their
own respective projects to
flourish. And thus, Better
Oblivion
Community
Center was born.
Oberst and Bridgers have
collaborated
before,
on
Bridgers’s heart-wrenching
ballad “Would You Rather”
from her debut
LP,
and
the
pairing
was
momentary
lightning. Both
musicians have
a
spectacular
knack
for
writing
music
that doesn’t beat
around the bush
in any way, shape or form.
Instead, each lyric and turn
of phrase digs its heels into
the
listener’s
emotional
psyche, dredging up the
feelings and memories that
most of us try to forget. It’s
crying-in-the-bathroom
music,
walking-home-in-
the-dark music, squinting-
in-the-morning-sun music,
goodbye-kiss music.
‘Better Oblivion,’ open
for business, counsel
MUSIC REVIEW
DEAD OCEANS
‘Better Oblivion
Community Center’
Better Oblivion Community Center
Dead Oceans
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
ELI LUSTIG
Daily Arts Writer
VIDEO GAME REVIEW
CLARA SCOTT
Senior Arts Editor