Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Wednesday, January 11, 2023

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

By Tom Pepper & C.C. Burnikel
©2023 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
01/11/23

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

01/11/23

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, January 11, 2023

ACROSS
1 Bit of pond 
growth
5 Snatches
10 Map out
14 Earsplitting
15 Anti-harassment 
movement
16 Perfect gradually
17 Soft feathers 
on a croquet 
implement?
19 Billions of years
20 Stick on
21 Bow (out)
22 Judi Dench and 
Helen Mirren, for 
two
23 Emeril 
catchword
25 “No thanks”
27 Proverb
30 Negotiations over 
the ingredients of 
a milkshake?
35 CBS forensic 
franchise
36 Animated film 
about a bird from 
Brazil
37 Some 
unauthorized 
creations
38 All the __
40 Font flourish
42 Rascal Flatts, e.g.
43 Casting director?
45 “Shea Butter 
Baby” singer-
songwriter 
Lennox
46 Day-__ paint
47 Place to park 
one’s spiteful 
feelings?
50 Bracket shape
51 Drop out of the 
conversation?
52 Stately tree
54 Herb piece
56 SoFi Stadium 
NFL player
59 Psyched
63 Landing spot for 
a cannonball
64 Karl’s years with 
the Utah Jazz?
66 Unflappable
67 Honeycrisp, for 
one
68 Video snippet
69 Private 
employer?
70 Sauce for 
gnocchi
71 Sandogasa, 
beanie, etc.

DOWN
1 __ mater
2 Be a couch 
potato
3 View from 
Florida’s west 
coast
4 Embrace 
spontaneity, in 
a way
5 Clock-setting std.
6 Give the decor a 
face-lift
7 Resting on
8 Neckwear worn 
by Matt Smith on 
“Doctor Who”
9 Male offspring
10 Ring-necked 
state bird of 
South Dakota
11 Has tremendous 
influence
12 Baby 
photographer 
Geddes
13 Loch in tabloid 
photos
18 Final, e.g.
22 Spreadsheet 
contents
24 Color akin to 
brick
26 Common email 
attachment
27 “Buzz off!”

28 Yoga position
29 Leeway in a 
negotiation, say
31 Falsehood
32 Text at a bat 
mitzvah
33 Whale food
34 Seat at the bar
39 Prozac maker
41 Ring of Kerry’s 
isl.
44 Vaping device
48 Brightly colored 
wrap

49 Escape in a hurry
53 Stick in a book
54 Animal rescue 
org.
55 Not great
57 Austrian peaks
58 Lose feathers
60 __ monster
61 Give off
62 Counts at a gym
64 Diagram at a 
visitor center
65 Opposite of 
paleo-

SUDOKU

WHISPER

“Welcome back 
to School!”
“The break was 
so short.”

WHISPER

By Rich Norris
©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
12/07/22

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

12/07/22

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2022

ACROSS
1 GI on the lam
5 Annual festival in 
Austin, TX
9 Tot’s crumb 
catcher
12 Rural strolling 
spot
13 Short dog, for 
short
14 Forearm bone
15 French 
preposition
16 Rationale
17 Gloomy aura
18 Nissan sedans 
since 1982
20 Put away, as loot
22 “Blade Runner” 
actor Rutger __
23 Lives
24 Take away
26 Brought up
27 “Night” author 
Wiesel
28 Finance guru 
Suze
30 1815 classic 
whose title 
character is 
played by Anya 
Taylor-Joy in a 
2020 film
34 Common interest 
group
35 “Same”
36 Campus bigwig
37 Novelist Morrison
38 Derby town in 
Surrey, England
39 Frigg’s husband
40 Steakhouse order
42 Steakhouse order
44 Database 
systems giant
47 Jousting weapon
48 Revenue source 
in many a free 
app
50 Counterpoint 
melody
52 Kid’s plea for 
permission
53 Fairway chunk
55 “__ girl!”
56 “Law & Order: 
SVU” co-star
57 Storm rescue op
58 2007 U.S. 
Women’s Open 
winner Cristie
59 Lil Wayne’s 
“__ Carter V”
60 File partner
61 “Grand” ice 
cream brand

DOWN
1 “Sad to say ... ”
2 Greet from 
across the street, 
say
3 Phrase of unity 
in the Pledge of 
Allegiance
4 Itinerary for 
touring speakers
5 Health club 
amenities
6 Crosses (out)
7 Winter getaway 
need, maybe
8 Brunch dish 
with ham and 
peppers
9 Malaise, with 
“the”
10 Cove, e.g.
11 Gets thinner, in 
a way
14 Food named for 
how it’s baked, 
and a hint to 
each set of 
circles
16 Flatbed scanner 
relative
19 Blues-rocker 
Chris
21 Lumberjack 
competition 
projectile

24 Mortgage 
balance, e.g.
25 Nonsense
26 Ulan __: former 
Anglicization 
of Mongolia’s 
capital
29 Matterhorn and 
Weisshorn: Abbr.
31 Treated, in a 
way
32 Primary way in
33 Dudek of “Mad 
Men”

41 Matterhorn or 
Weisshorn
43 Courtroom VIPs
44 Footnote abbr.
45 Jazz drummer 
Max
46 Sleep 
disturbance
49 Operatic icon
50 Tie up at the pier
51 Patches, as a 
driveway
54 Part of a moving 
story

Reports suggest that after its 
premiere at this year’s Venice Film 
Festival, “Bardo, False Chronicle 
of a Handful of Truths” was edited 
down by about 22 minutes before 
its release on Netflix in early 
December. To this I say, “Why 
stop there?” Alejandro González 
Iñárritu’s (“The Revenant”) first 
feature film in seven years is a 
flashy, 
long-winded, 
surrealist 
look at the experiences of a 
Mexican immigrant to the United 
States struggling with his identity. 
It’s likely one of the last of Netflix’s 
auteur-driven 
blank-check 
era 
— one that provided both stellar 
highs 
and 
unbearable 
lows. 
Despite its admirable ambition, 
“Bardo” 
simply 
doesn’t 
work 
because the confusing storytelling 
doesn’t mesh well with the actual 
story being told.
Iñárritu tries to create a surreal, 
dreamlike world. There are some 
incredibly bizarre moments, like 
when a doctor at the beginning 
says that a baby refuses to be born 
because the world is “too fucked 
up,” but there are also some 
minor strange details, like having 
Amazon buy the Mexican state 
of Baja California. The intended 
effect is to create a purgatory 
for the main character, Silverio 
Gama (Daniel Giménez Cacho, 
“Memoria”), as he finds himself 
stuck between his two dueling 
identities as a Mexican and an 
American. The film’s surrealist 
qualities lead to the occasional 
brilliant moment, like a dance 
sequence at a party for Silverio in 
which all but the vocals of David 
Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” fade out, 
showing the emptiness Silverio 
feels. It also leads to some truly 
baffling sequences, like when 
Silverio 
meets 
with 
Spanish 
conquistador 
Hernán 
Cortés 
atop a mountain of murdered 
indigenous people in the middle 
of Mexico City and they discuss 
the genocide of the Natives. 
The film’s ideas feel all over the 
place, and the more it leans into 
surrealism, the more confusing 

everything becomes because the 
surrealist elements distract from 
what Iñárritu is saying.
There are a lot of interesting ideas 
at play in “Bardo,” but it fails to give 
enough attention to any of its major 
storylines. The film is simultaneously 
about grieving the loss of a child, 
political tensions between the United 
States and Mexico, the history 
of oppression faced by Mexico’s 
indigenous people and dealing with 
criticism of one’s personal work. 
These are a lot of big, heavy ideas, and 
ones we don’t see dealt with much in 
films released by major Hollywood 
studios. 
Unfortunately, 
because 
Iñárritu seems more interested in 
how the story was told and not what 
story was told, “Bardo” comes off as 
one big mess. 
Though 
it 
looks 
far 
more 
interesting than most of the films 
Netflix puts out — the vast majority 
looking no better than a high-budget 
episode of television — the way 
“Bardo” is shot doesn’t do much to 
elevate the material. Iñárritu and 
cinematographer 
Darius 
Khondji 
(“Armageddon Time”) overuse the 
wide-angle lens to such a degree that 
the intended surrealist effect becomes 
disorienting and ugly over the course 
of the film’s significant runtime. After 
his display of the technique in other 
films, Iñárritu’s beloved long takes 
feel flashy and hollow in “Bardo.” In 
his previous film “Birdman” the long 
takes act as an impressive gimmick 
— where the entire film is made to 
look like one continuous take — and 
give the audience a better sense of the 
theater’s space. In “The Revenant” 
they add a sense of dynamism to chase 
sequences. But in “Bardo” they simply 
feel like a way for Iñárritu to show off.
Though the film itself doesn’t 
work well, it’s a shame that 
“Bardo” is likely one of the 
reasons Netflix will be moving 
away from big, risky films. The 
world is far better off with more 
“Bardo”s and fewer “The Gray 
Man”s. “Bardo” may not have 
been successful, but every once 
in a while, the home run swing 
taken by a filmmaker like Iñárritu 
hits, and we are rewarded with a 
great work of art. 

Alejandro González 
Iñárritu’s ‘Bardo’ is too 
over-stuffed with ideas 
for its own good

MITCHEL GREEN
Daily Arts Writer

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Loona’s betrayal: A 
story about the power 
of K-pop fans

It’s no secret that K-pop has 
gained popularity in the United 
States over the past decade. Songs 
like “Gangnam Style” were once 
seen as a cultural anomaly, but 
we now see world-famous boy 
groups like BTS widely catering 
to their American audience, with 
merchandise found even in your 
local Barnes and Noble.
If 
you’re 
a 
new 
fan, 
it’s 
fascinating 
to 
navigate 
the 
landscape of K-pop. Each time 
a group launches a new song, 
it comes with not only a music 
video but a photo book, several 
promotional stage performances, 
custom 
choreography, 
trendy 
styling and more. There are 
dozens of groups to discover, but 
the groups you’re most likely to 

hear about are produced by the 
“Big 4” entertainment agencies in 
Korea: SM Entertainment (NCT, 
Red Velvet), YG Entertainment 
(Blackpink), JYP Entertainment 
(TWICE, Stray Kids) and HYBE 
Corporation (BTS).
However, there are plenty of 
smaller companies that produce 
K-pop groups with just as much 
talent and style. One in particular 
has caught a ton of international 
attention: 12-member girl K-pop 
group LOONA. The group has 
gained 
popularity 
through 
their catchy, energetic songs 
and choreography, and if you’ve 
spent any time on Twitter 
in the past five years, maybe 
you’ve heard the phrase “Stan 
LOONA.” This is because of the 
fans’ dedication to promoting 
the group across the world. 

KATELYN SLIWINSKI
Daily Arts Writer

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

‘The Circle’ season five is nothing 
without Raven Sutton 

I guess you could say I’m a 
longtime “The Circle” expert. From 
writing about the early seasons 
of “The Circle” in my application 
to 
The 
Michigan 
Daily 
Arts 
(winter 2023 deadline is Jan. 22!) 
to enjoying the TikToks of season 
four contestants John Franklin 
and Alyssa Ljubicich’s real-life 
relationship, I’ve been paying close 
attention for a while now, which is 
higher praise than I can give most 
shows. Now gradually releasing its 
fifth season, “The Circle,” a voice-
activated internal social media 
platform competition, is back — 
this time, with its first-ever deaf 
contestant. 
“The Circle,” a game designed 
such that the players never actually 
meet another contestant until they 
are eliminated or reach the finale, 
understandably causes players to be 
cautious and distrustful, interacting 

exclusively on the virtual platform. 
As each player wonders if the 
others are who they say they are, 
“The Circle” sows the seeds of 
conflict and heartbreak. All reality 
television requires some level of 
betrayal and scandal to remain 
entertaining, but “The Circle” stays 
relevant and lacks the “ick” that 
so many other reality television 
shows carry in abundance. What’s 
the “ick?” Watching people suffer 
horrible mistreatment by both 
production staff and other cast 
members, all influenced by a tint 
of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. 
On “The Circle,” though devastating 
blocks and gossip may cause rifts 
— even between former allies — 
nobody suffers mistreatment by 
the production staff or is targeted 
because of their race, gender, 
sexuality or disability — including 
deafness.
A season five “Circle” favorite, 
among viewers and other players 
alike, is Raven Sutton. Raven, a 
Black woman from Maryland, 

is the first deaf player in “The 
Circle.” Introducing herself as 
“#deafasfuck, and … proud of it,” 
Raven is a warm, vibrant presence 
from the start. With her interpreter, 
Paris, by her side, Raven explains 
to the audience that, “in the game, 
I’m the one calling the shots” and 
that, “American Sign Language 
is my first language, and yes, I 
can use my voice, but I feel more 
comfortable using sign language.” 
She adds that she comes from a 
deaf family, and is third-generation 
deaf. From her introduction alone, 
Raven intercepts all the questions 
a hearing audience might ask and, 
despite the fact that she’s probably 
received all of the questions many 
times, responds preemptively with 
grace, clarity and pride. 
A self-proclaimed “bad bitch,” 
Raven’s presence on the show 
is a refreshing and carefully-
handled change of pace. Raven 
is 
an 
autonomous, 
incredibly 
lively human being, and is never 
construed as anything less by 

her fellow competitors or the 
show itself. When Raven tells her 
“Circle” competitors that she’s 
deaf in her profile, nobody bats 
an eye. Even in a game where just 
about everybody comes in either 
as a catfish or with the intention of 
catfish hunting, nobody questions 
Raven. 
Disabled 
people 
are 
frequently questioned at every turn 
— whether being harassed for using 
a disability parking spot or having 
to “prove” their own disability 
to the government (there’s even 
a United States Social Security 
Administration page titled “How 
We Decide If You’re Disabled”), 
disabled people face cruelty on a 
regular basis as they go about their 
lives. Thankfully, you won’t see 
anything of this nature on “The 
Circle.” Raven’s treatment on the 
show represents both a model for 
how the rest of the world needs to 
behave and an example of how easy 
it is to do so. 

EMMY SNYDER
Daily Arts Writer

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

This image was taken from the official trailer for “The Circle,” distributed by Netflix.
Courtesy of Katelyn Sliwinski

