Dessa, a Minnesota rapper known for her work with the Doomtree collective, will be performing in Ann Arbor tomorrow at The Blind Pig. Her style is a blend of hiphop and soft-spoken singing, and entirely her own. She was recently featured on the Hamilton mixtape, and is hard at work on her next record.
Tickets are $15 and doors open at 8 PM.
Gook is a remarkable film, one that manages to balance both art and emotion. From the eerie beginning of Kamilla, the young black girl, dancing jerkily and strangely in front of what appears to be the burning shoe store, to the end of the movie, Gook is beautiful and poignant. It shifts tones deftly, and will go from making you laugh to inducing rage within seconds without any of that awkwardness one is used to feeling. Furthermore, the film explores the lives of poor Korean-Americans and the strife between their community and the black community whom they share the streets of LA with–in this way, the film already stands out from other films that focus on the lives of those in the ghetto and seeks to tell a story that hasn’t been told before.
Perhaps the film’s greatest strength is its characters. Each character has his or her own set of motives and desires that feel fully fleshed out despite having little if anything to do with the plot (such as one of the brother’s desire to become an R&B singer). None of them are stereotypes, and though viewers are going to be most sympathetic towards the brothers and Kamilla, the “villains” of the movie remain sympathetic, for the film shows how their anger comes from a place of hurt, how no one in this movie has been or will be capable of moving on from an unshown tragedy that happened years before this day, how grief and violence go hand in hand.
Though the movie describes itself as following this set of characters on the day of the Rodney King riots, the riots intersect with the characters only rarely. The drama of the movie is more personal than that. While the riots drone in the background, the characters rush towards their own startling and tragic confrontation, this sort of mirrored image of the riots. To use history in this way is a bold decision–it is easy to make films where the drama lies in a big event that everyone already knows the conclusion of–here, the historical elements are another layer to an already well-made film and not the substance of the story. Still, though the scenes we encounter that have to do with the riots are limited, they are impactful enough that no one would accuse this film as adding them in to give the movie more substance.
It is impossible to talk about Gook without comparing it to last year’s Moonlight. Both are films focusing on race and class matters, adolescence in the ghetto, and both have similar styles in scenes, preferring to hit viewers with dramatic images accompanied by violins, and each work well with their palette of choice. Gook, despite its black and white aesthetic, is probably more approachable for most people–unlike Moonlight, it has a cohesive and limited (the events of the movie occur in one day, instead of over a lifetime) plot and the artistic elements don’t detract from the emotional scenes. Unfortunately, Gook had a limited release and shows no signs of taking off like Moonlight did.
Gook is a movie based on the Rodney King riots in LA, 25 years ago. It tells the story of two Korean shoe store employees and a young black girl they have befriended, as they attempt to navigate the day the riots broke out. The film is in black and white, and is supposed to have stunning cinematography. The movie will be playing at the Michigan Theater, Monday and Tuesday, at 9:45. Student tickets are $8.
Baby Driver is not your average car or bank heist movie. In fact, it would be a stretch to consider it either of those things because although the plot revolves around robbing banks and driving away, the movie is so much more than that. It deals with a broad range of topics, from deafness to culture as a means of survival–if it weren’t labelled an “action” film, it would be up for a whole host of Oscars and have a good case for winning them.
Unlike most films dedicated to fast cars and grizzled criminals, is not dark, gloomy, nor a blur of speed. The movie is still nonstop, well choreographed, and has spurts of violence–but, like most Edgar Wright films, scenes are well-lit, vibrant, and show all their punches. Likewise, there is plenty of violence in the film but it isn’t brushed over. We see our main character, Baby, constantly confront his own role in the violence and destruction perpetuated by his coworkers–violence that is often directed at innocent bystanders, people in the wrong place at the wrong time. Baby Driver shows us not only how people are implicit in the violence around them, but also how that violence changes them (for better or worse) and creates a self-perpetuating cycle.
Of course, the movie isn’t always gloom and doom–more often than not, this film is hilarious. And the best part about this film is the soundtrack and how that music is incorporated into the plot of the movie. Lots of films using funky older songs to make their movies seem better, but music is not only background here. The music is essential to the film, as Baby uses music to drive. He needs a soundtrack to get away. Usually, you find a song to suit a scene, but here the scenes (even characters’ names) were written with specific songs in mind. So if you like action, humor, and a good soundtracks, Baby Driver will probably be the best movie you see all year.
Possibly the best action flick of the year, Baby Driver will be at the Michigan Theater tonight and tomorrow, playing in 35 mm. Baby Driver follows an extremely talented driver for a crime boss, Baby, on his last getaway drive. The movie has been wildly well-reviewed and manages to be both genius comedy and a slick action romp.
Student tickets are $8.
After waiting in line for half an hour (sold-out show), my friend and I finally got into the Blind Pig, just in time to catch the remnants of Cooper Anstett, one of the opening performers. Cooper Anstett was a duo and sounded like most opening acts that had one guy on drums and one guy on guitar–in other words, though they sounded nice, they were ultimately nothing special and easily forgotten. Not bad music to listen to while you wait for the joint to fill up.
Then there was the second opening act, The Elwins, who have been touring with Jukebox the Ghost on and off for the last several years. Their sound was distinctive–upbeat pop that likes to have fun–and is a clear complement to Jukebox the Ghost. The band also liked to have fun, and various members moved and danced all around the stage, They were in a surprisingly good mood considering, as they informed us, that their beloved van had broken down and they had to travel here in a uHaul. They were all even dressed in black to show their grief–and still they played with an infectious happiness. Towards the end of their set, they told us about how they and Jukebox the Ghost play this game called Brimball, during which they occasionally make crab hands and say “thanks for the Brimball.” After informing us of this pastime, they had the audience complete this motion and repeat those words and took a video to later surprise Jukebox the Ghost. Overall, their performance was engaging, dynamic, and upbeat, and properly warmed up the audience for the main act.
Speaking of audience, they were younger than the usual Blind Pig crowd. Typically, the Blind Pig draws heavily from college students and older Ann Arbor locals, but many members of this audience were high schoolers and I’d wager that more than a few got into the Blind Pig using fake IDs. Still, it wasn’t a bad crowd and had there been more room, there might have been dancing, but as it was, since we were crammed together, the dancing was limited to moves that only needed six inches of space.
In addition to this unusual audience, it’s always interesting to see pop and upbeat bands playing in the dark, cramped Blind Pig. Though the exterior does not take away from the music in anyway, it’s also not exactly the place one pictures a band like Jukebox the Ghost playing. It’s got major grunge vibes going on and one can easily see why Nirvana considered it one of their favorite places to play.
Finally, Jukebox the Ghost performed, opening with their bombastic song, “Somebody.” Like The Elwins, they were playful with the audience, and at one point, when their keyboardist and lead singer pulled out a granola bar during a song due to his ravenous appetite, they announced that history had been made bey e. It was a memorable moment. Another instance that stands out is when they played “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which got everyone in the audience channeling their inner Queen. Their set list was long–they have four albums to choose songs from–and they played a substantial amount of songs. By the end of it, though the band kept its energy, the audience was clearly exhausted–still enjoying the show, but tired from standing around for four hours. Thankfully, their encore was brief. They played another cover (chosen from their wheel of songs) which they had to remember how to play first and then closed with “The Spiritual,” a slower, more gospel-like song that ends with the line “let me go in peace.”
