Friday, February 19th Michigan Theater will be screening “The Triplets of Belleville”, a fun and quirky animated film. This will be no ordinary screening though. Benoit Charest, along with his eight-piece orchestra, will be performing the score live! It’s been a decade since Charest originally created this music but it’s ability to tell an incredible story remains unaffected. The score features a large amount of jazz, which reflects the background of the three rather eccentric jazz singers who weave their way through the story. The film follows a Tour de France cyclist, his grandmother, his dog, and of course, the triplets of Belleville.
Photo Courtesy of Artist from the UMS website
I first saw this film in a high school french class. Not even knowing that it was a widely known film and had been nominated for multiple Academy Awards, I was struck by the unique way it told a story. Having live music I’m sure will offer a new dimension of appreciation to what has become an iconic movie.
Recap: Friday, February 18th at 8:00 pm in the Michigan Theater screens “The Triplets of Belleville.
(Please note: This review is written in such a manner as to not spoil the film.)
The first superhero movie of the year crashed into theaters this weekend. However, the Marvel/Fox collaboration Deadpool is nothing like its predecessors.
I’m a huge superhero fan. I love everything from the cheesier, lighthearted fare of the Spider-Man films, to the darker, gritter movies Hollywood has primarily been pumping out more recently, such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier. With Deadpool, however, the genre goes where it has never gone before: rated R. And with it comes a film that is bolder, bloodier, more vulgar–and 100% funnier than anything we’ve seen so far.
Starring Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern) as the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool essentially combines the irreverent humor of Guardians of the Galaxy with the fourth-wall-smashing of Ant-Man (with its own hefty addition of F-bombs and innuendos). The dialogue is witty and fast-paced, the jokes (and body count) fly, and the characters are lovable not for being good people, but for being unapologetically, outrageously awful (but still, you know, at least better than the antagonists).
It’s clear everyone involved with the project loved and understood it on an innate level. Every detail is polished to a shine, from the ridiculous opening credit sequence to Stan Lee’s perfect cameo (to, well, pretty much everything else). Without a doubt, this was the role Ryan Reynolds was born to play and it’s no wonder this was the first R-rated movie to surpass $100 million domestically in its opening weekend.
Of course, Deadpool‘s not perfect. The plot is so straightforward, it often feels like an afterthought beneath the pileup of comebacks and battles, and the constant back-and-forth of the storytelling style (flashback to present to flashback to present) gets a little tedious after a while. Plus, I’m concerned about the numerous cultural references (which carry many of the quips) growing stale in a few years.
The first two of these problems are minor in the grand scheme of things, though. The film is definitely more a comedy than a thriller, so the fact that the jokes work matters far more than the twisty-ness of the plot. (And they do work, really, really well.)
As for the cultural references becoming dated: Maybe we just need to get a Deadpool 2 in a couple years to make up for that?
On January 27th Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten, a documentary about the history of Cambodian rock and roll, was screened at The University of Michigan Art Museum. The event was hosted by the Center for South Asian Studies and the student-run radio station WCBN.
This documentary was produced in 2014 and directed by John Pirozzi. Going into the film, I expected it to be no more than a detailed summary of the Cambodian rock scene. But it proved to be much more vital, thoroughly interweaving Cambodia’s music history with the history of its people, politics, and national hardship.
The documentary picked up from the 1950s, a time in which the Cambodian music scene thrived and musicians were experimenting with different styles. Latin, American, and French music in particular had a huge impact on the musicians of this time, particularly on those rooted in rock music.
Although the film’s title refers exclusively to rock and roll, it presents a variety of types of Cambodian music. The musicians interviewed described how Cambodia’s pop music often has a yearning, melancholy tone. The lyrics are poetic and incorporate cultural and self-reflective meanings, despite seeming purely romantic on the surface.
However, Cambodia’s music scene transformed entirely during the Vietnamese War in the late 1960s, when the US began to bomb neutral Cambodia in an effort to weaken North Vietnamese supply lines. The rock music became more raw and unruly. Cambodians lived in fear and many did not dare to leave their homes to attend live performances, so several popular musicians lost their audience. Later on, as Cambodia became involved in the Vietnamese War, their music became increasingly dominated by nationalistic sentiments.
Immediately after the war, Cambodia’s Communist regime Khmer Rouge took over the nation and killed millions of intellectuals and artists who were considered to be a possible threat. This included the majority of Cambodian musicians and their families. “If you have to eliminate the values from a society,” said one of the musicians, “you have to eliminate the artist.”
The regime was overthrown in 1979, and the documentary finished on a hopeful note by playing singer Cheam Chansovannary’s “Oh! Phnom Penh,” a song about Cambodia’s capital which was emptied by Khmer Rouge, while showing footage of people returning to their homes in Phnom Penh.
The documentary did a wonderful job portraying the legacy and resilience of musicians through these historical events. It was thorough without indulging in excess detail. The combination of live performance videos from the time and recent interviews brought the history to life with a remarkably personal narrative. Additionally, the film was beautifully shot and edited. Its smooth transitions into different topics and time periods offered a seamless and continuously engaging narrative. Although the film was only two hours long, it brought three significant decades of Cambodia’s music and history to life.
Due to the fact that I’d never seen the movie before, and only had my friends’ opinions to rely on, I didn’t know what to expect from the Labyrinth movie. I did, however, know how popular it would be. The line for popcorn curled around the theater doors and looped back around. I imagine if I hadn’t ordered tickets online, I wouldn’t have been able to go.
Michigan Theater
The first thing that struck me about the experience was the theater itself. Last night was the first time I’d been to the Michigan Theater. It reminded me of a slightly more elaborate Hill Auditorium (which, if you’ve ever been there, is saying something).
Once I had (finally) bought my popcorn and we were sitting in our seats, the movie began. The entire audience clapped when David Bowie’s name showed up on the screen. (There was considerably less enthusiastic clapping for Jennifer Connelly…) There was even more thunderous applause at Bowie’s first fabulous entrance as The Goblin King.
Waiting for the movie to begin…
If you will, picture David Bowie’s face. Now, pencil his eyebrows on nearly vertical angles in stark black. Next, paint on his winged eyeliner and add a ridiculously broom-like wig atop his head. Finally, slip him into ungodly-tight goblin leggings and sprinkle some glitter around for good measure, and you’ve got Jareth, king of all goblins.
The movie in itself wasn’t that great. The acting was sub par (at best) on Connelly’s behalf, although some of her lines won bursts of laughter that I’m sure were unintentional by Henson. Take, for instance, when Sarah is about to enter the labyrinth. She gathers herself up, takes a deep breath, and says: “C’mon, feet!” I don’t really remember the next five minutes of the film because I was laughing so hard.
My favorite character was Sarah’s beast-like friend named Ludo. He was adorable and a little daft. He taught me something I imagine I’ll find quite valuable in life: if you scream loudly enough, everything will be fine.
All in all, I’m very happy to have gone to the movie. It was a really fun time, especially because I attended with some people who’ve seen it before. That way, if I missed anything from laughing too hard, they could fill me in.
It was also an awesome way to say goodbye to David Bowie on a light note. The audience loved him, and I found myself humming his “Dance Magic Dance” song on the walk back to my dorm.
In honor of David Bowie’s passing, the Michigan Theater is hosting a memorial screening of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth film. The plot of the film is as follows: a 15-year-old girl, Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), must rescue her younger brother, Toby. Toby was kidnapped by the Goblin King Jareth, who is portrayed by David Bowie himself.
Although the movie didn’t have the best theatrical run (it only made about $12.7 million in the U.S. compared to its $25 million budget), I’m excited to see it. I don’t know much about Bowie’s career, and this film sounds like it’ll be a good introduction.
Due to popularity, the film is now showing at the Michigan Theater, not the State Theater as was originally planned. Start time was moved 15 minutes later, so it will now begin at 7:15. All ticket purchases from the State will be honored at the Michigan Theater. Tickets are only $8 for students, so bring your UMID tomorrow night to the Michigan Theater if you want to check it out!
Sunday night I attended a screening of National Theater Live: Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at the Michigan Theater. People of varying ages found reasons to brave the cold on that chilly evening. The younger age group could be heard chattering excitedly about BBC’s “Sherlock” and expressing anticipation for seeing the TV series’ star, Benedict Cumberbatch, perform as Hamlet. The older crowd formed into their own groups, talking and occasionally bursting out in praise of “Shakespeare…” before the rest of their wisdom about the subject got lost in the babble. And there were college students, somewhere inbetween, drawn to the event because of its combination of all of the above. I arrived around 6:30 and in the next half hour the room continued to steadily fill, the noise growing in proportion to the increase in people.
The lights dimmed and there was a scramble to quickly get back into seats from the bathroom. We were first treated to an interview with Benedict Cumberbatch. During the interview, in which myself and the rest of the audience at the Michigan Theater laughed at his good natured jokes and anecdotes, Cumberbatch made a comment that was one of my largest take-aways from the evening. He referred to the “universality” of the play. This pre-show event also included following Cumberbatch to a school where children performed a section of the famous “to be or not to be” speech for him. Once again, this interaction speaks to the universal nature of the issues Hamlet faces. Anyone and everyone can relate to his situation; a fact that was mirrored in the diverse age range that made up the audience in the theater Sunday night.
(As I will not be summarizing the play here, I’ve provided a link to the Wikipedia page for the curious reader who would like to know more about the story or the history of the play in general: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet )
The first element to catch my attention was the set and the lighting. Hamlet’s castle was giant! The doorways and walls towered over the tiny actors the entire show. They seemed to be playing almost in a dollhouse. In fact, there was a toy motif that was prevalent throughout the show. As Hamlet feigns madness, he not only dons the garments of a toy soldier, but actually plays with a “miniature” castle (Cumberbatch could fit inside it easily but its size was small in comparison to the looming set) and life sized toy soldiers. The idea of toys and playthings became connected with Hamlet’s increasing distress.
The lighting throughout was beautiful! It allowed Hamlet’s house and its giant proportions to remain onstage the entire show, even for scenes that took place outside, all because the lighting guided our eyes. We felt we were outside. This is ingenious not only in its creativity (bringing outside indoors and vise versa) but it also allowed for seamless transitions from scene to scene. Both the set and the lighting create a mysterious mood that heightened the idea of the actors being toys in a game. This seemed to bring a greater emphasis on the idea of fate in the play.
We also saw the sense of place reflect the growing deterioration of the royal family and their household. Right before intermission, as Claudius states his final line, the entire stage was showered in what looked to be black confetti. Upon the opening of the second half, we see that the stage had been transformed: The dirt or ash that covered the entire stage was also heaped in the doorways. While it still irritates me that I am unsure whether this was supposed to be dirt or ash, the message was clear: The unclean house represented the growing uncleanliness of the royal family as they all delved deeper into murder and deception. The idea is amazing! I do wish, however, that it had been done in a way that any person watching would have known exactly what was being blown all around the stage. I spent precious time trying to figure that out instead of watching the actors.
Benedict Cumberbatch was at the center of this production from the beginning. NT Live encouraged this as well by making a special interview with him the first thing we saw. I am a big fan of his work, and “Hamlet” especially is a play that is carried by its leading character. Cumberbatch did not disappoint! His Hamlet focused a lot on the humor in the character. He acknowledged Hamlet’s sometimes bizarre nature, even when he was not faking madness. And that was what made this performance so amazing. Benedict Cumberbatch made you love Hamlet; when he started to act in questionable ways (ways that would make you despise Hamlet if he was portrayed by a lesser actor), the audience was still rooting for Hamlet until the very end.
Photo Credit: Johan Persson (Photo from UMS website)
Hamlet was never my favorite character because I always thought it was hard to be sympathetic towards him. He seemed to be handling everything so poorly right from the outset, how could it end any other way? But that opinion changed Sunday. That Hamlet was smart and trying his very best to make everything right: I honestly wanted him to come out on top, even though I knew the ending. Cumberbatch walked the line well between Hamlet faking madness and slowly, actually descending into a form of madness as his character became increasingly overwhelmed. As I watched Cumberbatch’s performance on Sunday night, one of the turning points for the character was his monologue where he calls himself “a coward” and “a villain”. The other was, of course, the “to be or not to be” speech. The simple fact that I can pinpoint those speeches as significant to the character makes Cumberbatch’s performance one to be remembered.
While Cumberbatch barely left the stage, he was supported by a cast of amazing talent. All cast members seemed to be in a constant emotional readiness and every reaction was believable. Of particular note was the character of Polonius, played by Jim Norton. Norton added new depth and humor to a character I had never given a great amount of thought to. But his portrayal was such, grabbing each moment and making it mean something, that he became my second favorite.
One of my other favorites in the performance was Sian Brooke, who played Ophelia. I had always strongly disliked the character of Ophelia because she is the trope of the stereotypical weak and distressed female. But in this production, Brooke gave her new agency. Or at least allowed me to see her in a new way. In this more contemporary version, Ophelia had a camera. She took pictures and she saw things. She liked Hamlet but was told to stay away from him. She was continually manipulated both verbally and physically by the men around her. She was often being grabbed and dragged somewhere by men who supposedly cared for her. It shed a new light on the patriarchal powers that surrounded her and how this, combined with the death of the father, eventually drove her to take her own life.
While watching a filmed version of a live theatrical performance is never the same as actually being there (and the act of seeing it through a film media changes some of the impressions), I thoroughly enjoyed my Sunday evening. It was a great show that offered something for everyone and helped to bring this story, now 400 years old, to a new audience!
