Category: Visual Arts

PREVIEW: Odesza @ The Blind Pig

Phillip Wachowiak

WHOA MUSIC!

Odesza is an electronic music group. Is it EDM you ask? Not quite. While they do have bangin’ tunes in their catalogue, Odesza’s brand of electronic music is more chill and you too can experience it: odesza.com

When: Wednesday, October 8 @ 9 PM

Where: Ann Arbor’s The Blind Pig

Cost: A $15 cover gets you access not only to Odesza, but TWO other groups

Caveat: As of this past weekend tickets are SOLD OUT online.

Since ticket availability is slimmer than an Apple iPhone release, you can join me in line waiting to get in so we can have the best Wednesday night experience since the Wolverines were a good football team.

Until then, check out one of their music videos and stay cool:

My Friend Never Die

 

REVIEW: The Maze Runner (Finally)

Phillip Wachowiak

I know this review comes weeks after the initial preview, and that you may have already seen or at least read about the movie. However, let me remind you that you most certainly did not see it this past Saturday night like I did.

Anyway, The Maze Runner lives up to its expectations as one of the many young adult dystopian movies that manages to sprint ahead of the pack. When you get down to it, the entire setting of the dilapidated, mysterious future under investigation is so formulaic its laughable. No matter what happens, you know the protagonist will gradually unearth more clues until the final confrontation that reveals all.

Luckily for the human race, we are easily entertained. Even better, the Maze Runner’s twists and turns (literally) provide no shortage of excitement. Set in a futuristic world, a group of young boys make a living for themselves trapped in the middle of a monolithic stone maze. Each night the maze closes to keep out the deadly mechanical “grievers” that patrol the walls outside. One day, a boy named Thomas arrives via a elevator shaft, and his entrance changes everything.

While I never understand why the human test subjects/tributes/athletes in these movies have to be young people, they add a certain youth to the film that simply doesn’t exist in similar action films such as Guardians of the Galaxy or X-Men. Many of the stunts these actors pull off are actually believable because they are young and limber. And trust me, there is much jumping and ducking and rolling in the maze.

It felt as though the filmmakers tried to make up for the (almost) all-male cast by making it more diverse. Although the main character is still white, there is a delightful melting pot of races to be had. My only caveat was that I did not see any hispanics in the film. Come on Hollywood! I don’t mention this out of simply being progressive, but it is distracting to see so many dystopian movies containing swathes of white faces.

One of the best parts about the film is the set design. Since the entirety of the film occurs in the maze, you can tell that the filmmakers went to great lengths to give character to the environment. As the film progresses we come to know the inner sanctum as the young boys do; we call it a home and share their view of the maze as the hostile outside. The maze itself, changing each night with ponderous groans, was a character itself. It stood in for the mysterious group controlling it, and sent forth the frightening “Grievers” from within. This is not a horror movie, but I was startling at several points.

Overall, The Maze Runner, is not a shining example of a dystopian movie, nor a coming of age film, but it’s a worthy view all the same. At the very least, you’ll have to catch it if you want to see the sequels.

Provider of some much-needed x chromosomes

REVIEW: Second City at the Ark

Phillip Wachowiak

If you weren’t one of the many people that packed the Ark Friday night, hopefully it is because you bought a ticket to Saturday’s show. If not, you may still have a chance to steal a ticket, or at the very least sneak in, because this show is not to be missed.

The typical set-up for all Second City shows is as follows: an even number of people in gender-balanced pairs (in this case, 6 people split into three men and three women). For the next two hours, this little comedy troupe puts on micro-skits, macro-skits, and improvisational comedy (including music!) for the audience to enjoy.

Although the gender equality was refreshing, the lack of diversity to offset the white cast led to much of the comedy being geared towards white suburban-class folks. Since this is Ann Arbor, I guess we can’t complain. Still, besides the occasional religious joke, the comedy focused on topics like quality education, gluten intolerance, and politics. Nothing on police brutality was mentioned, nor immigration, or anything about the Middle East save one joke in bad taste. Were they simply being respectful, or simply unable to come up with jokes in good taste?

One joke that stuck with me (along these lines): What is gluten intolerance? Something that upper middle class people have.

Let us not forget that these people are professionals. They have their skits and their tunes and their improv down to an art. At several points a cast member would ask the audience for objects, locations, or simply random words, and the rest of the cast would create an entire story out of that small premise. Just thinking about doing that on stage would make any mere human crumble–these people were grizzled veterans of the field.

It is always refreshing to see people unafraid to make mistakes or attempt to sing when they cannot sing. As the audience, we laugh along with them not only because of an executed joke, but because we also support their work. One cast member pranced around because he was half human-half Gargoyle. Not only were his antics hilarious, his acting was spot-on. I’m sure that’s what any half-Gargoyle youth would act…

My sole critique of the performance was the reliance on Ohio State Jokes. After spending three years in Ann Arbor attending the University of Michigan, I get it, people do not like OSU. Making a joke about Ohio becomes cheap and a way to make everyone laugh when you have run out of fresh comedy–this is why The Second City’s OSU jokes seemed a little stale. They heard or read in the news about the U of M — OSU Big Ten Rivalry so they made no less than THREE jokes about it. Come on guys, I already hear those jokes at least five times a week.

But disregard the last paragraph as the ramblings of an elderly man. Instead, see The Second City and become a happier person.

The Second City

PREVIEW: Second City Comes to the Ark

Phillip Wachowiak
Second City Logo

The Second City is an improv comedy group founded in Chicago. It has been a beginning for comedians ranging from Tina Fey (Mean Girls, 30 Rock) to Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report). Need I say more about this group’s ability to make people laugh?

When: The Ark, Friday 9/26 and Saturday 9/27 at 8 pm

Cost: If you show student ID, tickets are only $20! (At MUTO or the Ark)

Why: Exams coming up next week? Take a break from studying. Car broke down on the highway? Walk to the Ark and buy tickets to Second City. Disheartened that Michigan may have a losing football season? Nurse your pain with comedy tickets.

Finally, a video preview here: https://www.youtube.com/user/secondcity

Review: Pussy Riot comes to Ann Arbor

watsonsauce 3 Comments

1392727196000-pussy-riot
On Thursday 19 September 2014, The Michigan Theater Ann Arbor played host to two members of Russian activist group Pussy Riot. They spoke about their experience in Russian prison, their activism and some of their experiences in the US.

Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina have been traveling in the US this year performing and, more recently, speaking at Harvard and The University of Michigan about their new projects Zona Prava and MediaZona.

Zona Prava is an NGO aimed at providing support and human rights protection to individuals who “may be deprived of their liberty” in prisons and camps. Tolokonnikova and Alekhina spoke about the importance of education in the prison system as well as their own experience in the Russian prison system last year, which inspired them to establish this organization.

MideaZona is an independent news website aimed at countering the manipulative, censored and propagandistic flow of information released by Russian media. The website was launched on the 4th of September.

Tolokonnikova and Alekhina are well spoken and passionate about the ideals that drive their outrage and passions. They expressed their appreciation for the openness and accessibility of the American prison system, contrasted with the rigidity and complete inaccessibility in Russia.

The moderator asked about their thoughts about the overlap between activism, music and art to which they aptly responded that there is often no difference between the two. They spoke of the London graffiti scene and of course the international punk movement.

Tolokonnikova spoke about the importance of the voice of the people in a government system and how the corruption of Russian President Vladimir Putin has limited any possibility of this kind of social exchange. She did not respond to the inquiry about what kind of change she envisioned or if she was in fact an anarchist.

Tolokonnikova and Alekhina have been asked whether they would consider going into Russian politics. They replied that they are more interested in establishing grass roots, community based movements to create change instead of working through a centralized, and in the case of Russia, highly corrupt political system.

 

Having these two accidental celebrities come to Ann Arbor and speak about the work they have done, their experience living under a totalitarian regime, the country they live in and their continued efforts to bring about change in Russia, was very important.

Due to the history between Russia and the United States so much information has been skewed by political opinion and nationalistic pride. Although Pussy Riot is a specific, radical activist group, which is by no means representative of the greater Russian population, hearing the voices of two strong women speaking about their pride in being a Russian citizen despite all the injustices occurring in their country was very inspiring.

crime-and-punishment-pussy-riots

 

On the more critical side – The moderator of the discussion was disappointing. Her questions seemed uninspired and occasionally irrelevant to the experience and expertise of Tolokonnikova and Alekhina. It is also a question whether or not the message from Pussy Riot effectively translates to the United States.

 

Thanks to Michigan Radio, The Michigan Theater, U of M School of Art and Design, WCBN and of course Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina.

 

For more information about the Penny W. Stamp Speakers Series line up for this year click on this Link.

PREVIEW: The Maze Runner

Phillip Wachowiak
The Maze Runner

You’ve probably of James Dashner’s best-selling book The Maze Runner, or even the other books in the trilogy (technically, a quadrilogy). Set in a post-apocalyptic future where a group of young boys live in a maze and long to escape…

It’s a simple premise, but aren’t most dystopian stories deceptively simple? (cough, cough, Hunger Games).

Where: The Maze Runner is playing at both Rave Cinemas & Quality 16 Cinemas

Cost: $10 for evening shows, cheaper for matinees.

When: The movie just opened so it will be around for at least a couple of weeks

You can view the trailer here