REVIEW: Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo

Shannon Z 1 Comment

From its “glowing reviews” and advertisements, the Detroit Zoo promised that its annual, 29 day ‘Wild Lights’ show would be nothing short of 5 million LED lights worth of pure holiday exuberance. After attending this past Saturday, I can partially attest to that – the experience of strolling through large-scale LED animal sculptures and holiday-themed decor, supplemented by several regularly operating animal exhibitions, was wholly conducive to the family-oriented ambience the Zoo stresses with most of its events. The Wild Lights show boasted a meticulously illuminated total of 280 sculptures, 230 of which were animal-shaped, positioned for prime group photo opportunities throughout the front half of the zoo.

Upon entering, visitors were greeted with trees brightened by monochrome string lights and an equally eye-catching wildlife sequence played continuously on a large screen. Though blatantly drawing upon your typical holiday motifs, like the giant walk-in holiday ornament and bright green Christmas tree displays, the Zoo also had a couple of outlier light displays. These included a lavender-colored spiderweb, its stiffly perching spider that resembled a taco shell holder, and other refreshing oddities like a sneaky ‘polar bear’ ready to attack a beehive. Though initially underwhelmed by the filler trees’ clashing, garish colors, I was eventually won over by more dynamic displays like the little hummingbird whose wings seemed to flap up and down through an alternating light trick, and branches that seemed to rain light on passerby.

Outside of their Wild Lights event, the Detroit Zoo prides itself upon the 140 pieces that constitute its Fine Art Collection that “…showcase humanity’s relationship to animals and inspire a passion and interest in the natural world”. This and the other artworks I was able to view during the event emphasized the Detroit Zoo’s nationally prominent focus on conservation efforts, animal welfare, and the release/reestablishment of endangered species. Even so, I found it ironic that the statement ‘All Animals Are Important’ was displayed in the North American River Otter Exhibit, within steps of a hot dog stand.

Personally, the most visually stunning bodies of work I encountered were the softly lit, geometric sculptures positioned around the perimeter of other LED lit sculptures. Visitors are invited to gently spin the works, and as they do so, the piece’s inner light seems to shift and refract off of each intricately carved, triangular panel. Each hanging sculpture was similar in overall structure to the next but unique in their repetitive, fractal-like carved patterns; I thought this was the most elegant presentation at the Wild Lights Event.

If you’d like to brighten up your day (or night), make sure to go experience this marvelous walk-through light show, preferably with a warm group of people you find tolerable to maximize the aesthetic photo-taking opportunities. Unless they sell out beforehand, you’ll be able to buy tickets online until January 5, 2020 for the multiple showtimes they have available.

 

REVIEW: Elf

Lucy Leave a comment

What a nostalgic favorite! I hadn’t seen this movie since I was a kid, but it still made me laugh and feel good just as much as the first time I saw it. I think this time around, though, I noticed a lot more than I did as a kid, both about the actors, the storyline, and other more subtle aspects.

Will Ferrell is still hilarious, as he always is. But this time, I really noticed his acting skills and timing a lot more than I had appreciated it before. He is so good at being awkward in a funny way that just rests on the edge of being unwatchably cringy, which is very impressive. His character is difficult to play, because he is supposed to be a person who is trying only to be nice but manages to insult many people. Ferrell is quite good at saying not very nice things in the nicest way. When he calls Miles Finch, (the writer called into his dad’s office for help) an elf, we can see how insulted he is. But Ferrell makes it absolutely clear that Buddy, his character, does not mean it in an unkind way at all. Ferrell also is good at making his lines sound fresh and original. For example, when he sings (both in his dad’s office and in the store), it absolutely sounds just made up on the spot, despite being an actual part of the movie.

I also love that the focus of the storyline is not actually Christmas itself, but what the holiday season is supposed to represent- feeling loved with your family or chosen family. The movie does end with Santa needing the Christmas spirit to make his sleigh work, but that is not a focus or a main plot line until the very end. The actual point of the movie is to show that love is real and abundant, even if it is not there at first or not obvious. That is a wonderful message to send across.

There were also some things that I definitely did not notice the first time around, like how it is kind of creepy the way Buddy would not leave Jovie alone at first, even though he really did not have malicious intentions. I also did not realize that was Zooey Deschanel with blonde hair! I also noticed this time the cool perspective work they did to make all the elves look so much shorter than Buddy, despite the fact that they were regular-sized people. I was looking closely when someone was standing behind Buddy, patting him on the back, and I could really tell that he must have been far away, because his hand did not look like it reached Buddy at all. However they hid it very well, because that was the first time I had even thought about this idea. Also, when Buddy is sitting on his elf-father’s lap, there must have been a different set of legs directly under him, and the actual actor playing his father was sitting much further back which was a very cool effect! I definitely had not noticed this as a kid at all.

This movie definitely gets my star of approval, for its humor, clever filming, and the overall fuzzy feeling of love it projects. A great movie to curl up on the couch and watch with some hot chocolate and a blanket during the holiday season, for sure.

REVIEW: Honey Boy

Angela Gosselin Leave a comment

Honey Boy stunned me. Quite honestly, after walking out of the theater, I was dazed and reflective and really grateful to have experienced this film. I had a lot of mixed thoughts on this movie, and so I suppose I’ll give sorting them a try.

 

Firstly, it has to be recognized that this movie is just upsetting. It’s a sad movie and the wisps of hope and joy found throughout the film seem to only amplify the grand sadness underscoring everything. When looking into just how autobiographical this screenplay is for LaBeouf, one finds this film to be (sorry that all the critics are saying this but it’s just true) a large act of therapy and coping. The meta references to this film being made within the work itself combined with the jarring real-life photos of Shia and his family at the end credits point towards an attempt by LaBeouf to lay everything out, place it together, and try to make sense of how he got to where he is. The fact that LaBeouf plays the character reflecting his father adds to the coping going on as you can see him working to access his father’s head space. This performance, along with truly all others in the film, was arresting and touching. (To be honest, I’ve always been really skeptical of Lucas Hedges’ work but I feel like he really inhabits a different life in this movie.)  LaBeouf’s time on screen specifically transcended the plot as one watches reality and art intertwine and speak to each other.

 

 

This leads me to the conflicting thoughts that grew out of this experience: when can we get gritty and touching movies of trauma that extend beyond white men? Of course, this is when I lose a big group of people as apparently pointing this out is now a cliché or punchline or something, but I can’t help but wonder how many more stories we have of women and people of color’s struggles and how they deserve an outlet and audience like Honey Boy. Obviously beautiful movies like that are being made, but I guess I just feel this movie got a much more understanding audience compared to films that are “Oscar bait” because they’re representing the struggles that a white American audience doesn’t want to engage with. It doesn’t help in this case as FKA Twigs’ character, one of the only central female characters, is an unnamed prostitute that simply serves as a newfound mother figure (verging on an uncomfortable sexual role) to protagonist Otis. Or that in general the only women in this film are either mother figures, therapists, or strippers. This choice may help in understanding the molding of Otis’ worldview but also… “Shy Girl” at least deserved a name. This take deserves a lot more nuance but I wanted to bring up something that crossed my mind while sitting in the theater.

 

Honey Boy deserves a (critical) watch as it is well made, touching, and speaks to the celebrity culture of the past few decades in terms of its plot as well as its conception and execution.

 

PREVIEW: Waves

Angela Gosselin Leave a comment

Waves is a film of a suburban African-American family coping with the various things life throws at them. Coming from director Trey Edward Shults, known for It Comes at Night. It will surely be interesting to see how a horror director takes on a drama like this one, especially one set in a sticky Floridian climate. Simply looking at the trailer, it’s evident that the cinematography was handled with care–we’ll see how that coincides with the plot and performances!

 

Student tickets are $8.50, stop by the State and catch up on all the great movies coming out this month.

Preview: Elf

Lucy Leave a comment

Ahh, the season of Christmas movies. Elf is a truly classic (and hilarious) movie about one elf who doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the North Pole. Trying to find his real father, he travels to New York, in full elf uniform and with no idea how the real world works. The movie follows him as he finds his father (who is nothing like him) and causes chaos wherever he goes, all surrounded by the theme of Christmas.

This movie is playing for free at the Michigan Theater auditorium tomorrow, Sunday 12/15 at 1:30 pm. I love this iconic Christmas movie, and it always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Bring your family and friends to this holiday quintessential!

Link to the Michigan Theater website: https://www.michtheater.org/show/elf/

REVIEW: 58 Greene Presents: Greenie Night Live

Emma Pinchak Leave a comment

 

While several other a cappella groups performed last weekend, 58 Greene was the only one that mattered.

EnCore performing.

Now I guess I might be a little biased given I know and would die for Teddi Reynolds, one of the members of the group, but by the audience’s hoots and hollers throught the night I think it can be said they were also objectively good. Paired with two fabulous dancing groups (EnCore and FunKtion), the performance was smooth and stylish and properly varied. The song selections were a bit conservative, tending towards the classic, softer side, but that was nice. Flashy, chorerography-heavy performance is clearly not their style. In most of their songs they stand in a group, moving rhythmically, but not dancing. Instead they prefer to let their lyrical power enthrall the crowd. Not exactly reminscent of Pitch Perfect, but that is an unreasonable expectation for groups of all styles.

My only real critique of the performance is the lack of understanding some of the members have about their vocal range. While Scott McMillan’s performance of “Slow Dancing in the Dark” was wonderfully sweet and rich in tone, he had trouble reaching some of the high notes. I would have loved to hear him perform the song with pitch adjustments to better fit his range, or another song entirely. A few others had this problem in some spots, particularly with the higher pitches. While it is great to showcase one’s range, it is more important to focus on emphasizing the tones that come naturally. I could not begin to estimate the number of men I’ve heard singing in a falsetto voice when they definitely should not.

I was supremely impressed with the variety of voices within the group, from Danny Kim’s soft, soft high tones to Sarah Kleppe’s perfect mixing with Desirae Nelson’s voice in their “No Peace” duet. Teddi Reynolds and Rikvah Levine both gave me the shivers with their soulful selections. There were voices deep and high, singing like the soft wind and like the crashing sea. 58 Greene must have an awfully harsh audition process, given how talented their members are. Despite this assumption, for a flash of a second at the end I had a vision of joining the group myself. Then I remembered my non-speaking role in the eighth grade production of Mulan (I was the cricket) and promptly forgot this dream.

If you are more talented than I in the vocal arts, do try your hand at auditioning for the group. They are having winter auditions for Bass and Tenor parts on January 10th, 6-10pm in room 1405 of East Quad. Break a leg!