PREVIEW: Into the Spider-Verse

Fareah Fysudeen Leave a comment

Winner of a recent Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film and the object of praise of critics everywhere, Into the Spider-Verse is now considered one of the best animated films– and one of the best Spiderman movies yet. The plot follows teanager Miles Morales growing up in New York City when he gets bitten by a radioactive spider and develops the powers of Spiderman. A tear in the dimensions of spacetime reveals many others who possess the same powers, and they have to work together to mend the tear. With an incredible soundtrack and breathtaking animation that breathes life into the comic style, Into the Spider-Verse is a must-see movie for the new year. Showing in most movie theatres (nearest to campus is
Rave Cinemas Ann Arbor 20 + IMAX).

REVIEW: Vox Lux

Angela Lin Leave a comment

Vox Lux opens in 1999 to a chilling and graphic school shooting. Celeste is eerily calm and frozen after she watches her music teacher get shot and tries talking to the shooter and offering to pray with him before he opens fire on his classmates in the corner. Though severely injured, Celeste survives and performs at the memorial service with a song that becomes the world’s healing, or glorifying, anthem. Before she knows it, she’s in recording sessions, dance lessons, and traveling the world with the older sister she is really close with and her manager, a stone-cold Jude Law. They explore Europe as her pop career grows, and on the day of 9/11, she sleeps with a rock musician and Ellie sleeps with the manager. As a rift grows between Celeste and Ellie as a result, the narrator claims that Celeste and the world lost their innocence that day, though I would argue Celeste’s innocence was gone the day she was a survivor in a school shooting.

The second chapter features Natalie Portman as a grown-up Celeste, a narcissistic pop diva that loves and despises the attention showered on her. She has a daughter, apparently from a hookup with that rock musician when she was a teenager, even though that scene when she “loses her innocence” was unclear. Having Raffey Cassidy play Celeste in the first chapter and celeste’s daughter in the second was an interesting bold choice, since it was a reminder that the future is very much crafted by the past. A recent terrorist attack across the world made a connection to Celeste by using her famed glittered masks in the attack, though the reason why was never established. In this chapter, Celeste navigates being a mother, exploding when she finds out her daughter had sex, while struggling as an artist making a comeback, giving interviews and press releases the day of her big show back in her hometown. She’s also busy hating her sister, showing just how much their relationship has changed.

After being high and having a massive breakdown in her dressing room, Celeste appears onstage flawless and ready to perform. No one would have guessed she was crying about wanting to be on the top and how mean people could be just minutes before. The concert scene at the end lasted longer than it needed to, and the final lines by the narrator didn’t seem to provide any resolution, just simply claiming how Celeste sold her soul to the devil after she was shot. There is no feel-good ending, just a dark reality about a self-pitying pop star in a world of violence.

Unfortunately, there were many problems with the directing and content of this movie. The strobe lighting and sped-up scenes caused headaches, which I personally found annoying. Their trip to Stockholm was a literal blur, which is probably how it seemed to Celeste and her rise to fame. The painfully screeching score in the first chapter, such as during the ambulance ride behind the opening credits, contrasts sharply with the pop music, which wasn’t catchy even though it was written by Sia, that dominates Celeste’s concert. There never seemed to be a connection between Celeste and Ellie, so their supposed-inseparable childhood and tense relationship in adulthood was hard to believe. The movie did show the pressures of celebrity life, especially if it’s crafted in childhood, and there was also a large emphasis on gun violence, which was important given the state of today’s society. While it implied that there was a relationship between fame and violence, both in the spotlight and also feeding off one another, Vox Lux does not offer much else. None of the characters were likeable, and Celete’s story was not gripping, just tragic in many aspects.

REVIEW: Paul Rand: The Designer’s Task (UMMA Exhibition)

JM Leave a comment

I’ve had a sort of casual interest in graphic design for a while, and so naturally, I was interested in the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s (UMMA) exhibition featuring graphic designer Paul Rand, entitled Paul Rand: The Designer’s Task.

If you’re anything like me, however, you probably have never heard of Paul Rand before. With a small amount of research, though, you’ll likely find that you’ve encountered his designs many times in the form of the logos of companies like the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), UPS, or IBM. Furthermore, you’ve probably seen these logos a hundred times without giving them a second thought, but you could probably also recognize them instantly. I know this is true for me. However, The Designer’s Task offers a window into intentional graphic design, and how Paul Rand came to create his clean, minimalist, and recognizable designs.

On the introductory sign for the exhibition, it is noted that for Rand, “visual communication of any kind…should be seen as the embodiment of form and function: the integration of the beautiful and the useful.” Additionally, he is credited with bringing “the concept of corporate identity into the mainstream during a period of rapid economic expansion in the United States after World War II.” As I took in Paul Rand’s work, these words made me think about, as is appropriate given the exhibition’s title, the task of a designer. Although you probably don’t have the ABC logo framed on your wall, graphic design is functional art with a very specific purpose. Perhaps it is a sign of excellent graphic design that the mention of UPS will subconsciously bring the company’s logo to mind, even though we don’t usually think about it overtly.

As a musician, one of my favorite pieces of Rand’s work featured in the exhibition was his portrait of 20th century Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, “designed for a 1956 edition of the composer’s critical test Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons.” When I first looked at the portrait, before I had read the accompanying description of it, I saw black dots arranged in the shape of a face. Looking at it further, I noticed that the dots were superimposed on the repeated five-line pattern of music staff paper (something I have spent a lot of time looking at and writing on in my own music theory classes!). Finally, I realized that the black dots were on the staff such that they resembled musical notes! The design was simple, but somehow it occurred to me as genius. All the layers of meaning emphasizing the design’s purpose (the cover of a famous composer’s writings on music) in a way that had to have been meticulously planned.

The exhibition, although relatively small, featured various posters, book covers, and corporate booklets showcasing Paul Rand’s designs. Perhaps most interesting were the few scraps of paper with sketches of the initial stages of some of his designs. It did not disappoint, and I would recommend it if you are interested in learning more about graphic design and this form of functional and ultimately accessible art that we encounter every day!

REVIEW: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Angela Lin 1 Comment

“Can you ever forgive me?” writes Dorothy Parker in a letter. Except Dorothy Parker never wrote those words. Instead, Lee Israel, struggling author, forges those titular words. Lee is a character I highly admired and related to on a basic level. She didn’t like to socialize with other writers, and she refused to compromise her voice and preferred genre, namely autobiographies, for the material people want to read. As she is struggling to find money for rent and for a vet visit for her cat, Jersey, Lee comes across original manuscripts hidden in a book while doing research for the autobiography about Fanny Brice that she is determined to write. This begins her criminal lifestyle of forging literary letters, demonstrating the prestige of antique bookstores. As she increases the frequency of her sells, as well as her asking price, she adjusts to this life of comfort that money, and her companionship with lonely yet likable grifter Jack Hock, provide. As buyers and collectors grow more aware of these forgeries, Lee ups the ante by actually stealing original manuscripts to sell.

As you watch Lee and Jack’s endeavors, you get caught up in the intensity of it all, despite knowing they will eventually get caught, which is a testament to the directing of the movie and the captivating acting by Melissa McCarthy. McCarthy delivers a performance perfect for Lee’s character, her biting wit and cranky passion exuding out of McCarthy. It is hard not to feel for Lee’s overflowing pride in the forgeries, which she makes clear after she is arrested and brought to court.

I thought the musical score for the movie was extremely pretty. There were a couple scenes where the orchestral music was all that was playing, intensifying in volume and in beauty as Lee was surrounded by manuscripts and books. One thing I particularly appreciated about the movie was that a big deal was never made about the characters’ sexuality. This took place in 1991, yet this was accepted with normal ease. However, I was left kind of frustrated that the storyline with Anna, a bookseller she had a connection with, was never resolved, but I think that’s also pretty realistic of real life. There is not always a happy ending, and some actions cause too much harm to be simply mended.

The connection between Lee and Jack was touching, as Jack understood Lee and provided her with the companionship she desperately needed. However, his character was bound to hurt Lee, and the pain from his act of carelessness was beyond incomprehensible. The saddest moment of the movie involved Jersey. In a way, that important scene was the most human, showing how lonely Lee truly was in the world.

The final scene between the Lee and Jack, and Lee’s parting comment about how she wanted to trip him as he was leaving, was bittersweet and perfect. While this duo lacks morals, they embrace that and their complimenting scathing conscience, and the film attempts to humanize their wrongs by pointing to all the nuances of their self-awareness. We don’t leave the theater feeling sorry for the characters; rather, we feel emboldened by the brash stubbornness they lived by every day, in sickness and in crime. Can You Ever Forgive Me? was a brilliant movie as Lee embraced her individuality and lived even as she perfected the voice of others and brought their legacy back alive.

REVIEW: Joyce DiDonato and Yannick Nezet-Seguin

Ronald McTrump 4 Comments

This opera performance was entirely songs from Schubert’s Winterreise, so the general feeling of the performance was depressing and solemn. Joyce’s face during the whole performance looked full of grief and sorrow. Even songs with an angrier sound, Joyce would lean on the piano as if her body was weak from depression.  Joyce also held a book the entire performance, I believe this was her song sheet, but having it look like a book made her feel more isolated and that she was singing in solitude.

There were English lyrics on the screen above Joyce because all the songs were sung in German, but I tried my best to not look at the subtitles to get the most authentic experience. Because there was no story, it was only opera songs not a full opera performance, knowing what was being said was unimportant. I don’t speak any German, but the sounds I heard the most often were “sh” “dot” and light tongue rolling. I also heard a lot of harsh cut-offs after consonants. I imagine that this is a close sound to American opera.

This performance didn’t have many big opera notes, the kind we think of when imaging an opera. There was no coloratura, just soft slow notes in harmony with a piano. I was surprised by how often the piano mimicked Joyce by playing the same notes she was singing but in a lower key. This showed us how powerful Joyce’s voice is, as the piano would accompany her until she would start singing notes that were too high and strong for the piano to imitate.

For an opera performance, the piano had an extremely important role because of the balance between the piano and Joyce’s voice in every song. The piano would have to get loud and quiet in sync with Joyce which would happen suddenly. The loudness of the piano was so important, and the jumping between loud and quiet notes had to be precisely done. I believe this is why Joyce was accompanied by such a famous pianist. He made every transition sound so smooth.

My favorite songs of the night were Will-o’-the-wisp and Phantom Suns. Both these songs were very slow with minimal piano playing. The slow build-ups of the songs were performed wonderfully by Joyce. Will-o’-the-wisp in particular had a poetic sound to the lyrics.

I thought the end was fitting as there was a quiet standing ovation as Joyce walked around hugging Yannick.

REVIEW: Paul Rand: The Designer’s Task

Emma Pinchak Leave a comment

If you’re anything like me, art is confusing. It seems to display some specific idea that should be obvious, hidden only to those too uninspired to see it. As I wandered through the UMMA looking for the Paul Rand exhibit, looking conspicuously un-artsy in my Ugg boots, I came across so many pieces that I was unable to understand. There was the marble sphere with circular concavities carved into it (representing giving birth, the sign told me), a giant monochrome canvas with a single stripe of other colors (I think this one was called “Untitled”), an enormous painted fabric sheet haphazardly hung on the wall (something to do with feminism in 1960s art). By the time I got to the exhibit I’d come to see, I was more than a little intimidated by everything around me that I couldn’t really understand.

Once I made my way over to the Rand exhibit, I began to feel less out of place. The showcase featured some of his design work from the 1930s to the 90s, including designs for various corporations like IBM and NeXT, as well as book covers and unrelated pieces. This art is accessible to anyone, appealing only to the eye’s love for simplicity and clean lines.

       

Rand’s work is characterized by his fondness for bold colors and shapes, not shying away from either clashing hues nor unbalanced compositions. While the restrictions of working in two dimensions tempts many artists to strive for some three-dimensional elements, Rand instead embraces his chosen mediums, not even adding any shading. His penchant for keeping his work strictly graphic is what makes his style so distinguishable; he lived without adhering to the classical rules of art.

Beyond the finished and published pieces, the exhibit also included pages of doodles and work that has remained largely unknown. These are my favorite parts to a collection; it shows the personality and creativity of an artist beyond what the public’s impression of them is. Most showcased work of late artists is distorted by a popularity contest put on by the viewers; we see only the public piece of an artist, missing out on the earlier works, or half-finished pieces, or the more experimental phases in their life. Complete artist profiles like this exhibit are necessary for better understanding their procession through artistic expression and exploration.

                    

The only additional thing I would have liked in the exhibit is a bit more of a biography, maybe a picture of Rand drawing at his desk, even earlier doodles, something saved from his childhood. This would add to the personal feeling of the exhibit. Overall, though, it was put together well, and works as a fine addition to the UMMA.

For information on current and future UMMA exhibits, check out www.umma.umich.edu/exhibitions.