Tag: Ann Arbor

REVIEW: Michigan Pops Orchestra Concert “Tick Tock, It’s Pops O’Clock”

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*Photo of the conductor, Luca Antonucci, taken by @willzhang*

The Michigan Pops Orchestra concert “Tick Tock, It’s Pops O’Clock” had an impressive turnout despite being at the same time as the game, and there were many elderly people in the audience for an organization even students don’t know about. It was heartwarming to see the local community and the University come together.

The most memorable part of the concert for me is actually the opening piece: it began quietly and suspensefully before growing into a fascinating, powerful melody that really boasted how wonderful the acoustics in the Michigan Theater is. I normally attend orchestral performances in Hill Auditorium, which is renowned for its acoustics, but due to its sheer size, the music doesn’t reach the outer audience as well.

Another highlight was concertmaster Katie Sesi’s solo in Vivaldi’s Winter. I don’t know what to comment on her playing beside it being phenomenal. This will be the last semester Katie, who is also Executive Director, will be in Pops. Her speech was very bittersweet, and I’m glad she got to be featured in various ways like also being conductor.

How hard the students worked really showed in their performance: it was incredible how well-timed the OSTs and films were with each other, and I particularly enjoyed the scene in the Harry Potter film when Buckbeak, a dog, bites Malfoy by yawning. The audience’s offbeat clapping for the Victors was also hilarious.

Unfortunately, the singers’ voices didn’t project clearly, possibly because of the mics. The collaboration with the SMTD theater students was one of the pieces I was looking forward to the most, so that was rather disheartening.

Nevertheless, I still loved the event, and I look forward to what Pops will bring us in the future. 

Get it? Time theme? 😀

PREVIEW: The Muppet Christmas Carol

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I live under a rock. I’ve never seen the Muppets and don’t know much about them besides Kermit the frog being a meme. Luckily, the perfect chance for me to learn about them came up! On Sunday, December 18th, the Michigan Theater will be showing The Muppet Christmas Carol at 1:30 pm for free.

Some people may already be out of town, though, and it might be inconvenient timing since it’s during finals (if you have late finals, which…rip), but it might just be the Christmas cheer you need before getting back to grind time. At least that’s why I want to watch it. I need some happiness after finals.

I’m sick of Elf being the only Christmas movie that pops into my head too. I haven’t watched any Christmas movie musicals, so it’s time to expand my collection. I’ve heard good things about Michael Caine’s performance being funny, so that’s another aspect I look forward to.

Good luck with finals everybody, and I’m wishing you some Christmas cheer!

PREVIEW: Tokyo Godfathers

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This Friday, December 9th at 9:30 PM, the State Theatre will be showing Tokyo Godfathers, an animated Japanese film. I have no idea what this movie will be about, but I’ve heard many good things about it. I believe the State Theatre put on this film last year as well: I’m wondering what has made them show this anime annually, which gives me high hopes about its quality. I’m especially excited to watch it in a theater on the big screen.

I’m very happy that the showing will be in English sub. I personally prefer Japanese dub, since it’s closer to the creator’s message and nuances. I also like Japanese voice actors more. To each their own, though; if you like English dub, I’m sure there’s a version out there of this movie for you to watch.

Some predictions I have about what this movie will be like from the featured image would be it’s family-themed, will probably have comedy and tear-jerker moments (= good OSTs), and doesn’t take place in the modern day.

I’m excited to let you guys know my thoughts and opinions afterward!

PREVIEW: Michigan Pops Orchestra Concert “Tick Tock, It’s Pops O’Clock”

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This semester, the Michigan Pops Orchestra chose ‘Time’ as the concept for their concert, meaning the pieces they’ve selected have some kind of tie-in to that theme. On their instagram @michiganpops they’ve advertised OSTs from Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and Star Trek, as well as pieces from classical composers like Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. I’m assuming that they chose timeless classics (heh) that everybody has heard alongside other iconic soundtracks, so it’ll be music familiar to the audience. Full orchestral symphonies aren’t as commonly heard though, so it’ll still be a new experience for a crowd not as well-versed in classical music.

The Michigan Pops Orchestra is one of the only (perhaps the only) ensemble on campus that is completely student run. This allows the performers much more artistic freedom, so each one of their concerts is unique. One aspect of Pops that differs the most from other ensembles is their inclusion of skits and films; I’m not sure what the skits will be, but the films they’ve created will be playing during Jurassic Park and Harry Potter!

Everybody is welcome to attend their concert: K-12 students get free entry, Adults pay $9 per ticket, and University students get discounted tickets for $5.

Tickets will be sold in the Posting Wall at Mason Hall from November 28th to December 2nd and at this MUTO link: mutotix.umich.edu/3688

Don’t worry if you missed these dates, though, because tickets are also being sold AT THE DOOR the day of the concert on December 3rd at 7:00pm in the Michigan Theater.

REVIEW: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

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*There won’t be any spoilers… at least not intentionally*

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever definitely did not unfold as I expected it to. I didn’t think it’d be as good as the first Black Panther, but I’m pretty disappointed in the quality. Letitia Wright (Shuri) truly got to shine in this film and her performance was phenomenal. In my opinion, though, the plot still held back what she is capable of. I look forward to seeing her acting in other films for sure.

I mentioned in my preview that I was curious if the directors might use Wakanda Forever to start building toward a driving plot for the new generation of Marvel, but that didn’t happen at all. None of the other recent Marvel films I’ve seen so far have done that either, though, besides the latest Spider-Man, so I’m not upset with Wakanda Forever in that regard.

What upset me is the storytelling, pacing, and characterization.

I wanted to see how the creators would effectively work around the hole left behind by Chadwick Boseman’s death but the resolution they came up with was very flat. The opening scene was definitely exhilarating and emotional but the transition to the next scene was rather anticlimactic and there wasn’t much explanation provided. Whenever the topic came back up, there weren’t any additional details either as I hoped there would be.

This relates to the problem of pacing I mentioned before: after the initial drama, the rising action was very slow and tedious. I didn’t feel like there was a steady buildup and so once the climax hit we were bombarded with a lot of rushed action and character development, leading to an unsatisfactory falling action as well. Not only that, though; the initial premise for the conflict was pretty promising, but then the conflict itself was rather… interesting. A new character that I thought would be vital didn’t play as impactful as a role that the premise hyped her up for, either, which I found surprising. The ending scenes did somewhat tie back to the opening, but there were a lot of holes left in the plot, especially in regards to the passage of time, and ambiguity for what comes after.

Something I did really like about the plot though is the dynamic difference between Shuri and the elders. We already saw some tension between them in the first film, but it played a bigger role this time as a recurring theme. I think lots of young adults would be able to relate to generational differences, such as scientific vs. spiritual beliefs and progression vs. tradition. I wish they showed more scenes of them interacting.

Overall, it’s not a film I’d recommend for its quality. I also don’t think it’s essential to the Marvel Universe, and perhaps watching it might even take away from the impact that the first Black Panther had. I do think my review sounds rather harsh: I don’t actually hate the film, but it’s just disappointing and not something I’d watch again or recommend to others.

 

PREVIEW: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

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It’s been a long time since the first Black Panther film came out in 2018; the next film had already been teased at the end of the first movie, and after rewatching it two times I grew increasingly antsy about the release of Black Panther 2. I actually haven’t watched any of the movie trailers and I’ve done a pretty good darn job staying away from spoilers, so I’ll be going into the movie theaters completely blind.

The unfortunate passing of Chadwick Boseman has definitely left a huge hole in both the audience’s hearts and the plot itself. His phenomenal acting as T’challa was one of the highlights for me, and so I feel like the entire time I watch Wakanda Forever I’ll dearly miss him and his character. Although movies tend to take a few years to release anyway, I wonder how much his absence has affected the filming process and how the directors have decided to work around it.

So much has happened in the Marvel Universe with the main turning point being Avengers: Endgame. I’m curious to see how this new movie will drive the direction they will go now after the end of the first generation.