Tag: Michigan theater

PREVIEW: Ann Arbor Film Festival

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Ann Arbor Film Festival

The Film Fest is my absolutely favorite Ann Arbor event of the year. Every March since high school, I have visited the town during this celebrated week of film, friendly competition, and finest art. If you are trying to get your daily Starbucks this week and find that the line from the Michigan Theater is out the door and down the block, don’t panic. It’s just Ann Arbor voyeurs trying to get their art film kick!

With shorts, documentaries, animated’s, feature lengths, panels, lectures, opening receptions, after parties, juries, and more, the Film Fest takes over the the entire town in its revelry. From Tuesday, March 19th to Sunday March 24th, the Michigan Theater will host all the screenings of the festival. Restaurants like Sava’s, The Raven’s Club, The Bar, Arbor Brewing Co. and more will host the after-screenings. Tickets run at $7 for students and showtimes happen all day long. So if you are just catching a flick between classes, thats ok! With its range of genres and highly acclaimed status in the industry, this festival is not to be missed.

Click here for a full schedule of the lineup. Enjoy the show, and definitely see you there!

Review: Band of Horses… Horses… Horses

watsonsauce

My friend and I arrive at The Michigan Theater with plenty of time to spare. After some shawarma and a couple of cigarettes we went to our seats in the balcony, which had a great view of the stage if you ignored the large piping which i can only assume is there for safety purposes.

The Opening act for Band of Horses was really quite awful. They never told the audience their name, other than “Jason and Lyonel,” their sound was melancholic but with an amateur sound I kept wondering if I was in middle school, in some friend of a friend’s garage listening to their “indi” sound. The lyrics were forcefully quirky, despite their use of pre-recorded keyboard beats, there was little to follow in the music which was mostly made up of power chords. Interesting choice for an opening act.

After another cigarette and some mindless chatter with strangers and some friends who showed up, Band of Horses started. I’ve always been impressed with their sound but was completely unprepared for the excellence that is their live performance.

Their lighting designer deserves a metal for not being too obnoxious but creating a colorful ambiance to accompany the narrative lyrics, epic guitar, organ and amazing drumming. They had some beautiful images projected on the back wall of the stage through out the show that created some really interesting shadows and really added to the whole effect of this band and their music.

Unfortunately people were comfortably seated with their popcorn and beer so there was little dancing initially. However, after the first couple song my friends and I stood in the back of the theater to thrash our little hearts out. There was a moment where the stage lights illuminated our position and we got a “wave out” from the band! a great moment.

The drums were much heavier live than they come across on the album, which i must say i prefer. Over-all i enjoyed their live performance more than their recorded music, which I already love. Out of all the concerts, big and small, I have seen over the years (first one, 2000 TRL tour with Destiny’s Child) this show is ranking number one!

If you ever have a chance to see a band you love perform live, go. Seeing how they hold up under the pressure of immediate success/ failure is always interesting and illuminating.

By the last couple of songs there were people flocking to the stage and those of us in the balcony were standing and jammin. Fantastic performance and show of enthusiasm and appreciation from the fans.

PREVIEW: Band of Horses… and horses and horses

watsonsauce 1 Comment

Monday December 3
Michigan Theater
7:30pm
$32.50 (seats still available.) Buy tickets by calling 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com.

Band of horses:

From Seattle. This lovely band has a folky, indi-rock sound. their percussion and melody combine quite beautifully to crate a spectacular and enjoyable sound. They are similar to the Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, The Shins and the National.

http://www.bandofhorses.com/us/home

REVIEW: Detropia

nina.j

DETROPIA

Detropia was screened last week at the Michigan Theater as a part of the semester series Motor City Movies: Discovering Detroit. There was a lot of buzz the film around town so naturally it peaked my curiosity. I went with three girls from my English class who all left feeling riled up by the portrayal of the city. The story covered several different characters who are struggling to live vibrantly through Detroit’s struggling state of affairs. A video blogger, a politician, a bar owner, a pair of hipsters, a union organizer are all cast as themselves in the tale of this ‘crumbling’ city.

From a cinematographic stand point, the documentary was beautifully shot, carefully organized, and visually intriguing. It revealed a colorful exposé of an urban landscape brushing up against decay and the simultaneous resurgence of nature in the form of fields and wild weeds. Furthermore, it high lighted aspects of the city that are integral and historic, like the Detroit Opera House and the Automobile Show. Yet while the picture was well crafted,  it lacked a lot of content that would otherwise make it more…accurate. For example, there were no Hispanic people featured and there is a long history of native Spanish speakers living in Detroit. Also, many of the African-American characters seemed to be parodies of themselves, caricatures even. This was part of the controversy that many viewers felt upon watching the film.

I agree that the directors missed the mark on many story lines that exist in and define Detroit. Perhaps they even perpetuated Detroits demarcated name by portraying it as a failed city. At the same time, I don’t feel personally critical  because I thought the documentary was a tightly knit and well worth my time simply because it was  a true piece of visual art.

Just before watching, I listened in on the first half of the ‘Detropia Panel’ in Angell Hall, hosted by Semester in Detroit. I left feeling the general consensus was that native Detroiters felt offended by the portrayal of the city whereas outsiders felt curious about the strife, or positively moved by the story line. Questions were raised about who this film was intended for and if the location of its screening altered its message in any way. One of the strongest criticisms was that the film ignored community organizations, non-profits, and other group efforts to revitalize the city that are alive, inspired, and current. This defiant voice was carried by students who participated in active internships as part of Semester in Detroit last year.

One of these grassroots orgs, for example, is a group of six U of M alums who graduated last spring and moved downtown to form a small company called Wedge Detroit. On Saturday September 22, they group broke a world record by hosting a four mile long hopscotch course as part of the Detroit Design Festival. The event saw huge success and celebrated the urban vitality that organizations are trying to re-inject into the city.

Ellen Rutt, TJ, Ajooni Sethi, James, Dylan Box, Laura Willming, Marissa, and Flaco at Hopscotch Detroit.

Get inspired and check out info about Hopscotch Detroit. They are proof that  Detropia did, indeed, gloss over the part about young people organizing their energy for the good of the city. For more about the film, check out the Detropia website and Facebook page or to see an interview with directors Rachel Grading and Heidi Ewing, click here.

REVIEW: Pina

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The Oscars happened last Sunday and The Artist was a sweep. But this time next year, look out for the film Pina. See it in theaters now, remember it when awards season rolls around in a year. This spectacle is bound to be a hit.

Based on the life and work of German choreographer Pina Bausch, this 3-D film mixes an explosive combination of mediums: film, dance, choreography, set design, music, sound, lighting, language, graphics, special effects, cinematography. A sensational splendor.

Pina’s work in modern dance escalated in the 1970’s and continues to be influential today. Her role as a director is most prominent in Tanztheater, which translates to “dance theater.” She spearheaded a company in Germany by the same name, though throughout her career she worked with the gamut of cross-continental dance fame. In Tanztheater, Pina created celebrated pieces such as Rite of Spring (1975), and Café Müller (1978). Both are exemplary of her outrageous style: in the former, dancers move about on stage completely covered in soil and in the latter, they aggressively crash into chairs and tables on a café set. Both are reenacted beautifully in the film.

Image from Café Müller

Image from Rite of Spring

So thats the overview of who Pina is: a creative, expressive, and innovative movement artist. And now about this crazy movie that she inspired: Oscar-nominated film maker Wim Wenders has been a fan of Pina since the 80’s and decided to document her work in action. His crew followed hers long before the project took off, building artistic relationships between those in front and behind the camera. Unfortunately, days  before the shooting began, Pina died unexpectedly of a sudden cancer. The fim, therefore, began a tribute to her life more than just a portrayal or her work ethic.

The sets incorporated a wild combination of elements. Here, I mean earth elements: dirt, mountains, water, plant life. Some performances were filmed on a traditional stage, while others sought peculiar venues like rooftops, subway trains, swimming pool decks, or glass paneled houses in the woods.

The dance numbers were performed by professionals from Pina’s company. Their segments were separated by close- ups combined with voice overs in the variety of languages spoken by the worldly crew: Spanish, French, German, Portugese, Japanese, Chinese, English, and more. They talked of Pina as a guiding artist and all that her ingenuity and freedom of expression taught them about themselves, their bodies, and their work.

Counter to the common conception of dancers as always youthful, these workers ranged vastly in their ages. I found this point to be very curious. It spoke to the life long development of artists and how they become enriched as they ripen in their craft. Their ages may be have been evident on their skin, but the astounding strength and nimbleness of the dancer’s bodies far from gave them away. In fact, there was one piece in which dancers of various eras of life were dressed in identical outfits, confusing the audience about who was who. It was a number that could only have been performed for screen dance. I don’t see how this switching of characters could be performed live without the trickery of editing.

I asked my cousin, who works as a professional ballet dancer for the Boston City Ballet, his opinion on the work. “I thought it was beautiful,” he said. “She’s so unique in her choreography.”

And I agree! Watching Pina was one of the most visually pleasing experiences I have had in a long time.It was creative, stunning, marvelous, and inspirational beyond belief. I would feel badly for anyone who misses the opportunity to experience it.

Hurry up and see it! I’m serious, this was a very powerful artistic undertaking. The documentary has already swept up  The European Film Awards and German Film Awards, as well as receiving nominations or Official Selections from The Academy Awards, New York, Telluride, and Toronto Film Festivals. Pina is only playing at the Michigan Theater through this Sunday, March 4th. Check the Michigan Theater website for show times. Also, here’s and interview with director Wim Wenders from the New York Times. For more background on the production, check out the movie’s website .

REVIEW: Answer This!

hannahrye

Just as I expected, Michigan Theater was packed to the brim on Friday night for the sneak preview of Answer This! I arrived right at 7:30 pm after having some parking issues (as in, there were no parking spots left), and managed to snag two seats in the very last row of the balcony.  I felt like I needed binoculars to see the men speaking on stage.  Ralph Williams delivered a few opening words – I’ll never tire of hearing him talk.  The next to speak was Mr. Farah, father to the writing/directing/production duo Michael and Christopher Farah.  He told a few amusing anecdotes about his sons, then handed them the microphone.  They thanked everybody for coming many times over, and seemed genuinely blown away by all the attention this film has received.  I saw one of them taking pictures of the crowd at the end of the show, even as many members of the crowd were taking pictures of him on stage.  Both brothers refused to take all, or even most of, the credit for the movie – a large portion of their opening speech was dedicated to pointing out all of the actors in attendance and asking us to give each one a hearty round of applause.  Around 7:50 pm, the curtain was pulled back, and the movie started.

Even with all the press surrounding this event, I really wasn’t sure what to expect.  Part of me wondered whether or not the Ann Arbor setting and Ralph Williams’ presence would be the only interesting aspects of the movie.  As it turned out, though, the recognition factor was only icing on the cake.  The script, while somewhat predictable at times, is nothing short of brilliant in most places.  A brief plot summary:  Paul Tarson (Christopher Gorham) is in his eighth year of grad school, and is being hounded by his father (the renowned Professor Tarson, portrayed by the renowned Professor Ralph Williams) to finally finish his dissertation and become a professor at U of M.  Paul has spent his entire life in Ann Arbor, and seems destined to spend the rest of it there, as well.  It takes a cute girl and a passion for a local trivia tournament to provide him with an adjusted outlook on life and his own potential.

Christopher Gorham did an excellent job as Paul, and Ralph Williams slipped into the role of Professor Tarson without a hitch, but the two standout characters were Naomi (Arielle Kebbel) and James (Nelson Franklin).  Naomi, Paul’s sort-of girlfriend, is charming, feisty, and spontaneous:  Paul’s complete opposite.  She gives him a lot to think about in terms of his own dreary, complacent way of stumbling through life.  She’s by no means perfect, but she has a lot more fun learning from mistakes than he does by not making any mistakes.

His best friend, James, is hilarious: he’s a pompous, highly intellectual man who teaches test prep and has a heart of gold.  And even amidst his complaining about his atrocious students, one can tell that he has a better grip on life than Paul does.  During the scene in which Paul yells at James and calls him a failure, I felt a strong urge to stand up and defend the man who was really a more likeable character than Paul.  (Don’t worry – I didn’t actually do it!)

The only character I didn’t appreciate was Paul’s peer, Lucas (Kip Pardue).  He’s nothing but a jerk, and not even a fully-developed one.  He shows up in several scenes, but never has much to say.  Where Naomi and James add depth to the script, Lucas seems like an afterthought.  I was left wondering what the audience was supposed to gain from Lucas’ interactions with Paul.

Overall, I thought the film was beautifully made.  For those of you who saw it, I hope you enjoyed it as well.  For those of you who didn’t get a chance, keep your eyes peeled!  It starts its festival run next year, and I imagine it will be pretty successful.  This won’t be the last we hear from the Farah brothers.