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Steven Kwan Arts Editor 520•621•3106 arts@wildcat.arizona.edu
The (possible) redemption of Joss Whedon
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espite a tremendous resume, Joss cancellations. His script for“Alien: Whedon has remained largely a Resurrection”helped kill the franchise cult figure for the past 15 years. and“Titan A.E.”did anyhing for anyone. Known primarily within the fanboy He has never touched material this realms and those who grew up watching big before or directed such a group of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,”Whedon has superstars. Furthermore, his detractors almost no crossover appeal. I said his claim he is esoteric, dialogue-dependent name around my mother and too quirky. once and she asked,“Who You know what? Good. is she?” He’s writing and directing Not exactly the best a comic book movie, not name recognition. “Casablanca.”I don’t want Creator of four television my comic book movie to series, guest director on COMMENTARY BY be mainstream. That’s what “The Office”and“Glee,” killed the“Spider-Man” Zachary Smith co-writer of“Toy Story”and franchise and sucked all Arts writer nominated for an Emmy, the fun out of the“Fantastic as well as an Academy Award for his Four”movies. Marvel needs someone writing, Whedon has never been a power who can tackle the absurdity of its product player for anyone who doesn’t know what head-on and form a union between the “Runaways”is or that can’t name Willow’s Avengers and the real world. girlfriend.Yeah, I’m a nerd, so what? Whedon will be helming a film that Whedon’s writing has been important combines a playboy billionaire, the Norse in the comic book world as well. He thunder god, a one-eyed superspy writes spinoffs of his television material and the embodiment of America. for Dark Horse Comics and wrote for Marvel, garnering several Eisner Award nominations for his work on “Astonishing X-Men.” He also made the phenomenal superhero spoof “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” in response to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild strike. Whedon’s work helped identify him as a feminist and he has been honored for glorifying women in popular culture. Harvard even honored him last year with a lifetime achievement award in cultural humanism. Yet most have only heard his name in passing. That’s about to change. As reported by several media outlets, Whedon appears to be the writer and director for“The Avengers”movie, Marvel Studios’colossal superhero medley. With Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Nick Fury presumed to be players, “The Avengers”will be Whedon’s largest title to date. And that is a gross understatement. “Iron Man”grossed $585 million worldwide, with the vastly inferior“The Incredible Hulk”still pulling in $263 million. Also,“Iron Man 2”drops next month and has more oncampus attention than Proposition 100. Marvel’s films are experiencing a huge pop culture draw thanks to Robert Downey Jr. putting down the crack pipe.“The Avengers”will be the culmination of Marvel’s films and could easily open to $70-plus million domestically. Comparatively, Whedon’s sole directorial credit“Serenity”grossed $38 million worldwide — total. This is like getting called up from Little League to play for the NewYorkYankees. So why Whedon? His career has not been all cult success and unfair
Somehow he has to make them fit within the context of modern America. I’ll hedge my bets on the guy who successfully put vampires in high school and made it completely logical. Besides, Whedon has nothing to lose and everything to gain. With “Dollhouse” cancelled, Whedon can focus completely on using his strong comic book background to prepare for “The Avengers.” If he strikes out, he loses nothing. He remains an important comic book writer and a potential force if the television market ever overcomes its penchant for reality programming. If he knocks“The Avengers”out of the park, he becomes a viable Hollywood writer-director with a strong underground following. In the age of the Internet, that can swing
momentum more than a carnival ride. Furthermore, Marvel stands to gain a lot from Whedon. Not only do they undo the idiotic move of signing Zak Penn on as chief writer — he wrote such gems as “Elektra”and“X-Men: The Last Stand”— but they nearly guarantee the importance of character over action. While Whedon has shown potential as an action director, his control of character kept“Buffy”afloat for seven seasons and led Empire magazine rate it the No. 2 television series of all time. Comic books are never about slick action scenes. For God’s sake, they were glossy squares initially. Character drives narrative, and Whedon has shown himself to be more than capable of building complex and fascinating characters from archetypes. Sure, this is all speculative. A lot can happen before“The Avengers”is released May 4, 2012. But for Joss Whedon, a man who has mostly garnered quiet accolades and hushed applause, this opportunity confirms that Hollywood is still in the business of making dreams come true.
INSIDE
A lot can happen in four minutes. A chicken can whisper violent murder in a child’s ear. The Grim Reaper can tempt a hardboiled pie-addict with one last juicy slice. Santa can convert his workshop into a war machine and loose his devastating “Blitzenkrieg”upon the free world.You can also watch an animated short. “Spike and Mike’s New Generation Animation” showcase brings such bizarre fantasies to The Loft Cinema, and without all the gore, obscenities and oblong genitalia of their iconic “Sick and Twisted”anthology. For some, that may be a turnoff. For others, the promise of philosophical crabs, murderous poultry and a Nazi-fied Saint Nick more than make up for the scarcity of sickness. It’s unclear what the theme of the show is, given the offbeat array of shorts — the longest of which being an 8-minute dialogue between two male castaways enacting a domestic drama on a desert island. The official Spike and Mike website offers the word“brain-spinning” to describe the collection, and the shoe certainly fits. Though each of the 19 obscure shorts offers something worth enjoying — be
it an oddball plot, eye for parody or the quirky quality of the animation — there are obvious highlights. “Crab Revolution,”a French blackand-white short narrated by a particularly philosophical crab, is the most memorable. Due to a genetic abnormality, the species is forced to make only back-and-forth, lateral movements, doomed to forever walk the same path from birth to death. In addition to an existential narrative a la Camus, “Revolution”creates surprisingly powerful images with a barebones palette. Black crabs gaze upward through stark white oceans at schools of circling fish, birds-eye angles capture parents jettisoning eggs out in neat rows as they follow their linear path, and the hefty shadows of ocean liners loom over helpless crab communities. Expertly conceived and crafted, “Revolution”is the gem of the festival. “Key Lime Pie,”which has appeared in the“Sick and Twisted”collection, is a pleasure to see again. A nameless hardboiled hero narrates the story of his twisted passion, but his femme fatale is not a woman: it is sweet, savory key lime pie. When the Grim Reaper shows up to present one last fatal offer to the addled addict, in traditional noir fashion, the hero must choose between temptation and survival. Gloomy noir conventions and a
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Tucson has a reputation for being a bit of a shady town, but in reality, it’s an incredibly shady town. Rather than devote your time in Tucson to a death-grip on dignity, a good student of the UA should embrace Tuscon’s seedier adult beverage establishments. Not to knock Gentle Ben’s, but is it any different than the average American college bar? You aren’t going to make any stories there worth telling your children. The following four bars are locally grown and all the better for it. Get branded at The Meet Rack. Anytime you can get branded with the profile of a bar owner’s face, you have to, right? Right. Voyage to The Meet Rack and get God’s face burned into your flesh. The brand gets you drink discounts for life, but that isn’t the point. Victory is defined as making a bar smell like your own smoking flesh and enjoying a drink in the outdoor throne. The Meet Rack 210 W. Drachman St. Drink during The Buffet’s happy minute. Twice a day, Tucson’s oldest bar celebrates happy minute, a tradition worth attending. At 6 p.m. you get a second helping of whatever you are drinking for free. At 11 p.m. you are charged $1. If you’re feeling like a champ, celebrate both in one day. The Buffet 538 E. Ninth St.
Spike and Mike’s newest: All of the punch, none of the raunch By Brandon Specktor Arizona Daily Wildcat
BEFORE YOU GRADUATE
Photo courtesy of spikeandmike.com
lighthearted love of pastries conflate in this darkly comic take on desire. One more short worth a shout-out is“Santa: The Fascist Years.”Veteran animator Bill Plympton, whose hard-luck “Guide Dog”series is not unfamiliar to Loft crowds, presents an unpublicized facet of WWII. In an effort to“turn the calendar into one long Christmas season,” Santa masses an army of assassin elves and dive-bombing reindeer to spread his holly-jolly holocaust. Holiday icons clash in Plympton’s energetic chicken-scratch style to make for a hilarious history lesson that America’s youth has long been
deprived of. All the punchy with none of the raunchy, “Spike and Mike’s New Generation Animation”is a buffet of talented artists that you can actually bring the kids to. Just don’t be surprised if the kids start asking a lot of prying questions about elven genocide.
IF YOU GO
Spike and Mike’s New Generation Animation Playing at The Loft Cinema 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Visit loftcinema.com for showtimes
B8 B2
Sit in the giant chair at The Bay Horse Tavern and sip Schnapps. The chair inside the destitute tavern is a colossal relic straight out of a Washington Irving story. Bask in its glory, while enjoying the large array of Schnapps. You’ll immediately feel like starting a revolution or holding a trial for witchcraft. That chair is America at its finest. The Bay Horse Tavern 2802 E. Grant Rd. Embrace your inner, drunken child at Home Plate Sports Pub’s batting cages. Ah, Tucson, the only city in America where a bar would also have batting cages. You can try to show off, swinging at the 60 mph fastballs, but it’s way more fun to get absolutely tanked and beat the hell out of the slow pitch setting. Practice your one-handed follow-through and the proper method of crotch adjusting. Home Plate Sports Pub 4880 E. 22nd St. —Zachary Smith