WL
Arizona Daily Wildcat
B section
Justyn Dillingham Arts Editor 520.621.3106 arts@wildcat.arizona.edu
INSIDE kwan on comics • b3
loft movie preview • b5
DWwildlife TRIPLE THREAT MOVIE SHOWDOWN
The movie ‘basterds’ of late summer Brandon Specktor It’s been a tremulous summer in America. Unemployment has been rising, industry has been buckling, overzealous government spending has failed to stimulate the economy, but worst of all, the jerks responsible have been shrugging their shoulders as they sip champagne and watch the world burn from their golden parachutes. Bastards. But while the dastardly deeds of these real-world bastards have gone largely unpunished, cinema has stepped in (as it often does) to capitalize on the nation’s welling discontent. Summer may be over for us students, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late for a little bastard-bashing wish-fulfillment. If you should find yourself feeling a little sadistic at the end of class this week, curb that angst with one of the many end-of-summer flicks that aim to purify the world, one bastard — or “Basterd” — at a time.
Inglourious Basterds Rated: R Run Time: 153 mins
The way it was
Lisa Beth Earle/Arizona Daily Wildcat
John Gialanella, an MFA visual communications student, looks closely at prints from the ‘Confronting the Capitalist Crisis’ art exhibit in the Joseph Gross Gallery on Monday, Aug. 24.
Justyn Dillingham You might not know it to look at that small, trim-looking white building next to the School of Art, but inside those walls, universes are colliding. “Confronting the Capitalist Crisis,” on display in the Joseph Gross Gallery through Oct. 7, is a display of prints brought together by the radical artists’ group Justseeds Radical Art Cooperative. It features the work of more than 60 artists from across the country, all illustrating familiar radical themes: the people against capitalism, the people against globalization, the people against “the prison-industrial complex.” In the next room, the Lionel Rombach Gallery, Chris McGinnis’s “Heritage” is on display until Sept. 9. It’s a
startling work: twenty-nine wooden panels spread across the floor (with one on the wall), all painted with eerie, evocative images of industrial America. In terms of style and intent, these two exhibits are about as far apart as you can get. But their physical closeness is fortuitous. Spend an afternoon walking back and forth between the two rooms, taking in their ferociously detailed images, taking in their messages, and you can begin to imagine the two exhibits having an argument of sorts.
From anger to ambiguity
Slogans scream at you from the walls of the Joseph Gross Gallery: “Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” “How Many Dead Are Too Many,” “Strike While It’s Hot.” En-
graved faces, emaciated and stark, glare out at you with despairing eyes — members of the “people’s history” the exhibit celebrates. It’s a striking and haunting compilation of images. The energy and emotion that went into “Capitalist Crisis” is palpable. If you stand there long enough, you might begin to feel the eerie contrast between the silent noise conjured up by the emotional images and the stillness of the gallery itself. What “Capitalist Crisis” has not done is find an original way to express its vision. It speaks the familiar language of the Old Left: flags, marches, fists clenched in solidarity. They seem archaic and clichéd because they are. You can almost hear Woody Guthrie strumming his guitar GALLERIES, page B8
Go to dailywildcat.com for more images from the ‘Heritage’ and ‘Confronting the Capitalist Crisis’ exhibits, currently on display in the Lionel Rombach and Joseph Gross galleries.
Score: 4.5/5 Nazi Scalps There are two camps when it comes to Quentin Tarantino’s ultraviolent, endlessly referential films: those who love them, and those who wish the talky director would just fall on his own Hanzo sword, sparing the world any more insufferable fastfood monologues. “Inglourious Basterds,”Tarantino’s fifth and newest film, may have promised via its ubiquitous adverts to unite these camps with a straightforward World War II narrative, but may ultimately be the least accessible, most uniquely Tarantino film to date. “Basterds” is a sensational revision of the end of World War II, brought about by an explosive all-in-one assassination attempt on the Third Reich’s head honchos. Central to the
One exhibit roars in your face. The other gently tugs you into a dreamy, ambiguous vision. Two gallery shows present us with contrasting visions of an industrial century— an artists’ argument about America.
Photo courtesy of nytimes.com
plot is a legendary squad of JewishAmerican soldiers known by their enemies as The Basterds, who, under the supervision of the dapper, drawling Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), specialize in the gruesome extermination of Nazis in occupied France. While the trailers make it seem like a majority of the film follows the bloody exploits of the bastards, screen time is actually split very judiciously among a motley slew of amusing supporting characters — all equally instrumental in the final TRIPLE THREAT, page B2
Owl City offer sugary, derivative pop, again Ali Freedman Adam Young is Owl City — a oneman band whose sound is fantastically catchy but nothing original. With his major-label debut Ocean Eyes, Young has won over crowds via Myspace and been picked up on alternative rock stations across the country. Young has found himself a viral single in “Fireflies,” which has flown away with its success. Even with the single’s sudden popularity, however, it is hard to look at Owl City’s sound or lyrics as a novel sound to invest in. Owl City is playing off the success of Photo courtesy of Amazon.com the Postal Service by essentially mimicking their sound, which upon the release of Give Up finally found a popular audience. That’s not to say that the style of music is bad, but Owl City isn’t new or fresh or even really unique at all. Its sound and lyrics are trite but catchy and a bit too sugary sweet. Purely pop, Young’s lyrics are about love for the most part, a bit about sweet things like watching the stars or chasing fireflies, and even venture into the realm of Young’s nerves at the dentist. Nothing could be more G-rated. While “Firefly,” the breakout hit, is lyrically pleasing, the poppy, computer-generated beats the lyrics are layered over don’t do much but play off the successes of other Ocean Eyes bands. Owl City Were Ben Gibbard (The Universal Republic Released July 28, 2009 Postal Service, Death Cab for $10.99 Cutie) and Andrew McMahon (Something Corporate, Jack’s Mannequin) to merge their voices into one, Adam Young would be the result. While it is not Adam Young’s fault his voice harkens back to that of other artists, the blatant copycat style of pop he’s branded is unimpressive. If you’ve got yourself a real sweet tooth, the lighthearted, low-key electronic music of Owl City may be right up your alley. However, with each song sounding a bit too much like the others and a general lack of originality, many music fans will find that Owl City gets old fast. That said, Owl City offers some true pop music and has made a real connection with the popular and alternative music crowd, so he must be doing something right. Owl City’s Ocean Eyes is worth giving a listen to via MySpace or iTunes before making an investment.
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