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6 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2004 DIUERSCOMMENDS ■ “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” Mark Haddon Mark Haddon’s debut novel will rile readers’ sentiment as it follows Christopher, an autistic teenager on the hunt to solve the murder of the neighborhood poo dle, Wellington. Christopher, who has a knack for mathematical equations and number-crunching think pre pubescent Rain Man— plunges readers into the inaccessible world of autism. It has the introspective ness of “Catcher in the Rye” with the childlike innocence of “Forrest Gump.” Throughout the tale of personal struggle, Haddon interweaves much-needed humor. For example, the book starts off in Chapter 2 and ends in Chapter 233. Atypical page reads: “And I said,” “And she said,” “And I said,” “And she said,” “And I said... The book produces an easy, laid-back read that touches upon profound issues of human capabil ity and introspection. Plus, it won one of those random book awards, which means it has to be good. ■ “The Surreal Life: Season Three” Am I kidding? With the reality-TV buzz, I have to admit that I like it. This season’s characters make “The Surreal life” bearable, at least for the entertainment of real izing that some ex-celebrities are desperate enough to go on a reality show to make up for all the cash they spent on drugs and hookers. Among cast members is Jordan Knight, the ex-New Kid on the Block who gained a few pounds from all the exercising he’s missing by not danc ing that crazy sideway S-leg dance the Kids perfected anymore. Flavor Flav, of the ’Bos hip-hop group Public Enemy, provides the comedic edge. Basically anything that comes out of his mouth makes good material for AIM away mes sages: ‘Flava Flav has shut down.” Um, yeah... what he said. The guys will like the hottie fac tor in Ryan Star, from “American Idol,” who locks herself in the bath room claiming that she’s not a pop star (Ha ha. Really? Hmm). And who could forget Brigitte Nielsen, Sylvester Stallone’s former mis sus, spicing things up by invoking a European lifestyle and romping around the house in her birthday suit? Surreal, dude. Contact Nicole Bobits/ci at nic23l6@email.unc.edu. girls night ornUlNx Thursday \\ 1j j Monkftz’s 25% off entire, store! j :■ 40% off Mare Jaeobsl! jjl jewelry trunk show by ~~~ |SKB3 wendy w. perry design &8j flour & moondaneo IH 20% off entire store! Meadowmont Village Chapel Hill, NC B 919.967.6830 y Blood flows like water in gruesome ‘Saw’ BY TOM PREVITE STAFF WRITER You know you’re in for some thing special when a movie origi nally rated NC-17 is edited down to R to reduce graphic violence. Director James Wan’s debut movie, “Saw,” pushes the boundar ies of obscenity in modem cinema to tap into viewers’ morbid curiosi ties. It’s alot like slowing down next to an accident on the highway. However, a refreshingly origi nal plot keeps this movie closer to “Se7en” than the gory cult masher flick “House oflooo Corpses.” Two men, Adam and Dr. Gordon (Leigh Whannell and Cary Elwes), awaken in a locked room with a dead body between them. A serial killer nicknamed “Jigsaw” informs the two that they only have a few hours to find a way out of their prison or die. Jigsaw, however, isn’t your nor mal serial killer he never actu ally kills anyone. His victims do the killing for him. Live album revisits ’9os hits BY ANDREW CHAN STAFF WRITER Soul Asylum’s new live release, After the Flood: Livefrom the Grand Forks Prom, June 28,1998, arrives with built-in sentimentality. For those who still remember the band’s 1992 breakthrough “Runaway Thiin” (and its tear-jerk ing video about missing children), this album attempts to make a case for some of the lives touched by their music. It’s an odd release from a band that has been silent since 1998 and belongs on a VH-1 special rather than in a hall of feme. After the Flood is a recording of their performance at a high school prom in Grand Forks, N.D., a com munity that was devastated by a flood. The inspirational context frames the rock band as valiant public servants, and though they had almost reached the end of their popularity by then, the mood of good will elevates them to middle-of-the road heroism. The humble, redundant music might not have endured, but some moments are worthy enough to Diversions Amid ultra-fast cuts, shaky cam era work and a “Memento”-esque flashback style of progressing events, Wan unfolds a disturbing portrayal of sadism unmatched in modem mainstream cinema. Jigsaw offers escapes for his victims, but all involve monstrous acts that push the bound aries of sanity. A victim who almost commit ted suicide with a razor is forced to navigate a room of barbed wire toward the exit. A woman must gouge a key out of her friend’s stomach before the device strapped to her head tears her skull apart. You get the idea. The sheer gruesome creativity of this movie makes it easy to ignore the gaping plot holes that ran rampant during its latter half. You simply sit back, absorb what you’re seeing and wait for more depraved stimuli. “Saw” progresses like a night mare, building tension and gore without respite. Gone are throw away joke scenes or comic relief the only thing that unfolds is the MUSICEVIEW SOUL ASYLUM AFTER THE FLOOD *** accompany the adolescent longings that climax on prom night While grange and gangsta rap gave ’9os pop music an edge, Soul Asylum’s earnest lyrics are tender instead of revolutionary and condu cive to the embraces of youngsters. With their fixation on alienation, the songs sometimes sound like cousins of the teen-tragedy fed of the late ’sos. Soul Asylum demonstrates how angst transcends generation gaps and how ’9os teen music has its roots in the ’sos, just as Pearl Jam did when they graffed up Wayne Cochran’s “Last Kiss.” But without the multilayered nos talgia, there’s not much here about which to get excited. Songwriter and lead vocalist Dave Pirner hiccups through some catchy melodies such as “Misery” and “We 3,” and the band throws in some wimpy but service able cover tunes. The set tries to evoke the con- MOVIE VIEW "SAW kick dark side of human nature. Like in “Se7en,” “Saw”’s killer has a moral istic lesson for his victims, ironi cally stressing the value of life. This otherwise shining gem of the horror genre is held back by hammy dialogue and average act ing. When he isn’t screaming or crying, Cary Elwes is slipping out of his embarrassingly bad American accent. The otherwise dependable Danny Glover of “Lethal Weapon” fame lays an egg as Detective David Tapp, a role that should come natu rally to him. However, even with poor acting, “Saw” is a disturbingly entertain ing movie that destroys cliches and marks an optimistic turn in an oth erwise terrible year for horror films. Contact theA&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu. fused love-hate sentiment of high school, with Alice Cooper’s rebel lious “School’s Out” balanced by the teacher’s pet anthem “To Sir With Love.” The most interesting songs are stabs at shaggy-haired soul. Pirner reinvents Smokey Robinson’s “The Tracks of My Tears” as a white boy’s puppy love and Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” as pathetic pubes cent lust It makes for emotionally relevant music, miles away from the all-night grinding of the trash rap at my prom. The album’s sweetest surprise is a take on Dionne Farris’ forgotten gem “I Know.” But what’s the point of packag ing this concert seven years after the event? This pleasantly unremarkable album gets by on the cute image of a rock band’s down-home, Midwest altruism. Age won’t alchemize medi ocrity, even in the current doldrums of pop music. Contact theA&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu. STARSySYBM^ ★ POOR ★★ FAIR -kirk GOOD ★★★★ EXCELLENT kkkkk classic I sWjgmFV l ICKETS WILL EE SOLO AT THE PIT after Party # Spice Street | fflll ~~ | v .-.issaagA.; w,-,=s=^-.,, Thurs-Sat 10am-3am | I Better Ingredients. Sunday nam-iam | Mk Better Pizza. Papa John's Pina 1 tIiAA 607 BW. 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And sometimes you're Cary Elwes, the star of the 10-fi splatterfest “Saw,” a sanguine suspense/horror flick. Experimental release pushes bold, hip new sonic frontiers BY ROBBIE MACKEY STAFF WRITER Like the ages-old folk music of some distant planet or the futuris tic outsider-art of a past that never existed, Cyann & Ben’s Happy Like an Autumn Tree is fixedly alien upon first listen. Initially frustrating but ultimately rewarding, the record’s calm is unre mittingly obscured by experimental ism passages of familiarity find themselves buried under befuddling veneers. Moments of absolute incon gruity and oddity somehow seem old-fashioned and welcoming. Indeed, the second offering from the French four-piece deals in dreamy avant-pop not incredibly dissimilar to the spacey stylings of the band’s over-hyped Gooom debut Spring, a critic’s darling which saw European release in 2003 and American release earlier this year. But, on Happy Like an Autumn Tree, the quartet’s a tad more brusque with the aesthetic that gained them praise last go-round, and that’s a to ■ Here, the dingy calm of Spring finds itself pressed against a sense of urgency and paranoia, of gloom and fear, that was only hinted at on the band’s debut. Percussion-heavy and dense at times, Happy isn’t nearly as hazy and hushed as its predecessor. “(Close to Discovery)” revels in chaotic, near-free drumming, iaily (Tar Hfri MUSIC :vxew CYANN & BEN HAPPY LIKE AN AUTUMN TREE iiii kkkk while a stair-step chord progres sion pounds itself into oblivion. The album opener, “Circle,” is a rousing number flanked by wind-whip gui tar lines and a backbeat dram track, both evoking the song’s title slyly. But what makes the record such a success is the band’s ability to pull in the reins as it did for the bulk of Spring. Frighteningly serene, the album-closing “Obsessing and Screaming Voice in a Shell,” book-ended by eerie, delay-soaked drams and guitar, is Happy’s most staggering moment. It plods, resignedly drifting upward under the strength of arpeg giated musical figures and percus sion swells, until it quietly crumbles into a mess of guitar stabs and organ chords. Like the melancholic rock side of Air, or the more tuneful side of Flying Saucer Attack, Happy Like an Autumn Tree is both strange and familiar, both urgent and resigned, both tranquil and foreboding. And while its musical worth was arguable last year, with the release of Happy, Cyann & Ben have undoubt edly arrived. Contact theA&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 4, 2004, edition 1
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