In review…

Posted by admin on Nov 2, 2006 in Arts & Culture | 0 comments

The Prestige
Michael Wallbank, staff writer

Suspense-master Christopher Nolan, who crafted the mind-bending Memento, was fast becoming one of Hollywood’s best and brightest with the success of Batman Begins. Now he’s back with the well-made thriller, The Prestige.

Nolan’s gift has always been that he finds films that are experiential: films where the design, style, and pace of storytelling involve the audience to an extent that few other directors have mastered. In Nolan’s previous thriller, Memento, we viewed the experience of amnesia in a fashion never before conceived. Nolan takes this method and applies it to thematic elements within The Prestige: lies, misdirection, and trickery.

The Prestige follows the obsessive rivalry of two magicians, played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, in turn-of-the-20th-century London. Bale may be one of Hollywood’s most respected actors (probably because he’s never had a bad role), but he is thoroughly outdone in this film by the powerful performance of Jackman. The performances of the supporting cast, specifically Michael Caine and David Bowie, are only rivaled by The Departed.

The title of the film is taken from the third and final act of any magic trick. The title is apt: The Prestige is one brilliantly staged and misdirected magic trick, with an ending that will mystify.

Flags of Our Fathers
Michael Wallbank, staff writer

Clint Eastwood’s signature minimalist approach to filmmaking is perfectly suited to Flags of our Fathers. The look and pacing of this film suits the trend of Eastwood’s latest films, with slow, steady pacing and a near colorless grainy feel. Eastwood also wrote the beautiful score for this film, as he did for Million Dollar Baby. The script was adapted by Academy Award winner Paul Haggis, who is best known for Crash.

What really stands out about this film is that it doesn’t demonize the enemy. It’s a simple cop-out to have an evil Nazi or kamikaze Japanese standing against freedom, but this film is very careful to leave the enemy conspicuously absent from most of the film.

Eastwood was so careful not to damage relations with the Japanese that he didn’t shoot any of the film on Iwo Jima. Instead, he filmed in Iceland, so as not to violate the sacred soil of the Japanese island. Eastwood will tell the Iwo Jima story from a Japanese perspective in his upcoming film Letters from Iwo Jima.

Based on the personal memoirs of one of the men in the infamous Iwo Jima flag-planting photo from WWII, The Prestige follows the lives of the soldiers in the photo, some of whom never made it out off Iwo Jima. Eastwood’s style allows for inordinately powerful performances, and this film is no exception. It includes brilliant performances from the entire cast and Oscar worthy performances from Adam Beach and Ryan Phillipe.

Beck – Information
Wes Armstrong

The Information marks Beck’s return to working with producer Nigel Godrich, who is best known for his groundbreaking work with Radiohead. Beck’s previous collaborations with Godrich enabled the birth of the albums Mutations (1998), and Sea Change (2002).

The chemistry between the two is clearly evident in the sound of the album, which reincarnates the melodic, layered, storytelling folk-rock of Sea Change while still reminiscent of the upbeat, genre hopping styles present in Odelay (1996) and Guero (2005).

In addition to the 16 tracks, The Information comes with 15 music videos. Keeping with Beck’s tradition of spastic spontaneity, expect the videos to come complete with mariachis, transvestites, giant teddy bears in ponchos, and psychedelic lights. The first U.S. single, “Nausea,” doesn’t offer a great description of the rest of the album but seems to lean closer to the dance-pop stylings from Odelay. Diehard fans of Sea Change will quickly become enamoured with “Solder Jane” and “Movie Theme,” but may be confused by the presence of a more hip-hop beat underlying much of the album.

Present throughout the album are layers upon layers of sounds and melodies that create a very dense and enveloping atmosphere, but it’s relaxing. Like a weekend in Manitoba.

Jet – Shine On
Bethany Meckelburg

Ever notice how every band wants to be The Beatles? Australian band Jet seems to follow this musical mindset as well. Their name (which comes from a song by Paul McCartney), album art, and sound sometimes make it seem like Jet wants to “Bring It On Back,” like the song title on their new album Shine On suggests.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing, they just seem to be inspired by musicians who came before them. With influences ranging from The Beatles to The Rolling Stones to Oasis, it’s entertaining to guess what the next song style will be.

The band has grown a lot in sound maturity, bringing more polish and experience to this disc than to the previous album. A pleasant surprise is the acoustic harmonies and smoother feel of “Eleanor,” which many critics relate to the sound of the Everly Brothers. However, the raw energized vocals we know and love are still prevalent on tracks like “That’s All Lies,” “Stand Up” and “Rip It Up.”

As for the album as a whole, drummer Chris Cester said it best: “The first album was written for the pubs; this one was written for the stadiums.”