“Community” (Season 2, Episode 1: “Anthropology 101,” NBC)

Coming off of a stellar first season, the first episode of “Community” managed to outdo the previous season already.

The new season stuck with the show’s theme of over-the-top humor that pokes fun at the different archetypes of a sitcom. The movie and television references and jokes about story plots by the character Abed (Danny Pudi) have increased, as the writers seem to have taken advantage of the show’s self-awareness and predictability.

However, despite the same clever writing tricks as the last season, the show continues to find fresh ways to entertain. Hopping on the Betty White bandwagon that several television shows have started to do lately, she joins the cast as the eclectic anthropology professor June Bauer.

The episode starts back at Greendale Community College at the start of a new semester. The group finds themselves in an awkward predicament, since Jeff (Joel McHale) Britta (Gillian Jacobs) and Annie (Allison Brie) are caught up in a strange, expected love triangle. As they meet up with the rest of their gang in class, Britta and Jeff find themselves in a competition to see who can pretend to love each other more after she confessed her love to him in front of the entire student body last season, and was rejected.

This further confuses the rest of the gang, including Pierce (Chevy Chase), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and Troy (Donald Glover) as they try to work through the group’s problems and find a profound resolution by the end of the 30-minute show.

A fresh twist appearing in this episode is the new role of Senor Chang (Ken Jeong). Instead of Chang being the impossible Spanish teacher, he now joins the crew in anthropology class and struggles with his desire of wanting to fit in with them. It’s amusing to watch the character that stripped of his authority plot ways to find acceptance with the group.

This episode oozes of current pop-culture references and humor. For instance, in this episode, Jeff is questioned about making out with the young Annie he defends himself to Shirley when he says, “since you have clearly failed to grasp the central insipid metaphor of those Twilight books you devour, let me explain it to you! Men are monsters who crave young flesh.”

Another spot of the show being incredibly aware of the real world we live in is when Troy is Tweeting everything of Peirce says on a Twitter account called “Stuff White Man Says,” which is a direct comparison to the real blog account, “Shit My Dad Says.” When Abed suggests making it a TV show (which is happening in the real world with SMDS starring William Shatner) the characters in unison agree it’s a bad idea.

This episode set the tone for what is going to come the rest of the season. It’s the perfect thing to put on when looking for a no-brainer type of comedy. However, sometimes this can be a bit jarring as it had moments where the writers tried too hard to make obvious humor even though they already mastered this type of comedy. Nonetheless, the “Community” season-two opener proves this is a must-watch show this season.

“Lost and Found,” Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave

Several sculptors have mastered how to construct everyday materials together in innovative, thought-provoking ways. The exhibit “Lost and Found,” showcases many artists who focus on modern sculpture with reused objects.

Among those artists, American conceptual sculptor Tom Friedman’s 1999 piece “Untitled,” is a robot structure that illustrates an idea that simplicity can be complex through unlikely materials, in this case cardboard and Styrofoam.

At first glance, the roughly nine foot tall structure looks like it is made out of thin, intricately woven pieces of wood. At the same time, Freidman’s work looks messy and unintentional. However, after a few seconds of focusing on the sculpture, one will notice how precise and complicated it is.

Each part of the robot is made of cardboard, while tiny Styrofoam orbs alternating in size dress the robot from head-to-toe. They are glued on so meticulously that it looks as if they were organically grown from the cardboard, such as weeds are on grass.

The robot construction is apparent in its long legs, but the head of the machine is not so easily spotted, as it is reminiscent of one of the head statues from Easter Island. But Freidman’s precision only enhances how simple cardboard can transform into something huge. One could argue this construction has a bigger theme about life. Start off with a small idea and it could transform into a much larger thing.

The definitive mood the piece is neither melancholy nor cheerful. It simply inspires one to take a closer look and to have an open mindset, as the first question that pops into mind will be, “how did he do that?”

The other direction one’s attention will go to is the appreciation of mundane objects. A sculpture such as “Untitled,” uses cardboard in a ways that seem impossible, especially since it’s mostly used for boxes and toilet paper rolls. This is impressive because the entire robot is made through curves and lines.

The idea of using cardboard also seems as if it should be showcased in a middle school science project, which is the first impression one will get when looking at the structure. It is remarkable at how the piece literally dresses up the cardboard materials to make it look as if it cost a significant amount of money to create.

“Untitled” is just another example of how Freidman utilizes different objects. His other works consist of things such as sugar cubes, string and hair. Even if one isn’t typically a fan of modern, contemporary art, the consideration evoked from this piece is worth a visit to this exhibit.

Andreya Triana “Lost Where I Belong” (Ninja Tune, 2010) Rewrite

A classically soulful sound bellows out of the United Kingdom’s Brigton-based singer/songwriter Andreya Triana on her first 9-track album “Lost Where I Belong.” Within the first minute and a half, the album will transport you into a dimly lit, retro-jazz bar, sipping on a vodka and tonic with a cigarette in hand, each note of Triana’s jazzy and powerful voice more intoxicating than the liquor.

After providing vocals on Flying Lotus’ track “Tea Leaf Dancers,” Triana has scrapped the experimental-electronic genre for a jazz-pop and soul hybrid sound with sultry vocals. For some, this direction will be a disappointment, but for fans who also enjoy artists such as Sade, “Lost Where I Belong” can deliver.

The album keeps a good pace, bouncing between up-tempo, melancholy and contemplative moods. On the track “Lost Where I Belong,” the true poet in Triana comes out while singing about her literal writing process with the lyrics: “Staring at an empty page, again/ Searching deep within my soul/ Sometimes I don’t know where to, again.”

A moment of lyrical brilliance appears on “Daydreamers,” which is easily the darkest track on the album. The track leaves a hauntingly, gloomy feeling that will make one imagine how life could be different. The track is so smooth it will be hard for one to not get lost in the song and float away into a daydream of their own.
However, the depressive mood doesn’t last for long since the album is a concise 37 minutes. In the uplifting “Far Closer,” it feels like the moment one accepts moving on after a rough breakup, knowing everything will be fine, which expands the emotional journey this album is.

Tiana coos, “I guess that’s just the way it goes,” throughout the track “X,” which concludes the album with soft strings and bittersweet lyrics about accepting a breakup. This song is the perfect, sincere ending to an expressive album.

“Lost Where I Belong,” is a solid breakout release and although no tracks repeat a particular mood or sentiment, she could have expanded her range and taken some vocal risks, which her voice is capable of.

Additionally, fans will be disappointed if they are searching for the underground, electronic sound she possessed with Flying Lotus. However, “Lost Where I Belong” has her same voice, tone and truth she had on those breakout appearances. It’s an honest album that Triana sprinkles her life into through her lyrics, which won’t disappoint.

The Lovely Bones' lovely potential (Directed by Peter Jackson, 2009)

Pre-teens who are fans of CGI, passing notes to boys in class and learning about life after death through the eyes of a 1970s 13-year-old girl who has been raped and murdered, will flock to watch the 2009 film “The Lovely Bones.” 

The film, which is an adaptation from the 2002 bestselling book from Alice Sebold, certainly had lovely potential, but fell incredibly short. It’s narrated through the eyes of character Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) after she was lured into an underground “playhouse,” and killed.

Viewers find themselves experiencing a world that is supposed to be limbo, which looks like it came straight out of a tweens dream. Colorful fields full of flowers and picturesque beaches and space-like settings are Salmon’s world as she watches her family, friends and murderer living on earth after she has passed.

Yes, director Peter Jackson portrays limbo as a liberating, harmonious experience for a teenage girl who has just been raped and murdered. Moments shot in the “unknown” seem to justify and almost glorify what the creepy neighbor next door, Mr. Harvey (Stanley Tucci) has done to his victims, such as when Susie is joined by all of young girls who have been killed and they skip and run around toward heaven.  Perhaps getting killed is a ticket out of growing old and facing the hardships of adulthood, or at least this is what the film suggests.

Salmon’s parents, played by Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz, are the perfectly good-looking type of parents. They are so ideal they come off feeling fake and insincere during scenes of familial bliss over bacon and eggs in the morning.

Then enters the grandmother character, played by Susan Surandon. She’s the perfect archetype a drunk woman who acts as if nothing has happened while she tries to keep the family together, joking about being immortal and completely clueless as to how a household functions. She’s too harsh while she tries to brush the memories of Susie under the rug, as there is a scene of her literally doing that while cleaning the house in the movie.

The most honest moment in the film, and quite possibly the best moments of acting come from when Salmon’s parents have learned that the knit hat Susie had, which was given to her that very morning of her death, was found in the field with large amounts of blood. It’s quite possibly the only time that will instill any heartfelt and pure moments of sympathy for the family as Weisz and Wahlberg are sobbing on the bed, the room looking cold and grey, wondering how they will move on.

Additionally, Tucci’s solid performance of the neighborhood creeper was spot on, as he was simply awkward and uncomfortable to watch

This film is preachy unrealistic in the sense it’s entirely too certain there’s indeed a heaven and makes light of the act of murder, something Sebold’s written creation never possessed. The story could have been told in an entirely different fashion, and it seems as if the Jackson, strayed from the novel and went straight into portraying his own ideas about what it’s like to lose a child in the family.

The reason the film is a failure isn’t because of the cast--the phony moments are created by director and not cast--it is because Jackson seemed to have a hard time figuring out if this movie was going to be a glorification about a teen finding heaven, or watching the parents live through hell on earth. Maybe if he had stuck to the novel, he would have been successful.

Watching “The Lovely Bones,” will leave you confused and searching for an explanation of why you feel uplifted after watching a young life get taken by rape and murder by a killer was never caught, but died alone after falling off a cliff. What heaven did Mr. Harvey go to? Doubt it was the same one as Susie Salmon. 

Cougar, “Patriot” (Counter Records, 2009)

A post-modern rock album laced with instrumental electronica serves as a narrative for the brain packed in 11 tracks and only 45 minutes. It’s complicated percussion meets smooth horns and heavy guitar infused with unforgettable beats. It’s “Patriot,” the 2009 sophomore album release from Madison, WI based band, Cougar.

Teetering on the edge of a jamband, fans of long, drawn-out instrumentals will be disappointed although some tracks on “Patriot” leave one begging for more. Cougar is precise and never fails to layer hard guitar sounds onto loops that artists such as Four Tet and Caribou haven’t ventured into yet.

The absence of lyrics will double as a soundtrack to life. Basically, whether listening to this album while driving away from college graduation or driving away from a significant other’s apartment after walking in on their first threesome, the crisp composition of sound will assent to one’s needs.

The opener, “Stay Famous,” is rather ambitious but precise as it fluctuates between an anthemic head-banger to unraveling guitar melodies that slowly build up suspense and end with an explosion of percussion. It’s enough to make you dress in all black, call yourself Danny Ocean and rob the biggest bank you can find.

When seeking motivation to save the world, or maybe just motivation in general, the hauntingly epic “Rhinelander,” uses choir echoes and smooth guitar to create a sense of purpose and invincibility. It’s a hero’s theme song, providing the sense that while listening to this song, you can step off of a bus and suddenly rip off your shirt to expose a giant “S,” perfectly toned abs and the ability to catch the bad guy and get the girl.

The serene and rather cosmic song “Pelourinho,” is the one song that would better serve as a 15-minute track of created chaos that ends with a sense of clarity. It possesses classical guitar, airy synth and ends in a fast, rhythmic frenzy. It’s a trip that will send you deep into the caverns of your own mind exposing raw truths you didn’t even know existed.

Leaving the meditational realm are songs “Thundersnow,” and “Heavy Into Jeff,” which are by far the heaviest tracks on the album. Both with serious electric guitar licks that lend themselves well to an “I don’t give a fuck,” mentality.

The album immediately lifts spirits with “Endings,” “This Is an Affidavit,” and “Appomattox,” with clear inspirational undertones that work for the well-thought-out roadmap of the album.

“Daunte v. Armada,” is the second to last track on “Patriot,” feels like the last 30 minutes to a film, where the conflicts have been presented and then conclude with a bit of lucidity and insight followed by the last serene and resolute track, “Absaroka.”

Listening to this album in its entirety provides a sense of completion. The fluidity alone will bring one to a better understanding of themselves just because of the instrumental moods created on each track. Pack this album on an iPod and make sure it travels with you everywhere as it is the best soundtrack to everyday life.

Don Hall, approach to criticism in Time Out discussion

Don Hall, theater blogger and writer of An Angry White Guy in Chicago, participated in a Time Out Chicago chat discussion in 2008 about how critics fit in with the current culture. That is with the Internet and availability of “amateur” critics versus “professional” ones.

The discussion also included input from Jim DeRogatis, Anne Holub, Sam Jones, Nathan Rabin, Donna Seaman, Chuck Sudo, Mike Sula and moderator, Kris Vire.

Hall, although wasn’t incredibly vocal throughout the discussion, made a connection about education as a vital part of being a critic when he says:

“A good critic should have some knowledge of what it is he is criticizing, but everyone can qualify. Opinions are like assholes and all…”

This makes the point that it is just in human nature to form opinions. It is simply what we do. Several people at this point in the discussion are comparing being passionate about a subject versus educated. Hall’s response to this is,  “I think passion and education go hand in had. If you’re passionate about theater, you’ll likely educate yourself about it.”

There is validity in this statement.  Many times a college-age individuals will end up despising their time in higher education because they aren’t interested in what they are learning. However, give that student a subject they are interested in, perhaps home brewing a variety of beers or video games, and chances are their attention span will greatly improve. Being a critic works the same. 

When someone is passionate about something, they will inform themselves about it. This doesn’t mean it is in the means of a formal education. It is to know enough to speak knowledgably about a subject.

Furthermore, Hall follows the conversational current by stating, “in order to appropriately criticize, a dollop of self-awareness is necessary¾knowing your own prejudices, etc.”

This is also very true because there is nothing more infuriating than reading a “hype-whore” who has nothing of substance to say aside from that the movie was the best thing he or she has ever seen. Ever.

Critics have to be aware of their own prejudices. If they aren’t, they will just knock everything and everyone they don’t like. Which, there is still some legitimacy in their opinion, but they must recognize it’s not the only one out there.

In the argument of having more of a right opinion compared to an amateur reviewer brings the point up about Internet.  “The ‘pamphleteers’ of a New Digitalized Age,” is what Hall refers to the blogosphere, the people who are using online mediums as a way to express their opinions. This is in comparison to people who used to publish zines and pass them out.

This allows more than one opinion to get out in the open. It also opens up dialogue for the reader to the writer. “I like comments from readers. I like when they call me an ass. I get a lot of angry e-mails. I try to answer them. The debate is the “sharpening stone.”

Without this criticism for the critic, it is almost is they will never know if they are doing an effective job. Part of the point of reviewing is to argue a case. If one cannot debate, or defend their point, it seems they might be in the wrong profession.  

But even after all the debate, worrying about getting paid or what makes one a true expert, Hall seems to find he is in the right profession. After the moderators question about whether or not he would still be in the profession paid or unpaid, Hall responded with “…for all the bitching about money, money has little to do with this thing we do.”  

A review of Rolling Stone reviews: The good and bad

Because I feel as if I understand music reviews a bit more than movie ones, I decided to look up different movie reviews in hopes of finding both the good and the bad.  Lets start with the bad review first.

Peter Travers from Rolling Stone put together a piece called “The Twelve Must-See Fall Movies.” The first movie that pops up on this list is “The Social Network.” Aside from my general opinions (I assume this movie will be incredibly hyped up, but still suck) Travers opens the review with the following:

"This is the first film I've seen so far in 2010 that deserves my highest rating, 4 stars. It's better than the movie of the year. The Social Network also defines the decade." 

Reviews, to me, shouldn’t start out with such a bold statement. Since that is how he feels about the movie, he should have incorporated those claims later in the review. I usually tend to not take a review seriously when I hear about how perfect the subject is right away.  From there, instead of focusing more on what elements the movie has to offer, it explains why this explores the generation's problem with social networking as their main form of communication.

While I agree with that truth about my generation, I still want to know more about the film and not so much about the reasons the film is significant. After Travers discusses society, he describes who the lead characters are and then ends the review by saying its funny comparing it to “Roshomon” and saying it will pin you to your seat. 

Whatever, there was no substance to convince that was true. He simply just said that was the case. I still think it is going to suck.

Now a review that I enjoyed reading and found convincing enough to want me to go see the film. 

Also from Rolling Stone was a review on the movie “Easy A,” written by Will Gluck. Right in the beginning, Gluck makes a comparison to the movie “Clueless,” and the actress in that movie, Alicia Silverstone. This gave me an idea of what type of movie I was going to be watching if the review convinced me to go see the movie.

Once he explains who the lead actress is in the film, he begins to tell a synopsis of the movie. However, he literally stops mid-sentence and tells the reader to go see if for themselves for see what the plot is. He explains that this is a comedic film that really delivers, but not only because of the script, but also the actress.

This type of review is what I like to see because it doesn’t smother the reader with over-zealous claims that the movie is wicked awesome. It has a tiny word count only allowing for the most important information to be in there. It also give enough detail about the aspect of the movie he found to be the winning combination (the actress and the script full of zingers) in that short word count. I actually want to see that movie now.