THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013
FILM
PAGE 7A
excess
HOLLYWOOD
review
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Victor (Colin Farrell) looks to exact revenge on a vicious crime boss (Terrence Howard) with the help of a beautiful blackmailer (Noomi Rapace) in "Dead Man Down."
'Dead Man Down' delivers melodramatic vengeance
As much as I enjoy the sleek, freeze-dried theatrics of David Fincher's 2011 version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," I'll always prefer Niels Arden Oplev's leaner, meaner Swedish-language version, which was released to comparatively little fanfare in the spring of 2009. Noomi Rapace, now most famous for giving birth to an intergalactic Squidward in "Prometheus," was the living, breathing, daddy-roasting embodiment of Lisbeth Salander, the rapacious hacker savant whose cold fury was tempered by the subtlest stirrings of a soul in traction. So my expectations were understandably high when it was announced that Rapace and Oplev would be reupling for their first stateside collaboration, a self-described "neo-noir."
The result of their reunion,
"Dead Man Down," is a meat-and-
potatoes revenge thriller elevated by Oplev's impeccable visual eye and committed performances from Rapace, again convincingly portraying an emotional cripple, and Colin Farrell, an actor who tends to work best in colorful supporting roles. It tells the story of Victor (Farrell), a Hungarian engineer whose wife and daughter were killed as part of an intimidation game between a crew of Albanian thugs and Alphonse (Terrence Howard), a suave, soft-spoken Brooklyn crime lord.
After being shot and left to die by the Albanians, Victor goes underground, fashioning himself a new identity as a slick gun-for-hire, and spends the next two years infiltrating Alphonse's criminal empire, patiently waiting for the right time to avenge his loved ones. His absurdly drawn-out vendetta is interrupted by the arrival of his new neighbor Beatrice (Rapace), a mentally and physically scarred ex-beautician whose face was mangled after a collision with a drunk driver.
Halfway through an awkward dinner date, Beatrice reveals that she once saw Victor murder one of Alphonse's underlings in his apartment. She threatens to go to the police unless he agrees to kill the man who deformed her. Victor reluctantly agrees, unaware that his enterprising criminal buddy Darcy (Dominic Cooper) is also dangerously close to discovering the truth about his past.
Often silly but never less than wholly engaging, this strained pulp saga of violence and redemption is bookended by two effective action scenes, including a climactic shootout in Alphonse's mansion that borrows liberally from the first "Die Hard" movie in terms of emotional stakes and spatial dynamics. One shot involving Victor's gravity-defying Dodge Ram is especially well done.
Alternately vindictive and intensely sympathetic, Rapace's performance takes its cue from the
grand dames of film noir, especially Ann Savage's hard-bitten turn in 1945' blackmail drama "Detour". Farrell's portrayal is understated, even anesthetized by comparison, establishing Victor as a man hollowed out by two long years of rage and grief. Howard, whose career has been on the skids since his forced departure from the "Iron Man" franchise, adds little to the proceedings as Alphonse, who seems more interested in replenishing his wardrobe than in catching the rat in his crew.
The film benefits from a strong supporting turn from Dominic Cooper, a gifted dramatic actor who makes a living moonlighting in genre fare like last year's "Abrahman Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" and "Captain America." Here's a capable, compelling performer who's practically begging to ascend to leading-man status. He was fantastic in the dual role of Uday Hussein and his conflicted lookalike in 2011's "The Devil's Double," and I'd love to see him embrace larger, more challenging parts in the future.
All in all, "Dead Man Down" is a wickedly entertaining mid-March surprise, a pedestrian premise given stylistic wings by a gifted European director and his favorite femme fatale. I hope the spirit of collaboration never leaves them. After all, as they say in Sweden, to separate is to die a little.
Edited by Megan Hinman
MUSIC
Beats Electronics transforms music subscription services
Dr. Dre (center) and Jimmy lovine (left) gather at the Beats store in Soho, NYC to announce their new music streaming service, Daisy.
LYNDSEY HAVENS
lhavens@kansan.com
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dr. Dre's Beats headphones revolutionized the way people listen to music, and now Beats Electronics is at it again with a new streaming service that will change the way people access their music. The service—founded by Dr. Dre and producer Jimmy Iovine—just received a $60 million investment from Len Blavatnik, owner of Warner Music Group.
model of streaming music.
The Internet music streaming service, Daisy, will rival competitors like Pandora and Spotify. Daisy will allow listeners to choose their own playlists, and according to The Guardian, Beats has a possible partnership with iTunes in the works to help in this process.
Blavinatk feels that, "Beats has the vision, the brand, the management team, and now the investor group to effectively change the expectations and experiences of a music subscription service," according to the article.
Anna Travis, a freshman from Libertyville, Ill., is an avid user of Pandora.
Blavatnik has predicted that the digital revolution will lead to the revival of the music industry, which explains why he is so strongly supporting the business
concept."
"I like Pandora because I'm not good with song names. Pandora makes it so that I can type in a genre and easily listen to songs that I like, without having to know what they are," she said. "I would consider trying Daisy if it's similar and has the same general
Listeners like Travis are whom the new service hopes to help.
Services like Pandora and Spotify have eliminated the aspect of choice in music listening, and that is exactly what Daisy will strive to bring back when it launches in late 2013.
Edited by Megan Hinman
Feld Entertainment partners with Marvel for live arena show
ASSOCIATED PRESS
M. CLEAN, Va. — The people who bring you The Greatest Show on Earth will be taking Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor and the X-Men on a worldwide road show.
Feld Entertainment Inc., which produces the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, along with a host of other live shows such as Disney on Ice, is announced a partnership Wednesday with Marvel Entertainment to produce a live arena show featuring the Marvel universe of characters.
Exact financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. But Kenneth Feld, CEO of Vienna, Va-based Feld Entertainment, said he expects the show to open in July 2014, and tour arenas domestically and internationally, as the company's other shows do. Production costs will likely exceed $10 million, Feld told The Associated Press in announcing the partnership.
Feld Entertainment has expanded in recent years to acquire several motor sports and monster truck shows aimed at expanding its appeal beyond the young children who go to the circus and girls who flock to the Disney shows. Feld expects the Marvel shows to appeal to older boys, comic book fans and family audiences.
Marvel's chief creative officer, Joe Quesada, said dozens of
people have approached Marvel about doing a live show of some sort over the years. The partnership with Feld Entertainment was the first with which he felt comfortable.
"You always have those questions—how are you going to keep it from being goofy, or silly, or unbelievable?" Quesada said. But the level of showmanship in Feld Entertainment's other shows made an impression.
"They're already doing feats that are superhuman to begin with."
JOE QUESADA Chief creative officer at Marvel
"They're already doing teas that are superhuman to begin with," Quesada said of the performers that Feld Entertainment recruits for its circus and other shows.
Feld said his company's longstanding partnership with Burbank, Calif-based The Walt Disney Co., which acquired Marvel in 2009, helped establish a level of trust between Feld and the Marvel executives.
The show is in the early stages of development in a new training
center that Feld runs in Ellenton, Fla. Feld and Marvel said there is close collaboration to ensure the characters act in ways consistent with fans' understanding, Quesada said the director—veteran choreographer Shanda Sawyer, who has directed various iterations of the Ringling circus and won Emmy awards for her television work, took a deep dive into Marvel mythology that took him aback.
"We had to pull her back," Quesada said. "I told her, I think you're even geeking me out."
Trying to bring superhuman characters to life in a live show can be daunting and even dangerous, as evidence by the difficulties suffered in launching the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." Several performers suffered injuries ranging from concussions to fractured skulls in what became the most expensive show in Broadway history. The $75 million show has since become one of Broadway's ton earners.
The Marvel universe has thousands of characters—some household names and others known only to the most devoted fans. Feld said a live show provides an opportunity to present a wide variety of Marvel characters in a way that will appeal to even casual fans.
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