Review - Next

Title: Next
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore,
Jessica Biel, Tory Kittles, Michael Trucco
Directed By: Lee Tamahori
Produced By: Gary Goldman, Jason
Koornick (II), Ben Walsbren
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy,
Thriller and Adaptation
Release Date: April 27th, 2007
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense
sequences of violent action, and some language.
Distributors: Paramount Pictures

Based on Phillip K. Dick short story The Golden Man, Next is the story of Cris Johnson, amagician with a talent that allows him to see into the near future. FBI agent
Callie Ferris wants his help to find a stolen nuclear bomb but Cris just wants to find his soul mate. Enter Jessica Biel as Liz. For some reason Cris can see farther than two minutes in regards to her. Why, who knows? Liz gets kidnapped by the baddies and used as a decoy to draw attention away from the bomb. Can Chris and Callie save Liz and the world? Who cares?

Next is a perfect example of a good movie ruined by a horrible ending. If I didn’t know better, I would say that I had saw a test screening and not a press screening. With some great effects and some that aren’t so great, and an ending that just left me feeling cheap and used, Next will not be the next hit for Cage and Co.

***SPOILER ALERT***
(HIGHLIGHT TO READ)

I can’t go on without telling it as it is. The
last 45 minutes or so of the movie never happened. Yep, that’s right. Cris was
just looking into the future. Which I don’t mind so much as they established
that when dealing with Liz, he can see further than two minutes. What I can’t
stand is that after that big reveal, he decides to do things differently and
help Ferris from that point and that is the end. We never find out how things
actually turn out!

***END SPOILER***

Cage plays the everyman very well. He isn’t extremely handsome, doesn’t have a radio announcer voice, but he does have a bit of charisma. In Next he is a bit of a schlub (you have to be to be a performer in Vegas don’t you?) and is not above using his ability for personal gain. Julianne Moore isn’t quite on top of her game here but with a plot as out there as this one it doesn’t really harm the overall effect of the film. Biel’s performance is good but lacking development and I find it kind of absurd that she falls in love for Cris in
one day and is willing to wait a week or even a month for him, but that is a standard in movies today.

All in all a very frustrating film because it really tries to be a good movie. It just needs an extra 15 minutes to finish everything up. I cannot recommend this movie whole heartedly but if you do decide to see it be warned that you may find the end extremely disappointing. It actually ruined the film for me.

Keep reading,
Mitch E.
mitchemerson@hotmail.com

Art’s Summer Festival Preview 2007

By Art Michalski

As spring looms, and winter finally looks to be outta Michigan for the year, we can looking forward to summer. As the concert venues start to get their fill of acts coming in during the warm months. But summer also brings major festivals of varying kinds of the fields and cities of America.

This year, we’ll be giving you a Survival Guide to help you maneuver through any of this summer’s big music festivals. This year brings a lot of old favorites, and a few new ones to pick from this summer. So, the braintrust at Detroit Buzz is giving you this look at the 2007 summer festivals, make sure you choose wisely:

 

Coachella Festival - Indio, CA (April 27^th through 29^th)

Year number eight at Coachella is as strong as ever as Coachella pulled off a major coup by scoring the first show in 7 years by Rage Against The Machine. That’s worth the 85 dollars for the day alone, just to see them. But you know you want to see other bands at Coachella, so the nights in the California desert shape up like this:

Friday, April 27^th: The always enigmatic Bjork headlines the first night, with Interpol and the Arctic Monkeys try to blast through the hype machine that’s in full overdrive for their next release.

Saturday, April 28^th: The Red Hot Chili Peppers headline, and may want to consider playing older material, versus the newer material that dominates the band’s set list. The diverse Arcade Fire supports them and Kings of Leon starts their tour that night at Coachella.

Sunday, April 29^th: Lily Allen is there; but we all know why people will stay for the final night. Rage, Rage, Rage. Does anything else matter?

Tickets: $249 for the 3 day pass, $85 dollars per day (Saturday and Sunday one day tickets are sold out). Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

Artist Spotlight - Freer

By Art Michalski

Founded by brothers Jeff and Jeremy Freer, the namesake band is the latest Detroit band looking to make our hometown proud in the near and hopefully long term future. Formed in 2005, Freer has just recently released their debut record Secret Chorus and is playing numerous shows in the area in the near future.

The band plays off their punk and soul influences, ranging from the MC5 to Smokey Robinson. Freer creates a laid back and melodic vibe on songs such as the opening cut “Long Road Home”, and goes for 70s style vibes on “I Think You Know.” The band also takes the tempo down for introspective material such as “Dreams Disappear” and “The Ground is Too Close.” The listener can almost get a strong classic rock feel from the Doors-esque highlight track “Carnival Hardcore.” With their new album, the band delves into the issues of the day, such as war and natural disasters to help fuel the creativity from the band as well.

Freer just played a show with past Detroit Buzz artist spotlight featured group Tigercity at the Lager House. The group has a slew of dates, including a benefit for Mott Children’s Hospital this week. Freer will also play venues in Ann Arbor and Detroit throughout the late spring and summer.

So, if you’re planning on checking out one of the newest and already hardest working bands in Detroit, check out what Freer has to offer.

 

Freer will be playing the following dates in Detroit & Ann Arbor in upcoming months:

April 28^th- Northern Lights Lounge- Detroit

May 17^th- Blind Pig- Ann Arbor

June 1^st- Lager House- Detroit

July 27^th- Magic Stick- Detroit

East Lansing Film Festival 2007

By Taryn Shick

This year was the 10^th anniversary of East Lansing’s Annual Film Festival. Held on the campus of Michigan State University, the festival is known for showcasing many great feature and short films, especially those made in Michigan.

In addition to having films on campus, this year several films, including the documentary Jesus Camp, were shown at Celebration Cinema in Lansing. This may give the festival help in reaching a wider audience. I love seeing the films on campus. I am a Spartan alumnus, so I enjoy the nostalgic aspect of being back on campus grounds. But parking can be a challenge for some and the classroom seats are not the most comfortable accommodations. So to be able to see some of the festival films in the comfort of a stadium-seating style theater is sure to appeal to many.

I attended the festival on Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, March 25. The following is a synopsis of the films that I viewed. Each feature film is accompanied by a short film. This is what I love most about East Lansing’s Film Festival. Sure, you can view probably a million different short films on any number of amateur film sites. But to be able to see them in a theatrical setting is much more fun.

 

Short: Zombie Prom

This is a musical singing about the events of a love-struck high school rebel who plunges to his death into a vat of toxic waste only to return as a crooning zombie. RuPaul stars. I like a little camp with my zombies, but this was almost too much. Set in the 50s, the film pays homage to a time when zombies and music both were simpler. I admire the combination of the zombie genre with the musical and ultimately as a comedic satire. My favorite thing was how Jonny was labeled a rebel because he refused to spell his name with the traditional “H”, as Johnny. The use of alternating between live action and comic strip narration works really well for this story.

Grade: B

 

Feature: Severance
This is a horror/comedy that follows a group of arms dealers on a team-building weekend in a remote, wooded area. The film hails from Britain, the country that gave us the horror/comedy Shaun of the Dead. But Severance is a much darker horror comedy than Shaun. My favorite ‘funny’ moment is when a member of the team gets to prove his theory that a severed head is conscious for moments after decapitation. He is decapitated, his head rolls away and stops. We see him looking about; he sees his headless body; we go back to him, smiling with a look that says,

Artist Spotlight - Saves the Day

By Art Michalski 

To say that Saves the Day has had its ups and downs in their ten year existence is an understatement. The California transplants from New Jersey have persevered through record label downsizing to come back with a strong release and more new material on the way later this year.

Formed in 1997, the band had a string of well received records and the major buzz started to gain momentum when the group signed to Vagrant Records in 2001. The major labels came calling a few years later and the group signed with Dreamworks Records. As the band was preparing to promote the album In Reverie, the band’s label was bought by Universal Music Group, and the group was left in limbo.

The band came back with a strong record from their once and current label, Vagrant, in 2006,titled Sound the Alarm . Lead by singer Chris Conley, the band sounds angry and in the mood for war with the cut “The End.” Guitarist David Soloway rips his way through tracks like “Head to the Hills” and “Say You’ll Never Leave.” The cuts from this record will set up the band for their next record quite nicely.

The band spent most of last summer on the Warped Tour, playing both an acoustic and electric during each show. As the band prepares to release their new album this fall, they are getting out on the road for a tour with Say Anything starting April 10^th.

But until their upcoming Under the Boards album is out, the band will probably be mixing in a few new cuts with the fan favorites when they invade Clutch Cargo’s tonight (April 27^th).

Saves the Day and Say Anything will be co-headlining at Clutch Cargo’s on Friday, April 27^th. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.