Columbia orchestra plays Spanish Spring Concert

'Out of the box...office'
CHASE KOENEKE
movie columnist
‘The Conspirator’
misleads
I have good news and bad news. First, the good:
“The Conspirator” is the best movie with both a
Lincoln and a lawyer out right now and by going
to “The Conspirator,” you are not lining the pants
pockets of Matthew McConaughey with cash — you
would also be avoiding lining his jacket pockets, but
since the man can’t keep his shirt on for more than
five minutes at a time, it’s a safe bet he’s not wearing a
money-lined jacket.
But that’s where the
review
good news ends and the
THE
bad news begins. “The
CONSPIRATOR Conspirator” has no business in a movie theater.
DIRECTOR: ROBERT
Hell, it barely has busiREDFORD
ness as a Lifetime original
IN
ROB
:
ING
UR
FEAT
WRIGHT, JAMES MCAVOY AND movie. Anyone expecting a cool “Valkyrie”TOM WILKINSON
esque conspiracy plot
RATING: PG-13
to assassinate President
2
E:
TIM
ING
NN
RU
Abraham Lincoln should
HOURS, 2 MINUTES
find something else
of 5
immediately.
Instead we are — I’ll
be generous and say “treated” — to the trial immediately following the assassination that looks to put Mary
Surratt to death. Right, so not John Wilkes Booth. If
you were expecting him (which, why wouldn’t you in
a movie about the assassination of Lincoln?) he got
about 10 minutes of screen time. Lincoln himself
is shown for a total of five minutes, and in those
minutes, he doesn’t say a word. The assassination and
subsequent hunting and killing of Booth are a blip in
this two-hour epic.
With my expectations in tatters, I decided to just
watch the thing, but director Robert Redford appeared
inclined otherwise. The amount of lens filters made it
look as if I were watching on a dusty TV screen. The
lighting, while an obvious attempt at something artful, ends up making scenes either too dark or blown
out — especially in scenes where Surratt is in prison.
Redford also utilizes time skipping, both back
and forth, but only specifies on screen when time has
skipped forward. Flashback scenes are shown without
warning or clarification, which made it a bit jarring to
see Booth walking around when just 30 minutes ago, I
had seen him shot in the back.
Cast choices astounded me. James McAvoy, who
plays Frederick Aiken, Surratt’s lawyer and the main
character of the film, does alright but lacks the punch
a bigger actor could’ve brought to the role. Equally
astounding is the choice in Justin Long for a periodpiece drama. Again, satisfactory performance, but I
couldn’t get “he’s a Mac, not a Union soldier,” out of
my head.
I feel like this is the part where I’m supposed to
find some redeeming qualities that give you a ray of
hope. Well, it does show a great American injustice —
albeit, presented in a slow-paced, uneventful manner
— and it does reveal some interesting facts at the end
of the film — shown with text which is, again, slow
and uneventful.
And the period-clothing is well done.
Look at me, discussing costume design. Obviously,
I’m grabbing at straws. Bottom line: Weak presentation, odd cast, misleading plot and title, better than
Matthew McConaughey, but not worth your time.
+
2
*
Visit move.themaneater.com
for a movie podcast with Chase Koeneke,
Lauren Hummel and Katy Wagner.
GRAND OPENING
Grassroots blazes its way into town
*
The new smoke shop opened its doors for the first time at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Columbia’s newest smoke shop took advantage
of this month’s most popular unofficial holiday to
host its grand opening.
Grassroots Smoke Shop, located on 203 N. Tenth
St., gave out free Hot Box cookies and a variety of
free candy to customers entering the shop, which
officially opened at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday. Starting at
8:20 p.m., Grassroots raffled off a piece of glassware
every hour. Also on hand for the store’s grand
opening were Missouri DJ Spankalicious and local
glass artist Shawn Palmer.
“I thought the glassblower especially brought
a certain edgy ambiance to the building,” sophomore Colin Hope said. “Not to mention the DJ
booth was always cranked up, so it brought a really
celebratory atmosphere to the place.”
Grassroots General Manager Max Stewart,
who graduated from MU in May with a marketing degree, said he was happy with the opening’s
turnout.
“It’s been a pretty decent turnout,” Stewart
said. “I didn’t really have expectations, because we
didn’t know what to expect. We’ve had a pretty
steady flow of people coming in and out.”
Grassroots’ layout is pretty basic, making it
easy for customers to find the merchandise they
wish to purchase. Glassware and pipes are on the
left side of the store, T-shirts and clothing are on
the right side of the store and the middle is empty
to allow customers room to view the assortment
of products.
Although there are half of a dozen other smoke
shops in Columbia, Stewart said Grassroots’ ambience of bringing a West Coast feel to Missouri and
the quality of his shop’s products will help it stand
out from other shops in the area.
“We have many specialized pipes unique to our
store,” Stewart said. “I think that our selection of
water pipes is going to be probably the largest in
Charley Field/Staff Photographer
Glass artist Shawn Palmer works on a piece Thursday during the grand opening of Grass Roots
Smoke Shop. Palmer’s presence highlighted owner John Borland’s desire for customers to provide a
unique experience for customers at Grass Roots’ opening.
Columbia.”
As well as water pipes, Stewart said Grassroots
offers only the highest-quality glassware.
“The only brands we carry are Roor, Governmint, Hi-Si, PHX and Hitman,” Stewart said.
“There’s not much of a drop-off between our best
products and our worst products.”
Hope said high prices might deter the student
population from frequenting Grassroots.
“Everything there was really expensive,” Hope
said. “I think it’s something meant for the older, wiser
tobacco enthusiasts of Columbia who have more
money to spend on pipes and glass art.”
Although Hope said he didn’t plan on shopping
at Grassroots any time soon, he also said he was glad
he came to the store’s opening.
“It’s not practical for students, but it was still a fun
event,” Hope said.
Grassroots is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday.
hank koebler | reporter
PREVIEW
Columbia orchestra plays *
Spanish Spring Concert
As college students line the street outside The
Blue Note to hear the sounds of a rock band inside
this weekend, a few blocks away at the Missouri
Theatre Center for the Arts, the audience will be
transported into a whole different era of harmony and elegance. Home of the Columbia Civic
Orchestra, the MTCA showcases a large spectrum of
classical instrumentals.
At 7 p.m. Saturday, The Columbia Civic
Orchestra will present A Spanish Spring Concert.
A Spanish Spring Concert introduces the Spanish
culture through an evening of compositions,
including “Capriccio Espagnol,” “Fantasia para un
Gentilhombre” and “The Three-Cornered Hat.”
“All the color, all the rhythm and excitement
before the audience’s eyes is what makes these
concerts so special,” Conductor Stefan Freund said.
“Especially in this day and age where people aren’t
that exposed to it like they were in the past.”
The first performance of the night, conducted
by Ned Horner, will be Rimsky-Korsakov’s energetic
showpiece “Capriccio Espagnol.” Although Rimsky-
Korsakov is a Russian composer, he based “Capriccio
Espagnol” off of Spanish folk dances.
“We wanted to include pieces that would compliment each other and still keep the Spanish theme,”
Freund said. “(‘Capriccio Espagnol’) was the starting
point of the program.”
After “Capriccio Espagnol,” the orchestra will
change tune and allow classical guitarist Anthony
Glise to take center stage. Glise is scheduled to perform “Fantasia para un Gentilhombre” by Joaquín
Rodrigo. The main melodies of this piece originated
from a Baroque composer and blind priest in the
early 1700s, Gaspar Sanz. Sanz wrote one of his first
guitar methods in Spain. Inspired by Sanz’s accomplishments, Rodrigo radically changed and rewrote
the melodies to incorporate an orchestra and solo
guitar. These alterations ultimately resulted in the
formation of an extraordinary concerto.
“An orchestra is an entire universe of different
sounds,” Glise said. “It’s not like anything you’ve
ever heard.”
Once the softness and beauty of “Fantasia”
The concert
will take place
in three parts.
comes to a close, Manuel de Falla’s “Three-Cornered
Hat” will aim to awaken the audience with its dramatic intensity. Rhythm and meter characterize the
Spanish dance forms represented in the music. “The
Three-Cornered Hat” is associated with sexuality and
violence as the ballet is based on the love triangle
between a young couple and an old governor.
“De Falla is sensuous and sexy,” Freund said.
“The music is very expressive.”
All three of these acts make up a montage
of Spanish-influenced numbers. A Spanish Spring
Concert is a patch of musical culture sewn into
Columbia’s unique and colorful communal quilt.
“Imagine sitting in front of an orchestra and
being blown away with some of the most beautiful
music ever written,” Glise said. “If you’ve never been
to an orchestra performance, this is one you really
should be sure to catch.”
chelsea bengier | staff writer
MOVE HIGHLIGHTS
(MOVIE RELEASE)
“WATER FOR ELEPHANTS”
DATE: FRIDAY, APRIL 22
Based on Sara Gruen’s best-selling novel “Water
for Elephants,” this movie takes viewers back in time
to tell the story of a veterinary student named Jacob
(played by Robert Pattinson) who drops out to join
a traveling circus as its veterinarian.
2
04.22.11 • MOVE
(EVENT)
SIX BY SILVER
TIME: 5 P.M.
DATE: FRIDAY, APRIL 22
LOCATION: MOJO’S, 1016 PARK AVE.
(EVENT)
SEETHER
TIME: 7 P.M.
DATE: FRIDAY, APRIL 22
LOCATION: THE BLUE NOTE, 17 N. NINTH ST.
(EVENT)
CATACOMBS ART MARKET
TIME: P.M. TO 9 P.M. FRIDAY, APRIL 22 AND 10 A.M. TO 5 P.M.
Influenced by Alice in Chains, Led Zeppelin and
Pearl Jam, these hard rockers are planning a hairtossing performance during Mojo’s happy hour.
Post-grunge rock band Seether is joined by
Canadian rockers My Darkest Days and alt-rockers
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus for an eclectic modern
rock show.
Local and regional artists will join together
to display and sell their work in the basement
catacombs of Artlandish Gallery. Items featured
will include, paintings, jewelry, sculptures and crafts.
SATURDAY, APRIL 23
LOCATION: ARTLANDISH GALLERY, 1019 E. WALNUT ST.