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Thursday, October 15, 2009 | The Red & Black
flick picks
*— _m
s: K
WHIP IT
“Whip It,” Drew
Barrymore’s debut as a
film director, is a coming
of-age story that is at
once sweet and self
aware.
Bliss, played charis
matically by Ellen Page,
is a 17-year-old high
school senior who spends
her free time waitressing
at The Oink Joint with
her best friend Pash and
appeasing her mother by
participating in beauty
pageants.
Feeling lost and con
fined by the small town
where she lives, Bliss
begins to look for some
thing more something
with meaning.
What she finds is roller
derby, and what kicks
butt more than taking
control of your own life
by attempting something
so extremely cool?
Bliss joins the Hurl
Scouts, lying about her
age to get on the team,
which happens to rank
last in the Austin, Texas,
circuit. The team com
prises an extremely
unorthodox group of
women, but their chemis
try is amazing.
Led by a jean-shorts
wearing coach named
Razor, the girls complete
ly ignore the playbook
and for the most part, do
their own thing. The
young ladies A
seek social introduction at.
$3.50 Coors Pitchers
• Wednesday •
$1.25 Miller Pitchers
* Thursday * ( I
$2.25 Miller Tall Boys \ 'Wmßsdm
$3.50 Coors Pitchers
175 N. Lumpkin St.
One door down from The Roadhouse yw~^
V 706-548-5200 V / V J
NO
WHERE
BAR
240 N. Lumpkin St. / 706-546-4742
This Week's
I Live Music:
Tuesday: Mama's Love
Thursday: Snap
point
The best live music venue m Athf-e .'
iH.u.ii'.n.Lj.-fiiirm
10.14 Jeff Coffin Mu’tet feature show:
featuring Jeff Sipe, 10.22 Mike Doughty:The Question I
Kofi Burbridge Jar Show with acouu,< coll.st
and Felix Pastorious Andrews “Scrap" Livingston
Tickets $ I 2 adv, $ I 5 door Tickets sls adv. $lB door
, COMING SOON:
10 15 Delta Moon with Seth Walker
Tickets $8 adv. $lO door 10 24 Tinsley Ellis and tho
10 16 Beards of Comedy CD release H<;,lers Double. CD release: party
show with Hey, Revolution! '1.0.28; 100.1 Rocktoberfest with
Tickets $8 ndv v SIO doCM' Cowboy Mouth & guests The Elms
10 J 7 Modern Skirts wirh The 114 Marcy Playground
Features I I 6 Bloodkin ,hhl Friends
$lO adv sl2 door 118 Donna Jean Godchaux Band
10 21 Gabriel Kelly & The Reins I I i3 Stewart and Winfield
with American Aquarium I 114 Tim Miller Band
Tickets $5 adv $8 door I I 19 Steep Canyon Rangers
Terrapin Tuesday Bluegrass $2 Terrapin Pints featuring
Jcitapm Rye Pale Ale. India Brown Ale. Sum ay VVhi ar and G> '
10 13 Steel String Session • 1020 Curley Maple • 10 27 Buck & Nelson
For i full listed './inws. ro pin chaw o< /<< fs i <; fuel .'iff more thfoniianop
Visit www.meltingpoint.uhens.com < call 706 2 l vl 6909
most moving of the
women is Maggie
Mayhem (Kristen Wigg),
a single mom who,
though slightly ditzy, has
the most heart of any
character.
Bliss soon learns that
every road has speed
bumps —and while her
bruises are far from met
aphorical, each stumble
makes us fall a little more
in love with her, such as
the devastation first love
brings her and her real
ization that sometimes
doing what you want for
yourself is the right thing.
Her own parents lack
perfection. They high
light their weaknesses,
and for that they seem
believable.
Bliss’ father watches
his neighbor with slight
twinges of jealousy as he
plays football with his
son and nails banners
into his yard. You can feel
he is not let down in his
own daughters, but rath
er missing the experience
of having a son.
Bliss’ mother, a has
been beauty queen,
pushes Bliss almost
relentlessly into the life
of a ’sos housewife. Roller
derby just happens to be
nowhere close to what
she has in mind for her
daughter.
Apart from convincing
her own parents that roll
er derby is her passion,
Bliss comes against an
unconventional adver
sary, Iron Mavin (played
wonderfully by Juliette
Lewis), who does every
thing in her power to end
Bliss’ budding roller
derby run.
VERDICT: Drew
Barrymore extends her
already-impressive resu
me with her directorial
debut, a true must-see
movie. It is not only an
entertaining comedy but
an overall moving film.
Paige Parker
~ 1
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808 DYLAN
Christmas in the Heart
Bob Dylan once said, “I
consider myself a poet first
and a musician second. I
live like a poet and I’ll die
like a poet.”
Dylan has indeed lived
the life of a poet: one who *
once bravely challenged
authority, led the forefront
of an anti-war movement
and gave listeners great
philosophical insight, all
with the stroke of a pen.
Though Dylan’s music has
constantly changed style,
he has always held on to
his flair of songwriting -
that is, until he recorded a
Christmas album.
Dylan’s lyrics were the
prized source of his fame
and basis for being called
the voice of a generation.
Though he regained criti
cal acclaim in the 1970s
with the folk revival “Blood
on the Tracks,” Dylan’s
songwriting skills peaked
in the late '6os.
Some musical legends
die in martyrdom; others
depart leaving a legacy.
But Dylan’s death has
been regretfully ambigu
ous. Did he die when he
abandoned folk music, or
was it his 1966 motorcycle
crash that halted his surre
alist rock ‘n’ roll phase?
Dylan’s new album,
“Christmas in the Heart,”
finally gives America a
nr-frff
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Nicholas
(Sparks
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THE LAST SONG
Nicholas Sparks
The latest release from Nicholas
Sparks is a heart-wrenching story
about first love titled “The Last
Bearded comedians keep it fresh with four
By TYRONE RIVERS
The Red & Black
Featuring everyday
humor involving sketch,
improvisation and music,
The Beards of Comedy
Tour sets itself apart from
the cliche comedy show.
“Usually, with a comedy
show, you get three come
dians, and they’re usually
at different experience lev
els,” said T.J. Young, one
fourth of the “Beards.”
“With our show you get
about the same experience
level, but [you get] distinct
styles,” he said. “I think it
keeps it a lot fresher
because you’re not seeing
the same face for [a large
part of] the time.”
Young views unique
delivery as very important.
“Pop culture is fun to
talk about. Anything from
politics to Kanye West,” he
said. “People are just
handing you jokes. But
they’re handing everyone
jokes. So you have to think
of a unique perspective
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OUT & ABOUT
clear and conclusive
answer to that question.
Simon Cowell would
ridicule a singer with a
voice like Dylan’s. His
raspy mumbles are now
audible only to diehard
fans, and his bland rendi
tions of Christmas carols
such as “Here Comes
Santa Claus,” “The First
Noel” and “Little Drummer
Boy” sound like a desper
ate attempt to appease a
certain demographic.
Dylan underwent a sin
cere born-again Christian
phase two decades ago,
but this album mocks his
previous pursuit of spiritu
ality. Christmas is often
criticized as an over-com
mercialized holiday, which
appropriately reflects
Dylan’s submission to a
commercialized music
industry.
VERDICT: When this
album hits stores, the term
“sell out” will have new
meaning.
Michael Prochaska
§ m
ALICE IN CHAINS
Black Gives Way to Blue
Most people know Alice
in Chains as "one of those
grunge bands from the
early ’9os.” Like most of
those bands, it faded into
a drug-filled haze by the
end of the century —but
now, for better or worse,
the band is back.
pleasure reading
Song”. This book is no different than
his other tear-jerking, tragedy love
stories but it definitely has anew
twist to it, which is quite refreshing.
It is currently being made into a
major motion picture.
The book is about a teenage girl
named Ronnie who is forced to
spend the summer in North Carolina
with her dad. She falls in love and
gets into a lot of trouble in the pro
cess.
She is a punk rock girl with a pur
ple streak in her hair and the tan,
athletic, popular guy named Will lit
erally falls into her lap. This coming
of age story reveals the thrill of first
love and the sting of heartbreak.
It’s a good read if you like Sparks.
It definitely has the same setting in
North Carolina with the same old
BEARDS OF COMEDY
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Melting Point
Cost: $8 with UGA ID
about it and deliver it like
it’s [peoples’] first time
hearing it.”
Completing their first
show in December 2008,
the four guys who make up
the “Beards of Comedy”
are Athens native Young,
Charlotte native Joe
Zimmerman, and Atlanta
natives Andy Sanford and
Dave Stone. Even though
each comedian sports a
full beard, none feels com
mitted to the name.
“We.could all shave and
still call ourselves ’The
Beards of Comedy.’ That
would be... ironic,”
Zimmerman said.
At shows, the Beards
likes to get its audiences
involved by asking for
. ideas.
“We ask for ideas then
perform [impromptu]
sketches based on those
listen up!
“Black Gives Way to
Blue,” released on Sept.
29, is Alice in Chains’ first
studio album in 14 years,
and it holds a pretty stun
ning surprise: It doesn’t
suck that bad.
Anytime an old band
puts out anew album,
everyone has every right to
be highly skeptical. What
is the band going after? Is
it just trying to recapture
its old glory? Why hasn’t it
just moved on already?
None of those questions
will be definitively
answered here, but guess
es may be made.
First of all, the band has
definitely changed since its
original bout of stardom.
Layne Staley, original
vocalist and founding
member, had essentially
been off the map since
1996, culminating in a trag
ic heroin overdose in 2002.
Other members of the
band got back together in
2005 to play some benefit
shows as part of a reunion
tour. They took on anew
lead vocalist, William
DuVall.
The group started
recording “Black Gives
Way to Blue” in 2008 at
friend Dave Grohl’s studio.
It adheres to a lot of the
same basic ideas as their
earlier stuff: big, heavy gui
tars, ominous melodies
and head-banging rockage.
And if you like the old
stuff, they still do it pretty
well. Jerry Cantrell, guitar
player and co-founder,
handled the harmony
vocals when Staley was
still around the other
half of those oh-so-eerie
harmonies Alice in Chains
was famous for, so his
voice is still familiar/
New singer DuVall has a
pretty good voice, too, one
that’s tempting to peg as a
La
Courtesy Beards or Comedy
▲ Atlanta foursome ‘The Beards of Comedy"
includes improvisational sketches with stand-up.
ideas. There’s pressure in
that, but that’s the power
of the beard,” Young said.
Stone, who has made a
name for himself overseas
with his comedy, finds
inspiration for his craft in
those around him, while
Young’s inspiration comes
from everyday life and
strange thoughts. Young
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, Bx3opm
Staley impersonation, but
maybe not quite.
There is something
missing from it, though. It
does seem like the band is
still putting its best foot
forward, like they really
want to still be the ass
kicking, music revolution
aries that they once were.
When it comes down to
it though, Alice in Chains
doesn’t pack the same
punch it used to. When the
band first came out, it was
shocking because they
were doing it for the first
time. Ever. Nobody had
gotten famous playing its
style of angry, angsty metal
before. Nowadays, bands
that are essentially Alice
In Chains cover bands are
a dime a dozen on radio.
Also, it is certainly true
that a front-man isn’t
everything, but losing
Layne Staley has really
hurt Alice in Chains. The
band is still playing similar
melodies and the vocal
quality hasn’t shifted, but
Staley was distinctively
creepy and weird.
On songs such as
“Rooster,” the lyrics were
truly frightening and out
there, fitting the music
and making you feel some
thing dark and real. The
lyrics on “81ack...” just
seem like generic, dark
metal lyrics.
VERDICT: If you’ve
been waiting 14 years for
Alice in Chains to put out
another record of the same
stuff they were playing
when they disbanded, you
won’t be the least bit dis
appointed. But if you’re
after something fresh and
new, something exciting
like what Alice in Chains
offered when it first came
out, you might be.—
Chris Miller
plot line, boy meets girl. The story
contains an unexpected-tragedy that
is unfortunately always expected in
his books.
Sparks’ books seem to reflect
that real love is only real if it
includes loss. This can get kind of
old. However, this book has a
refreshing change of plot and char
acter development that leaves the
reader pleasantly surprised.
“The Last Song” is an enjoyable,
romantic read, which Sparks never
fails to deliver. Unlike his previous
novels, it leaves you satisfied in the
end but do not be surprised to find
that you bawl your eyes out the last
50 pages, which should be expected
with Sparks.
Kristyna Mauch
welcomes opportunity
when others find out he’s a
comedian.
“I like to leave them
asking themselves, ‘What
just happened?’ after I’ve
walked away,” said Young.
When asked to say
something funny, he said:
“Aw, I would. But I just
gave blood this morning.”