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4 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 jjh* N** r ' 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 -**.r~**A,*-*. Nicholas (Sparks Tlm Lmi A*mj 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 OVVjKXUtlgmlgk ■’■'jS, fT 4Sw j| Bi j BHK' v4|H • • IJIiHBk Ic.'iJn R.• ' m THE Wednesday, November 11, Bpm TABERNACLE 153 LOCKIE ST NE MMBBSWHHHISWI^^ downtown Atlanta RRRBBRRRRRRBRRRRBBBRRI - _ atßo xyAZUUKui XT tipyjutxrrf nAYwbtnnt aox orrxcj*. 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.”