Dive

What an utter disappointment this week is turning out to be in movies. First the Chelsea drops "The Road" from their schedule entirely, after having had it slated for an opening on November 25 (they're notoriously poor planners in that regard). Then two of the most important living directors, Werner Herzog and Pedro Almodovar, release movies in limited markets that of course don't come to Chapel Hill. And to top it all off the three new wide releases this Friday are all over-hyped confirmations of convention that look mediocre at best and downright draining at worst.

On that note, I will take this opportunity to encourage you to go see "New Moon," the second movie installation in the "Twilight" series of vampire-hottie fantasies of sexual awakening for adolescent girls (and post-adolescent girls who I suppose still haven't sexually matured). It's wide release, so you can surely see it anywhere there are desperately single girls wishing that some strong, cold man would come around and suck their life-force out through their jugular. It's directed by Chris Weitz, who is returning from his critically-panned attempt at the first "Twilight" movie, and this one isn't looking much better. Weitz has had success in the past (my favorite film of his happens to be "Antz," and I also found his stab at the conceptually difficult "Golden Compass" to be admirable and under-rated), but it's unlikely that this will be counted as one of them. After all, what can you really do with a story whose linchpin is the principle that hot guys are hotter when they look like preter-natural underwear models?

Which begs the question: why am I encouraging you to go see this film? Well, you see, I'm not really. It's a joke. There just isn't anything actually worth writing about this week. Sad, huh?

For this week’s 5 Questions, Dive assistant editor Linnie Greene spoke with Shane Hartman, bassist for local rock trio Dynamite Brothers who celebrates the release of new album Again at The Cave on Friday. With the brand new record about to hit shelves and a musical career that spans more genres than a record store, Hartman divulged some of his band’s unexpected, ultra-funky influences and explained why, when Hollywood came calling, The Dynamite Brothers answered.

Diversions: Again evokes numerous sounds and comparisons. Who are some of your influences?

Shane Hartman: Too many to list. The three of us are the core of the band, but all three of us have a wide range of influences, pretty much any and everything. As far as stylistically where we try to go with it is kind of a rock ‘n’ roll thing, but heavily influenced by 60s and 70s soul music, — Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic, Curtis Mayfield, The Chambers Brothers, I could go on and on, but definitely a heavy dose of '60s and '70s soul and funk. Also a little jazz thrown in. We are a rock band, so we like rock ‘n’ roll of course—anything from The Beatles to Captain Beefheart. All of us have played several kinds of music, anything from jazz to reggae and ska. Actually Mitch and I used to play with a kind of Reggae funk band called the Platinum Heavyweights. Duke Ellington says there’s two kinds of music: “Good music and bad music.” We like the good stuff.

Click above to read more of the interview.

I cheer, you cheer, we all cheer for good beer.

If you’re drunk that phrase would probably run something more like this: I beer, you beer, we all beer for good…beer.

Yes, beer can make us happy, but that doesn’t mean it makes us poets. However, it can make otherwise ridiculous or inscrutable things totally palatable. One of my favorite expressions ever is the pithy old saying, “A pint can do more than Milton can, to justify God’s ways to man.” Believe me, I’ve tried them both, and it’s true.

With that bit of beer-lore out of the way, we can now turn to actual beer. I hit two local bars/breweries this week to see what craft brews they had on tap. Coincidentally, both the Carolina Brewery and Top of the Hill have fairly different, though both rather bland brown ale offerings at the moment. Of the two I preferred the Brewery’s, but that might have been prejudiced by the fact that the atmosphere at Top O’ repulses me. Like the hierarchical pretensions implied in its name, I find it high on expense and low on significance. I also have an inside girl at The Brewery, one Catherine S., who makes the bar tender I had at Top O’ look like a jackass, and downright ugly to boot. But, taking my cues from Fox News as always, I’ll report and let you decide. I apologize for not getting any pictures.

Click above to read more.

Ah, radio rock, how you are sorely missed in our culture. There's something about an electric riff, a uncontrollable heartbeat rhythm and everyman lyrics about the inescapable allure of women that's just hard to resist. And while this sort of throw-it-all-to-the-wind single is almost as good as gone on our current FM dial, Chapel Hill's Dynamite Brothers bring the goods in large amounts. A perfect example of their expertise in the genre is "Can't Stop Falling In Love." Just try to resist this bright, pounding, rock 'n' roll song of the week. I dare you.

Download "Can't Stop Falling In Love" here.