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(08/25/06 4:00am)
In July the Carolina Union Activities Board and Cat's Cradle invited UNC students to feel the Illinoise when they booked baroque-pop darling Sufjan Stevens to play Memorial Hall.
On Thursday the students answered in kind.
Many students camped out Wednesday evening in order to get good seats to the Sept. 21 performance.
By 9:30 a.m. - 30 minutes before the box office opened - the line snaked around the construction fencing and past Phillips Hall.
And by the time the box office closed at 6 p.m., all student-allotted seats in the recently renovated auditorium were filled with either Carolina students or members of Stevens's fan club, who were reserved an undisclosed number of seats for the 1,434-seat venue.
Community members can buy tickets specifically set aside for the general public on Monday.
"I think it's great that they can bring someone of that name to a big venue like Memorial Hall and have it sell out in a day," said junior Cody Braun, who camped out overnight for tickets.
"It doesn't surprise me too much what with the indie thing we have on campus."
CUAB President Erika Stallings, though not surprised by the quick sellout, said the show's success so far depended on two things: timing and Stevens' popularity in Chapel Hill.
"It feels really good," she said. "We're really excited that our first event of the year sold out. It's a sign of good things to come for the year."
Stallings said she was worried the concert wouldn't sell out, given that tickets went on sale so early into the school year.
But a heavy marketing campaign, she said, proved to create enough publicity to get the word out about Stevens' second visit to Chapel Hill in as many years.
The artist, whose 2005 release - Illinois - was critically lauded as one of the top albums of the year, previously performed at Cat's Cradle in support of Illinois. The performance led Cradle owner Frank Heath to book Stevens for a Memorial Hall show in cooperation with CUAB.
"Cat's Cradle books shows that really fit the students' interest, so in that sense it's a great partnership."
CUAB music committee chairman Robert Gurdian sees the partnership, which also spawned two sold-out Wilco shows in March, as a testament to UNC's ability to bring marquee acts to the student and town communities.
"In some way it does validate the University, as we can get some of the top-quality entertainment that students want," he said in a July interview. "Also, it just really excites people when they can see what things can happen at Carolina."
And Stallings said she is using this early success as a barometer for CUAB's upcoming projects, which include future collaborations with Cat's Cradle.
"I'm glad people were that excited about something we are doing," she said. "This is going to be the beginning of a great year for students.
Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(08/25/06 4:00am)
Senior class officers Meg Petersen and Eric Schmidt are looking to bring the Class of 2007 more than just bar nights and senior-exclusive events in the Pit.
And while Franklin Street outings such as Thursday's senior bar night at He's Not Here will be a part of their goal to keep the year enjoyable for seniors, the leadership team also is committed to many philanthropy projects.
Petersen and Schmidt said they hope one such project, the adoption of a Habitat for Humanity house on Homestead Road, will unify the senior class and better the students' community.
"The only reason we are a little bit more focused on the philanthropy side of things this year is because those and future plans are more relatable and more people can connect to them," Petersen said.
She said she hopes the option of community service will attract those who don't drink or those who are not 21 to activities sponsored by the senior marshals.
The two also will continue the tradition of a senior service week - set to take place the week of Sept. 17.
Events for senior service week include work with the Ronald McDonald House, a small-scale Katrina relief effort and a groundskeeper appreciation day.
There is also a plan to take part in an adopt-a-highway program, Schmidt said.
"It's a group of smaller events as opposed to the larger Habitat project," Petersen said.
The Habitat project will kick off officially Oct. 6 when the senior class hosts a benefit at Memorial Hall to raise funds for the house.
The benefit is set to include a showcase of numerous campus groups and will be the headline event for the corresponding Race Relations Week.
"It's a great way for seniors to show pride in their class, a pride in the University, and it's good for everyone," Schmidt said of the Habitat project. "It's a strong way to unify people through an extended activity throughout the year."
Petersen said she also thinks the project will help bring the senior class together.
"The Habitat house is the best way to connect people and allow them to come together and do something for the community," she said. "With the Habitat house, it's the idea of contributing to something throughout the year."
The project will begin the weekend of Nov. 3 with a blitz build.
But the duo also is looking ahead to other projects that have become mainstays for past senior classes, including a semiformal in the fall and a formal in the spring. Schmidt said details on the two have yet to be finalized.
The two also have been working with the Carolina Union Activities Board and the executive branch of student government to book a speaker for Commencement and the Senior Class Address.
"We're still waiting to hear who the speaker is going to be," Schmidt said. "We expect to hear a decision by halfway through the semester."
Petersen said senior marshals are hard at work planning an array of social events for seniors, including a bar crawl in December, mini golf in Polk Place and senior nights at UNC sporting events.
"We have it set up so we'll be offering a different variety of everything," Schmidt said.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/24/06 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
AMY MILLAN
HONEY FROM THE TOMBS
4 stars
Broken Social Scene is basically the Biblical Jacob of indie rock.
For instance, Broken Social Scene begot Canadian electro-rock outfit Stars, which then begot the debut solo effort from Stars lead singer Amy Millan.
Honey from the Tombs, Millan's folk-inspired release, lends itself to multiple listens much in the same way Stars' Set Yourself on Fire did - which can be attributed to Millan's vocal charms and lyrical stylings.
Her range - sometimes poppy, sometimes folk-based - remains her best attribute, but it's on Honey from the Tombs that she displays her talented songwriting chops, penning all but one track on the 12-song release.
With reminiscences of Cat Power's The Greatest and Jenny Lewis' recent solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat, Millan's album puts off a unique, even sultry vibe that differentiates her from the pack of neo-jazz efforts from the likes of Norah Jones and Rachael Yamagata.
Millan's opening three-set - "Losin You," "Skinny Boy" and "Ruby II" - prove to be among the best cuts on the album, each exuding a bluesy swagger that builds off its predecessor.
Appropriately topped off by "Pour Me Up Another," Honey from the Tombs is, top to bottom, an excellent album.
Oddly enough, what makes it such a treat is that it seemingly necessitates multiple listens. The warmth of Millan's voice only gets better as the LP goes on, and it's able to be enjoyed in stages.
First you hear the words, then you take in the notes, and then finally, the bigger picture.
And that grander scheme, at least in Millan's case, is what makes her album one of the most enjoyable of the year.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(08/24/06 4:00am)
MOVIEREVIEW
"INVINCIBLE"
2 stars
In six years Disney has produced five inspirational sports movies about an underdog team or individual who, facing adversity, overcomes everything to win the game, championship or hearts of the fans.
"Invincible," like its four predecessors - in order, "Remember the Titans," "The Rookie," "Miracle" and "Glory Road" - plays off real-life events. This time Disney has chosen to aggrandize the professional football career of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old Philadelphia bartender with no real football experience who, on a whim, tried out for the waning Philadelphia Eagles and made the team.
The real Papale was regarded widely as a special teams ace who, in three years of play, never scored a touchdown and caught only one pass for 15 yards.
Nevermind that the end of "Invincible" sees Papale's movie incarnation (the affable Mark Wahlberg) recovering a fumble and returning it for a touchdown in his second regular-season game.
While Wahlberg's latest is the kind of schmaltzy sports movie that has raked in almost $300 million in box office sales for Disney, the formulaic shtick the film embodies is increasingly wearing thin.
And the box office numbers show it.
In this case recycled sports movie clich
(08/24/06 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND
BRING ME THE WORKHORSE
2 and 1/2 stars
Ambitious though it might be, Bring Me the Workhorse - the debut effort from My Brightest Diamond - does too much for its own good.
Not that lead singer Shara Worden isn't an extremely talented musician. Her album is brimming with beautiful arias and they're evidence that Worden's classical training has been put to good, if only effective use.
But Worden's Imogen Heap-like voice is backed by heavy, almost maddeningly atonal guitar and piano riffs - goth-rock-inspired, to be sure - that don't serve her or the album well at all.
It also takes a while to get off the ground, with the first three tracks proving to be the most uninteresting of the 11-song set.
But what the album lacks in terms of adventurousness - it establishes a dreary, dream-pop feel with the opening "Something of an End" and never lets it go - it more than makes up for in eccentricity.
As one of labelmate Sufjan Stevens' Illinoisemakers, Worden displays an acute sense of balance between what works and what doesn't, at least in terms of an operatic baroque pop album.
But as a solo musician, her charm quickly wears thin.
Bring Me The Workhorse is an impressive debut inasmuch as it solidifies My Brightest Diamond as an act to watch, especially when it opens for Stevens Sept. 21 at his Memorial Hall concert.
But the album's quirkiness and inaccessibility pushes Worden out of the spotlight, and it suffers as a result.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(08/23/06 4:00am)
With annual homecoming festivities improving in scale and popularity during the past three years, the Carolina Athletic Association and the Carolina Union Activities Board have a tough act to follow.
CAA leaders worked during the summer to address many of the common criticisms associated with the homecoming committee.
"This year, we have an actual planning process - that's always been a very common criticism of homecoming," said Pablo Friedmann, the homecoming committee chairman. "We're working to address the disconnect between the leaders and the committees."
Before summer began, a list of possible acts for the homecoming concert was made, CAA President Rachel High said. With the help of CUAB, the CAA committee contacted those artists to see who would be available during homecoming weekend, which begins Nov. 10.
"We've got a nice list of artists who are unavailable," High joked. "We're looking in all kinds of directions that would produce an exciting and energetic show for students."
CUAB President Erika Stallings said that list included such names as Maroon 5, The Killers, Black Eyed Peas and Jack Johnson. But touring conflicts nixed each act from the list of possibilities.
For the third year in a row, CUAB will aid the CAA in the preparation of the homecoming concert.
"It's one of the biggest things that CUAB does during the school year," Stallings said. "There's no thing that's written that says CUAB will work on the homecoming concert with the CAA, but the last two years has proven that the partnership works."
The most recent would've-been for the homecoming concert was neo-soul act Gnarls Barkley, composed of rapper Cee-Lo Green and DJ Danger Mouse.
Recently though, Don Luse, the director of the Carolina Union, informed High and Stallings that Gnarls Barkley was unavailable.
Another development that surfaced during the summer was the possibility of booking Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," as a speaker in addition to the annual concert.
Stewart's people, High said, needed an answer quicker than CAA could provide one, which led to Stewart falling off the list.
Something that remains constant, however, is the possibility of moving this year's concert from Memorial Hall - where rap act Common performed last year - to the Smith Center.
"We've never ruled the Smith Center out," High said. "It comes down to that fact that we're not going to charge students a ridiculous price for tickets - it's about trying to find the right artist."
The CAA, though, has committed itself to bringing an act that is universally popular among the student body.
"We want a concert that will unite all students as a Carolina community," Friedmann said. "We're looking at all options, but likewise, we're keeping in mind what students would like to listen to."
For High, who has been involved with the CAA's planning of homecoming since her freshman year, one of the biggest aspects of the event is the potential for growth.
"Student Congress obviously has the expectation that we're going to produce a concert that's well-received," High said. "I don't feel pressure from Student Congress as much as the student body and myself.
"I want to see it grow and keep progressing."
Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(08/22/06 4:00am)
Thousands of people come to New York every year with the hopes of seeing their names in a playbill.
The Broadway and off-Broadway world that inhabits Manhattan's Midtown section is widely regarded as one of the most cutthroat entertainment industries, but two Carolina alumni have broken into the New York theater circle this month.
William Brian Smith and Meghan Gambling, both 2005 graduates, submitted their plays - "Mary Berry Presents: The Life of Mary Berry" and "The Kitchen Sink," respectively - into the New York International Fringe Festival, entertaining fantasies that their plays would be selected for performance during the 17-day festival.
"I know that the Fringe Festival is a reputable theater festival - like the Sundance of theater - and that a lot of big plays like 'Urinetown' and 'Avenue Q' started there," Smith said about his decision to put 'The Life of Mary Berry" into the running.
"I think it's great that I'm in that kind of company."
The Fringe Festival receives more than 1,000 theatrical applications each year. This year, the judges selected 200 to be performed in 21 venues stretching across New York City's Chinatown and Greenwich Village neighborhoods. The festival features musicals, plays, one-man shows and performances that feature dance and multimedia presentations.
Smith's play will see its final Fringe performance Friday, while Gambling's play, which she also produced and directed, ended its run Monday.
"I don't think it'll ever stop being shocking to see people showing up at your show," Gambling said about her play's Aug. 12 debut. "The reception is always good until you talk to people, but everyone's been really supportive and positive."
Her play, a "brutally honest" drama about the relationships that develop between roommates in college, was partially based on her senior year at UNC.
"Thematically, it has a lot to do with my senior year at UNC," she said. "It's more about the camaraderie of your roommates and the people you live with."
"The Kitchen Sink," she said, falls in the vein of Patrick Marber's "Closer" in its unflinching dialogue and stark view of situations.
"There's uncomfortable situations and there's gross situations," she said. "It's very honest and I think that's why it's gotten as far as it has."
But it was that nature, Gambling said, that helped the play thrive both in Los Angeles - where she lives - and at the Fringe Festival.
"When I first started workshopping it - because it is very crass and it doesn't hold back - the audiences tended to respond to that sort of thing."
Smith, a Burch fellow, said he began writing "The Life of Mary Berry" in 2004 on an express 3 train to Brooklyn.
After leaving the play alone for a year, he finished it during spring break of his senior year. The final result was a self-described "absurdist comedy" about what happens when unexpected evils find their way into an insular family's life.
Smith describes his play, which stars UNC alumna Katie Cunningham, as a character-based play in the style of Bertolt Brecht and Anton Chekhov, though he said he would never think of comparing himself to them.
"Their plays are character-based, concentrating on the action or inaction of characters, and that's what I wanted people to pay attention to with my play," he said.
Gambling said working with supportive UNC professors prepared her for her entrance into the Los Angeles theater circuit. But choosing to go to Los Angeles instead of New York was a more personal decision.
"I chose L.A. because the community here is much larger and because I had family out here," she said. "I think that New York is an excellent training ground for people, but in terms of having an actual pool of work, L.A. is where you need to be."
Smith found his foothold in New York in the founding of his own production company, Montague & Clark, named for the Brooklyn Heights intersection where he and his friends often met to hang out.
Smith said the decision to start a production company centered around the need to control all aspects of production himself.
"If you want to get stuff done, you have to do it yourself, and if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself," Smith said.
Smith also credits UNC's dramatic arts department with instilling in him that kind of nature.
"UNC is pretty smart about what they're doing - it's not a conservatory. It kind of gives you a liberal education about dramatic arts," he said.
"You can dip your toes into everything and you don't have to surrender yourself into one focus."
Smith now is working on an as-yet untitled play. He also plans to submit other plays he has written to several upcoming festivals.
Gambling, who is working as a writer's assistant on Fox's "Talkshow with Spike Feresten," is taking some time off before getting back into theater. "Talkshow" will begin airing in September.
Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 1 - Peyton Reed is living his dream.
As a Hollywood director with a blockbuster or two under his belt, some might say he's living that dream particularly well.
And as a student who walked across Polk Place 20 years ago, Reed, now 42, always imagined that his dreams would lead him to Hollywood Boulevard.
"(Working in the film industry) has been a desire of mine for a long time," Reed said about an adolescence spent making short films with his Super 8 camera.
When he got to UNC in 1982, Reed worked with a fledgling student television network and also was active with WXYC 89.3.
Reed definitely found his life's niche tinged in Carolina blue, and that's more than fitting - UNC was the only school Reed applied to as a senior at Raleigh's Broughton High School.
After his 1986 graduation from the University with a double major in English and radio, TV and motion pictures, Reed worked in the short-film circuit, followed by directorial gigs with such television shows as "Mr. Show with Bob and David" and "The Upright Citizens Brigade."
It wasn't until 2000 that Reed got his big break, directing Kirsten Dunst and a host of teen stars in the breakout comedy "Bring It On."
But the transition from low-budget STV projects to $10 million star vehicles wasn't a challenge, Reed said. "When you're putting together a movie, there are so many ways it can go wrong," he said. "The approach is the same as it was eight years ago, but now I have access to bigger budgets."
As dissimilar as Reed's projects were, he said some things will always remain the same.
Reed said STV instilled in him a work ethic he carries onto sets. And those sets get pretty star-studded.
"STV instilled discipline in me, and I definitely use what I learned at UNC when I'm working with people like Vince (Vaughn) and Jennifer (Aniston)," he said.
After directing 2003's "Down with Love," Reed got his biggest break yet, directing Hollywood "it" couple Vaughan and Aniston in the upcoming "The Break-Up," a movie that he said can't be pegged into any particular genre.
"'The Break-Up' is not a cosmopolitan movie; it's about Midwesterners who, in a sense, feel a little more realistic," Reed said.
"With it, there's a sense of reality, where something can be overtly comedic and then twist on a dime, and the entire tone changes."
Though unlike most "romantic comedies," "The Break-Up" went on to be one of the biggest moneymakers of the summer, raking in close to $112 million - more than double its estimated $52 million budget.
One thing that will strike the casual observer is the difference between Reed's three major projects: a teen comedy, a '50s-era romantic farce and a feel-bad romantic comedy.
But Reed said that no matter how different his projects are, his goal as a filmmaker stays the same.
"It's about finding the truth in comedy, and you can use that sense of improvisation to find a sense of immediacy to the comedy," he said.
Even if his projects change, Reed said he wouldn't let them change who he is as a filmmaker and a person.
"I don't want to be a comedy director that sets the camera up and doesn't worry about the lighting," he said. "I don't want to be become the L.A. filmmaker. I want to stay who I am."
Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 29 - PlayMakers Repertory Company announced its schedule for the upcoming 2006-07 season, which will feature performances of Toni Morrison's novel "The Bluest Eye" and the Mitch Albom novel "Tuesdays with Morrie."
"I think the season casts a wide net," Joseph Haj, the new artistic director for PlayMakers, wrote in an e-mail.
The company will open its season with an adaptation of Carl Sternheim's "The Underpants," a comedy that explores the draw of overnight celebrity.
The following month, the company will switch gears and present "Tuesdays with Morrie," the story of the relationship between a sports reporter and his dying college professor.
"Stones in His Pockets," Marie Jones' award-winning play, will be the company's 2007 debut performance, with art imitating life when a Hollywood production team comes to film a movie in a rural Irish town.
Big names will highlight the final two plays in PlayMakers' schedule. Feb. 28 will mark the premiere of "The Bluest Eye," which has been adapted for the stage by Lydia R. Diamond. Set in 1940s Ohio, the play explores racism and the ideal of beauty as seen through the eyes of the story's 11-year-old protagonist, Pecola Breedlove.
PlayMakers will cap off their season with a Tony Kushner adaptation of Pierre Corneille's "The Illusion," the story of a dying man who employs a magician to help him find his estranged son.
Haj wrote via e-mail that he is excited about the season and its potential for universal appeal.
"From the lunacy of 'The Underpants,' to the poignancy of 'Morrie,' to the funny and acute look at Hollywood's global reach in 'Stones,' to the searing power of '(The) Bluest Eye,' to the wit and lyricism of '(The) Illusion,' I think the season is going to be a strong and varied one," Haj wrote.
He added that he is particularly excited about having one of the first productions of Morrison's celebrated novel.
"It is a wonderfully eclectic season that truly has something for everyone," he wrote. "It's a terrific lineup, and I'm excited about all of the plays."
This season will mark a tone change for the company, as the majority of its performances from last season dealt with darker matters, including the psychological thriller "Frozen" and the generational drama "String of Pearls."
All of the plays are slated to be performed in the Paul Green Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art. Season subscriptions and single-performance tickets are now available online at playmakersrep.org.
Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 15 - Begin to Hope the sophomore major label effort from anti-folk songstress Regina Spektor, might be the first great pop album of 2006.
What starts off sounding like a radio-friendly exercise in reflective anti-folk progresses into a subtly ingenious release that more than complements Spektor's 2004 major-label debut, Soviet Kitsch.
Working off a kick that hearkens a frenetic Fiona Apple and the jazzy poeticism of Nellie McKay, Spektor's album is a quirky collection of tracks, some of which are more accessible than others.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 1 - The American Heritage College Dictionary defines "transplant" as a verb meaning to uproot and replant.
With "Brick," writer-director Rian Johnson uproots many cinematic conventions, replanting them in a dingy Southern California high school amid teenage drug peddlers and carbon copies of '40s-era film noir stalwarts.
Johnson's first feature film packs its fair share of punches, finding a way to hold you like few films can.
(07/20/06 4:00am)
MOVIEREVIEW
"A Scanner Darkly"
2.5 Stars
A lot can be said about "A Scanner Darkly," director Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's nightmarish 1977 novel about a world in the that has lost the war on drugs.
Speaking briefly of Dick's not-so-futuristic, Big Brother world, close to one-fourth of the people on Earth are addicted to a mind-altering hallucinogen - the aptly named Substance D - that brings on bouts of paranoia and can lead to such unpleasant and wholly illogical side effects as the two hemispheres of the brain competing for control of consciousness.
(07/13/06 4:00am)
Following the success of March's Wilco concert at Memorial Hall, the Carolina Union Activities Board and Cat's Cradle have re-teamed to bring one of the biggest names in indie music to UNC.
Sufjan Stevens, the singer-songwriter behind 2005's critically acclaimed concept album Illinois, will perform at Memorial Hall Sept. 21.
Stevens will be joined by Asthmatic Kitty labelmate My Brightest Diamond, set to open the show.
In September 2005, Stevens performed at Cat's Cradle to a sold-out crowd, and those behind this year's performance are expecting more of the same.
"Based on last time through, (Stevens) did an advance sellout," Cat's Cradle owner Frank Heath said. "Hopefully we'll get the same response."
Tickets for the concert will go on sale to students Aug. 24 and will remain available only to students for three days before being made available to the general public, CUAB President Erika Stallings said.
Members of Stevens' fan club also have been allotted an undisclosed number of tickets for the more than 1,400-seat venue.
Ticket prices have been tentatively set at $12 for students, $20 for the general public and $23 for day-of sales. Tickets will also be available for purchase via One Card at the Memorial Hall box office.
When Stevens last performed in the area, many people were willing to pay twice the ticket price to see him perform, CUAB Music Chairman Robert Gurdian said.
Based on that, Gurdian sees Stevens' Memorial Hall performance as a big opportunity for UNC.
"In some way, it does validate the University, as we can get some of the top-quality entertainment that students want - I think that's very important," he said. "Also, it just really excites people when they can see what things can happen at Carolina."
Given that tickets will go on sale the day after classes commence, Gurdian and CUAB are hoping to include announcements for the performance in all "welcome back" materials.
Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(06/29/06 4:00am)
PlayMakers Repertory Company announced its schedule for the upcoming 2006-07 season, which will feature performances of Toni Morrison's novel "The Bluest Eye" and the Mitch Albom novel "Tuesdays with Morrie."
"I think the season casts a wide net," Joseph Haj, the new artistic director for PlayMakers, wrote in an e-mail.
The company will open its season with an adaptation of Carl Sternheim's "The Underpants," a comedy that explores the draw of overnight celebrity.
(06/29/06 4:00am)
MOVIEREVIEW
"Superman Returns"
3 Stars
Those with sky-high hopes of the first "Superman" film in nearly 20 years will be let down, but this is not to say that "Superman Returns" is a bad movie or unworthy of a place in the superhero movie library.
To be as precise as possible, "Superman Returns," with newcomer Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel, is a 5-star movie hindered by a lazy, 3-star ending.
Often witty and always visually stunning, it's one of the few sequels that dares to be as good as the original.
(06/29/06 4:00am)
MOVIEREVIEW
"Keeping up with the steins"
3 Stars
Films that try to capitalize on schmaltzy family bonds and the quirks of a household are successful for the primary reason that they generalize their in-jokes.
Part of the reason that 2002's "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was such a critical and box-office success, for example, was that it never made the audience feel like it was in the dark when writer Nia Vardalos poked fun at her family's foibles.
(06/15/06 4:00am)
MOVIEREVIEW
"Down in the Valley"
2.5 Stars
"Down in the Valley," the new Edward Norton vehicle from writer-director David Jacobson, doesn't really know what it wants to be.
What begins as a remotely plausible love story between a San Fernando Valley plains drifter (Norton) and a rebellious teenager (Evan Rachel Wood) quickly derails into an artsy neo-Western that never really finds its footing and rarely builds up enough dramatic steam to get any semblance of a coherent plot.
(06/15/06 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Regina Spektor
Begin to Hope
4.5 stars
Begin to Hope the sophomore major label effort from anti-folk songstress Regina Spektor, might be the first great pop album of 2006.
What starts off sounding like a radio-friendly exercise in reflective anti-folk progresses into a subtly ingenious release that more than complements Spektor's 2004 major-label debut, Soviet Kitsch.
Working off a kick that hearkens a frenetic Fiona Apple and the jazzy poeticism of Nellie McKay, Spektor's album is a quirky collection of tracks, some of which are more accessible than others.
(05/18/06 4:00am)
Entering Carrboro from West Franklin Street, passers-by will notice something new inside the space that used to house Temple Ball Gallery.
For instance, 15 beers on tap.
Milltown, a bar and restaurant in the heart of downtown Carrboro, is a joint venture from Durham restaurateurs and music promoters who seek to add variety to Carrboro's nightlife.
"It's like a Belgian bar because of all of the Belgian beers we serve," Milltown co-owner Josh Wittman said. "We're not trying to say we're all bar or all restaurant, we're just a mixture."
The spot, which opened May 10, is modeled after Durham's The Federal restaurant, co-owned by Wittman and Milltown partner Rhys Botica.
"It's definitely something different from everything else in Carrboro," said Jamie DeGraw, a 26-year-old Chapel Hill resident and University alumnus .
"It's not stuffy or pretentious, and I think it works hard to not be that."
Because Milltown also is co-owned by Tor Hansen and Glenn Dicker - co-owners of Durham's Redeye Distribution and YepRoc Records - the venue might see some musical tie-ins in the near future, Wittman said.
"We're probably going to do some things that'll be fun," he said. "Record release parties, short acoustic sets, things of that sort."
Despite the cross-promotional ideas Wittman has for the restaurant, he still doesn't consider himself to be an expert in the field.
"We're not professional restaurateurs. We just want to open places we'd want to go to."
But above all, patrons are drawn into Milltown because of its vast selection of menu items.
Boasting 125 different types of bottled beer and an assortment of domestic and imported draught beers, Milltown ranks as one of the more alcoholically diverse venues in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area.
"I wanted to go out to a new place that was different from the others in town," said Patrick Hunnicutt, a 27-year-old Carrboro resident, as he sipped one of Milltown's seven lambic ales, a $10 Oude Geuze Boone.
"I like the variety of beers, and it's good to have another bar that serves food in Carrboro."
Milltown's menu, much like its ambience, is also something of a mixture of styles.
Standard appetizer fare such as bruschetta plates and nachos help maintain Milltown's accessibility, while main courses such as beer battered fish tacos and four different preparations of mussels accentuates the restaurant's uniqueness.
"There are some things on (the menu) that are standard, but I think the way we do them is a lot better than the way a lot of other people do them," Wittman said.
"We're going to constantly change things that don't work and add things to keep people coming back - people will not grow tired of our menu."
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
(04/28/06 4:00am)
Dirty South Improv has come a long way in just a year.
This time last year, the celebrated comedic troupe was performing in an ice cream shop, The Inside Scoop, on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Their once-a-week shows at the venue quickly became an underground phenomenon, said Zach Ward, the group's founder, and it became clear that the performers needed a space to call their very own.
The group moved into a space behind Elmo's Diner in Carrboro's Carr Mill Mall.
Ward signed the lease for the space in July, saying that, though the space was a wreck after years of abandonment, it was "perfect" for the group.
"It is so unreal that we finally have a permanent space," Ward said in an October interview. "We are finally ready to do shows tonight."
And that mentality has not changed at all.
The group, fast becoming a nationally recognized improv team, performs six shows every weekend, taking cues from many other groups across the nation.
Six months after occupying the back-alley locale, Ward's ambitious goals for DSI are becoming more of a reality with each passing weekend.
University senior Dave Siegel, who is involved with both DSI and UNC's improv group, CHiPs, said in April that Ward hopes to make Chapel Hill as prestigious in improv training as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, what many refer to as "The Big Three" in improv.
"(Ward) wants to make the improv triangle into an improv square with Chapel Hill (and) Carrboro as the fourth point," Siegel said in an April interview.
And not only was the space a perfect fit for DSI, but the Carrboro community was, too.
In April, UNC alumnus and DSI workshop teacher Anthony King said that he thought the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area could reach national recognition in the improv scene because of the area's progressive nature.
"Improv is smart comedy," he said. "I think that hip quality fits right into Chapel Hill."
And with the move to Carrboro, DSI has taken on a more hands-on community role, actively engaging in giving back to others.
The group hosts a 24-hour improv marathon for charity, which benefits the N.C. Children's Hospital. Ward also teaches improv classes for kids at a local school.
"Some months we do great; some months we lose $1,000, but I am not doing it for the money," Ward said in an April interview.
"I am doing it for those people who consider this a community."
Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.