Aug 21-27, 2013

Aug 21-27, 2013 / Vol. 27 / No. 26

Cover Story

Inside Charlotte’s barbershop culture

It’s a mild Friday evening in Uptown. East Trade Street is bustling, from the transit center to the EpiCentre to the Ritz-Carlton and all points surrounding. The traffic of well-dressed men and women through the front entrance of one business appears to be building momentum. They pass a small, street-front patio where a few guys…

Jarvis Holliday

Prince Avalanche unearths decent premise

PRINCE AVALANCHE **1/2 DIRECTED BY David Gordon Green STARS Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch David Gordon Green’s Prince Avalanche opens with the declaration that, in the late 1980s, a massive forest fire in Texas burned through tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of houses and claimed four lives. How much that incident ties into the…

Matt Brunson

Beer in the ‘burbs

It’s no secret that Charlotte has several great spots to grab a craft beer. Bars like Taco Mac and Duckworth’s have been supplying high-quality draft options to the Queen City for several years, while local bottle shops like Brawley’s, Salud and Good Bottle are well-known for their retail selections. That said, there are plenty of…

Cam Heiliger

Blue Jasmine: A Streetcar Named Woody

BLUE JASMINE *** DIRECTED BY Woody Allen STARS Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins Over the span of approximately four dozen motion pictures, Woody Allen has funneled inspiration from such literary and cinematic giants as Leo Tolstoy, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini and even Bob Hope. With Blue Jasmine, he has opted to go full-on Tennessee Williams. In…

Matt Brunson

The Spectacular Now: Sober and satisfying

THE SPECTACULAR NOW *** DIRECTED BY James Ponsoldt STARS Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley There’s a spectacular performance hovering around the edges of The Spectacular Now, and it belongs to Shailene Woodley. Best known for her role as George Clooney’s older daughter in The Descendants, Woodley here delivers the sort of transcendent turn that feels so…

Matt Brunson

Surviving Survivorhood

In March of this year, I was declared five years in remission from stage IV uterine cancer. Although I’d spent the last several years imagining the dramatic high-five moment with my oncologist and the blow-out party celebrating with friends who supported me through a challenging time, the moment was anti-climactic — if not abruptly disrupted.…

Molly Secours

The perils of being alone

Full disclosure: As I type this, I am a little tipsy. I didn’t have that much to drink. It was just two beers. The thing is, I drank them by myself, which I think made a difference. Maybe I drank them too fast because I didn’t have anyone to talk to between sips. Or maybe…

Ailen Arreaza

Macbeth: West Side Scotland

No play in the Shakespeare canon gets more jostling around than the fearsome tragedy whose name must not be spoken aloud, “The Scottish Play,” better known as Macbeth. During my watch on the Loaf, we’ve had nocturnal visitations from Kabuki Macbeth, Tiny Ninja Macbeth, Interactive Murder Mystery Macbeth, Macbeth Unplugged, an all-female ChickBeth with a…

Perry Tannenbaum

Merge ahead

I Hate Music, the 10th album from Chapel Hill’s Superchunk, is one of the quartet’s best. It’s a slab of muscular, pogoing pop-rock that makes room for stark acoustic intros, swirling strings and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, a one-minute hardcore blitz. It’s bitter in passages, but constantly redeemed by youthful enthusiasm. Though…

Jordan Lawrence

Weekly horoscope (Aug. 22-28)

Virgo the Virgin(Aug. 22-Sept. 22): This is a truly busy week and your calendar is likely full. Pay special attention to subtle cues from the Other in your life. This person may be backpedaling on what you considered a promise. Or you may discover that your fantasy Other is not as perfect as you hoped.…

Vivian Carol

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