The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 2B - Thursday, October 13, 2011 FOOD WARS Each week, one Ann Arbor staple menu item becomes a battlefield as Daily Arts editors butt heads over which restaurant makes it best. CORNED BEEF HASH 4 4 FRANK'S 334 Maynard Street The hash is formed into a patty with a nice texture: soft and tender inside with a nice crust on the outside. The focus is the mashed meat. Some sort of vegetable chunks are visible, but limited. This is unfortunate, because more vegetables might distract from the nagging thought that your plate was accidentally swapped with the dog's. MR. GREEK'S 215 South State Street Corned beef hash isn't the sexiest food. Most of us would prefer bacon, the prom queen of breakfast meats. Still, like an expensive stylist, Mr. Greek's does its best with the plain Jane of corned beef, adding a tangy blend of spices and flavor- ful onions to the beef/hash mixture. It almost works, except every other bite is sort of bland. Add hot sauce. ANGELO'S 1100 Catherine Street The potatoes are the star of Angelo's version of corned beef hash. The meat is delicious, but acts as more of an adorn- ment than an equal one half of the dish. It's the tinsel, not the tree. It's a fried mass, crispy on the edges but not too greasy, and it's all complemented by deli- cious eggs and the world-famous scrump- tuousness that is Angelo's toast. FLEETWOOD DINER 300 South Ashley Street Technically speaking, Fleetwood Diner's hippie hash isn't cornedbeef hash at all and should be disqualified. But the stuff is just so unflinchingly addictive - the crunchy potatoes, the crispily cooked veggies, that perfect touch of feta - this Ann Arbor sta- ple can't be left off the hash-lover's menu. Maybe we don't live in the best corned beef town, but hippie hash makes up for it. And the winner is: Fleetwood Diner SINGLE REVIEW There's no shortage of sun- soaked nostalgia among indie rockers these days, but it's always a relief to *'*'**- hear it done well. While Youngerthan others Yesteda (Wavves, Surfer Real Estate Blood, Best Coast, etc.) Deminto seem to rely more on texture or bratty atti- tude, Real Estate uses more familiar - and at times eclectic - ways to capture the sunlight. Taking most of its cues from '80s dream pop (think The Church or the Go-Betweens), "Younger than Yesterday," from the band's anticipated new release Days, finds sing- er Matt Courtney winding wistful lyrics around breezy, slow-strummed guitars, the band adrift in a sea of jangling reverb and echo. "Younger than Yesterday" transplants turn-of-the-'70s British folk changes with shoe- gaze at its most melodic; the track's hypnotic, repeating guitar lines could be Fairport Convention in slow-motion. It's a well-worn vintage sound, but thanks to Courtney's eye for detail it sounds more out of time than stale. While it lacks the touchstones of psych-folk B-Side Buzz Arnetha Beard Michigan Union custodian Why do you read the Daily? It keeps me aware of what's going on up on the campus. And if there's something going on nationwide, you have that in there also. Have you ever been to the opera? I have, but it was done by a lot of students though. I thought it was good. It was different, to try to focus on something that was done professionally, I thought they did a great job. Do you ever sing opera? Sometimes, I do. Can you give us a sample? Aaaaaaaaah!!! Excerpts are taken from the B-Side Buzz video, which can be found on MichiganDaily.com. Interview by Jeff Waraniak TRAILER REVIEW The savage-but-sexy trailer for "The Rum Diary" signals a film as uncouth as the hilari- ously dark Hunter S Thompson novel it's The Rum } based on. - John- ny Depp FilmDistrict ("Pirates of the Caribbean") headlines as jaded journalist Paul Kemp, who snags a gig at a screws- coming-loose newspaper in '60s-era Puerto Rico. On an alcohol-infused jaunt, Kemp rubs elbows with a shady busi- FILMOISTRICT nessman, Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart, "The Dark Knight"), ied, Steve Buscemi-eyed Depp the-border "Hangover." Nev- whose smoldering fiance, that introduces the trailer. ertheless, Robinson manages a Chenault (Amber Heard, "Drive Robinson's narrative choices particularly svelte, intoxicating Angry 3-D"), tempts his spirits- are of greater concern: Hardly aesthetic that mutes any visible soaked heart. visible is Kemp's internal strug- discrepancies and, perversely, There's little doubt Depp can gle to remain relevant as his makes Thompson's dystopia all handle the Kemp - this much is youth fades. Instead, the trailer the more beckoning. apparent by the shot of a blood- unfurls as an emptiersouth-of- -STEPHEN OSTROWSKI TRAILER REVIEW The first extended look at Marvel's superhero extrava- ganza, "The Avengers," is out, and boy, is it dynamite. By ***** the second chain reac- TheAvengers tion of vehic- Paramount ular inferno 21 seconds in (rewind it as many times as you need, it gets better each time) the doubts over bringing Joss Whedon ("Firefly") on as director are already quashed - and that's before a single superhero is shown. The Avengers are then trot- PARAMOUNT ted out, set to Nine Inch Nails's invigorating, appropriately geek whose jaw has become al "I'm a God" aloofness - and chosen "We're In This Togeth- permanently unhinged. setting up Loki as a legitimately er" - Captain America, Iron The very sight of Earth's formidable opponent. Man, Thor, The Hulk, Black mightiest heroes sitting togeth- With this two-minute teaser, Widow, Hawkeye and Samuel er in the same room unleashes "The Avengers" has already L. Jackson as Nick "I have one an unprecedented level of sheer exceeded expectations to eye but I'll still blow you the exuberance, but the trailer tops infinity and beyond. When the hell up" Fury - each getting a itself by also giving a glimpse of Avengers finally assemble in rousing split-second to flaunt their internal dynamic - Tony May, it should be an astonish- their swagger. Now, a moment Stark's snack, Captain Ameri- ingly good time. of silence for every comic book ca's fortitude and Thor's gener- -KAVISHEKHAR PANDEY I I 4 a forebearers the Byrds - whose album of the same name was a staple of Summer-of-Love psy- chedelia - Real Estate's lat- est is a lusty wash-over, never completely revealing the gor- geousness beneath the surface like a sunset in soft focus. -MIKEKUNTZ I BEER. DO YOU BREW IT? BRING IT. Bottles for the Daily's home brew competition are due by Oct. 19. DROP 'EM OFF AT 420 MAYNARD BETWEEN 11 A.M. AND 5 P.M. For more information, e-mail klarecki@michigandaily.com. 4 4 i