Do believe the hype (except 'Inception')

Thumbs up

I thought I'd take the opportunity in this last column of the year to hype a few personal local pleasures that I believe deserve more attention.

First up is Cafe Europa in North Charleston on Dorchester Road next to the Sub Station II and slightly past the Dorchester Road Regional Library. This relatively new restaurant specializes in Bosnian cuisine.

My favorite dish is the house special, "Pirjan" ($9.99),which includes lamb shank, potatoes, roasted vegetables, basmati rice and lepinja bread. It's so much food that it's about two meals for me. Since the restaurant opened, I've visited about twice a month. If someone were to ask me about my favorite ethnic foods, Italian and Indian would immediately come to mind. Thanks to Cafe Europa, you can now add Bosnian to the list.

Arguably the best era of Charleston rock radio was during the '90s and even the last decade in which local disc jockey "The Critic" (Jim Voigt) could be heard daily on the late, great 96 Wave (96.1 FM). Wave was groundbreaking in many ways due in no small part to The Critic. To this day, he remains the most knowledgeable personality in Lowcountry radio when it comes to alternative, indie and new music in general, and in addition to his Saturday and Sunday morning shows on The Bridge at 105.5 FM, The Critic can be heard every weekday during the 3-7 p.m. afternoon drive. Yes, c'mon.

I saw the new critically acclaimed Mark Wahlberg/Christian Bale movie last week, "The Fighter," with popcorn and drink in hand, for $8. Everyone knows that the average trip to the movies these days, including concessions, is easily $20. But every Tuesday at the Carmike Cinema on James Island, the "stimulus" special features $1 small popcorns and $1 small drinks, along with the regular nonweekend, nonmatinee ticket price of $6. It's the best deal in town if you're looking to see new movies on a budget. Oh, and "The Fighter" is every bit as good as the hype.

Thumbs down

Now, for what was unquestionably the most overhyped movie of the year. I actually wasn't going to say anything about this because when I expressed my negative opinion after the movie was first released a few months ago, people would look at me like I had three heads. But now that the hype has subsided somewhat, I've actually talked to a number of people who share my controversial opinion, yet most keep it secret or are reluctant to talk about it, not wanting to ruffle any feathers. My job is to ruffle feathers, so here goes:

"Inception" was horrible.

The Christopher Nolan-directed dream-themed, decade-in-the-making movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio was an ambitious project to begin with, and anyone would have had a difficult time exploring the concept of corrupting an individual's subconscious by invading his or her dreams. Or perhaps even more difficult, barging in on a dream, within a dream, within another dream, experienced through a shared dream, which takes place inside another dream. ... I think you get the picture.

That said, what I value most in any movie is a solid plot. Forget special effects, trippy fight scenes, comic book/sci-fi fanboy nostalgia -- just give me a good story. I asked three of my closest friends what "Inception" was about after they saw it opening weekend. I received three different answers. Nobody really knew what it was about. Some likely consider such diverse and open interpretations of "Inception" indicative of some groundbreaking, cerebral achievement, making it great art. But it's more like mass confusion, coupled with pretense and an overall fear by most moviegoers that they might look stupid if they were to admit that the film simply didn't make any sense. When Comedy Central's "South Park" spoofed "Inception," with a segment appropriately titled "Insheeption," one character says: "You just don't get it because you're not smart enough!"

Well color me stupid because I still don't know what that long, boring and nonsensical movie was about, don't believe it will stand the test of time and might go down as the most overhyped movie in film history.