Last week was pretty much given over to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. This week is more diverse with two new art titles—13 Assassins (Carolina) and The Double Hour (Fine Arts)—and two mainstream ones—The Hangover Part II (everywhere but Carmike) and Kung Fu Panda (everywhere but Beaucatcher). It’s an interesting array at the very least.

Anyone with even a casual interest in the history of the movies has almost certainly encountered the widely accepted “fact” that 1939 was the best year for movies ever. (TCM’s Robert Osborne never tires of reminding us of this.) The claim seems to be based on 1939 producing Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz with everything else of even moderate value packed in afterwards to support what is to me an insupportable point. Or like the song says, “It ain’t necessarily so.” Of course, that statement means I have to attempt to support my assertion that 1939 is not the best year for movies. It’s a fool’s errand, but I’ll have a bash.

Since this is the week that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens, it’s otherwise a slack week in the realm of mainstream releases. Put simply, no studio in its right mind wants to go head-to-head with Capt. Jack Sparrow and his crew. However,  this is Asheville where we have The Carolina and the Fine Arts, meaning that indie/art titles will go where the mainstream fears to tread, which in this case means that The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and Bloodworth are opening at The Carolina, and Potiche is opening at the Fine Arts. As Zero Mostel once said, “That’s for those of you who have absolutely no interest in pirates.”