Premise: After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.
Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe.
Review: This movie was a lot of fun. It has the original cast and has new cast members that really add to it. Jenna Ortega couldn’t have been a better choice to play Lydia’s daughter. Justin Theroux was insufferable, in a good way. Willem Dafoe played a dead action star turned detective and it was, somehow, his most sane role.
The film uses practical effects, props, and sets to make the movie feel just like the original. Even the sandworms weren’t updated, which I loved. The writing felt a little off, at times, but the movie came in under two hours, didn’t drag on, and was a great movie to see in theaters.
Band Members: Margot Liotta on bass and vocals, Carrick McCullough – keys, Rafa – Guitar, Wojtek Deregowski – Drums.
Review: I wound up going to this concert myself. I got tickets for $25 during National Concert Week. I showed up right after the first song. I had seen Porter before, years back. During his tour with Madeon. That show was an absolute blast. However, as someone who plays some instruments, I really enjoy seeing a full live band. I was so excited to see what these songs were like done with a live band and I was not dissapointed.
The first act of the set was the new album, Smile :D. This whole album is filled with instruments, including a lot of acoustic guitar. The album is pretty emo, and not in a bad way. Hell, I just saw New Found Glory and Something Corproate. The album is filled with very emotional songs, including one about coming out of a depression slump and all of the things to live for.
It was really cool to see Porter sing and play guitar. And his band is unreal. Margot Liotta is unbelievably talented. She played bass, backup vocals, and even lead vocals. And you could tell how much fun she was having up there. Carrick McCullough played keys and it was cool watching him switch between the keyboard, supplying piano and keyboard sounds, and his other keyboard which supplied the heavier bass and beats to the songs played later in the setlist. Rafa on guitar was really fun to see, as you get to hear songs from “Nurture” and “Worlds” now on guitar. And the drummer, Wojetek Deregowsi, provided great percussion throughout the set.
The set design was super cool. There was a massive cat on stage and a billboard that Porter played guitar and sang from every few songs. And during the later set, we got to see a lot of cool anime on the billboard and screen behind it.
As much as I loved hearing all of the songs from “Smile :D,” which I can’t stop listening to in my car, hearing “Worlds” was my favorite part of the set. This is the album that got me into Porter. I am not huge into DJ/electronic music. But I fell in love with his music the first time I heard it. Probably because I love ambient music, including making some on my own, and to hear it mixed with electronic was something new and innovative.
The whole third act of songs from “Future” was especially cool because it felt like one continuous songs. The songs flowed together and it felt like one, giant encore.
I am very excited to have gone to the opening night of this world tour. And, if I wasn’t busy the next night, I would have easily seen him again.
MGM at Fenway is a fantastic venue. Go for floor seats, if that is your thing. Hit up the merch during the opener or during a song of the headliner’s that you are alright with missing. I ducked out during a Porter song and got a poster in about 3 minutes.
Note: Dan O’Connor from Four Year Strong and Dave Knox from Real Friends are filling in for Chad on guitar, as he continues his fight with metastatic pheochromocytoma.
Review: I am elder emo enough to have now seen this album played twice in it’s entirety. In 2017, New Found Glory did a tour where they played three nights in each city, playing two albums each night, completing their discography. Ironically, this tour was called, “20 Years of Pop Punk.” I went for night three and saw them play both “Catalyst” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/new-found-glory/2017/marquis-theater-denver-co-1be6c1ac.html
This band has been going strong for over two decades and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. They continue to release their movie soundtrack cover albums, release new albums, and tour their previous albums. Seriously, what band does six albums in three nights? Wild.
This was my second time at Roadrunner in Boston. The venue is newer and holds about 3,500 people. I have only had floor seats there and that is the place to be. There is a massive bar along the back wall and bathrooms to your left and right. I went upstairs during the show to wait in the merch line and was very impressed by the upstairs. There is seating up top, a really nice bar, private bathrooms. The works. I told my girlfriend that is where the wealthy people with bad backs go. I only have a bad back.
It sucked not seeing Chad on this tour. He was still at home recovering, but Dan O’Connor and Dave Knox were great on guitar and backup-vocals. When I saw New Found Glory on their last From the Screen to Your Stereo tour, I was able to see William Ryan Key play guitar for them, which was neat.
New Found Glory played this album from start to finish and then played the hits, including their cover of “Let it Go” and their newest cover, “Part of Your World” off of an upcoming Disney pop-punk album.
I really fell in love with Catalyst as I think it was a different sound for the band. It was very well-written, had some really beautiful slow songs, and also had some heavier songs that foreshadowed their side band, International Superheroes of Hardcore.
Check out their upcoming tour dates and see them when they come to your city. You won’t see another band with more energy who are just a bunch of best friends on stage living their dream and having a good time together.
Premise: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
Review: This was one of my most anticipated films of the year and boy did it hold up. It also lead me down a deep nerd rabbit hole. One I haven’t been on in years. Since maybe even the Cloverfield days. I watched Alien I-IV, Promethesus, Alien: Covenant, and both Alien vs. Predator films prepring for this movie. I also started playing Alien: Isolation, a game I bought years ago and had been sitting on my shelf. And I spent a good amount of time on Reddit learning more about Wayland enterprises, the comics, the novels and so on.
I went opening night, on Thursday. I was able to get the popcorn bucket with the facehugger on it. The employee asked if I wanted the popcorn in the bucket or not. I didn’t even know that I had that option!
A lot of the reviews that I read about the movie said that it felt like a video game. And I guess it did, in a way. Because I had just played the game and the movies took place inbetween Alien and Aliens. I also read a lot of reviews that said the movie just felt like it rehashed from previous movies. While it did pay homage to previous movies it also
Fede Alvarez must have had a good time working on this film because he would like to make an Alien vs. Predator sequel and split directorial duties with Dan Tratchenberg who directed Prey, the most recent Predator film.
Premise: A couple on a backpacking trip discovers a magical town in which everyone acts like they’re in a classic musical.
Creators: Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul
Cast: Keegan-Michael Key, Cecily Strong, Fred Armisen, Dove Cameron, Jaime Camil, Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Ariana DeBose, Ann Harada, Jane Krakowski, Martin Short, Aaron Tveit, Tituss Burgess, Patrick Page.
What it reminds me of: Big Fish, 30 Rock, Sound of Music, Chicago.
Why I like it: This show has been on my list for a long time now. I have and will watch anything with Keegan-Michael Key. I am not a big of musicals, but I am a big fan of satire and that’s what this is. But it doesn’t lack anything. The costumes, set design, music, choreography are all fantastic. The set designs on this show are, by far, my favorite thing. It is like being back in Spectre from Big Fish, which is one of my favorite movies.
The show has some of the same cast as 30 Rock and a lot of the same feels. Witty, quick jokes. Characters that are fun to watch, but you would never want to be around in real life.
One of my favorite jokes of the show is making fun of how quickly people break into song and how, throughout songs, things make less and less sense.
Review: I wound up seeing this instead of Trap. There weren’t any good showtimes left or Trap, but I also heard it wasn’t. great. Twisters was a lot of fun. It knew what it was. I wish I had seen it in 4D to make it even more enjoyable. I didn’t see really any 3D or IMAX options for it, just 4D at the limited theaters across the country.
I love Glen Powell. He is my new Channing Tatum. He chooses perfect roles and this was one of them. There is a cool twist to the story, revealed early on that really makes you root for him. I also really love Anthony Ramos ever since seeing him in Hamilton and A Star is Born. The cast is all around very stacked. Maura Tierney is in it. Kiernan Shipa, who I didn’t even know until right before I saw it. David orenswet who is the new Superman. Paul Scheer has a fun cameo at the end. And even Bill Pullman’s son has a cameo, to pay homage to the late actor who starred in the first film.
The synopsis is pretty much a John Wicks/heist type of movie. The protagonist, a now retired storm chaser, goes back for one last job. But we all know what one last job is like. Also, she loses people in a tornado and seeks revenge on tornados once and for all. I was surprised there wasn’t a scene where she punched a tornado.
The VFX editor for the film was told by the director not to add a cow to the film, but did so anyway. And got it past the director. I spent most of the movie looking for it. Now, I will just look it up.
The soundtrack to this movie is all country music. It is fitting, as the movie takes place in middle America. It’s not overly done, though, and fits the movie and scenes where it is played.
This is a popcorn movie. You go to it for fun, you don’t overthink it, and you have a good time.
Writer: Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, Shawn Levy
Director: Shawn Levy
Premise: Deadpool is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine to save his universe from extinction.
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Aaron Stanford, Matthew Macfadyen.
Review: I very much enjoyed this movie. It was absolutely hilarious, very fun, had a great soundtrack, and it was over the top. I believe that it was a little too over the top with it’s pop culture references and breaking the fourth wall, but that’s what it is.
The movie has a very similar synopsis to the last Spider Man movie and some of the other recent Avenger films: A character goes back in time and/or visits different timelines to alter their own. That being said, this had a different feel as it plays out more like a comedy than anything and also because this is the movie that was supposed to and did help get the next Avengers phase going and get viewers back on board.
This movie is packed with pop culture references, nods to Disney now taking on the Deadpool character, a soundtrack that will make you wonder how any of it was acquired, and forgotten and never brought to life Marvel/Sony charcters.
Premise: In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.
Cast: Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Nicolas Cage.
Review: Well, I was super disappointed in this movie. I hate the marketing strategies that horror movie use now. Before Midsommar was released, there were ads talking about people passing out in theaters, vomiting, being taken to the hospital. And there was one scene in the whole movie that grossed me out a little. With Longlegs, there were ads about Maika Monroe’s heartbeat on set and then on set seeing Nicholas Cage for the first time. I say that these marketing campaigns don’t work on me, but I guess they still subconsciously get to me. I was super excited for this one. It was hailed as the new Silence of the Lambs. I guess the only part of it that was similar was it featured a female detective who happened to know the killer.
There are scenes in the movie with Monroe or Cage where I didn’t know where or not to laugh or not. Nicholas Cage’s character not only looked like a Batman villian, but also had a similar name to one of the main antagonists in Gotham.
I was disappointed to find out the film had a certain element/theme to it that it did. I really wish it stuck to being more realistic.
And the whole third act was just full of plot holes.
And the jump scares in the movie felt very cheap. The only jump scenes were flashbacks that showed up quickly on screen with a loud, shrieking sound to scare viewers.
Review: My dad grew up a fan of Bob Marley. He saw him twice back in the day. Once, at Harvard. He loves to tell the story of how high the smoke was in the crowd that day. My dad also went to Jamaica a few times and even saw Peter Tosh play down there. We got tickets last summer to see The Wailers at The Range and were very disappointed when it got rained out.
Since last year, we have been counting down the days until the show and we were not disappointed. We have been going to The Range for decades. The place had always been great for hitting golf balls and enjoying seafood and ice cream. Over the past few yers, the establishment starting putting on concerts. The lineups that have been put on there over the years have really been incredible. Bands I remember were announcing shows at Red Rocks when I lived in Colorado. But this was the first concert I ever attended here.
I went up front for the last few songs by the Dis-n-Dat band. Holy talent. The band is fronted by a brother-sister duo, ‘Sista Dee’ and 4 time grammy nominated ‘Rangotan.’ ‘Sista Dee; is sang lead vocals, played steel drums, eyboard, and drums And her brother played drums and sang backup.
The Wailers came on around sundown. Mitchell Brunnings is a great frontman. He knew how to get the crowd pumped. Including changing the lyrics of “No Woman, No Cry” to ‘Cause, ’cause, ’cause I remember when we used to sit / In the government yard in New Hampshire’. Brunnings was discovered on Holland’s version of The Voice where he auditioned with “Redemption Song.” Aston Francis Barrett is the drummer and leader of the band. He is one of the many children of “Family Man,” the former bassist and bandleader of The Wailers. Wendell “Junior Jazz” Ferraro plays lead for the band and also supplies back-up vocals. During one song, Junior Jazz took on lead vocals and Brunnings moved his microphone stand to the back. I found this super respectable, as he let Junior Jazz have the spotlight, front and center.
The band played everything you would want them to: “Is This Love,” “No Woman, No Cry,” “I Shot the Sherriff,” “Three Little Birds,” “Jamming,” “Get Up, Stand-Up,” with an encore including “Buffalo Soldier” and “Could You Be Loved.” I also loved hearing the beautiful, slower “Exodus” and “Redemption Song.”
The band already announced an upcoming show in Boston at City Winery and I want to see them again.
