#Austin's QnA!

[justablah56]

thinking about Austin explaining DX-TR's reasoning for wanting to be left in wild space. that his justification was that he had already done so many things to get to that point, that all he wanted to do was just keep going. explore the universe just like MR-SN wanted. that he couldn't stop for second because if he had a moment to think about everything he'd done, it would crush him. im exploding him with my mind. he makes me crazy.

[06268]

Name Your Price, Q&A - Houston, TX

[half-doomed]

2, 3, 4, 9!!

2. Best concert you’ve ever been to

Waterparks and idkhow at the entertainment tour OR hellvetica dallas. So much for tourdust is also up there, along with the mania tour because honestly seeing fob for the first time was great and i will never get over hearing lake effect kid and disloyal order live for the first time.

Tourdust because it's the healing tour and it's been SO fun. I'm trying to go to as many shows as possible on this next leg of the tour. And the entertainment tour because like. Obviously. I left that concert immediately wanting to go back. If I'd had the resources/money/time to follow that tour to houston i absolutely would have.

Hellvetica dallas but really all 3 shows we went to on that tour because following a band around the state like that was on my bucketlist and we made so many friends there and had so much fun. And we met the guys in idkhow and joywave, which I feel like i've talked extensively about hellvetica on this blog so yea

3. Worst concert you’ve ever been to

I went with my younger sibling to see a band they're into, and I really didnt vibe with their music. ): I'm glad they had a fun time but I had to step outside at one point because i was just not vibing with their set

4. Best opening band

Nobody likes the opening band 🎶

I've been to a few shows for the opening band so I'll interpret this as best opening act that I got into because they opened for somebody. I got into de'wayne that way, the maine, stand atlantic, superet, sophie powers, daisy grenade, and destroy boys. My favorite of those has gotta be de'wayne or the maine. But to be fair, i already listened to the maine, just not as much. De'wayne is such an amazing performer and I wish he was appreciated more because I wanna see him headlining. Also special shoutout to superet too, I'd love to see them again

9. Dream line-up

Idkhow/bad suns/dbmk It's a weird mix but if any combo of these bands toured together i would die

Send me some concert asks!

[sirlightningpotato]

My toxic trait is getting pissed every time someone gets the Rolling with Difficulty timeline wrong (hint, that’s every time someone guesstimates how long it’s been since an Event) bc I did all the math out from the earliest known event that is a solid amount of time before another event in the chain to the end of season 4, anyways timeline under the cut, from my math

If we start with the original Per Aspera crew finding the Ad Astera, the timeline goes

Month 0: Original Crew finds Ad Astera

Month 20/ Year 1, Month 8: Docent is given to Maxim

Month 39/ Year 3, Month 3: Dani revives VR-LA

Month 51/ Year 4, Month 3: Kyana joins crew

Month 52/ Year 4, Month 4: End of season 1

Month 60/ Year 5: Season 2 start

Month 61/ Year 5, Month 1: Season 3 start

Month 63/ Year 5, Month 3: Season 4 start

Month 64/ Year 5 Month 4: Season 5 start

Notes/ Reasoning in order!

In 3.3 or 3.4, I don’t remember exactly, Docent states that it was 20 months between them being re-activated by VR-LA and being left with Maxim.

There is no solid amount of time between Docent going to Maxim and the raid on the Per Aspera as far as I know, so the next event must be VR-LA rescued.

Austin states in the season 1 QNA that it was 19 months between Docent being left with Maxim and VR-LA being revived. The statement in 1.7 that it was 19 months since Maxim saw VR-LA was a mistake.

It is stated, in a few places but also in the season 1 QNA that it was 12 months between VR-LA’s revival and Kyana being fished out of the astral sea.

This is where it starts to take more math to determine the timeline.

Season 1 takes 1 month. 2 weeks in the feywild, 1 week on route to Maxim’s, and the rest is days, so I round up to a month

Season 2 is about a month long. About 1 week between the salamander incident and 2.2, 1 week between 2.8’s end and Hira’s announcement in 2.9, and another week for 2.10’s skill challenge, everything else took place over days, a month is assumed.

Season 3 is about 2 months long, although I’m shakier on this than the rest. Finbar and Elyse are in the Feywild for a month in 3.2, and there were a couple of trips that took some amount of time, but I’m basing this timeline on a timeline I made during rewatch from months ago, where I said it took weeks other than the month long time skip, so I’ll need to rewatch season 3 for anything more in depth.

Season 4 is 1 month long. There is 1 week between the start of 4.1 and the start of 4.2. There is a bit more than a week between 4.3 and the end of 4.4. There is a 2 week time skip during 4.5. 4.6 to 4.10 is at maximum 36 hours, it’s probably less than 24 hours.

[fundieshaderoom]

Joy and Austin's New QnA

Joy and Austin say they follow Jesus and not man and that they go to a Baptist church. They are not IBLP and decided not to be early in their courting relationship. They want 4-5 kids. They are not doing a "G" theme for their boys. Joy read Jinger's book and plans to read Jill's. Austin says "If someone wrote a book about your family, would you read it? Duh!" They have never seriously considered moving out of Arkansas but would if God called them to.

[chr0nic-rav3llar]

Really quick, Korbin was a scrapped OC, the girl without a name (for now) was a scrapped Austin AU that I never drew, and Bentley was already created, so I added him.

Anyways, meet the Hen'i shita Code characters everyone. The first picture has the men, and the second picture has the women. I don't know when I'll have their designs finalized, but luckily they don't need to be finalized for the next video.

I'm holding a QnA for each of them for a future video as well. Please ask any questions you have about them.

[istherewifiinhell]

More civ pod qna Austin saying “do you ever get the feeling cad bane and obi wan would begrudgingly respect each other if circumstances forced them to work together they would hit off” is gonna take so fucking long to pay off I’ll just be vibrating at a low frequency for years now

[wild-aloof-rebel]

You've been to a UC&P show, right? What exactly happens at them? Is it just a QnA? I get the worst secondhand embarrassment from QnAs so not sure if it's worth it for me. None of the dates announced are near me so I'm debating on if I should travel to one or not. Thanks!

yes, i’ve been to uc&p! but let me start with the caveat that dan said in an interview a little while back that if they did more dates after the series finale the show would be a little different, so i honestly don’t know for sure how much of this will or won’t apply to this tour.

but for the regular uc&p shows at least, i would say it’s actually a lot more akin to a panel interview (like 92y, build, talks with google) with dan moderating the talk and with clips and pics interspersed throughout it, than it is to a traditional q&a session. fans can submit written questions beforehand (there’s typically a box in the theater lobby somewhere to drop them in), and then dan will ask a few of them throughout the show, but there’s no mic for the audience to ask questions in real time or that sort of thing–they’re all questions that dan and co. have sorted through and decided on beforehand, so there’s not gonna be any super awkward questions they really don’t want to answer. 

then there’s also a trivia “competition” between the cast and members of the audience, and noah plays stb, but again i have no idea how much of that format will stick around for the upcoming tour. mostly though the show is just the cast talking about their characters, the audition process, bloopers and other funny things that have happened on set, etc. 

if you want a more in-depth idea of what the show looks like, here’s my full recap from the two shows i saw in austin last april. the two in denver in october were largely the same aside from some updates to the actual content (more talking about s5, different stuff in the fan creations portion, etc.). 

hope that helps!

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home Edition May 1, 2020 – THE WRETCHED, VANILLA, DEERSKIN, BULL

Just think...  this weekend would have been the start of the summer box office with Marvel’s Black Widow before COVID came along. Now, we’re waiting for anywhere from two to three months or longer for the next big studio release in movie theaters with so many other “big” movies already being dumped to digital.

This is yet another week with no movies in theaters unless you’re in driving distance to a drive-in (i.e. you have a car), but at least we have some great stuff to watch at home, including a few virtual film festivals and virtual cinemas.

The first major disaster brought on by the advent of COVID-19 was the cancellation of the annual SXSW Festival in Austin. The movie that was supposed to open the fest, Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island, starring Pete Davidson, was supposed to open SXSW in March and then play Tribeca earlier this month, but Universal reported earlier this week that it was going to release it via digital download on June 12, the same day it was going to get a theatrical release.

Amazon has teamed with SXSW to screen 39 projects, including seven features, that will screen free of charge on Amazon from April 27 through May 6. The four narrative features available are the British-Bulgarian dramedy Cat in the Wall from Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova, which is being compared to Ken Loch’s I, Daniel Blake. There’s also the Guatemalan romance Gunpowder Heart, the French period film Le Choc du Futur and the French sci-fi anthology, Selfie.  The docs being offered are Karen Bernstein’s I’m Gonna Make You Love Me is described as “Fellini meets Motown” about one man’s search for self-acceptance, while Matt Riddlehoover’s My Darling Vivian about Johnny Cash’s first wife, Vivian Liberto, who gave the country singer four daughters. Last up is Alex Lee Moyer’s TFW no GW, a doc about the state of isolation, rejection and alienation that we all seemed to be feeling these days. There will also be a ton of shorts available that you can learn more about at The Hollywood Reporter.

The second weekend of the Virtual Oxford Film Festival will launch a few more feature premieres, as well as a virtual panel and the Fest Forward collection of experimental films. First up, on Friday, May 1 is a panel called “Creating Black Stories in Mississippi” at noon central time, and if you’re interested in that, you may want to check out the Mississippi Shorts, Getting to the Root and 70 Years of Blackness, which will now run through May 8, giving you more time to see them. Friday will also see the premieres of Daniel Lafrentz’s crime-drama The Long Shadow, preceded by Will Goss’ short, Sweet Steel. (Hey! I know Will Goss!) There will be a Zoom Q&A for the two movies on Wednesday, May 6, at 6pm Central. Also available Friday is Travis Beard’s doc, Rockabul, which is about the Afghan band District Unknown who fought against the USA’s counter-culture campaign by challenging freedom of expression and youth identify in Kabul with a QnA on May 8 at 8pm central. The Fest Forward Collection includes 8 international animated films from places like Estonia and Egypt, and those will have a virtual QnA on Saturday, May 2, at 1pm Central. (All of these Oxford QnAs and panels are recorded and available to watch for as long as the films are available to watch.)  You can get tickets for all these movies and events on Eventive.

This week’s Featured Film is the Pierce Brothers’ (Brett and Drew Pierce) horror flick, THE WRETCHED (IFC Midnight), which was a nice surprise since I’m not as easy a lay when it comes to horror flicks as other “horror fan” movie writers. The film involves a somewhat quizzical premise that isn’t too apparent as it begins, as we’re not exactly sure what is going on as it begins. It stars John Paul Howard as Ben, a young man living with his father (Jamison Jones), who has separated from Ben’s mother, as the two of them work at the nearby marina over the summer. Ben is immediately picked on and bullied by the locals, but he’s more distracted by the odd behavior of the woman next door (played by Madelyn Stunenkel). I’m not going to go too far into spoiler territory but the premise does involve witchcraft and an ancient evil that’s cropped up in the small town and is causing the disappearance of many small children… maybe… most of their parents seem to forget they have kids as they follow under the spell of the evil Ben’s discovered.

This is just a fantastic little scarer that at times reminded me of the original Fright Night, and I was really impressed with what the Pierce Brothers, first of all by working with a cast of great lesser-known actors, but the visual FX are fantastic and every aspect of the film’s mood and tone is just about perfect. I guess I’ve seen so much low budget horror that doesn’t really match the standards or production values of even some of the smaller-budget Blumhouse movies.

While you may not be near any of the scattered drive-in across the country that will probably be playing the movie, I definitely recommend downloading and/or renting it if you’re a fan of quality horror. The Pierces are extremely talented filmmakers who I’m sure will be doing better things down the road. For me, this is right up there with The Invisible Man, as far as this year’s stronger horror films.

Out now on VOD and Digital is Will Dennis’ quirky road comedy VANILLA (Gravitas Ventures) about a comedian (Kelsea Bauman) who goes on a three-day road trip from New York to New Orleans with an ice cream entrepreneur (Dennis), to sell his van with a questionable past to his ex-girlfriend. Both of them see the trip as a date, of sorts, but they set up a number of rules and boundaries to make the trip work.  It’s a pretty simple premise that’s made more fun by the unique elements Dennis introduces. Vanilla is a sweet, cute romantic movie with two actors appearing in their first movie that reminds me a little of the early work of the Duplass Brothers or Joe Swanberg where there’s a simplicity to the storytelling, but it’s really driven by the wonderful chemistry between the two leads.  It’s kind of amazing how enjoyable this movie is considering the inexperience of both actors, and I hope this gets seen by more people.  This is a wonderful discovery film that I was told played at the Lighthouse International Film Festival in Jersey and the Phoenix Film Festival, just a reminder why film festivals are so important!

Also on VOD and Digital this Friday is Annie Silverstein’s BULL (Samuel Goldwyn), starring Rob Morgan from Mudbound, Just Mercy and Netflix’s Daredevil. Amber Havard plays 14-year-old Kristal, a young troubled girl who is on her way to ending up in jail like her mother. After an incident where Kristal is in danger of going to juvie, she’s given a choice instead to help her next door neighbor, Morgan’s bull rider Abe Turner, with errands around his home. Kris soon discovers her own love for bull riding, as this unlikely relationship grows. I’m a big fan of Rob Morgan as an actor, because his work is highly-underrated, and I do have to say that Bull is a great vehicle for Morgan to have more of a leading role than he normally gets. He shines in that capacity, and Havard does a decent job in their scenes together, even though it’s a far lower key role. Then again, I thought this was a moderately decent indie that covered topics very similar to other movies, including Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s The Mustang last year and Chloé Zhao’s The Rider a year earlier.  Unfortunately, the material and especially Silverstein’s writing isn’t up to par with those movies, and it took me a little longer to get into this vs. those other films. Oddly, this will probably be seen by more people due to its VOD release, and that’s fine since I’d love movies like this to find more of an audience even with its pacing issues.

Back in the VOD/digital world, we have a handful of new releases including Quentin (Rubber) Dupieux’s DEERSKIN (“Le Daim”) (Greenwich), which I got a chance to see at Rendezvous with French Cinema back in February before the world came to a screeching halt, and that series ended up also being sidelined. The movie stars Oscar winner Jean Dujardin from The Artist whose obsession with a designer deerskin jacket leads him into a life of crime as he tries to complete his all-deerskin wardrobe. I generally like Dupieux’s weird sense of humor, and though this is less of a genre film than Rubber, it’s an entertaining film as we watch Dujardin’s character get further and further into trouble as he becomes obsessed with making a movie… as well as abolishing the world of all other jackets besides his own. If that sounds weird like a strange premise, then you clearly don’t know Dupieux’s work, and maybe it’s not for you. Deerskin is a movie I fully appreciated, because it was so weird and you never know where it was going, even going into the realm of American Psycho as it went along. Dujardin’s expressive performance was quite fun to watch, plus it it also co-stars Adèle Haenel from Portrait of a Lady on Fire, for those who loved that movie. Again, not for everyone, but if you enjoy Dupieux’s strange filmmaking ethos then Deerskin is another highly original offering.

Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema will also be playing Catalan filmmaker Albert Serra’s new film Liberté (Cinema Guild), following it being a selection at the 57th New York Film Festival last year. This one takes place in the 18th century where a group of “bewigged libertines” engage in “pansexual games of pain, torture, humiliation and other dissolute, Sadean pleasure.” Sounds like something that would never play in Middle America if not for being available across the country thanks to this Virtual Cinema. I can’t remember if I saw Serra’s other film, The Death of Louis XIV, but this doesn’t sound like something I would watch unless I had free time at a festival, and clearly, I didn’t have time for this one at least year’s NYFF.

Another foreign film to look out for via virtual cinema is César Diaz’s Belgian-Guatemalan film, Our Mothers (Nuestras Madres) (Outside Pictures), which will be available via Virtual Cinema Friday. Besides being the Belgian entry for the 92nd Academy Awards, it also won the Caméra d’Or at last year’s Cannes, where it premiered during Cannes International Critics Week. It stars Armando Espitia as young anthropologist Ernesto who works for the Forensic Foundation in Guatemala as the country is in the middle of trying the soldiers who began the country’s civil war. Ernesto’s job is to identify the bodies of the missing, including possibly his father whose went missing during the war. The project began as a documentary and then became a narrative film.

Semi-related to the above, Cinema Tropical will be releasing three new genre-breaking films from a new generation of Brazilian directors, the “Cinema Tropical Collection” also done in conjunction with Lincoln Center, beginning with Gabriel Martins and Maurílio’s In the Heart of the World on Thursday, April 30.

Another movie getting a “Virtual Cinema” release (i.e. VOD/Digital) is Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra’s “docu-thriller” THE INFILTRATORS (Oscilloscope), which tells the true story of two immigrants who are thrown into a detention center. Marco and Viri are members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, a group of young DREAMers who want to put a stop to unjust deportations by being put in detention themselves, a plan that doesn’t go the way they planned. The film cuts between documentary footage of the real “infiltrators” with reenactments of the events inside the detention story, so it’s part documentary and part drama.

Also, Kino Lorber will be releasing Beanpole director Kantemir Balagov’s 2017 debut film, Tesnota (Closeness), virtually on Friday to help assist New York arthouse, Anthology Film Archives. This one is set in 1998 Nalchik in the North Caucasus of Russia and focuses on 24-year-old Jewish girl Ilana who works in her father’s garage, and while celebrating her young brother David’s engagement, he and his fiancée are kidnapped, but the Jewish community won’t go to the police to pay the ransom, so Ilana and her parents have to figure out a way to save them on their own.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Lots of stuff on Netflix this week, including THE HALF OF IT, the new film from Alice Wu, her first movie as as director since her terrific 2004 debut, Saving Face! This one stars Leah Lewis as Ellie Chu, a cash-strapped teen who writes a love to the school’s jock but ends up becoming friends with him and falling for the girl he has a crush on. I haven’t watched it yet to review, but I’m looking forward to it being a nice twist on Netflix’s other teen-oriented romance films.

Ryan Murphy’s second series for Netflix, Hollywood, will debut its first season on Friday, this one co-created with Ian Brennan (Glee, Scream Queens). It takes place in a post-WWII Hollywood and tells the story of a group of actors and filmmakers trying to make it. The cast includes Darren Criss, Patti Lupone, Mira Sorvino, Rob Reiner, Samara Weaving AND Michelle Krusiec, who starred in Alice Wu’s Saving Face! (See how it’s all connecting together?)

Chris Bolan’s documentary A Secret Love, which premieres on Netflix Wednesday, about two women, Pat Henschel and pro baseball player Terry Donahue, who fell in love in 1947 but had to keep that love a secret for 65 years due to the prejudice against lesbians they would have had to face.

Starting on Amazon this Friday is Upload, the new series from Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation), with the first season being made up of ten episodes.  It stars Robbie Amell, who I got to interview last year for a small indie sci-fi film called Code 8. This is another dealing with life, death and the afterlife which seems to be a running theme through many series in recent years (such as Miracle Workers and The Good Place). In this one, Amell plays Nathan, a spoiled rich guy who ends up at Upload after a horrifying accident that takes his place, while Andy Allo plays the Upload “angel” assigned to Nathan who has to get him acclimated to his new afterlife. I’ve only watched the first episode of this so far, and it’s okay. I’m curious to see where it goes since it’s not a straight comedy perse like some of Daniels’ other work, and a lot is put on Amell’s shoulders to be funny, and Daniels is working with a lot of lesser-known actors for this one.

On Sunday, Showtime will launch the season debuts of Billions (Season 5) and the first season of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.

Also, Lionsgate’s free movie offering this Friday is Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, my #1 movie of that year… thanks for nothing, #Schmoonlight!

Next week, more movies and shows not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[seamingleecomplex]

QnA with Lane

So I know I keep talking about doing another QnA soonish but now that in in austin and settled down a bit I finally have enough time to work out a schedule on filming, costume work, and stuff. So I want to do a QnA now with my girlfriend @elimeade since we're living togther now.

So if you have any questions for her, me, or both of us just reply to this post or put them in my Askbox!!

[mikeplante]

AND WITH HIM CAME THE WEST

"Seductive. An entrancing meditation on American mythology... like a hard-boiled private eye hosting This American Life." — John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

NOW available on Amazon with this here button

also iTunes and Kanopy for rent or buy

Acquired by Grasshopper Films

In Theaters Summer 2019

Feb 22: MoMA Doc Fortnight, World Premiere

June 5: ICA London w/QnA

June 7-13: ICA daily shows

June 16: Picturehouse Central, London w/QnA

double feature w “My Darling Clementine”

June 29 & 30: The Texas Theatre, Dallas

double feature w “Tombstone”

July 14: The Loft Cinema, Tucson AZ 

July 17: Austin Film Society 

Aug 6: Wexner Center, Columbus OH

Aug 20: Utah Film Center, SLC

Sept 8: The Autry Museum, Los Angeles, CA

Oct 21: John Steinbeck/Salinas City Center, CA

Oct 23: Smith Rafael Film Center, San Rafael, CA

Oct 24: Roxie Theater, San Francisco

Nov 2 and 3: Guild Cinema, Albuquerque, NM

Dec 6: Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA

Dec 9: Hollywood Theatre, Portland OR 

double feature w “Tombstone”

[my-humble-abode]

according to austin in the s3 qna:

- as-tr would be a twilight domain cleric

- e-dn would be a horizon walker ranger

- c-ra either a champion or a bannerette (i think i spelt that right)

- k-lb would be an armorer

- dx-tr is whatever he needs to be to be the most terrifying

he didn’t talk about mr-sn’s class/subclass at all, but from what i’ve seen the most common fan theory is that he’s an abberant mind sorceror, or potentially a bard

Subclasses for the old crew of the Per Aspera.

SPOILERS FOR ROLLING WITH DIFFICULTY SEASON 3

So we already know VR-LA's so I'll just skip that.

AS-TR: This one i am most solid on considering Twilight Cleric fits her and Selune so well. Just the vibe is immaculate.

E-DN: I feel like Horizon Walker Ranger makes the most sense seeing as she would be a great navigator on the Astral Sea by being able to tell where the closest portals are and being able to take out extraplanar threats

K-LB: So Dani is already an Artillerist so I don't think Austin would also make K-LB one while that wouldbe extremely cool. So eliminating that I think Armorer could work. I see it flavored as him adding upgrades to give himself better combat capabilities.

C-RA: Honestly she could go anywhere. Battle Master could make sense but honestly Eldritch Knight sounds really badass. C-RA casting spells while cutting down enemies just seems so cool to me.

MR-SN: He's the one I'm least sure about. The only thing we ever see him do is cast "Command" or "Suggestion" (It seemed so much like Command but Wizards don't get it while they do get Suggestion) using the word "Witness" to kill that Githyanki. I put my bet on Enchantment Wizard but it could be so many things.

Anyone else have any other ideas? I'd love to hear them.

[witchythewitch]

Davey Suicide Is Rebirthed & Made From Fire

Davey Suicide Is Rebirthed & Made From Fire

Davey Suicide Is Rebirthed & Made From Fire

I was first introduced to Davey Suicide on a Twiztid tour a few years back in Dallas, Tx. I slowly began to take notice of these guys.  About a year later, I was able to catch up with the band at the Dirty Dog Bar in Austin, Tx for the Anti System Revolution tour.They actually did a Facebook Livestream QnA with the Juggalos that day.

 [facebook…

[truejuggalofam]

Davey Suicide Is Rebirthed & Made From Fire

Davey Suicide Is Rebirthed & Made From Fire

Davey Suicide Is Rebirthed & Made From Fire

I was first introduced to Davey Suicide on a Twiztid tour a few years back in Dallas, Tx. I slowly began to take notice of these guys.  About a year later, I was able to catch up with the band at the Dirty Dog Bar in Austin, Tx for the Anti System Revolution tour.They actually did a Facebook Livestream QnA with the Juggalos that day.

 [facebook…

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home Edition April 10, 2020 – Trolls World Tour, Sea Fever, We Summon the Darkness

Yeah, there isn’t a ton of stuff coming out this week that I’m particularly excited about, but lots of stuff to watch at home.

The world is still reeling with the decision by Universal and DreamWorks Animation to release their animated sequel, TROLLS WORLD TOUR, directly to digital and home download (although it might play in the dozen or so drive-in theaters still open nationwide, presumably). The original movie made $348.9 million nationwide, so it’s an odd decision to release the sequel in a format that almost guarantees piracy and little chance of further international expansion later. It’s also a choice that has annoyed a lot of theater owners who had been expecting for the movie to do well over this coming Easter weekend. I wasn’t considered one of the “chosen ones” that were allowed to see this movie before its release on Friday to review it, so this will probably be all I write about it.

Other limited releases that didn’t get a fair shake in theaters before the rolling nationwide lockdown include Sally Potter’s The Roads Not Taken, starring Javier Bardem and Elle Fanning, will be available digitally this Friday. I wrote a little about it in my last full Weekend Warrior column.

Before we get to the new movies on Digital and On Demand, I just want to mention that this Saturday, April 11, will be the first ever “Film Festival Day” with the participation of 30 film festivals associated with the Film Festival Alliance (including my beloved Oxford Film Festival). They’ll collectively be premiering Gary Lundgren’s Phoenix, Oregon, starring James Le Gros and Jesse Borrego as two friends experiencing their midlife who find an opportunity to reinvent themselves by restoring an old bowling alley and serving “the world’s greatest pizza.” Lundgren’s film was supposed to open on March 20, but a lot of film festivals were cancelled due to Covid-19 and weren’t able to get a proper theatrical showing, so you can buy a ticket to Film Festival Day here, and it will start on Saturday at 12AM Eastern and be available for 48 hours with a special QnA (hosted by Oxford’s executive director, Melanie Addington) on Saturday at 5pm PT/8pm ET.

The movie hitting digital airwaves this Friday I would probably recommend is Neasa Hardimann’s at-sea thriller SEA FEVER (Dust/Gunpowder and Sky), starring Hermione Corfield as Siobhán, a marine biology lab-rat, who has to spend a week on a fishing trawler with a tightly-knit crew, including Connie Nielsen. When something very big attaches itself to their boat, each of them begin to get infected with nowhere to go but the open waters. I generally like claustrophobic creature features like this, with Ridley Scott’s Alien and John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing being two of the best. I might need a few more years before I decide if Hardimann’s film is quite on par, but it’s pretty solid. I definitely like the way things build slowly as you try to figure out what is happening. Sure, there’s a few bits that are a bit too much like homages to those other two films, but Hermione Corfield is a great find, and Hardimann does a fine job with her second feature that really uses the environment quite effectively. I kind of wish I had a chance to see this in theaters but like Saban’s other films, it was always gonna be a VOD special.

There will be a very special live stream premiere of the movie on Thursday night at 5pm Pacific that you can watch for a fee here.

Just two short weeks after his last film Human Capital hit digital, director Marc Meyers is back with his second movie of the year, WE SUMMON THE DARKNESS (Saban Films). This one stars Alexandra Daddario as Alexis, a young woman attending a heavy metal concert with her friends where they meet three guys who they invite to party at the estate of Alexis’ fire-and-brimstone preacher father (Johnny Knoxville). That party quickly  turns dark. The movie also stars Keean Johnson, Amy Forsyth and Austin Swift.

I really wanted to like this more, because it was nice seeing Meyers doing something different, and it once again shows how good he is with younger actors -- okay, Daddario is 32 now, so I’m not sure why she’s still playing girls nearly half her age -- but the first thirty minutes feels very by the books in terms of it being a ‘80s movie. Yes, this is Meyers’ third period piece in a row, so he gets to play with lots of fun references, but he didn’t write this script (as he did with the excellent My Friend Dahmer), and it’s such a straight-ahead premise that you can kind of know where it’s going at any time. I guess I just don’t like movies like this where it seems violent for the sake of violence, and you never really like any of the characters much or understand their motivations. I mean, I’ve seen worse, but this is just kind of bleh compared to Sea Fever (and Meyers’ previous work). This movie just wasn’t for me, and the worst part was that the Johnny Knoxville role that seemed so promising? He doesn’t show up for an hour into the movie.

There’s also Sonejuhi Sinha’s Stray Dolls, a mix of cultures (oddly similar in terms of premise as Netflix’s Tigertail – see below) as it follows Geentanjali Thapa’s Riz who arrives in the United States to take a housekeeping job at the Tides Plaza Motel. There, he must contend with Cynthia Nixon’s Una, who hires other people who need help including Oliva DeJonge’s Dallas, Riz’s new roommate. Oh, she’s also the motel’s resident drugdealer. I haven’t watched this yet, so I’ not sure if it’s a comedy or a drama, but it’s another movie available digitally this weekend.

There’s also the documentary, The Mindfulness Movement (Abramorama / Mangurama) from Rob Beemer and exec. produced by Deepak Chopra and my mortal enemy, Jewel. It looks at how the use of “mindfulness” – a type of meditation that makes one focus on the present moment in a non-judgmental way – is the root to creating a happier world. There’s a lot of talk now about using meditation to deal with the stress, pressure and fears that go along with the current pandemic, so this doc couldn’t be better-timed! It will be available to rent via VOD starting Friday.

STREAMING AND CABLE

This week’s Netflix premiere film is TIGERTAIL, the new film from Alan Yang, who some may know from his collaboration with Aziz Ansari on their Netflix show, Master of None. This one stars Hong-Chi Lee as impoverished Taiwanese factory worker, Pin-Jui, who decides to leave his homeland and the woman he loves in the ‘50s to seek opportunities in America. Decades later, the older Pin-Jui (played by Tzi Ma) has been worn down by his work, a loveless arranged marriage and a daughter Angela (Christine Ko) who he can’t connect with.  This will debut on Netflix Friday but unfortunately, I’ve been embargoed until then, so nope… not reviewing.

Also on Netflix is the debut of THE MAIN EVENT, the network’s first collaboration with WWE Films, which I couldn’t get a screener quickly enough to include in this column. It stars Seth Carr as 11-year-old Leo Thompson who discovers a magic wrestling mask that gives him super-strenth, which he uses to try to become a WWE Superstar. Directed by Jay Karas (Break Point), it also stars Adam Pally, Ken Marrino and WWE Superstars, Kofi Kingston, The Miz and Sheamus. Should be a fun kids’ movie, but I’m not so sure about The Big Show Show, a new sitcom starring Paul Wight, aka WWE Superstar The Big Show, because it looks pretty stupid. Remember when The Big Show (once known as “The Giant”) was absolutely intimidating? (To be fair, this also seems to be meant for kids.)

Now playing on Amazon Prime is Hanan Harchol’s About a Teacher (Amazon Prime), following the journey of an inner-city high school film teacher (Dov Tiefenbach), who starts the job not realizing what is demanded of him as a teacher. Many of Harchol’s own former students are a part of the cast and crew of this film, which looks at the difficulties of being a teacher in New York City.

I’m super-excited that Sunday is the third season of Killing Eve on BBC America, but I still have to watch all of Season 2… plus most of Season 2 of Westworld… and rewatch Season 4 of Better Call Saul. So yeah, I’m glad there’s lots of stuff to watch, but I still just don’t have the inclination to watch all or any of it.

I guess Amazon Prime premiered the first season of the sci-fi series Tales from the Loop last Friday, and that’s another thing I’m hoping to get to soon.

Next week, more movies not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or send me a note on Twitter. I love hearing from readers!

[the-things-and-other-things]

The mind flayer's turn started right after the prior's and it functionally managed to get on the ship as stowaway (as explained by Austin in the qna).

It said spooky stuff to the crew and then when they got to Brass there was a period of time when it was just Eagan on the ship (I don't remember if Plug was there).

Which is when it ate his brain and took his body.

Finished relistening to the season 1 QnA and just figured out the events that led to Eagan getting possessed.