Category: Entertainment News

Karmalink’s theatrical and video on demand release in US and Canada

Karmalink will be released in the US in major city theaters and on video on demand in the US and Canada on Friday July 15, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Conceived as a way to interrogate processes of neo-colonialism, and highlighting the alienating effects of technological progress, Jake Wachtel’s Karmalink is a mind-bending tale of reincarnation, artificial consciousness, and the search for enlightenment. (Good Deed Entertainment, 2022)

In near-future Phnom Penh, the rich and privileged are augmented with nanotech and new skyscrapers crowd the skyline. In Tralop Bek, a tight-knit community threatened with forced eviction, 13-year-old Leng Heng is having vivid dreams of his past lives. He and his friends are convinced they are meant to find a buried Buddhist statue to save their homes, and they seek out help from a street-smart girl in the neighborhood, Srey Leak. Together they follow clues across town and into the past, uncovering a link with a genius neuroscientist on a quest for digital nirvana. As Leng Heng’s dreams converge on the present, his very sense of identity begins to unravel. When it becomes clear that the stakes are higher than they imagined, the two friends must decide how far they are willing to go to find their treasure and the truth.

American-born filmmaker Jake Wachtel began his career making short documentaries for nonprofits and social impact ventures working in the global south. His work has been featured on NYTimes.com, Wired, NPR, and MSNBC. In 2015, he moved to Cambodia to teach a year-long class in filmmaking to children as a part of the Filmmakers Without Borders initiative. His Phnom Penh-set short film The Foreigner Here premiered at the Cambodian International Film Festival, and he has gone on to collaborate with many of the growing new wave of young Cambodian filmmakers. He also served as on-set editor for Jimmy Henderson’s Cambodian-Chinese coproduction The Prey. Phnom Penh became his home base for several years as he developed his first feature Karmalink—Cambodia’s first sci-fi movie—set in the community where he taught and produced with a majority Cambodian cast and crew, including his former students.

Director: Jake Wachtel Starring: Srey Leak Chhith, Leng Heng Prak, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Cindy Sirinya Bishop, Rous Mony, and Sveng Socheata. 

Cambodia, 2021, 102 minutes, in Khmer with English subtitles

***OFFICIAL SELECTION: VENICE FILM CRITICS’ WEEK (OPENING NIGHT FILM), AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL, GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL, and many more.***

Karmalink will be released in the US Theatrically in major cities and on VOD in the US and Canada on Friday, July 15, 2022.

Theaters include:
Lumiere Music Hall – Los Angeles, CA
Rialto Lakeside Elmwood – Berkeley, CA
Rialto Lakeside Sonoma – Sebastopol, CA
SIFF Film Center – Seattle, WA

VOD Platforms include:
US: Apple TV/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, XFinity Cable, and more.
Canada: Apple TV/iTunes, Google Play.

Good Deed Entertainment (GDE) is an Ohio based independent studio dedicated to producing, financing, and distributing quality entertainment for under-served audiences. Its distribution slate includes recent releases Summertime, Ma Belle, My Beauty, and Lucky Grandma, in addition to the Academy Award nominated, Loving Vincent, and Spirit Award nominated, To Dust.

1657883460

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Karmalink release date

Forrest McCurren’s debut album Oh Me, Oh My

For fans of Hayes Carll, Willie Nelson, and John Prine, Oh Me, Oh My will be out August 19, 2022. Photo: Forrest McCurren.

With a half-time back beat and a feel-good guitar twang, songwriter Forrest McCurren graciously marries a classic rock road song with a classic country love song on his new tune “Little Rock.” Sparked by how his messy motel room on the road was compared to the orderly and clean life he led back home, McCurren spun up this rocker that evokes the urgency of a road warrior like himself to make it on home, specifically to his wife Margaret—who sings and plays drums and fiddle on McCurren’s upcoming debut Oh Me, Oh My. The initial idea transformed into an ode to Margaret and getting home to her. (Forrest McCurren, 2022)

Last week, Wide Open Country premiered the music video for “Little Rock,” which follows Forrest and Margaret on a beautifully-shot mission from the fireworks store to the Piggly Wiggly and beyond. They noted, “You could consider Oh Me, Oh My a soundtrack to those moments of human connection that feel almost cosmic.” Fans can watch the “Little Rock” music video now at this link and stay up to date on all things Forrest and Oh Me, Oh My ahead of its August 19 release right here.

McCurren’s entertaining debut album Oh Me, Oh My showcases the energy of his live shows with songs that shimmer and rock with an ebullient warmth that is bound to reach into listeners’ hearts and souls and get them to reflect a little on the people and places that mean the most to them. He is always writing songs, but all the songs on this album are from a three-year period when McCurren was setting out on his own, between college and now. He is looking back at his life, looking at his life now, and looking forward to his life to come in the 10 songs on the album. “I was just setting out on my own,” McCurren laughs. “I spent a lot of time thinking about my grandparents, painting a picture of characters I knew growing up. In the songs there’s a sense of longing and place, and they evoke the transition from running wild as a kid to running wild as a man. The songs have a sense of movement and a sense of place and a sense of who I was gonna be.”

As soon as he learned three chords, McCurren started to write songs. In his early 20s he started accumulating songs. In his songwriting, he resembles Hemingway. “I always try to write one true sentence. Every song I have kept, the first line I wrote was the first line of the song. Words come first, then melodies get inspired by the words. I trust the quickness of the way I write. I am always jotting down rhymes. Songs have given me a way of understanding who I am and relating to people.”
Music is McCurren’s favorite ways to connect with people. “My songs show them a little bit of who I am and when I show them a little of me they share a little bit of them, too.” He does not write sad songs, but songs that move us and celebrate, as he says, the “luckiness of life.” As his debut album shows, McCurren excels at making those connection and at celebrating life. Forrest McCurren has a reverence for the songs, and he sings, plays, and writes with a heart for bringing people together.

Catch Forrest McCurren on tour:
June 23-26 – Slade, KY – Festival of the Red
October 6-8 – Eldon, MO – Lake Ozark Music Festival

1660906260

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Oh Me, Oh My release date

Anova Skyway announces new EP Reset

The new EP Reset will be released July 15, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Described as “A talented and dark-visioned lot!” by popular metal site Bravewords.com; Houston “prog-ternative” rock band Anova Skyway will follow up the release of their acclaimed 2020 single “Diet of Worms” with another bold and irresistible take on the modern prog blueprint. The six-piece ensemble will debut their awaited EP titled Reset on July 15, 2022. (Anova Skyway, 2022)

Reset features six songs including four co-written with Louis Abramson of JOLLY and an intriguing cover of Faith No More’s “Ashes to Ashes.” Produced by the incredible Dean Dichoso; Anova Skyway makes a notable and instantly satisfying impression with Reset, showcasing their sonic evolution with their most indulgent and exploratory melodies to date, caressed by powerfully emotive lyrics.

“Reset represents yet another turn in our winding journey as a band. All the detours left their mark and brought us to the unit that we are today. Mike has completely blown us away with where he’s taken the vocal performances. The hole he leaves in the guitar spot with this move makes room for one of our oldest friends in music and one of the best guitarists we know in Sean Gary (ex-Oceans of Slumber). Frank Alonzo rounds it out on keys and our brother Garret West has left his mark as well contributing the lyrics to some of these songs as a final parting gift. We are excited to bring this new version of Anova Skyway to the world.” – drummer Mike Marksberry

The refreshed ANOVA SKYWAY lineup is composed of vocalist Mike Palacios, Guitarists Andrew Alvarez and Sean Gary, Drummer Mike Marksberry, Bassist Cory Miles, and Frank Alonzo on Keys/synth.

“Mike has completely blown us away with where he’s taken the vocal performances and we can’t wait to bring this new version of Anova. We have a new vocalist, a new guitarist, and a new keyboardist. I wouldn’t say there is a huge departure from our previous style, but those new elements alone make for a brand new sound! We’re excited to bring it to the world.” – Anova Skyway

The track listing for Reset is unveiled below along with the stunning EP artwork designed by Giannis Nakos of Remedy Art. The first single will premiere soon, along with additional EP details including pre-order information. Anova Skyway teased a glimpse of what’s to come via social media. Visit the band’s Facebook page for a peek into the arrival of Reset.

Reset track list
1. Translucent
2. Absent
3. Spark
4. City Underground
5. Ashes to Ashes
6. Horizon

Horizon is the new single from the new EP Reset, due out July 15, 2022.
1657875480

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Reset release date

County Line Community Band summer concert

The County Line Community Band will perform in the Buena Vista Theater on the UTSA downtown campus. Photo: google

On Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 3p.m., the County Line Community Band will perform their “Concert Favorites and Solos” in the beautiful Buena Vista Theater on the UTSA Downtown Campus from 3p.m. to 4p.m. This concert will feature world renowned Saxophonist, Dr. Andy Wen and Tyler Neufer, French Horn instrumentalist with the U.S. Air Force Band of the West. The band will also highlight music considered some of the favorites in band literature like, “Funiculi, Funicula,” “Bugler’s Holiday,” “Lassus Trombone,” and more. (County Line Community Band, 2022)

This concert is free and open to the public. Parking is free at the Cattleman’s Square parking lot across the street from the theater. Come out and support community music in San Antonio. Donations deeply appreciated.

The CLCB is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and our mission and endeavor is to create an environment whereby our all-volunteer organization can further their musical education and enjoyment through the performance of concert and symphonic music, to further the efficacy of music as an integral piece of the culture of the local community, to advocate for the synergistic integration of music education, to work with our cultural partners in our communities for the advancement of the arts and to be a source of pride for our members and the communities we serve.

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s Teatro Salon presents La Niña Girasol

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center proudly presents the Teatro Salon’s world premiere of La Niña Girasol (The Sunflower Girl) by J. Cesar Duenas. Photo: The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, used with permission.

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center proudly presents the Teatro Salon’s world premiere of La Niña Girasol (The Sunflower Girl) by J. Cesar Duenas, scheduled for June 22 – 25, 2022 at the historic Guadalupe Theater, 1301 Guadalupe St., San Antonio, TX 78207. Clint Taylor, who has over 25 years working with numerous theater companies in San Antonio and New York, will be directing this unique and imaginary children’s play. (Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, 2022)

“Follow a brother & sister on a journey through their dreams to save their maternal line from being lost forever…. A magical tale of family, history, and the struggle to keep their roots alive,” this, according to playwright J. Cesar Duenas. Mr. Duenas is a local theatre actor and while La Niña Girasol is his first play, he has acted with VIVA 48hr Play, Teatro Audaz, Killer Productions, Overtime Theatre, and Jumpstart. He is a first-generation American and a US Army veteran who was born and raised in San Antonio. “I am so excited with this rare opportunity to have my first play produced and enjoyed by the community.”

Teatro Salon is a project of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center that provides opportunities to developing new plays and is sponsored by City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture, Texas Commission on the Arts, Trinity University and National Performance Network.

Show times include two morning performances on Wednesday and Thursday June 22 and 23 at 11a.m. and two evening performances on Friday and Saturday June 24 and 25 at 7p.m.. Admission is $12 Adults, $6 Teens and Seniors and $2 Children (13yrs and under). All performances will take place at the historic Guadalupe Theater, 1301 Guadalupe St. San Antonio, TX 78207.

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center was founded in 1980 as a non-profit, multidisciplinary organization. Located in the heart of San Antonio’s westside, the Guadalupe is one of the largest community-based organizations in the United States. Its mission is to cultivate, promote, and preserve traditional and contemporary Chicano, Latino, and Native American arts and culture through multidisciplinary programming.

New movie: Final Caller premieres on DVD and digital

Horror movie Final Caller will premiere on DVD and Digital on July 5, 2022 from Wild Eye Releasing. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Final Caller is the new film from the legendary director of Clownado and Bonehill Road. From legendary indie director Todd Sheets (Bonehill Road, Zombie Bloodbath, Clownado), Final Caller premieres on DVD and Digital July 5 from Wild Eye Releasing. For fans of movies like Saws and Hostel. (Wild Eye Releasing, 2022)

Final Caller – Roland Bennett, an obnoxious late-night radio personality specializing in the supernatural is not having a good night. A visit from his soon-to-be ex-wife brings divorce papers to the station, a boss is listening in due to complaints, and a call from self-proclaimed serial killer “The Outsider”  who threatens to kill a woman live on the air. Being live on the air tonight will spell death for all involved. 

David Henry Gerson’s award-winning documentary The Story Won’t Die

After theatrical releases, The Story Won’t Die will have a worldwide Video on Demand on June 21, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

The Story Won’t Die, from Award-winning filmmaker David Henry Gerson, is an inspiring, timely look at a young generation of Syrian artists who use their work to protest and process what is currently the world’s largest and longest ongoing displacement of people since World War II. Sundance Award-winning producer Odessa Rae produces the film. (The Story Won’t Die, 2022)

Rapper Abu Hajar, together with other celebrated creative personalities of the Syrian uprising, a post-Rock musician (Anas Maghrebi), members of the first all-female Syrian rock band (Bahila Hijazi and Lynn Mayya), break-dancer (Bboy Shadow), choreographer (Medhat Aldaabal), and visual artists (Tammam Azzam, Omar Imam and Diala Brisly), use their art to rise in revolution and endure in exile in this new documentary reflecting on a battle for peace, justice and freedom of expression. It is an uplifting and humanizing look at what it means to be a refugee in today’s world and offers inspiring and hopeful vantages on a creative response to the chaos of war.

The Story Won’t Die was released theatrically in Los Angeles last Friday and will be released in New York today, June 17, 2022. A worldwide Video On Release on major platforms will follow on June 21, timed to World Refugee Day. Video On Demand platforms include Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google TV, Vimeo, and more.

OFFICIAL SELECTION: Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Watch Docs, and many more.
WINNER! Best Director at Doc LA and Best Feature Doc at FIC Autor Guadalajara.

David Henry Gerson is a filmmaker whose work has won prizes from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Sundance Film Festival, and has been acquired into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NY. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the American Film Institute, where he was the recipient of the AFI Richard P. Rodgers Award for Creative Excellence. His film, All These Voices, won the Student Academy Award®. David’s spec screenplay, Above Kings, was nominated to the Tracking Board Hit List and was a semifinalist for the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship. His documentary film Ultra Violet for Sixteen Minutes, screened at festivals worldwide, the Pompidou Museum in Paris, and was acquired into the permanent collection of the MoMA. The Story Won’t Die is his debut feature.

Feature Documentary/ Not Yet Rated / Running Time: 83 Minutes
Country: USA/GERMANY
Director: David Henry Gerson
Producer: Odessa Rae
Co-Producers: Abdalaziz Alhamza, Colleen Ritzau Leth and Martin Marquet
Featuring: Medhat Aldaabal, Tammam Azzam, Diala Brisly, Abu Hajar, Bahila Hijazi, Omar Imam, Lynn Mayya, Anas Maghrebi, and Mhd Sabboura.

We Banjo 3 shares ‘Hummingbird’ from upcoming album Open The Road

We Banjo 3 appeals to fans of bluegrass, Celtic, and Americana music. Open The Road will be out July 15, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Traditional Irish music and traditional American music share a lot of similarities in instrumentation, lyrical content, and community participation. Still, there are a surprisingly few number of acts who straddle that musical gap across the Atlantic—and even fewer who have made a decade-long, award-winning career out of it like Galway-based quartet We Banjo 3. Containing two sets of two brothers—Enda & Fergal Scahill, and David & Martin Howley—We Banjo 3 have built their legacy on seamlessly combining the virtuosity and precision in each genre’s traditional disciplines with the artful song-craft and infectious live performance of today’s musical landscape. Their upcoming album Open The Road—out July 15—meets on the corner of complex-but-nimble instrumentation and magnetic, well-crafted songs; a combination of which their fans have been enjoying from studio to stage since the band first landed on American shores ten years ago. (We Banjo 3, 2022)

We Banjo 3 shared the first track from Open The Road, the driving jig-turned-indie pop love song, “Hummingbird.” First conceptualized in March 2020 during the great lockdown, David Howley had ample free time. David and his Nashville roommate Scott Mulvahill, an accomplished musician in his own right, spent time in Scott’s home-studio to lay down some new songs. “We had a house full of instruments, microphones, coffee and whiskey, so we did what we could to stay sane,” Howley remembers. Having mentioned to Mulvahill that he had a tune he liked but that needed it still needed to be finished, Mulvahill replied while tearing open a new bag of coffee beans, “Well let’s finish it then!”

Fast-forward to almost two years later, We Banjo 3 finished tracking “Hummingbird” and it landed in the lead-off spot on Open The Road. In addition to the guest musicians who contributed to the initial session—Danny Young on drums and Josh Shilling on keys—The Infamous Stringdusters’ Andy Hall plays his dobro on the final track. Fans can hear “Hummingbird” right now at this link and pre-order or pre-save Open The Road ahead of its July 15 release right here.

We Banjo 3 shares a musical intimacy that emanates in the rolling banjos, soaring fiddle and mandolin runs, and bright and vibrant guitar strums that swirl around propulsive vocals and perfect harmonies. On their new album, Open The Road, it’s the band’s prolific tune-writing skills, and their inciting lyrics that are somehow ubiquitous and intimate all at once, that pull the listener in. Buoyed by musical virtuosity and well-crafted song structure, their complex instrumentation feels nimble and willowy, shaping a contended and canny listening experience. The album’s ten tracks offer up the infectious melodies and musical brilliance fans have come to expect from We Banjo 3, and introduces the band to an even wider swath of music fans at festivals across the U.S. and the world.

Open The Road track list:
Hummingbird
Garden Song
Long Way Down
Heart In Hand
Open The Road
Rialto
Gift Of Life
The First Second Gentleman
Alive With You
Believe In Us

Catch We Banjo 3 on tour:
June 17 – Dayton, OH – Levitt Pavilion
June 18 – Lakeside, OH – Lakeside Chautauqua: Hoover Auditorium
June 19 – Charleston, WV – Mountain Stage (Culture Center Theater)
June 23 – Memphis, TN – Overton Park Shell (formerly Levitt Shell)
June 24 – Owensboro, KY – ROMP 2022
July 16 – Oak Hill, NY – Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival 2022
July 19 – Rockport, MA – Shalin Liu Performance Center
July 20 – Natick, MA – Center For Arts In Natick
July 29 – Ventura, CA – Ventura Music Festival 2022
July 30 – Denver, CO – Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox
July 31 – Lyons, CO – RockyGrass Festival 2022
August 1 – Crested Butte, CO – Center for the Arts Crested Butte
August 3 – Portsmouth, OH – Vern Riffe Center for the Arts
August 5-7 – Dublin, OH – Dublin Irish Fest 2022
August 9-10 – Bethlehem, PA – MUSIKFEST
August 12 – St. Paul, MN – Irish Fair of Minnesota 2022
August 13 – La Crosse, WI – IrishFest La Crosse 2022
August 14 – St. Paul, MN – Irish Fair of Minnesota 2022
August 19 – 21 – Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee Irish Fest
September 2-4 – Kansas City, MO – Kansas City Irish Festival 2022
October 21 – Frederick, MD – Weinberg Center For The Arts
October 22 – Manteo, NC – Outer Banks Bluegrass Festival

2023 (Rescheduled) Tour Dates:
January 27 – Sacramento, CA – The Sofia
January 29 – Berkeley, CA – Freight & Salvage
February 1 – Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum Theater
February 2 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
February 3 – Wickenburg, AZ – Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts
February 4 – Chandler, AZ – Chandler Center for the Arts

1657896720

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Open The Road release date

Movie adaptation: The Black Phone by Joe Hill

The Black Phone, from Joe Hill’s ’20th Century Ghosts’ has been adapted into a movie and will be released in theaters on June 24, 2022. Photo: amazon

Joe Hill is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels “The Fireman,” “NOS4A2,” “Horns,” and “Heart-Shaped Box;” “Strange Weather,” a collection of novellas; and the acclaimed story collections “Full Throttle” and “20th Century Ghosts.” He is also the Eisner Award–winning writer of a seven-volume comic book series, “Locke & Key.” Much of his work has been adapted for film and TV, including NOS4A2 (AMC), Locke & Key (Netflix), and In the Tall Grass (Netflix). The Black Phone is a short story in his “20th Century Ghosts” collection and has been adapted into a major motion picture from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions. It stars Ethan Hawke and will be released in theaters on Friday June 24, 2022. (amazon, 2022)

The Black Phone – Jack Finney is thirteen, alone, and in desperate trouble. For two years now, someone has been stalking the boys of Galesberg, stealing them away, never to be seen again. And now, Finney finds himself in danger of joining them: locked in a psychopath’s basement, a place stained with the blood of half a dozen murdered children.

With him in his subterranean cell is an antique phone, long since disconnected . . . but it rings at night anyway, with calls from the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.

“The Black Phone” is one of fifteen stories in Joe Hill’s first story collection, originally published as 20th Century Ghosts—the inventive and chilling compendium that established this award-winning, critically acclaimed, and bestselling author as “a major player in 21st-century fantastic fiction” (Washington Post).

 

1656069300

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

The Black Phone release date

New movie release: A Town Full of Ghosts

A Town Full of Ghosts’ digital release date is June 17, 2022. Photo: google

For fans of ‘found footage’ horror movies: Some towns should stay forgotten. This June, travel to Blackwood Falls. From filmmaker Isaac Rodriguez, A Town Full of Ghosts premieres on digital platforms June 17. (A Town Full of Ghosts, 2022)

A Town Full of Ghosts – Mark and his wife Jenna sell everything they have to purchase a western ghost town in the middle of nowhere called Blackwood Falls. They plan to turn the ghost town into a tourist attraction with hotels, restaurants, and attractions. They hire a small film crew to document their journey and upload the videos to their video channel. When funding falls through, they find themselves stuck in the middle of nowhere. Things take a twist when Mark discovers the town has a horrible history of death. He secretly digs deeper into the past and stumbles upon something evil.

Tensions start to rise when one of the film crew goes missing, and everyone finds themselves trapped in the town. Jenna comes up with a plan to escape, but Mark begins to lose his mind and takes matters into his own hands. Jenna makes one last attempt to escape the town. She gets lost in the wooden maze while something evil goes after her. She must escape or become an eternal resident in Blackwood Falls.

Andrew C. Fisher, Mandy Lee Rubio, Lauren Lox, Sarah Froelich, Isaac Rodriguez, Keekee Suki, and Vania Vasquez star in an Isaac Rodriguez film,

“After visiting the J. Lorraine, TX, ghost Town in Austin, TX, I was immediately inspired to make my next film there. The town was actually all built by the current owner. Some of the buildings were very small and looked fake, but I knew I could incorporate that into the story. A few months back, I saw a YouTuber who sold everything and moved into a real ghost town in California. I wanted to use that basic idea with a married couple and add a The Shining vibe to it.” – writer/director Isaac Rodriguez