Category: Entertainment News

Songwriter Peter Mulvey and SistaStrings announce new album

Singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey and rising stars SistaStrings have joined hands for a new studio album Love Is The Only Thing, due out on August 12, 2022. Photo: google

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Peter Mulvey and fellow Milwaukeeans, the in-demand dynamic duo SistaStrings have joined hands once again for a brand new studio album, Love Is The Only Thing, due out August 12 on Righteous Babe Records. A self-proclaimed anti-fascist record, Love Is The Only Thing keeps kindness and compassion in the foreground, following a similar musical path to Mulvey and SistaStrings’ Live at the Café Carpe, which was released in late 2020 and, like the new album, includes drummer Nathan Kilen rounding out the ensemble. Fans can pre-order or pre-save Love Is The Only Thing right now at this link and get refamiliarized with Mulvey and SistaStrings’ brilliant sound by checking out Live at the Café Carpe right here. (Peter Mulvey/SistaStrings, 2022)

SistaStrings—cellist-vocalist Monique Ross and violinist-vocalist Chauntee Ross—bring all the beautiful versatility of their cello and violin music—along with sibling-strong vocal harmonies—to Love Is The Only Thing. Classically trained string players who grew up singing in church, Monique and Chauntee were destined to defy conventions of genre and race alike, blending R&B, gospel, and classical sounds. Mulvey met the Rosses in 2016, and all three felt an instant kinship.

The bright light of family illuminates this record and all that went into making it. Its existence hinges on the way we take care of each other, from its fan-supported funding to the sanctuary of Café Carpe to the blood sisterhood of the Rosses to Mulvey’s newfound fatherhood. Making Love Is The Only Thing at such a tumultuous time in history reinforced Mulvey’s and SistaStrings’ role as activists just as much as musicians. “Finding refuge and rejuvenation in these songs with this group of musicians was healing and personally some sort of mission statement for why we even make music in the first place,” Chauntee remembers. Love Is The Only Thing explores loss, tension, and the love that sees us through it.

Love Is The Only Thing track list:
Shenandoah
Soft Animal
O My Dear (the Demagogue)
Old Men Drinking Seagram’s
You and (Everybody Else)
Early Summer of ‘21
Five Hundred Days
On the Eve of the Inaugural
Pray for Rain
February Too
Song for Michael Brown
Love Is the Only Thing

Catch Peter Mulvey on tour:
July 28 – Portsmouth, NH – Portsmouth Music Hall w/ Mark Erelli
July 29 – Brownfield, ME – Stone Mountain Arts Center w/ Mark Erelli
July 30 – Concord, NH – Capitol Center for the Arts w/ Mark Erelli
August 18 – Sandwich, NH – John Davidson’s Club Sandwich

Catch SistaStrings on tour:
August 5 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum*
August 6 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island*
August 11 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivent Arena*
August 18 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion#
August 19 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center For the Arts#
August 20 – Philadelphia, PA – Mann Center For The Performing Arts#
August 24 – London, UK – Omeara^
September 9-10 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks#
September 25 – Bridgeport, CT – Sound on Sound 2022*
October22 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden*

*performing w/ Brandi Carlile
^performing w/ Allison Russell
#performing w/ Allison Russell and Brandi Carlile

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New album release: Sunny Sweeney’s Married Alone

Sunny Sweeney, with the help of Paul Cauthen, paints a beautiful picture of a hard reminder in “A Song Can’t Fix Everything” from upcoming album Married Alone, out September 23 via Thirty Tigers. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Sunny Sweeney is a country and Americana artist from Texas, currently based in Nashville, TN. Her latest album is Married Alone, a raw, vulnerable exploration of loss, grief, and healing, recorded in Dallas, TX, and co-produced by fellow country artist Paul Cauthen and The Texas Gentlemen’s Beau Bedford. Sweeney debuted in 2006 with the acclaimed Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame, which announced her as an important new voice in country and Americana songwriting. Sweeney continued to expand upon the traditional-leaning, forward-thinking sound of her earlier work with 2014’s Provoked and 2017’s Trophy, both of which earned Sweeney rave reviews across the country and roots communities. (Sunny Sweeney, 2022)

“A Song Can’t Fix Everything” is the first single from Sweeney’s upcoming album Married Alone—out on September 23 via Thirty Tigers. Produced by Cauthen and the Texas Gentlemen’s multi-hyphenate Beau Bedford, Married Alone is Sweeney’s finest work yet, bringing together confessional songwriting, image-rich narratives, and no shortage of sonic surprises for a loosely conceptual album about loss and healing. The album was recorded at Dallas’ Modern Electric Sound Recorders and mixed by the whole team with the help of Jeff Saenz—beloved Dallas-based producer and owner of Modern Electric—upon his unbelievable return to work after being electrocuted in a freak accident. Fans can listen to “A Song Can’t Fix Everything” now at this link and pre-order or pre-save Married Alone ahead of its release right here.

In addition to the release of Married Alone, Sweeney has a song featured in the upcoming film VENGEANCE, the directorial debut from writer and star B.J. Novak (The Office).

The full potential of the album really revealed itself, though, when a friend sent Sweeney a demo of what would become its title track, “Married Alone.” Though she was not a co-writer on the track, Sweeney felt her own story reflected in its lyrics. The song, which features a particularly emotional guest vocal from living country legend Vince Gill, charts the painful moments sometimes experienced in marriages that have run their course. A few months after securing the song and mining her own vault for a track list, Sweeney traveled to Dallas, TX, to record—alongside Cauthen and Bedford—what would become Married Alone.

Married Alone track listing:
Tie Me Up (Sunny Sweeney/Buddy Owens/Galen Griffin)
Easy As Hello (Sunny Sweeney/Lori McKenna/Heather Morgan)
Married Alone ft. Vince Gill (Hannah Blaylock/Josh Morningstar/Autumn McEntire)
Someday You’ll Call My Name (Sunny Sweeney/Brennen Leigh)
How’d I End Up Lonely Again (Sunny Sweeney/Channing Wilson/Josh Morningstar)
A Song Can’t Fix Everything ft. Paul Cauthen (Sunny Sweeney/Lori McKenna)
Want You To Miss Me (Sunny Sweeney/Caitlyn Smith)
Wasting One On You (Sunny Sweeney/Buddy Owens/Monty Holmes)
Fool Like Me (Waylon Payne/Kendell Marvel)
All I Don’t Need (Sunny Sweeney/Lori McKenna)
Leaving Is My Middle Name (Sunny Sweeney/ Buddy Owens/Galen Griffin/Scotch Taylor)
Still Here (Sunny Sweeney/Lori McKenna)

Catch Sunny Sweeney on tour:
7/15 – Springfield, MO – Southbound Bar & Grill
7/16 – Kahoka, MO – Clark County Fair
7/17 -Yorkville, IL – The Law Office Pub & Music Hall
7/20 – Berwyn, IL – Fitzgerald’s Night Club
7/21 – Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall
7/22 – Minneapolis, MN – The Hook and Ladder Theater & Lounge
7/24 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge
7/27 – Manitou Springs, CO – Lulu’s Downstairs
7/29 – Cheyenne, WY – The Outlaw Saloon
7/30 – Sheridan, WY – WYO Theater
7/31 – White Sulphur Springs, MT – Red Ants Pants Music Festival
8/2 – Rochester, NY – Abilene Bar & Lounge
8/5 – King Ferry, NY – Treleaven Wines

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‘Hadestown’ coming to San Antonio’s Majestic Theatre

‘Hadestown’ will play at the Majestic Theatre in September and tickets go on sale this Friday July 15, 2022. ‘Hadestown’ North American tour – Photo by T Charles Erickson, used with permission.

‘Hadestown,’ the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards® including Best New Musical and the 2020 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will come to San Antonio as part of the 2022-2023 North Park Lexus Broadway in San Antonio Season. The show will play at the Majestic Theatre September 13-18, 2022. Tickets go on sale on Friday July 15, 2022 at 10a.m. through the Majestic Theatre, Broadway In San Antonio, or in person at the Majestic Theatre box office. Ticket prices start at $40. (Majestic Theatre, 2022)

‘Hadestown’ is the most honored show of the 2018-2019 Broadway season. In addition to the show’s eight Tony Awards®, it has been honored with four Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical, and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical. “It tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice, a young girl looking for something to eat, goes to work in a hellish industrial underworld to escape climate-change induced poverty before her poor singer-songwriter lover Orpheus comes to rescue her and together show others the way to escape.” (Wikipedia, 2022)

The North American touring production of ‘Hadestown’ stars Morgan Siobhan Green as Eurydice, Chibueze Ihuoma as Orpheus, Tony Award® winner Levi Kreis as Hermes, Kimberly Marable as Persephone, and Olivier Award® nominee Kevyn Morrow as Hades. Belén Moyano, Bex Odorisio, and Shea Renne play The Fates. The Workers Chorus features Jordan Bollwerk, Lindsey Hailes, Courtney Lauster, Eddie Noel Rodríguez, and Jamari Johnson Williams. The swings for the touring production include Tyla Collier, Ian Coulter Buford, Alex Lugo, J. Antonio Rodriguez, and Cecilia Trippiedi.

The acclaimed new musical is by celebrated singer-songwriter and Tony Award® winner Anaïs Mitchell and developed with innovative director and Tony Award® winner Rachel Chavkin. ‘Hadestown’ marks the first time in over a decade that a woman has been the solo author of a musical: writing the music, lyrics, and book, and is the fourth time in Broadway history a woman has accomplished this creative feat.

The show originated as Mitchell’s indie theater project that toured Vermont which she then turned into an acclaimed album. With Chavkin, her artistic collaborator, ‘Hadestown’ has been transformed into a genre-defying new musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale. Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — ‘Hadestown’ invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, ‘Hadestown’ delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.

Movie adaptation: ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owens

The movie adaptation of Delia Owens’ bestselling novel will hit theaters on July 15, 2022. Photo: amazon

Delia Owens is the coauthor of three internationally bestselling nonfiction books about her life as a wildlife scientist in Africa—”Cry of the Kalahari,” “The Eye of the Elephant,” and “Secrets of the Savanna.” She has won the John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing and has been published in Nature, the African Journal of Ecology, and International Wildlife, among many other publications. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” the #1 New York Times bestseller, is her first novel and has been adapted into a movie that will be released in theaters on July 15, 2022. It is at once an ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. (amazon, 2022)

“Where the Crawdads Sing” – For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life—until the unthinkable happens.

New horror movie release: Witch House

Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s short story The Dream in the Witch House, the new horror movie Witch House is now available on digital and DVD. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

From Horror Wasteland Pictures International, releasing for the first time on digital and DVD this July, H.P Lovecraft’s Witch House. Based on the H.P. Lovecraft’s short story The Dreams in the Witch House, Witch House blurs the boundaries between reality, dreams and the beyond. Easley and Ken Wallace scripted the movie, which was shot in Indiana’s Historical Hannah House which is known to be haunted. It is now available through Walmart and in digital through Amazon, iTunes, Tubi, and Spectrum. (Horror Wasteland Pictures International, 2022)

Witch House – Graduate student Alice Gilman (Portia Chellelynn, Hematic Web) is running from an abusive past. She seeks refuge in the infamous Hannah house; a historic home with an ominous past. Determined to prove the possibility of alternate dimensions, she unknowingly unlocks a gateway to unimaginable horror. Facing a series of bizarre and violent events, Alice is plagued by nightmarish dreams of these evil entities. Trapped between the 4th dimension and reality, the diabolical truth is revealed as Alice fights for her sanity and her very soul.

Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Balcones Heights Jazz Festival returns

The Balcones Heights Jazz Festival will kick off its highly-anticipated 28th season on Friday, July 15, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

The Balcones Heights Jazz Festival will kick off its highly-anticipated 28th season on Friday, July 15, 2022 and continue with a second concert on Friday, July 29, 2022. Each performance will take place at the Amphitheater at Wonderland of the Americas. Headlining will be Rob Zinn and Jeff Ryan on July 15, 2022 with Tony Saunders opening. Peter White will headline on July 29, 2022 with local Johnny P & the Wiseguys opening. (Balcones Heights Jazz Festival, 2022)

“We are excited to feature live jazz concerts again this summer with two back-to-back July performances presenting a stellar line up of dynamic national and local artists at the beautiful, sparkling Wonderland Amphitheater.” – Director Economic Development & Public Affairs at City of Balcones Heights Lorenzo Nastasi

“Balcones Heights’ uniqueness is that we are dedicated to providing FREE family-friendly, high-quality music for all to enjoy. We are thrilled to welcome the sights and sounds of our signature jazz festival, bringing residents and visitors from all over South Texas to experience our city’s charm and hospitality over these two weekends.” – City of Balcones Heights Mayor Suzanne de Leon

The first opener on July 15 will be Billboard recording artist and bassist Tony Saunders. Saunders is an American bass and synthesizer player who has had an incredible multi-faceted career that has found him “vibin’” with everyone from Eric Clapton and David Crosby to Les McCann, Joe Sample, and Chaka Khan. He has been recognized as a two-time Emmy Award winning bassist, composer, and producer, and is also the son of legendary keyboardist, Merl Saunders

After his performance, headliners Rob Zinn and Jeff Ryan will kick off their show. Rob Zinn is a multi-faceted talent working as a veteran vocalist, trumpeter, and flugelhornist. He is internationally recognized as a smooth jazz artist and composer. In 2016, Zinn emerged as an independent smooth jazz artist and composer with the release of his debut album, “Yesterday Again,” showcasing a multitude of styles including funk, Latin, R&B, rock, pop and urban jazz.

Paired with Zinn will be one of contemporary jazz’s top emerging artists and saxophonists, Jeff Ryan. Ryan, an international sensation, has captivated thousands with his robust jazz sounds. “Double Up” was the first single released in May 2020 from his latest album “Duality.” It debuted as the number one “Most Added” on the Smooth Jazz Billboard. In 2020, Ryan was also named 2020 Billboard Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year. His second single from this album “Sentimental Soul” landed the number one spot on the Billboard Chart and was later named 2021 Billboard Song of the Year.

Opening the concert on July 29 is Johnny P & the Wiseguys, a velvety ensemble led by vocalist, songwriter, and trumpeter Johnny Panzarella. Johnny P is a New York native from a close-knit Italian family. The rat-pack style band plays original tunes as well as innovative musical arrangements of classic favorites. The Wiseguys are composed of multiple talented musicians featuring pianist Travis Davis, bassists Max Garcia Jr. and Doug Bennett, Roger Escobar on tenor sax, David Woodard on trombone, and drummers Johnathan Alexander and Jay “Jaybird” Buried Mitthauer.

Following is headliner and one of the jazz industry’s greatest icons, British-born, LA-based guitarist and smooth jazz artist Peter White. White first played for the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival in 2010 and returned in 2015. This is his third appearance in Balcones Heights. White is set to give a simmering performance to end the summer concert season. White’s lyricism and energy is unparalleled and sure to create a beautiful sound for his broad audiences. He has found huge success in his musical career winning multiple awards through four decades working as a multi-instrument musician, performer, and writer with other artists and solo on his own highly regarded albums.

In 2020, the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival evolved from a summer concert season to a year-long concert series, which was adopted pre-pandemic to spread concerts throughout the year. Since 1994, the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival has captivated jazz aficionados from in and around Texas with a free stellar line-up in the festival’s laid back and family-friendly atmosphere. Regulars or “jazz babies” grab their favorite spots along the edge of the sparkling reflecting pool and fountains of the city’s main hub, Wonderland of the Americas.

The Balcones Heights Jazz Festival is produced through a partnership of the City of Balcones Heights, Wonderland of the Americas, and iHeartMedia. David Muñoz is back again to host as he has at the Jazz Festival every year since the event’s inception. Muñoz, known as San Antonio’s very own “Jazzman,” is serving as emcee and co-producer of the festival. David also hosts “Smooth Jazz San Antonio” on KQXT/Q101.9 HD-2 and iHeart Radio App/Texas Central Region.

General admission to the festival is free and parking is free at Wonderland of the Americas, 4522 Fredericksburg Road, Balcones Heights, Texas. Wonderland of the Americas is located at the intersection of IH-10and Loop 410, just a few minutes from downtown San Antonio and minutes from the South Texas Medical Center.

Hillside seating around the Amphitheater is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Fans sometimes stake out their spots as early as the Monday preceding the Friday concert. Food and beverage vendors will be on-site. Attendees can also visit the Food Court inside Wonderland of the Americas. No coolers and outside food and beverages are allowed at the Amphitheater.

Singer-songwriter Andrew Combs covers Radiohead classic ‘High And Dry’

‘High and Dry’ is the first single from 3Sirens Presents: With Love Part 1 EP, due out July 8, 2022. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Set to release July 8, independent East Nashville-based label and recording studio, 3Sirens, presents a compilation of 80s and 90s artist-chosen covers that make for the perfect summer soundtrack. 3Sirens Presents: With Love Part 1 adheres to the label’s mission statement: build community and celebrate great artists all while having a little fun. By doing just that, artists Andrew Combs, Dylan LeBlanc, Caitlin Rose, and more came together in mixing these tracks with the 3Sirens team. (3Sirens, 2022)

In conjunction with Glide Magazine, the label premiered the first track off the collaboration, Andrew Combs’ cover of the Radiohead classic “High and Dry.” Check out the premiere here. To pre-save the track click here and Part 1 here. Growing up with Radiohead, Combs shares he chose this track specifically because of the huge role the band played on his own introduction to making music. The soundtracks of Kid A and Amnesiac were just the beginning. Diving into the full Radiohead catalog, Combs credits the band as the reason he began recording his own music in high school. Inspired by their creativity, Combs expresses, “ I love when an artist/band is curious, and always exploring new territories in terms of sound, production, and song structure. I find Radiohead to be the best example of this in the modern age. ‘High and Dry’ is an amazing song – it is simple and to the point, but still so lush and beautiful. Those are the hardest songs to write.”

Creating a space for artists to express their creative freedom and record in an “easy peasy” process is exactly what The Grahams had in mind when they set out on the journey of starting a different kind of label and studio. With Love: Part 1 is a product of that vision flourishing.

Though born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Nashville-based singer-songwriter and artist Andrew Combs cannot say for certain he identifies with any one place in particular. Through years of drawing on ethereal and visceral beauty wherever he can find it, his work is more accurately a measured synthesis of a wide array of “places:” the literal and the figurative, those he has been to and others he has yet to see. His newest full-length album, Sundays (out August 19), is reflective of those varied places that inform Combs’ creative work.

3Sirens Presents: With Love Part 1 track list:
“Big Love” by Fleetwood Mac, performed by Dylan LeBlanc
“One Way Or Another” by Blondie, performed by Caitlin Rose
“High and Dry” by Radiohead, performed by Andrew Combs
“Somebody to Shove” by Soul Asylum, performed by Kevin Kinney
“Something So Strong” by Crowded House, performed by Derek Hoke
“Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star, performed by The Grahams

3Sirens is a gathering spot for creatives and dreamers, a social salon. A studio built with the premise that to be creative one must exist in a creative space. Of course the state of the art gear and the thoughtfully curated collection of vintage and specialty instruments abound but it goes beyond the material into something less tangible. Fitting, really, that such a space was dreamt up by lifelong lovers and dreamers, The Grahams, who themselves longed for a space to gather, to create art and play music, to collaborate, to stretch out and explore the “impossible,” to let the intangible and unexplainable just happen.

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Television adaptation: ‘The Old Man’ by Thomas Perry

The television adaptation of Thomas Perry’s ‘The Old Man’ is on FX and streaming on Hulu. Photo: amazon

Thomas Perry is the author of 23 novels including the Jane Whitefield series, “Death Benefits,” and “Pursuit,” the first recipient of the Gumshoe Award for best novel. He won the Edgar for “The Butcher’s Boy” and “Metzger’s Dog” was a New York Times Notable Book. The Independent Mystery Bookseller’s Association included “Vanishing Act” in its “100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century” and “Nightlife” was a New York Times bestseller. “Metzger’s Dog” was voted one of NPR’s 100 Killer Thrillers–Best Thrillers Ever. His novel “The Old Man” is now an original series from FX starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, and Amy Brenneman and revolves around a retired intelligence officer living off the grid who gets caught in “[a] harrowing hunt-and-hide adventure” (The New York Times). It consists of seven episodes and is available for streaming on Hulu. (amazon, 2022)

“The Old Man” – To all appearances, Dan Chase is a harmless retiree in Vermont with two big mutts and a grown daughter he keeps in touch with by phone. But most sixty-year-old widowers don’t have multiple driver’s licenses, savings stockpiled in banks across the country, or two Beretta Nanos stashed in the spare bedroom closet. Most have not spent decades on the run. Thirty-five years ago, as a young army intelligence hotshot, Chase was sent to Libya to covertly assist a rebel army. When the plan turned sour, Chase acted according to his conscience—and triggered consequences he never could have anticipated. To this day, someone still wants him dead. And just when he thought he was finally safe, Chase is confronted with the history he spent much of his life trying to escape.

I have not read the book so I cannot compare the book to the series, but after watching the first four episodes on Hulu, I want to see where it leads. I am not a big fan of serials because it just seems like a really long movie that takes forever to resolve and halfway through I tend to lose interest. In this case, the story of a retired intelligence officer drew me in. Admittedly, the pacing can be slow and the constant flashbacks can be tiring, but it does have its plot twists to keep it interesting. Will Harper eventually catch up to Chase? How many people will Chase have to kill to evade one contract killer after another? Good question, I guess I will have to watch the rest of the episodes to find out. All I know is that if anything happens to those dogs, I am definitely out. 

The Black Phone is an edge of your seat psychological thriller

The Black Phone is the movie adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story from ’20th Century Ghosts. Photo: google

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.” 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 starring Ethan Hawke.

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 does not happen to Finney. The movie is 1 hr. 42 min. long, is rated R and classified as horror/thriller.

I have not read many of Joe Hill’s works, just ‘NOS4A2,’ but I have seen the series NOS4A2 and the movie Horns, both are excellent. After watching The Black Phone movie on opening weekend I was curious how it compares to the original short story on “20th Century Ghosts.” I checked the book out of the library because it seemed quicker than going out to buy it or ordering it on amazon. I read it in one seating, it is, after all, a short story, no more than 30 pages long.

The movie is short, less than two hours long, and that is the way I like it. It does not go into detail with an origin story, the reason why the ‘Grabber’ is the creepy killer that he is and that is quite alright with me. It is mislabeled as a horror movie because it is not scary at all but it is a psychological suspense/thriller. There are plenty of jump scares and suspenseful moments and yes, it is hard not to compare it to IT with the balloons, the mostly young cast, the retro setting, and the yellow raincoat the sister wears. While it may have a predictable ending, it does have a false ending, where just when you think it is over…..it surprises you. Yes, it is unnerving to see children in peril but in the end, Finney takes a schoolmate’s advice “Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself.” All’s well that ends well. It gets high marks for Ethan Hawke’s performance and how about those creepy masks. I came to the conclusion that the reason the father is an abusive alcoholic is because he is still grieving his wife, who committed suicide because of the visions she was having, just like the daughter and he was scared that she would end up the same way. It is creepy, haunting, and suspenseful but it also focuses on the familial bonds between brother and sister and in the end the father is repentant. Did I need to know why the Grabber is a demented killer? Probably not. I would definitely watch it again. Need a movie recommendation for the long Fourth of July weekend? Check out The Black Phone, it is well worth a trip to the movie theater. 

The short story focuses on when Finney gests kidnapped and his trying to escape. The Grabber is obese and does not wear masks. He kills his brother just when we think he is going to save Finney, just like in the movie. It does not mention a sister or father for Finney or even anything to do with school, but both the movie and the story have the same redemptive ending. I would say that the movie is faithful to the short story version when it comes to Finney’s harrowing experience with the Grabber and that is all that matters. 

Photo: Sandra Cruz

New movie release: Fall

Fall will be released in theaters only on August 12, 2022. Photo: Lionsgate, used with permission.

In today’s movie news: Lionsgate Films and Capstone Global present Fall, dropping in theaters only on Friday August 12, 2022. Starring Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Directed by Scott Mann and written by Scott Mann and Jonathan Frank, this thriller is not yet rated and runs 107 minutes long. It is produced by Christian Mercuri, James Harris, Mark Lane, and Scott Mann. (Lionsgate, 2022)

Fall – For best friends Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner), life is all about conquering fears and pushing limits. But after they climb 2,000 feet to the top of a remote, abandoned radio tower, they find themselves stranded with no way down. Now Becky and Hunter’s expert climbing skills will be put to the ultimate test as they desperately fight to survive the elements, a lack of supplies, and vertigo-inducing heights in this adrenaline-fueled thriller co-starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Don’t look down. FALL – dropping in theaters soon.
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