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Typically my physical media attention in April is reserved for Record Store Day, but I can't deny the all the fun video releases this month. Of course there are offerings from the usually excellent Criterion lineup (I'm a 4K upgrade, but they are coming fast and furious from them) and a slew of stuff from Indicator, Radiance, Severin, Kino and more! You can see a good chunk of the upcoming releases over at Blu-Ray.com's site! Marvel Cinematic Universe Steelbooks - April 2nd With Mondo now fully a part of the Funko machine, I think we're going to see a lot more of these specialty steelbooks for MCU films. These Walmart exclusive releaset are not typically the kind of releases I'm searching out but the art on the covers is gorgeous and I'm actually a fan of this era of the MCU (pre-Endgame which I enjoyed, but was the first time I felt a pandered to a little too heavily). These have been out in the wild well before their intended release date, so head to your local Walmart, who is strangely one of the last bastions of mass market physical media, and get them if they float your boat. Nostalghia - April 22nd I'm a huge fan of Andre Tarkovosky and Nostalghia is near the top if not the top of my ranking of his films. The movie is a gorgeous meditation on the nature of nostalgia, art, culture and so much more. Filled with slow and methodical takes that bled reality with the dream world, Nostalghia is a beautiful film and an essential work of art from Tarkovsky. Basket Case - April 29th Basket Case is one of those movies that has always held some sort of grand, albeit crusty, lore. A mainstay of old school creature features with sequels that go in completely different directions than it's original, Basket Case just feels special. The story of a boy and his deformed formerly conjoined twin brother that fits in a small picnic basket looking for the doctor that separated them is chock full of the weirdness you could hope for. It's strange, entertaining, and a fun watch. Madame Web - April 30th I'm at odds with this one. Madame Web is not a good movie by any means and supporting this release could teach Sony the wrong lesson about making these alternate spider-man universe even more of a thing. It'll be the Morbin Time meme again where they re-released Morbius because people making fun of it were making the film trend on Twitter. And much like Twitter, physical media purchasing is not equivalent to mainstream interest. But I also think this is a fun party movie that is perfect for a laugh, drinking game, and more. So the question arises, grab the goofy steelbook edition or wait till it inevitable falls into the bargains bins across the world?

Some attribute the Star Trek renaissance of recent times to the arrival of Michael Burnham, Saru, Georgiou et al on the USS Discovery. To be sure it was full of lens flare, new Klingons and a lot of heart. Since that time, we’ve seen the arrival of even more great Trek, with Picard continuing the TNG journey (and bringing back Voyager’s Seven of Nine in a major badass way), we’ve met the amazing crew of the USS Cerritos with Lower Decks, and we’ve indulged in a mid-mod TOS fantasy with Strange New Worlds just admiring Anson Mount’s hair and enjoying the OG feel of it all. My experience with Star Trek Discovery has been a mixed one. Much like Voyager, I loved the crew, with some major favorites being Tilly, Stamets, and Booker, but I felt like some seasons were a lot stronger than others, and the writing could be uneven at times. Still, I have a lot of love for the series, and hate to see it as maligned as it often is by the larger Trek community. When we left off in season 4, we’d narrowly avoided another “the weapon” situation - the DMA, which was, you guessed it, about to obliterate Earth (and Ni’Var). Quite a few main characters, including a few of my favorites, faced some real peril while negotiating with a species that only used hydrocarbons to communicate (or mostly used them…) and in the end, the species vowed to make amends for all the other civilizations they erased from existence. It’s not super clear what the fifth season will bring, other than the end to Discovery, but we did get a chance to peek at the brand new poster for the final series, and we’ve got a release date coming on April 4th to set our DVRs for. Lorca, Georgiou, Burnham, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Culber and that crew have been through a lot, and I’m hoping that like we saw with Picard Season 3, it’s wrapped up in a way that pays homage to the show that kicked off the new era of Trek.

I’m a sucker for Nintendo games, so when I saw Princess Peach: Showtime! pop up during during a Nintendo Direct, I knew that I’d play it. Coming off the heels of the Barbie movie and more “girl” centered content, Princess Peach: Showtime! is another example of great timing from Nintendo. And it turns out it’s a pretty fun game, too. Princess Peach: Showtime! is an action adventure game with some puzzle elements starring Nintendo royalty Princess Peach (or Princess Toadstool if you want to be real old school). This isn’t the first game where you can take control of the princess, but it’s the first modern game that stars her entirely. While this isn’t strictly a Nintendo game–it’s developed by good-feel, who is also responsible for the Yoshi yarn series–it has a lot of that Nintendo game magic. Strangely, it doesn’t feel as tight or as fast as a mainline developed Nintendo games. It’s great taking control of Peach. Sadly, she doesn’t have her signature glide when she jumps – but Showtime! isn’t really about platforming anyhow. It’s about taking up arms against your enemies. This time she’s run into a fairy creature called Stella that urges her towards murder. Now, I don't want to get into Stella’s murderous influence too much, because Peach herself seems to take naturally to wielding arms as easily as she can decorate a cake. But she’s not completely helpless in her “vanilla” princess peach form, either. She can use Stella to imbue sparkle energy to energize theatre denizens (called Theets) into action. Peach takes stage as multiple different characters. She has to fulfill the roles of the Sparklas that have been taken by Madame Grape. She wields a sword, acts as a stealthy ninja, decorates cakes, is a singing mermaid–and more. In all there are ten different roles Peach takes on through most of the main game. You play each of these forms multiple times, as each has at least three stages to play with varied gameplay between them. While playing as these different versions of Princess Peach is fun, there’s something that is a little bit off about it. It doesn’t feel quite as tight as a mainline Nintendo game. Even so, it’s competently done and quite fun. And if you’re wondering that just because it’s a Princess Peach game that they go easy on the challenge: it doesn’t. Princess Peach: Showtime! gets progressively more difficult as you go through the main story, but is never too punishing. However, if you want to collect all of the optional stars it gets a little harder. Each level has a number of stars you can collect. You get these stars by either finding them where they’re hidden, or earning them through doing well during gameplay segments. Sometimes the bar for getting a star can be pretty high– for example, making one wrong move in the figure skating section can invalidate the entire performance and remove the precious star from your endgame performance. You can even lose hearts if you do poorly, too. If you run out of hearts you have to start the level over or from a checkpoint, losing coins in the process. Coins are used to purchase new dresses for Peach and ribbons for Stella, which makes it a bummer to lose them–but the penalty is never terrible. You also earn new dresses as you progress through the game–and the dresses you earn are often cooler  than the ones you can buy. Ultimately, I wish there were more collectibles–especially more fashion choices to deck out Peach and Stella. Peach does play quite a bit of dress-up anyhow though, as each role demands an appropriate outfit. My biggest disappointment was the lack of variety in gameplay. Over half of Peach’s abilities are combat related – and even though these are different enough to keep them interesting, they’re all pretty button-mashy. Only the ninja requires more thoughtful gameplay, and even then it's easy to get around stealthily to dispatch your foes. I just wish there more puzzle-based modes. And I’d love an entire game that was based around the detective mode. I really liked my time with Princess Peach: Showtime! Peach deserves her own series of games, and I'm hoping this might be the first of many. Not only is she adorable, but Peach can kick some ass, too. I would have liked a few more non-combat forms, but overall there is a decent variety to its gameplay. As someone who grew up playing as Mario, finally playing as Peach in her own AAA game feels great.

I've been a fan of Sleater Kinney for a very long time. Long enough that my heart was broken after The Woods (probably my favorite album of theirs) where they announced an indefinite hiatus. At the time I had never seen them live and the chance felt like it had slipped through my fingers forever. Thankfully in 2015 they returned right from where they left off with No Cities to Love, another album I hold in high regard from their illustrious discography. In the subsequent years I've seen as much as I can, correcting the errors of my youth. Last week at The Riviera Theatre was the latest in hopefully long list of a lot more fantastic shows from them to come. Opening up that evening was Black Belt Eagle Scout, setting the bar enormously high for the night. Led by Katherine Paul, the band was immediately in tune with the crowd and venue, dominating the stage in a way I had not experience from them before. I've had the chance to see Black Belt Eagle Scout a few time before in smaller venues like Schubas and outdoor an outdoor set at Pitchfork. While things clicked during those sets, they just catapulted into another level at The Riviera. Tracks like "My Blood Runs Through This Land" off their latest album The Land, the Water, the Sky burst forth with a visceral energy from the group, really leaving a mark on the crowd. The whole setlist was loud and powerful, really amping the crowd up for what was to come. I was already a fan but this set cemented that feeling. Sleater Kinney made their way to the stage with all the energy in the room feeling just right. Their stage set up with curtain archways illuminated with colorful lights made the already grand night fell all the more grand. Touring in support of their latest album Little Rope, Sleater Kinney were at the top of their game. Immediately Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker were overflowing with energy. The pair work so well in tandem as the trade between their intense vocals and absolutely killer guitar riffs. "Hell" and Needlessly Wild" ushered the set in and the quality never let up. There's just so much history with Sleater Kinney that surely some songs were not gonna get the spotlight on this show. Little Rope, which is a fantastic album, definitely got it's due with most of the album getting played. In second came The Woods, much to my glee as "Jumpers" got a nice moment with the band as Brownstein thanked the crowd for dancing and jumping along to the track. There were also plenty of early tracks that had the crowd go nuts with in moments of the song starting . "Start Together" and "All Hands on the Bad one in particular got huge pops from the Sleater Kinney devotees The highlight of the night came at toward end of their set where Sleater Kinney rattled off hit after hit. The boisterous and downright explosive The Woods opener "The Fox" surged through the crowd, giving them a second wind to appreciate the No Cities to Love single "A New Wave". That sequence of songs really had the crowd at their most unraveled before getting them into a complete and utter trance with "Modern Girl", another favorite off The Woods. The gentle and loving pace of "Modern Girl" was pleasant reprieve from the energetic set, letting the crowd singalong with Tucker and Brownstein. While the song's saccharine lyrics may have been poking fun at one dimensional songs, you can't help but indulge in its aura. The encore kept the great vibes going with a pretty perfect lineup of songs ("Good Things", Say It Like You Mean It", "Dig Me Out", and "Entertain"), but it was always going to be hard to top the overwhelming communal joy of "Modern Girl". An astounding moment in a fantastic night with Sleater Kinney. All photos by Julian Ramirez. This article was originally published at Third Coast Review.com

Our writer Julian Ramirez is a big proponent of physical media, always lauding formats new and old (mostly old nowadays). Whether is vinyl, cassettes or CDs; 4k UHD, Blu-ray, or VHS, he believes that physical media is an important part of preserving art and imbues another dimension of appreciating the work.  This series will focus on some of his favorite pieces of physical media in his collection. We're a few weeks removed from the opening of Dune Part Two and it completely blowing everyone's minds. The film is such a great adaptation, infusing Frank Herbert's complex and disastrous world with Denis Villeneuve's streamlined vision. I'm sure there are a lot of detractors from Villeneuve's authoritarian and borderline sterile directing vision, but I'm pretty satisfied with the result. But for those seeking out something a little more..."faithful" and out right weird, there are other adaptions of Herbert's opus. You can track down the Sci-Fi channel's Frank Herbert's Dune, maybe dive into the documentary of what could have been in Jodorowsky's Dune (or the eventual place where these ideas resided in The Incal), but today we're getting hit in the face with a lemon wrapped around a golden brick (oops, wrong sci-fi epic reference) with David Lynch's Dune. David Lynch's Dune gets the full 4K Arrow set work up. The collection is massive and filled with all the goodies you've come to expect from one of their releases. The film in both 1080p and 4K presentations give you a fantastic look at all the borderline insane visuals and a stacked list of featurettes and documenteries. Outside the discs there is a double sided poster of some incredible art, miniature lobby cards depicting scenes from the film, and a booklet that may be the star of the non-video extras. The booklet features essays give great insight into the long life the film has come to have, the sound which is utterly incredible as it usually is in Lynch's films , and a a copy of the original Dune Terminology sheet that was distributed wit h the original release of the film to help those unfamiliar with all the Frank Herbert Dune-isms. Now, let's not get it twisted, David Lynch's Dune is not "traditionally" "good". It unfortunately ventures into the so bad it's good territory. There's a few reasons for that. Firstly is that Lynch is undeniably a creator who exists in his own world. Meaning his work is so unconditionally his that it can be difficult to grasp if your not prepared for it. Look at other very distinct film makers like Wes Anderson and Yorgos Lanthimos. You cannot watch one of their films and not be immediately struck by how their characters speak, act, move, etc. They are of their own dimension, fully immersed in something that may seem fair but is fairly alien. Such is the case with Lynch and when you try to attribute that wholehearted style to something that doesn't align with it, you get some pretty startling cognitive dissonance. Secondly, Dune is massive. The Sci-Fi channel had their hearts in the right place with a miniseries length runtime to give the book it's due. Villeneuve split the film across two movies with a total runtime of 5 hours. Even Lynch wanted his film to be a 4+ hour epic, but studio needs requested a 2.5 hour long film. Even with a budget of $40 million (which at the time was insane), it still did not make up for a shoddily cut film. Dune is a product of it's time in every way possible. With its massive budget there are moments when the film looks utterly beautiful. Strange and detailed costumes, sets that look ornate and full of history, and special effects that let you get lost in their unnaturalness. But its a double edged sword as some costumes look like literal trash bags, some set flimsy and disorderly, and the body shields are quite frankly terrible even for the time. But what's good about the film rises high above the bad. The overall look of the sets and costumes are astonishing and so fully realized. Miniatures are used with perfect precision and give the film an epic look. The themes of identity, fate, and other of Lynch's obsessions are shown in full force. The film is filled with so many ideas that would permeate throughout his entire filmography. From imagery being overlaid over each other for other worldly effects, uncomfortable body horror, and amazing soundtrack. Whether you're a fan of Lynch or not, the film is worthy of a watch. The full Arrow set is out of print, but the film is still available at places like directly from Arrow, Diabolik, Target, Amazon and more . Or you can stream it on Max, but I still urge you to support physical media!

Small Cheval has always been smaller and more available to its predecessor Au Cheval yet sticks to its upscale burger roots. Now as of March 8th 2024, the 8th Small Cheval location has opened up in Rosemont, IL on the corner of River Road and Higgins. We were lucky enough to attend the friends and family soft opening and it’s been an exciting time for establishments in the Rosemont area. With the opening of a Stan's Donuts and a Shaq owned Big Chicken all in a row in 2023, there was a Small Cheval promised to open in the year following. Finally we can say, we’ve been and really enjoyed a lot about what the potential of this new high end burger joint can bring. Inside the restaurant, the decor was that of an outdoor picnic area, with bench style setting and massive tables that encourage eating with strangers as well as big groups. For those that want to sit alone, booths are also available. The counter where you order is made up to look like a hometown lemonade stand, giving it that home grown feel. What isn’t a homey feel is the price, with single smash style burgers coming in at $9.49. This sadly is par for the course since the days of the original Au Cheval, but coming here with the family, expect to pay upwards of $50 for the meal. The menu is relatively limited to burgers, fries and shakes, which gives a focus so they can ensure that the quality is there. With this new opening, the Rosemont area will continue to grow into a hotbed of fine dining and entertainment. I really enjoyed the food during my visit. The shakes provided a thick rich flavor, and the burgers and fries were simple but still delicious. In a world of Kumas Corner and The Drop Ins’ NADC burgers, Small Cheval does a decent job of competing. It may not be the best, but it’s got a fighting chance of sticking with you, especially in a family atmosphere. Check out the salted caramel shake!

Back in 2022, Kina Collins put her best effort into her IL-07 Congressional campaign as she brought her friends and legendary rock band to Metro for a fundraiser. Collins, who is a strong gun violence prevention advocate, obviously isn't giving up on her beliefs and is running once again. Flash forward to March 8 2024, where Collins brought back The Strokes for another fundraising effort, this time at the Credit Union One Arena at UIC along with some incredible acts including Uwade and locals NNAMDÏ and Beach Bunny. Given the large stage and audience, the whole affair moved along much quicker that the 2022 event. The show began promptly at 7pm with a very calm and tender set by Uwade. The New York based singer songwriter had the crowd completely mellowed out with her serene songs. Uwade performed a cover of The Strokes "One Way Trigger", which she said felt a little odd playing at a show with the the band in attendance. But rest assured, she got their blessing and executed it perfectly. NNAMDÏ followed up with a completely different vibe. If you've ever had the chance to see NNAMDÏ perform live then you know that his onstage antics are as wild as his shapeshifting sound. You honestly can never pin down exactly what NNAMDÏ is going to bring to the table and this evening was filled with the noisiest soundscapes he and the band could muster. It was a fantastic showing of NNAMDÏ wild side, turning even the softest, R&B song form his album Please Have A Seat into ball of manic energy. Soon after the display of unbridled fun came Beach Bunny, who matched it with the summer tunes. Playing tracks off of all their major releases, Lili Trifilio and crew were doing their damndest to get the crowd going urging the crowd to jump and dance. It's hard not to lose your self in their bright pop sound especially when your in a venue this big surrounded by anxiously excited fans. Before the main musical attractions of the night would take stage, Kina Collins came to the stage after a few speaks and a special celebration features her friends and family. Collin's was not only fundraising for her campaign but celebrating International Women's day and her birthday. After a quick "Happy Birthday" and blowing out of candles, Collins got right to work, riling up the crowd with her fiery speech about the changes needing to be made. "They’re telling me that what we’re doing is too much. But, let me tell you all what’s 'too much' for me!" What’s 'too much' for me is crushing student loan debt." She cried out before delving to what she and her supporters have been trying so hard to change. Mentions of eliminating student loan debt and giving women autonomy over their rights and bodies drew cheers from the crowd. With everyone at the highest point of their anticipation, the lights finally came down and Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" blared through the speakers as The Strokes  made their way tot he stage. Julian Casablancas, Albert Hammond Nick Valensi, Nikolai Fraiture, and Fabrizio Moretti have this aura about them that is undeniable. The crowd switched from anxious anticipation to riotous joy as the band jumped into a fantastic and rarity filed set. Songs like "You Talk Way Too Much", "Drag Queen", and "The Way It Is" filled thee first half of the night much tot he surprise and delight of the crowd arena. In between songs, Casablancas addressed the crowd with his support of Kina Collins. Casablancas shifted between lamenting about the state of world and sincere appreciation for the fight Collins is putting up against those troubles. Between comparing Collins to Bernie Sanders and joining her the following morning as she canvassed to get people out to vote, Casablancas seemed hopeful. Of course the staples of any Strokes set were there. Early on Hard to Explain" and "Take It or Leave" assured fans that favorites wouldn't be passed by. In fact after the more obscure but undeniably loved first half of the night were the songs that seemingly everyone needed to here. "Last nite" and "Juicebox" towards the middle of night hit a nice peak for the crowd. Both were immediately followed by "Is This It" and "New York City Cops", turning things up another notch for the dedicated fans. "Someday " and "Reptilia" were the final one-two punch of the night leaving the crowd satisfied with an excellent dose of noisy rock. Election Day in Chicago is March 19! You can head over to Kina Collins' website to learn more about Collins’ platform and plans for IL-07.

The House voted Wednesday to approve a bill that would effectively ban TikTok, the wildly popular video app with some 170 million users in America and a billion worldwide. The bill, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,  would force TikTok’s parent company Bytedance to sell the app in six months. Should Bytedance be unable or refuse to comply, app stores would have to remove it and internet service providers would have to make it inaccessible. While its current user base who already have downloaded the app could keep it on their phones, they would not be able to download any new software updates. The bill passed with a 352-65 vote. Proponents of the bipartisan bill have taken a kitchen sink approach in arguing for banning or at least curbing TikTok’s influence in America. Members of both political parties and intelligence officials say the app could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans, interfere in elections, or push propaganda in the country. They also argue that TikTok use has and can have a negative impact on younger Americans. "You had member offices being deluged with calls, you know, teenagers crying and one threatening suicide and one impersonating one of my colleague's sons," Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WIS), lead Republican sponsor of the bill and Chair of the House Select Committee on China told NPR. "That, to me, demonstrates how the platform could be weaponized in the future." The bill's backers have also bizarrely argued that the legislation is not in fact, a ban. "What we're after is, it's not a ban, it's a forced separation," Gallagher told NPR. "The TikTok user experience can continue and improve so long as ByteDance doesn't own the company." Former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said "this is not an attempt to ban TikTok, it's an attempt to make TikTok better. Tic-tac-toe, a winner.” Despite recently starting its own channel on the platform, the White House has signaled it would sign the bill if it clears the Senate. Officials say that classified and unclassified security assessments have shown the app is a threat to Americans, but have not offered any evidence publicly outside of theoretical possibilities. While TikTok’s data collection is more than troubling to anyone concerned about privacy, the only difference between it and other social media behemoths like Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Twitter (now known as X), YouTube, and others is that it’s not an American company scraping up all of your personal data. Apps are constantly scooping up massive amounts of data and selling them to third parties, and some of that makes its way to both the American and other governments, intelligence agencies, and even the military. Even the most mundane apps like ones for dating, weather, and directions are giving nearly real-time location data to all sorts of entities, according to a story published in Wired adapted from the book Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State by Byron Tau. Tau writes: “I’m here to tell you if you’ve ever been on a dating app that wanted your location or if you ever granted a weather app permission to know where you are 24/7, there is a good chance a detailed log of your precise movement patterns has been vacuumed up and saved in some data bank somewhere that tens of thousands of total strangers have access to. That includes intelligence agencies. It includes foreign governments. It includes private investigators. It even includes nosy journalists.” The influence social media can have on the public is equally troubling, but once again, the concern seems to be that if it’s an American company, attempting to push public perception in one way or another is completely fine. While officials are concerned about foreign entities influencing American elections, it seems that American companies that do so get a pass. In 2018, whistleblowers showed how a data firm, Cambridge Analytica, used Facebook to harvest the data of tens of millions of Americans and create personality profiles for them in the 2016 election, which helped lead to the election of Donald Trump as President. Privacy and free speech advocates argue that the bill is ineffective and sets a dangerous precedent. A letter signed by a coalition of groups including the ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Knight Institute, and others called the legislation “censorship - plain and simple,” and said that jeopardizing access to TikTok jeopardizes access to free expression. “Banning or requiring divestiture of TikTok would also set an alarming global precedent for excessive government control over social media platforms. The United States has rightfully condemned other countries when they have banned specific social media platforms, criticizing these efforts as infringing on the rights of their citizens. If the United States now bans a foreign-owned platform, that will invite copycat measures by other countries, banning American-owned speech intermediaries and companies from operating in their borders, with significant consequences for free expression globally.” The groups argue that an outright ban is not only “far from the least restrictive solution to the purported problem,” but ineffective because the Chinese government could just find a workaround to access the data. “If Congress wants to protect Americans’ data, it should pass comprehensive privacy legislation,” the letter reads. American tech and financial oligarchs are already chomping at the bit to acquire TikTok. According to Business Insider, former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has expressed interest in buying the platform, as has OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he’s building a group of investors to buy the site, CNBC reports. Should the forced sale of TikTok go through to any of those entities or another, it’s entirely possible Congress will continue to allow all its concerns about the platform to fade away, simply because it will have a “made in the USA” sticker stamped on it. The only way to really protect Americans from justifiable concerns over privacy, according to advocates, is to prevent any company from collecting it. The Electronic Frontier Foundation writes: “Instead of passing this overreaching and misguided bill, Congress should prevent any company—regardless of where it is based—from collecting massive amounts of our detailed personal data, which is then made available to data brokers, U.S. government agencies, and even foreign adversaries, China included. We shouldn’t waste time arguing over a law that will get thrown out for silencing the speech of millions of Americans. Instead, Congress should solve the real problem of out-of-control privacy invasions by enacting comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation.”

We've all been holding our breaths waiting for Pitchfork Music Festival's lineup announcement. With the sudden changes at the festival's namesake, there's been a worry about what this years fest will hold. After a leak, some clues, and just a little more waiting, we finally have some news as the lauded festival returns to Union Park on July 19-21 with a lineup headlined by Black Pumas, JaimeXX, and Alanis Morissette! While the indie and eclectic sounds will still dominate the majority of the festival, there is a strong lean toward more pop and mainstream forward acts this year. Add to that some very prominent legacy acts and you have a much wider scope for the festival. The number of local acts remains a little low with only Black Duck, Akenya, Angry Blackmen, Lifeguard, Kara Jackson, representing the Chicagoland area. Nonetheless, these are some amazing acts that deserve to be spotlighted on the Pitchfork stages. Of course there are some incredible touring bands set to hit the stage including 100 Gecs, Billy Woods & Kenny Segal, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jessie Ware, De La Soul, Brittany Howard, Muna, Grandmaster Flash and so many more! This year also brings some changes to the ticketing tiers. Regular GA and Plus tickets are still around at the same price (or a little less in the case of Plus), but they have opened up their VIP passes to the public. VIP tickets will offer a backstage VIP lounge with A/C bathrooms, photo portraits and special festival amenities including bar with preferred pricing and a daily curated meal. VIP will also be home to the front-of-stage viewing & double-decker Viewing Decks with elevated sightlines, both at the two main stages. Check out their full lineup below and snag your tickets asap as they are on sale NOW! Single day passes are $109 ($199 for Plus, $379 for VIP) and 3-day passes for $219 ($399 for Plus, $699 for VIP)! Check out the full lineup below or at their website! Friday July 19 Black Pumas Jai Paul 100 Gecs Jeff Rosenstock Yaeji Sudan Archives Amen Dunes Billy Woods & Kenny Segal Tkay Maidza ML Buch Doss Rosali Angry Blackmen Black Duck Saturday July 20 Jaime XX Carly Rae Jepsen Jessie Ware De La Soul Unwound Bratmobile Wednesday Water From Your Eyes Sweeping Promises Feeble Little Horse Hotline TNT Kara Jackson L'Rain Lifeguard Sunday July 21 Alanis Morissette Brittany Howard Muna Grandmaster Flash Les Savy Fav Crumb Jessica Pratt Mannequin Pussy Hailu Mergia Model/Actriz Nala Sinephro Maxo Joanna Sternberg Akenya This post was originally posted on Third Coast Review.

Donald Glover, creator of other hit shows Atlanta and Swam comes a reimagining of Mr and Mrs Smith. The original film was released in 2005 starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the heights of their careers. It focused on a married couple who were secretly spy assassins but the trouble comes when they are tasked with assassinating each other. It’s a fun premise that mixes in normal marital squabbling with high intensity espionage action. This current Donald Glover iteration, streaming on Amazon Prime, skews from the template but keeps the spirit of what makes the original a cult classic. and Mrs. Smith (2024) begins with our main characters, John and Jane, separately applying for a super secret spy position, both having previous military backgrounds. The catch is you get paired up with a stranger and there is to be no contact with your family and friends ever again. From here, the show mixes romcom elements, with high stakes action. The performances of Donald Glover and Maya Erskine give emotional nuance to their characters which in turn adds to their fantastic chemistry. There’s more at stake here between two strangers who actually want to make their marriage work. Unlike the original, the action sequences here are paced out sparingly, used more for emphasizing the relationship dynamics between John and Jane. While the series doesn’t stray from creating big action set pieces, they are few and far between with some episodes being completely devoid of action entirely. There’s a great deal of restraint used so when the action does pop off, it’s that much more meaningful. Also, considering the season takes place over the course of a year, the action also serves as a catch up as to where our agents are in both their skill level as well as their relationship status. What shines most are Donald and Maya. They give depth and gravity to their characters as well as have a great interplay between each other. It’s evident in how serious moments shift to comedy so naturally between the two. The season also benefits from a bevy of guest stars such as Michaela Coel, John Turturro, Paul Dano, Alexander Skarsgard, Ron Pearlman and Parker Posey, who all fit into that universe as naturally as our leads. Donald is cool as a cucumber and Maya gives a level of eccentricity subtle yet charming. The one knock against the series has to be the amount of mysteries they start, but save for a possible future season. Obviously most creators are optimistic for more seasons, but I was definitely dying for a few more answers than I was given. All the more reason to hope for more of the show. I can’t recommend Mr. and Mrs. Smith enough. Its action is used effectively, the characters are emotionally nuanced and the comedy moments are genuinely well done. The pacing is slower than the original but that’s because it’s absolutely different. It’s more in depth, it’s a character piece, and less of an action thriller. Like a lot of Glover's work, Mr. and Mrs. Smith is thoughtful and lets moments breathe when necessary. At the end of the day, remakes are remakes, but this one should just have a different title because it’s something very different and very worth your time.

This is probably old news by now, but there was a time when Star Wars fans would have rather had EA release the old Battlefront games with a few modern touches than do to the series what it did with Battlefront  2015 and Battlefront 2 in 2017. The latter has actually gone on to have a bit of a loyal following, and has a “Very Positive” review score on Steam at the time of this writing. But there were still hardcore fans of the original Battlefront games asking for a remake. And while this release isn’t quite a remake, it brings these games back for people who might want to revisit the past. Nostalgia distorts a bit, I think. And when I got into the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection I was in for a bit of a reality check while I readjusted to these games. But once I did, it was like I was back playing on my OG Xbox. These games are pretty damn fun. If you don’t know what they are, here’s the gist: you can play as opposing factions in two of Star Wars’ eras, the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. That means you can roll around as a droideka in the drone army or blast rebel scum as a Stormtrooper with up to 63 other players. If you’re thinking, “how is that possible, those games came out in 2004 and 2005 (respectively) how can that be?” and my answer is: get off my lawn. Multiplayer games of this scale were relatively new at the time, and Battlefront was the first Star Wars game to really take advantage of this. And it did so on a massively impressive scale which was only ramped up with its sequel, Battlefront 2. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection includes both of the classic Battlefront games, all of the bonus maps, and even some alterations to play modes, like letting you play the Hero Assault game mode on all ground maps–something that wasn’t possible before. This collection isn’t really a remaster so much as it is Aspyr bringing these Battlefront games to a contemporary gaming audience. And while these servers will probably be filled with crusty old guys reliving their youth, there are some great epic battles to be had in space, on the ground, on foot or in vehicles. If you don’t like playing online, that’s okay too: you can jump into instant action against bots, or play the single player campaigns from both games which span many iconic battles. You can even play in split screen modes or over a local area network with its LAN. Both of these features are less common these days, but I’m glad they made their way back for this release. While both of these Star Wars Battlefront games are similar in ways, I would say that Battlefront 2 is the more robust experience. Building off of the first game, it introduces progression and features more refined gameplay. Aspyr seems to realize this too, as they have far more dedicated servers for the sequel than they do the original. I would have liked to see these games get a full remake treatment, or even the full remaster treatment. But what we got is good enough for me to want to jump into a few matches. Nostalgia is a huge draw, however, and you can’t expect these games to pry modern gamers away from the likes of Helldivers II. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection features two classic games that aren’t really like anything that exists today. They might even be seen as janky by today’s standards, but they’re still damn fun. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is available tomorrow on PC via Steam and on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. A Steam key was provided to us for this review

I’m wary, probably because of my advanced age, of the “hot” new thing. I mean, I played some Lethal Company and beyond a few proximity chat laughs, I didn’t see the long term appeal of that game. I thought Helldivers II was more streamer bait: semi-emergent with “funny” physics when your character inevitably meets their demise. I am okay to admit when I’m wrong. I was wrong about Helldivers II. And I just have to say: how undemocratic of me. If Lady Liberty heard what I had to say, I couldn’t even complain about being sent off to one of the rumored detention camps. Democracy is being threatened, and Super Earth is calling for Helldivers to help wage their galactic war. I’ve taken up the call to Liberty, and man it’s fun to spread democracy. If for some reason you’ve been living under a rock and missed the Helldivers II phenomenon, here's a primer: A sequel to Arrowhead studios Helldivers, Helldivers II is a third person action game where you can play with a squad of up to 4 people as you unleash extreme firepower unto your enemies. Each drop is procedurally generated, so you’ll never get exactly the same experience twice. It’s also pure chaos on higher difficulties, with increasingly difficult armored enemies threatening to deplete your reinforcements. There are a lot of opportunities for emergent gameplay, as well, making Helldivers II a perfect game to mess around in with friends. The gameplay is simple to grasp: jump into a hellpod, choose your strategems, and then spread managed democracy to whatever backwater planet is being overrun with tyranny. Objectives, despite their varied names, are very same-y, however: go to a place, do a thing that usually involves a D-Pad style quicktime event, and kill enemies until that task is complete. Sometimes you’ll have to turn a wheel or push an extra button or two, but it’s all pretty much the same. So what’s the draw? Combat bliss. With friends! Combat in Helldivers II is fun as hell. Waves of bugs or automatons are nothing compared to the steel resolve of the Helldivers–and that’s because they have some of the best weaponry Super Earth can muster. If you’ve unlocked it using requisition points, that is. Guns feel great to shoot, and Helldivers are able to call in airstrikes and orbital bombardments to blanket an area with Democracy. Each Helldiver can employ what are called stratagems to even out the odds on the battlefield. To employ a stratagem you have to employ its specific code–thankfully written on the screen–and throw it in a (hopefully) advantageous spot. This harkens back to Magicka and Arrowhead’s earliest forays into games where friends can kill each other easily. Stratagems aren’t just airstrikes and orbitals, however–you can call down defensive turrets, gun emplacements, shields, advanced weaponry and more. Helldivers II is a more physics-based, sandboxy type game. Each mission you drop into a semi-open world style environment where you can choose objectives at whim. If you want to spend your time destroying every outpost and finding every item you can–if time allows. Or if you want to just do the main objectives and extract, that’s up to you. Time is your only real constraint. When you run out of time you lose access to reinforcements and all other stratagems. Enemies in Helldivers II are relentless, and even a bit terrifying. There are two main threats: the robotic Automatons and the Starship Trooper adjacent Terminids. Whether you’re shooting robots or bugs, they explode in the appropriate amount of parts and (where applicable) gore. Each faction of enemies have an array of melee versus ranged enemies with the Automatons employing guns while the Terminids overwhelm and get into your lines with jumping bugs. Each has their larger armored variants. Helldivers II has a promising future, too. It makes sense: sales of Helldivers II have been steadily increasing since its release about three weeks ago. That’s incredible for any game, let alone one that wasn’t technically AAA. Developer Arrowhead studio has great plans for Helldivers II, as well. Some of these promises will be delivered soon, with mechs and vehicles to add even more chaos to the battlefield. There have even been a few tweaks that the community is having a hard time with, like the recent nerfs to the Railgun, Breaker Shotgun, and Shield Backpack. But that just shows that the development team is ready to tweak things behind the scenes as they’re needed. That also turns out to be true when it comes to Helldivers II’s campaign map. This map represents the ongoing war efforts. But there is a game master tweaking numbers and making it a hard fought battle for Super Earth. I really like the concept of developer game masters actively participating with their players. It’s something I wish more games would do. Helldivers II also excels at its presentation. It has a depiction of fascism that Paul Verhoeven would appreciate, and is no doubt inspired by Starship Troopers. Helldivers II also has a fantastic soundtrack that really makes you feel like you’re ridding the galaxy of tyranny–when it could be that you’re just as tyrannical. Even the player lobbies are over-the-top as each player gets their own destroyer. I mean, those orbital bombardments come from somewhere. And deploying onto planets as a literal shooting bullet can’t be too feasible in reality, but it’s rad as hell. Like I said. I was wrong about Helldivers II. After some democratic re-education I’m now doing my part for Democracy–and so should you. Bring friends, because freedom carries a lofty price, and remember, if you shall fall there’s another Helldiver ready to thaw out to take your place. Helldivers II is out now for PC and PlayStation 5