Ben and Justin discuss ‘Alien: Isolation,’ with author Andy Kelly later joining in on the conversation. Then Steve Ahlman and Matt James pop by to give their impressions of ‘Silent Hill 2’ and ‘Metaphor: ReFantazio.’
Ben and Justin Charity tiptoe through the halls of Sevastopol to discuss the 10-year anniversary of Alien: Isolation and their experiences with the cult classic. Then they bring on Andy Kelly, author of Perfect Organism: An Alien: Isolation Companion, to discuss the game’s legacy, horror credentials, innovative AI system, and impact on Alien, as well as what they hope to see from the newly announced ‘Isolation’ sequel (15:49). After that, Ben and Charity talk about Netflix and Amazon’s big bets on a Tomb Raider revival, the history of the franchise, and Ben’s impressions of the new Netflix series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (56:58). Finally, Steve Ahlman and Matt James pop in to give their impressions of Silent Hill 2 and Metaphor: ReFantazio (84:32).
Host: Ben Lindbergh Guests: Justin Charity, Andy Kelly, Steve Ahlman, and Matt James Producers: Devon Renaldo and Eduardo Ocampo Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal
Tavern on Rush is keeping its sign. When Phil Stefani and his children reopen the steakhouse across the street from its original space in Gold Coast, passersby will see the familiar oval-shaped black and gold logo with the tagline “an exciting restaurant.”
A revived Tavern on Rush should open on Monday, September 30 at 1015 N. Rush Street, according to a news release. That’s at the Thompson Hotel inside the former Nico Osteria, the lauded Italian seafood restaurant that opened in 2013 by the team behind the Publican and Big Star. Before Nico, the space housed Chicago’s outpost of the Whiskey, the chain of bars owned by Rande Gerber, the entrepreneur who also launched Casamigos Tequila with George Clooney. Gerber is married to model Cindy Crawford. The two are parents of model Kaia Gerber.
In both the Whiskey and Tavern’s heydays in the ’90s and ’00s, big-name touring musicians would stop by as would sports stars playing Chicago teams. Stefani would reminisce about seeing Michael Jordan smoke cigars. Tavern was known for its people-watching and bars, though it also served steakhouse fare. The original closed in October 2023, capping off 24 years on Rush Street. Stefani, a revered culinary figure in Chicago, was pushed out by his landlords, Fred Barbara and James Banks. In March, those two opened a new restaurant, the Bellevue, in the Tavern space.
The revamped bar.Tavern on Rush/Alexa Vaicaitis
Tavern on Rush’s private dining room.Tavern on Rush/Alexa Vaicaitis
The two sides have apparently made peace as they’ve moved on to their new projects near Rush and Division, an area known for iconic restaurants like Gibsons and Maple & Ash. However, the biggest opening of the year may have been the return of Foxtrot, as its founder relaunches the corner store chain after its former founders left the brand in bankruptcy. Rosebud Restaurants hope for their own revival after crews demolished the building that housed Carmine’s at 1043 N. Rush Street. A new location should open inside the newly constructed building in the spring.
Tavern 2.0 takes up two floors and 16,000 square feet. It’s larger than the original and will have food from Chicago native chef Michael Wallach. “Wally” has worked at Weber Grill, Carlucci’s, Nick’s Fishmarket, McCormick & Schmick’s, and Park Grill. The experience fits with what Tavern customers expect near the infamous Viagra Triangle. Sample menu items include wagyu ravioli and perhaps a nod to Nico with seafood Cataplana.
In earlier interviews, Stefani’s children spoke about leaving their marks. For example, Gina Stefani said she was excited about focusing more on brunch as the Gold Coast needs more options. Gina Stefani enjoyed success at her West Loop restaurant, Mad Social, which built a strong brunch following. While the ’90s and ’00s may have seen long late-night lines flowing outside bars, the demand isn’t as strong and perhaps has shifted toward morning meals. Brunch will launch after the restaurant debuts. The bar program won’t just be about whisky, beer, and martinis. They’ll incorporate ingredients and spirits not associated with the original tavern using agave and pineapple. That’s one way to appeal to a younger crowd who might not be enthralled with the restaurant’s history.
Does Tavern still qualify as an “exciting restaurant?” Find out when it debuts in 10 days.
Tavern on Rush, 1015 N. Rush Street, planned for a Monday, September 30 opening.
>Shondo gets very, very drunk on stream >Makes her admit she’s sad and depressed every day because of her mental illness and her family getting sicker, and especially says she’s constantly terrified of losing what she has >She wakes up the morning after and finds she’s banned without even getting an email at first, only gets this email after she demands answers >”We care about you, so we’re removing your income for a month”
The Democratic National Convention was obsessed with Chicago dogs last week with politicians and celebrities making social media posts and recording video segments from various street food stands. Over the weekend, Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill posted a photo of himself in front pointing to the Wieners Circle’s famous sign while making a hand gesture, referring to the hot dog’s stand’s DNC special mocking former President Donald Trump. The sign read: “Now Serving Trump Footlongs It’s 3 Inches.”
Wieners Circle first offered the special back in 2016 as a response to Trump’s comments during a Republican debate. Hamill attended the DNC and was at a fan convention over the weekend in the suburbs. He’s been an outspoken critic of Trump. The post may have reminded fans of the Spaceballs, a parody of Star Wars in which galactic rivals Darth Helmet (Rick Moranis) and Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) debate the sizes of their “Schwartzes.”
Speaking of hot dogs, news has spread about how a new investor at Portillo’s wants to shake things up. On Thursday, August 15, Engaged Capital disclosed it held a 10 percent stake in the company with a mission to “improve operations, optimize restaurant performance, increase margins and grow brand awareness as Portillo’s expands nationally.” Crain’s described this as the agenda of an activist investor writing Engaged wants Portillo’s to open smaller locations; a signature trait of the chain was large spaces with historical artifacts. The goal is to cut costs as the hot dog giant aims to open “at least 920 restaurants around the country in about 20 years,” according to Crain’s.
Roti declares Chapter 11
Chicago-based fast-casual chain Roti has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is seeking investors or new owners to rescue its 20 locations scattered across Chicago, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C. Ownership hopes to keep the restaurants open during the process, according to Restaurant Business. The assembly-line chain was vaguely Mediterranean and has attempted to reinvent itself with new branding and tweaks to the menu over the years. The chain was founded in 2007.
How did Carmy escape the walk-in? That question and more will be answered on Thursday, June 27, when the third season of The Bear debuts, according to a new teaser trailer out now. All episodes, as in past seasons, will drop at once on Hulu.
The show has become a pop-culture phenomenon with Chicago-area native Chris Storer giving viewers a peek into the restaurant world with his hometown as a backdrop. Season 1 helped showcase Chicago’s Italian beef sandwich for a nationwide audience.
FX announced the premiere date with a teaser showing Jeremy Allen White back in the kitchen — with a bright red LED clock reading 3:10. The camera zooms out of the restaurant — the former Mr. Beef on Orleans — flying south, and then east over River North toward DuSable Lake Shore Drive. The footage is accompanied by “The Dream Is Always the Same,” a song from the 1983 Tom Cruise movie Risky Business, filmed in Chicago.
Season 2’s build-up and climax saw the Original Beef of Chicagoland — loosely based on Mr. Beef, a venerable beef stand in River North — give way to a new restaurant called The Bear. The Bear seems to wed fine dining and neighborhood elements. With tons of Chicago restaurant cameos, Season 2 won over most Chicagoans, with a few exceptions.
12320 W 143rd St, Homer Glen, IL 60491 (708) 645-0456
666 North Orleans Street, , IL 60654 (312) 337-8500
Rachel and Callie get into the Bravo news of the week, ‘Vanderpump Rules’ updates, and more
Rachel Lindsay and Callie Curry team up on this week’s Morally Corrupt to first bring you the Bravo news of the week (4:26). They then launch into a larger discussion about Vanderpump Rules Season 11, Episode 14 (10:49). Later, Rachel and Callie chat briefly about The Valley (37:34), and eventually move on to both iterations of Summer House (48:56).
Challengers is a movie obsessed with making sure you understand its chronology. Throughout its 131 minutes, Luca Guadagnino’s new ténnage à trois flick deploys a barrage of scene-resetting phrases like “THIRTEEN YEARS EARLIER,” “THE NEXT DAY,” and even “MIDNIGHT,” in all-caps, pink-text title cards. (Also: “SET BREAK,” shortly after a match official explains that they’re going to take a break between sets.) I’m not sure all of this is necessary: Even as the plot volleys across two decades, most shifts are easy to track. We know that it’s the mid-aughts because there’s a Motorola Razr on Zendaya’s nightstand; we know that it’s closer to the present day because Josh O’Connor is swiping through Tinder on a cracked iPhone. This isn’t exactly Lost Highway! (Though I would love to see what title cards Luca would’ve cooked up for Lynch’s neo-noir headfuck.)
This is, of course, a minor complaint—and I may be on an island here, considering the Letterboxd and Rotten Tomatoes loveChallengers is getting. But it’s relevant to a question I’m about to ask: Does Luca think I’m an idiot and that I wouldn’t notice he snuck a song from the wrong decade into a scene set in (roughly) 2006?
I’m specifically referring to THE scene, as in [insert “SPOILER” and “CONTENT WARNING” title cards here] the infamous threesome set piece that threatens to, uh, thrust the acronym “MMF” into the mainstream lexicon. [Another title card here: “DON’T GOOGLE MMF AT WORK.”] If you have a passing familiarity with Challengers, then you know what I’m referring to—Zendaya, O’Connor, and Mike Faist on a hotel bed, both men fawning over her, things getting hot and heavy as the two men try to show her their stroke (before playing a little doubles with themselves). The movie’s been out for less than 24 hours and it’s already one of the most talked-about scenes of the year. All of my attention should’ve been on this triples match. However, I was too busy losing my mind over one small detail: the song playing on the radio during this scene. Blood Orange’s “Uncle ACE”—ace, get it?—from his breakthrough Cupid Deluxe. A song that came out in 2013—as in six or seven years after this illicit almost-affair took place.
To be clear, “Uncle ACE” is an excellent song off Dev Hynes’s excellent album, and maybe a perfect choice, vibes-wise. It’s sexy, it’s propulsive, and it, uh, climaxes with an unbelievable sax solo. It’s also vaguely nostalgic, which should work in a movie that taps into nostalgia. The problem is that this song is supposed to be diegetic—the film nerd word meaning it exists in the world of the film, which, well, “Uncle ACE” certainly did not. (In fact, not only does Challengers imagine a world in which this song existed in 2006, but it also imagines a world in which a radio station would be conducting a lengthy interview with Dev Hynes.) If you’re a music nerd on top of being a film nerd, this is the exact kind of thing that will take you out of an experience. Instead of focusing on the Y tu Tennis También shit unfolding before your eyes, you’re desperately trying to make sense of why some dork-ass tennis prodigies in 2006 would be listening to a deep cut off of Pitchfork’s 21st-best record of 2013. It is all-caps, pink-text MADDENING!
A few weeks ago, before I had seen Challengers, a colleague of mine referred to it as “Saltburn-core.” If you’ve seen both, the descriptor fits. Even if Challengers’ threesome scene or churro-nibbling can’t come close to Saltburn’s spunk-slurping, grave-humping chaos, there’s a certain memeable soapiness to both. Both films also share an affinity for overexplaining things—I will never forgive Saltburn for the climactic montage, which gave the Usual Suspects plot-twist treatment to things that no half-awake viewer could have ever missed. (What do you mean the bad-guy liar lied about bad things?) And maybe most importantly, both Challengers and Saltburn mine the same era for nostalgia—with apparently little care for the finer details. Infamously, in Saltburn—which is also largely set in 2006 and 2007—there are a number of issues: characters playing MGMT songs a year before they could’ve known about them, karaoke versions of yet-to-be released Flo Rida hits, the family watching Superbad on DVD before the movie was even released in theaters! I know the rich have access to many things us plebes don’t, but I’m pretty sure Judd Apatow wasn’t sending the Catton family rough cuts of McLovin and friends. And it wasn’t just music and film nerds that noticed this stuff: The Saltburn anachronisms were so egregious that blogging about them became something of a cottageindustryaroundthe holidays.
As time goes on, it’s only natural that more and more movies will start looking back on the late 2000s and early 2010s. But if I’m going to be repeatedly confronted with the notion that my best days are now fodder for nostalgia, can’t they at least nail the details? Why bother setting the story in a not-really-that-bygone era in the first place if not? And if that doesn’t matter, then are these films being placed in the mid-aughts in service of the story or because it’s easy to tap into cheap sentimentality? Why didn’t the music supervisor for either movie step in and say, “Hey, shouldn’t these kids be listening to, like, “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House” instead? (Though if I’m being real, Art Donaldson seems more like a Band of Horses guy.) It’s not like Luca and his team didn’t focus on other small details: The product placement is self-aware, but avoids veering into Talladega Nights or Wayne’s World parody territory. The specific degradations of Josh O’Connor’s character—and the way they manifest through his court attire and the empty bottles clinking around the floor of his car—are subtly brilliant. Hell, this is a movie with an intricate understanding of the geography of Westchester County! I have my gripes with a handful of things about the film—let’s never talk about the stop-motion wind kiss under the giant “Game Changer” poster—but it’s clear some level of care went into this. (Though there is one other pedantic, also diegetic thing I have to speak my truth on: At one point, Zendaya’s kid asks to watch Spider-Verse, and while I admire the restraint shown in not referencing the mononymous star’s own role in that franchise, the winking reference doesn’t break the fourth wall so much as it splits its skull against it.)
Mistakes—or possibly just wanton flouting of chronology—like the “Uncle ACE” placement are head-scratching, but ultimately inconsequential. No one, aside from the most P4K-pilled, is going to truly care about the flattening of indie-music history. (And to be fair, during one scene, Challengers got the mid-aughts hipster catnip right with a needle drop of Spoon’s “I Turn My Camera On.”) Also, I get it: There are a trillion small things that go into making a movie, so it’s better to have some grace, especially with the man who made Call Me by Your Name. But my culture—my skinny jeans and iPod Nano and Sailor Jerry tattoos—is not a costume, so please have some respect. If you’re going to ask me to care that much about the timeline, you have to care about every part of it. That shouldn’t be hard to grasp. Maybe if I put it on a title card in all caps, they’ll understand.
This initial report on The Greatest Night in Pop comes from our team following the premieres at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. We’ll update this piece when there’s more information about the movie’s release.
Logline
On Jan. 28, 1985, more than 40 of the United States’ most famous musicians, from Michael Jackson and Diana Ross to Paul Simon and Billy Joel, gathered in secret to record a charity song. “We Are the World” was intended as a fundraiser for famine relief in Africa. The Greatest Night in Pop, a documentary coming to Netflix soon, is about how that song got recorded in just one night.
Longerline
“We Are the World” is one of the bestselling, most popular singles of all time, featuring perhaps the most star-studded lineup to ever record together. Bao Nguyen’s film runs through the making of the song, from the initial idea to the writing to getting talent on board to the recording itself.
Nguyen presents all of this through archival footage from when the recording session was initially filmed, as well as talking-head interviews with some of the musicians involved, including Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, and Kenny Loggins.
What’s The Greatest Night in Pop trying to do?
Besides just documenting one of the most important moments in 20th-century pop culture, The Greatest Night in Pop also tries to communicate the sheer star power that came together in A&M Studios on that night in 1985. It was a who’s who of the most famous musicians on the planet, which meant that there was both a clashing of egos and an easiness that came from shared levels of fame: These superstars were in the only room in the world where most of the people around them truly understood what life was like at that level of celebrity.
Does The Greatest Night in Pop live up to its premise?
The Greatest Night in Pop is after a more relaxed and celebratory version of the harried energy that director D.A. Pennebaker captured in Original Cast Album: Company, his filming of that album’s all-night recording session. Mostly, Nguyen gets it there. His doc is airy and fun, and while it narrativizes the night well, thanks in large part to Richie’s fantastic narration, it mostly has the good sense to get out of the way of the personalities that were actually in the room. This approach holds it back from being a truly great documentary: It rarely adds much context to the footage we’re seeing, beyond the backstory, and it pointedly avoids any controversy, or any criticism of even the most difficult celebrity participants. But the footage-forward approach does make the whole thing tremendously fun to watch.
Seeing Bob Dylan look uncomfortable in a sea of famous faces, Stevie Wonder joking around with Ray Charles, or Huey Lewis nervously working out a harmony is as close to unguarded as most of these stars have ever been on film. It’s a fascinating document. And the way every second of that footage is still captivating nearly 40 years later is a testament to the raw, all-encompassing, absolutely magnetic star power that everyone in that room has.
Image: Netflix
The quote that says it all
As the movie itself points out, the most important aspect of the whole night was when producer Quincy Jones posted a sign inside the recording studio that said “Check your ego at the door.” That’s what makes The Greatest Night in Pop feel special: It lets us inside the room where all-time great musicians simply felt like they were among friends and equals.
Most memeable moment
There are a number of incredible moments, like Waylon Jennings walking out of the recording studio while muttering “Ain’t no good ol’ boy ever sung in Swahili,” or Cyndi Lauper realizing that her massive necklaces were making so much noise that the microphones were picking them up alongside her voice. But if anything from this movie is going to be a meme, it’s Bob Dylan’s awkward grimace, right smack in the middle of the most famous faces in music, as he desperately tries to figure out how to sing in chorus with them. It’s incredible, and as Bob Dylan as anything could be.
Is The Greatest Night in Pop good?
Absolutely. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of documentary classics, falling short of the insight into the tortured circumstances and frustrated production of Original Cast Album: Company, or the pure musical excellence of Monterey Pop. But there’s something special about seeing these stars mingle that makes this movie a fascinating document on fame and the people behind it.
When can we see it?
The Greatest Night in Pop will be released on Netflix on Jan. 29.
Chainsaw Man fans, rejoice: MAPPA announced on Sunday that a new anime film is currently in production, continuing the story of Denji’s time as a Devil hunter following the events of the anime’s first season.
The movie, titled Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, is set after the events of the Katana Man arc of the original manga and will follow Denji’s relationship with Reze, a mysterious love interest who harbors a darker and more… let’s just say “explosive” side than he is aware of.
No official release date has been announced as of yet, but it’s fair to guess that MAPPA will announce more information regarding the film’s eventual premiere sometime later next year.
There’s also no word yet as to the potential production or premiere of a second season of Chainsaw Man, which aired its first 12-episode season in 2022. It’s possible that Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc will lead into an eventual announcement of a second season, similar to how the premiere of 2020’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train precluded the second season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, which later re-edited the movie into its own 7-episode television arc.
Chainsaw Man is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be released on March 22, 2024, reviving Capcom’s sword and sorcery action-RPG franchise after a decade-long break. Capcom revealed the release date and new gameplay details during a digital showcase on Tuesday.
Hideaki Itsuno, director of Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, the game’s producer, showed off new features coming in the sequel. That includes a huge new addition to the bestiary, the Talos, a massive brass warrior who emerges from the sea. Developers showed varying approaches to taking the Talos down: by leaping onto it from a cliff’s edge, and fighting it while holding on for dear life, à la Shadow of the Colossus; riding birds toward the Talos to close the distance to it; and attacking it from afar using ranged weapons and spells.
Capcom also showed off a new vocation, the Trickster. That Arisen-only character class can use a censer in battle to conjure illusions, causing enemies to fight each other, and to support a player’s pawns to make them more effective in battle. The Trickster, a “devious vocation,” can manipulate the battle from the sidelines rather than fight directly.
The Trickster joins Dragon’s Dogma 2’s previously confirmed vocations: Fighter, Archer, Thief, Mage, Magick Archer, and Mystic Spearhand.
Image: Capcom
Image: Capcom
Image: Capcom
Capcom also showed off its update character creator, which players can use to customize their Arisen and main Pawn. The developer is using new photogrammetry technology to increase the photorealism of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s player-created avatars, developers said.
Finally, developers also teased a bit of the game’s story, which they said was set in a world parallel to that of the original Dragon’s Dogma. As an Arisen, players will find themselves caught between the beliefs and plots of two rival nations. Vermund, the human kingdom, is at the center of a power struggle for the throne, with a false Arisen installed by the queen regent Disa. In Battahl, the humanoid beasts there treat Pawns as a source of misfortune. But both nations view dragons as a threat to their survival.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is coming to PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. The original Dragon’s Dogma was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012, followed by the expansion Dark Arisen the next year.
The We Are Open campaign launched a few weeks ago to support Napier businesses.
Napier City Business Inc (NBCI) is thinking outside the square with its latest campaign to encourage shoppers into the CBD.
We Are Open was launched this month with a video showing business owners from different cultures saying “We are open” in their own language.
“It was so cool. We wanted to send a very clear message, in a respectful and empathetic way. It was really easy to get everyone on board and we were so lucky it was a gorgeous blue-sky Hawke’s Bay day,” says NCBI general manager Pip Thompson.
She says the campaign launch aimed to promote the people behind the message.
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