need for speed

New mega-gaming and indoor go-karting playhouse speeds into Katy

Orlando, Florida-based entertainment facility Andretti Indoor Karting & Games will be hitting the Houston area with thrilling attractions and racing experiences.

On Tuesday, March 3, the family entertainment and gaming center will open up a new location in Katy, located adjacent to the newly opened, University of Houston Katy campus and Katy Asian Town at the corner of Grand Parkway and I-10.

Named after the legendary Andretti racing family, the nearly 88,000-square-foot complex will showcase high-speed electric superkarts, laser tag, mini golf, VR gaming, a ropes course, unique dining options, over 4,600 square feet of exceptional event space, and more.

Here are the features and attractions attendees can look forward to:

Multi-Level race track
Experience the adrenaline rush of electric go karts on a ½ mile of multi-level tracks with sweeping downward spirals, multiple sharp turns, and long straightaways that take you all the way to victory lane.

Laser Tag
The two-story 2,053-square-foot black light battlefield transports you inside the engine of a race car with the latest laser tag technology from Delta Strike, the leader in laser tag equipment industry.

Arcade games
Guests can enjoy over 80 of the latest and greatest video, redemption and prize games in the state-of-the-art arcade. After racking up all of the tickets, guests can redeem their winnings at the Redemption Counter with a wide range of prizes for all ages.

Ropes course
Andretti offers an indoor high adventure ropes course which can be found well above the arcade with multiple challenging obstacles for both the beginner and advanced adventurer.

Hologate VR
Hologate is a four-player virtual reality attraction that takes you to a new dimension with advanced graphic technology and immersion. The open-air layout allows spectators to see the players and take in the action on the monitors above the playing space.

Hologate Blitz
This four-player virtual reality experience immerses players in full sensory heart-pounding thrills by combining state of the art virtual reality graphics with a motion simulator that rises a full meter in height and can tilt in every direction. The chance of motion sickness that some players may feel in other virtual reality attractions has been almost completely eliminated due to extremely low latency and next-level network and code design.

Omniverse
Explore virtual reality like never before with a 360-degree-moving treadmill platform, state of the art graphics optimized for multiplayer interactive gaming and an adjustable harness that allows players to move full speed without hitting walls. Guests can play for the sheer thrilling fun of the experience by participating individually or competitively as teams in weekly and monthly Esports world competitions.

Mini-Golf
Lucky Putt is nine custom high-tech holes of mini golf reimagined that blends the nostalgic joy of classic mini golf with exclusive technology to deliver an unforgettable social experience. The scoring system is digitized to streamline score tracking and allow players to focus on the experience. At the beginning of each hole, players select their names on a digital tablet, and sensors automatically track the movement of the ball and tally scores for each player. As for food, this spot offers several dining options including a Food Truck Plaza, sit-down dining, a dessert bar and two bars. The Indoor Food Truck Plaza will feature three different food trucks and a Dessert Bar:

Fusion Bowl featuring Asian cuisine including bowls hot off the wok, cold bowls and spring rolls.
Mama Andretti’s featuring Italian cuisine including salads and brick oven pizzas and calzones.
Let’s Roll Diner featuring American cuisine including wings, burgers, sandwiches and chicken tenders.

The Main Bar area will feature the full restaurant menu including salads, Asian bowls, burgers, sandwiches, brick oven pizzas & calzones, chef-crafted entrees and desserts, along with gluten-free bread, pasta and pizza dough for those with special dietary restrictions.

Andretti also welcomes corporate events, birthday parties and any special occasions of any size, offering a wide variety of birthday party packages and add-ons to customize each event. Event spaces include:

Total Event Space Grand Room & VIP Rooms: 307-person capacity
Mario Room: Viewing Area with two glass walls overlooking the Arcade and Track.

Andretti Karting is hiring for approximately 350 positions, including game and attraction attendants, culinary, janitorial, mechanics and much more. Applicants must be at least 18 years old. A job fair will take place at the Best Western Premier Energy Corridor on January 15 through February 21. The Job Fair hours will be Monday-Friday 9 am to 6 pm and on Saturdays 10 am to 4 pm.

For more information on open positions and to submit your application in advance, visit the official site.

Zip line over the arcade.

Photo courtesy of Andretti

Zip line over the arcade.

sports funny-stuff food-trucks

Movie Review

Star-filled pickleball comedy The Dink aces on Apple TV+

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Mary Steenburgen and Jake Johnson in The Dink.

While the sport of pickleball was invented way back in the 1960s, it has exploded in popularity in the 2020s. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out a way to make a movie about the craze, and a comedy like the new Apple TV film The Dink provides the best way to honor and make fun of the divisive sport at the same time.

Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson), aka The Hammer, is a former tennis phenom who’s now working as an instructor at a club owned by his dad, Chuck (Ed Harris). While the two don’t always see eye-to-eye, they have a mutual hatred for pickleball, which they have begrudgingly allowed on the property by giving it the worst court.

Dusty is hoping to stop all future pickleball expansion by winning a one-on-one grudge match, but when he injures his wrist, he’s given a prescription of pickleball as a form of rehab. Older women like Candace (Mary Steenburgen) are the only people he can find to play with, and despite his disdain for the sport, he soon falls prey to its low-key charms.

Directed by Josh Greenbaum (Will & Harper) and written by Sean Clements, the film is probably the best advertisement pickleball will ever have. Dusty’s introduction to the sport serves as a lighthearted tutorial for the uninitiated while still getting in some nice digs at its expense. The other players — Candace, Gail (Cleo King), and Judy (Lynn Marie Stewart) — are equally welcoming and critical of Dusty, who initially has trouble adjusting to the game’s different rules.

The film’s approach to the story is silly but never stupid. Dusty is a blowhard, but he’s also able to admit when he’s wrong, especially when Candace introduces him to multiple things he had never considered before. A long-standing feud between Dusty and Andy Roddick provides more than just a goofy cameo for the real-life tennis star. The film also pushes right to the edge of being over-the-top before pulling back, allowing it to keep a semblance of reality to it.

Clements’ story follows a tried-and-true formula, making the film very predictable but enjoyably so. Where it earns its comedy credentials is in its finer details, like Dusty’s love for his 1999 Buick LeSabre with under 200,000 miles on it, his trunk full of old VHS tapes, or his interactions with his assistant PJ (Aaron Chen), who manages to be the comic relief in an already funny film.

Johnson, probably best known for starring in the sitcom New Girl in the 2010s, has the right amount of smarm and niceness to pull off the role, letting viewers laugh at and root for him at the same time. The film is full of comedy all-stars in small roles like Oswalt, Chris Parnell, and Ben Stiller, but Harris steals everyone’s thunder. The line readings by the four-time Oscar nominee give an extra punch to his character’s jokes, especially one that hints at the sordid history of the tennis club.

It’s a shame that The Dink is only playing on a streaming service as there’s a dearth of good comedies like this in movie theaters. With a solid joke-telling approach, a respect for its subject matter, and a cast who all play off each other well, this is a film that deserves to be seen by more than just those with an Apple TV subscription.

---

The Dink is now streaming on Apple TV.

movies sports pickleball film