Five Questions

The Bachelor Pad Weatherman reveals all: Jonathan Novack spills on his tell-all,his comedy career and Ali

Jonathan Novack in his Bachelor Pad pose.
Photo by Kevin Foley/ABC
Jonathan Novack back in his real weatherman days.
Say it with Novack's latest T-shirt!

Jimmy Kimmel and everyone else may refer to him as "The Weatherman" but we still think of Jonathan Novack as our hometown heartthrob.

He may not have won Ali's heart on The Bachelorette, but he's returning to TV Monday in a hybrid reality competition and dating show called The Bachelor Pad (airing on ABC at 7 p.m.). Novack gave an exclusive interview to CultureMap about Houston, his future, and his thoughts on Ali and Roberto.

CultureMap: This must have been a crazy summer for you. What are you up to now that The Bachelor Pad is wrapped?

Jonathan Novack: I've been out to L.A., where I had some meetings, shot the 'Men Tell All' episode, found a place to live in West Hollywood and did some stand-up at the HaHa Comedy Club.

I also just had a show last week at the Houston Improv with Slade Ham, who was headlining. I did about 10-11 minutes — it was awesome, went really great. Next week, Aug. 12-15, I'm performing at The Laff Spot opening for Jimmie Walker.

Since the show, I started blogging, tweeting, I've been delving into social networking, selling T-shirts that say 'I heart the weatherman' to benefit the ASPCA, trying to figure out some charity-type things I can do, seeing what I can get involved with out in L.A. I've been in Houston for three years and it's hard to leave. I feel rooted here, I'm bummed. I've got a lot of friends here, it's been a really good time in my life.

CM: Have you always wanted to break into the entertainment business?

JN: I've been in the news business on-air for nine years, and I've always wanted to do entertainment-type stuff, whether it was an Antique Roadshow segment on Channel 2 or hosting the local version of The Biggest Loser. I feel like now is the time to see if I can bridge over to entertainment.

If I'm in Houston the challenges are much more difficult. People know me now, I've got my agent, a publicist, and if I want to go I've got to do it now. I'm sticking with TV though, auditioning for hosting gigs and things like that.

CM: What did you think about The Bachelorette finale? Do you think Ali made the right choice with Roberto?

JN: I said it from the beginning, from when I got sent home, people would ask me who I thought Ali would be with or should be with and I said Roberto. He was the most stand-up guy in the house, and they seemed to have a connection. I'm glad it worked out for Ali — I couldn't be happier for them.

CM: Is it different to watch yourself on these shows? Was there anything they didn't air that you would have liked to show?

JN: It's tough to watch, when I see it on TV, to be honest. It's interesting. It's totally different than seeing myself if I'm doing a weather cast. For starters I have no control. Since I've started in the news business I've always been the one to put a story together, and with this I have to kinda sit back and see what gets aired.

As far as what didn't make it to TV, there was a thing that happened between Jesse B. and Craig M. I don't think people realized Craig M. was trying to get into a fight with him and for that reason people thought it was just me and him, but the only reason I said anything to Ali was because the guy was seriously off his rocker and trying to start stuff with everyone. I don't know if they had the time to show a lot of that, though.

CM: How did you come to be on the show?

JN: I was nominated for the show a year and a half ago and they called me up. I never watched it, I didn't know who was on it, but I did a little investigating. I knew Ali and Gia, and was hoping one of them would be Bachelorette, but you don't know who it's going to be, so you go into it as an experience, and maybe it'll work out with whoever they pick, but you have to just say, "Hey, this is a life experience and lets see what happens."

Check out a Pad peek and get more of the shirtless Novack:

unspecified

Movie Review

Onslaught's brutal mix of horror, action, comedy can't find its footing

Photo courtesy of A24

Adria Arjona in Onslaught.

The most important thing for any movie to establish early on is its tone. No matter the genre, a film needs to make its audience understand how they should feel as the story unfolds so that they’re willing to go along with whatever transpires on screen. A film that doesn't do that, such as the new Onslaught, runs the risk of failing to connect with viewers even if it has some interesting or fun elements to offer.

One of the biggest issues for the movie is that it fails to fully invest in its main character, Celeste (Adriana Arjona). She’s a military veteran who now lives in and manages a desert trailer park, which is filled with a motley crew of offbeat people. She also has a contentious relationship with her ex, who unexpectedly drops off their daughter, Daisy (Blake Kennedy), soon after the film begins.

Celeste has a stash of high-powered weapons, showing she hasn’t left her former career fully behind. Her expertise comes in handy when something goes wrong at a nearby military contractor facility run by Hans Kemmler (Dan Stevens), and a trio of super soldiers escapes into the wild. Trained to kill everyone in their path, it’s not long before they set their glowing eyes on the trailer park.

Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett, the film has elements of horror, action, and comedy, but the filmmakers struggle in finding the right combination of the three. Wingard and Barrett divide the film’s focus between the trailer park and the military facility for a long time at the beginning of the film, and the quirkiness of people at the former mixed with the bold weirdness of the people at the latter keep viewers off balance in a bad way.

Once they finally settle into the main part of the story where the super soldiers go on a rampage, the filmmakers overpromise and underdeliver. The showdown between a seemingly unstoppable group and an angry woman and her band of misfits seems destined to be highly entertaining, but comes off as underwhelming. The sequence is filled with brutality with no meaning and heroics that feel more accidental than purposeful.

The ham-fisted way in which the story plays out is disappointing since the film has a bunch of characters who could have been great if used properly. The trauma of Celeste’s military career and personal life are hinted at, but don’t come into play as much as expected. Hans and his wife Hanna (Rebecca Hall) are completely off-the-wall, but their eccentricities seem to be apropos of nothing. The super soldiers are initially intimidating, but the climactic sequence undercuts them significantly.

Arjona has yet to fully break out despite some good roles in Hit Man and the Disney+ show Andor. She makes for a good lead here, embodying the toughness of a military veteran while still being relatable. Stevens and Hall go all in with their bonkers characters, but the story doesn’t serve them well. Comic relief comes in the form of Reginald VelJohnson and Eric Wareheim, and they do a great job in smaller roles.

A movie like Onslaught is typically one where the audience just turns off their brains and enjoys the carnage. But Wingard and Barrett try a little too hard by throwing in oddball characters that don’t add much to the story, forgetting to pay enough attention to the mechanics of the plot in the process.

---

Onslaught opens in theaters on September 4.

movies film