RodeoHouston

RodeoHouston reveals genres for highly anticipated 2019 concert calendar

Let the speculation commence.

RodeoHouston gave fans a sneak-peek at concert calendar lineup today, announcing which genres will be featured throughout the 2019 season, which runs from Monday, February 25 through Sunday, March 17. It already has been announced that country legend George Strait will close out RodeoHouston on the final day. Now we have an idea of what to expect on the other days. The full lineup will be announced on January 3, 2019.

As always, country music will be front on center, on tap for 13 of the 20 nights, including opening night. Organizers have always attracted the biggest, best, and buzziest upcoming country acts to the Stars Over Texas stage, so expect a massive roster with some major home runs as well as a few up-and-comers once the final line-up is announced.

Most interestingly, the rave will return to NRG Stadium when EDM will get a chance to wave its glowsticks on Friday, March 8. This is a smart choice following the success of The Chainsmokers two years ago and a Friday night makes it an attractive family draw. CultureMap predicts Martin Garrix, Diplo, or Marshmello in this slot, but this one is a toss up and hardest to speculate on.

After last year's controversial decision to give the lone hip-hop slot to Leon Bridges, who is definitely not hip-hop (but still great), will organizers give an actual hip-hop performer a shot on Friday, March 1 or will it be an R&B act that lives in that music sphere? There are a multitude of acts that could fill this role, clean enough to live up to the rodeo's standards, from The Weeknd, Migos, Post Malone, or DJ Khaled. Hint-hint to the powers-that-be: Rhianna has a huge catalog of hits, the cred, and would bring in fans in droves.

Other nights include Spanish pop on Tuesday, February 26; pop-rock on Sunday, March 3 (almost always a family-friendly, Top 40 artist); pop on Tuesday, March 5 (think a young performer making waves); norteño on Sunday, March 10; rock on Tuesday, March 12 (Maroon 5 or Imagine Dragons would make sense and both don't have shows booked on these dates); and classic rock on Wednesday, March 13 (Def Leppard? Bon Jovi? Journey?).

Visit the RodeoHouston website for a full rundown of the genre calendar.

CultureMap's predictions for country performers at RodeoHouston 2019 include the following:

Carrie Underwood
We would be shocked if Underwood didn't appear on the Stars Over Texas stage this year. The massive star just released her latest album, Cry Pretty, and back to performing live after a horrific accident. She'd make a great RodeoHouston 2019 opener.

Kasey Musgraves
She's been everywhere with her album Golden Hour, including Saturday Night Live, and is a contender for the biggest music awards this year.

Eric Church
His album, Desperate Man, is a 2018 critical and commercial smash and he's been headlining festivals. He has big gaps in his early-2019 tour schedule and no Texas dates currently booked. He also played RodeoHouston in 2015. Call this prediction a shoo-in.

Sam Hunt
He's about to release new album and opened for Luke Bryan this summer.

A miscellaneous country legend
RodeoHouston always books one or two favorites to perform. Take your pick of Wille Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, or Reba McIntire to run through their hits.

Return performers
Repeat performances are not uncommon. Acts that played last year that would be welcomed back include Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, and Chris Stapleton.

Dolly Parton
Okay, this is a long shot, but she would be a much-talked-about, instant sell-out and would attract a wide range of music fans. Make this happen RodeoHouston.

Of course, guessing who will play is part of the fun.

Country legend George Strait will close RodeoHouston 2019 on Sunday, March 17,

Photo by Michelle Watson/CultureMapSnap

Country legend George Strait will close RodeoHouston 2019 on Sunday, March 17,

rodeo nightlife concerts event-planner

Movie review

Messy Frankenstein movie The Bride! stitches camp and confusion

Photo by Niko Tavernise

Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in The Bride!.

The story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is now over 200 years old, with Mary Shelley’s book having been adapted or referenced in close to 500 films. Less common is the character of The Bride of Frankenstein, which existed in the original text but has more often than not been excised in adaptations. Writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal has tried to rectify that by giving the character a big showcase in her new film, The Bride!.

Gyllenhaal has reimagined the story as one in which a woman named Ida (Jessie Buckley) becomes possessed by the spirit of Shelley (also Buckley). At the same time, the already-existing Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) approaches Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening), who specializes in reanimation, with the request to make him a wife. When Ida falls to her death in an “accident” involving her boyfriend (John Magaro), the ideal corpse becomes available.

After Ida’s resurrection, she and the monster become restless being studied by Dr. Euphronius and decide to break out to experience the world. The world, naturally, is not exactly welcoming to them, and soon the couple are on the run for causing mayhem, including a few murders. In hot pursuit are detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his assistant, Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz), as well as other authorities.

It’s clear that Gyllenhaal wanted to merge the Frankenstein story with Bonnie & Clyde, especially since she sets the film in the mid-1930s. And that wouldn’t have been a bad idea if having the monster and The Bride going on a crime spree was truly the focus of the movie. But most of the time there’s less intentionality in their misdeeds and more confusion, leading to a muddled plot with no clear direction or end goal in mind.

One of the biggest problems is that Gyllenhaal starts the energy of the film at an 11, giving her and everyone else nowhere to go but down. She dabbles in multiple different tones, at times going the straight drama route and other times making what seems like full-on camp. At one point, she even has the monster and the Bride in a dance sequence set to “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” which would be hilarious as an homage to Young Frankenstein if the film weren’t so disjointed.

Most baffling of all is what Gyllenhaal wants from The Bride character. She morphs multiple times over the course of the film, from close to unintelligible at the beginning to rough-and-tumble at the end. There are hints at the lack of control she has over her autonomy, including Shelley’s possession of her and the monster lying to her about her past, but any commentary that Gyllenhaal might be trying to make gets lost amid the oddity of the film as a whole.

Both Buckley and Bale are all-in for their performances, which definitely fall in the “love it or hate it” dichotomy. Each scene is pitched so high that there’s little nuance to either of them, and neither is on par with their previous Oscar-caliber roles. The high-powered supporting cast of Bening, Sarsgaard, Cruz, and Jake Gyllenhaal is watchable based on previous roles, but none of them elevate this particular movie.

Whatever intentions Maggie Gyllenhaal had in making The Bride! are only halfway legible in a film that can never find its tonal footing. There has rarely been subtlety in movies featuring Frankenstein’s monster and related characters, but this one makes all the others seem like stuffy dramas in comparison.

---

The Bride! is now playing in theaters.

movies film maggie gyllenhaal annette bening christian bale jessie buckley peter sarsgaard penélope cruz movie review