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,

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Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doesn't match the first movie's enthusiasm

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films like M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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