Category: News

The most infamous disaster in gaming history has inspired pop culture and sparked an excavation in New Mexico to prove it wasn’t an urban legend. The failures of 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on the Atari 2600 are legendary: the game was a buggy disaster that mostly entailed falling into and crawling out of an endless string of holes. The movie tie-in was such a bust that thousands of unsold copies ended up in a landfill and became an infamous lesson in failure. It’s also something unlikely to ever happen again in an industry where no game is truly unfixable.

In an industry more crowded than ever, modern video games are often released as works in progress. Even the most well-made and crowd-pleasing game may contain small bugs and require updates. These patches fix problems and add new experiences to the game that create added value. And while they open the door for frustrating add-on cost with DLC and microtransactions, in the right hands it’s a system prevents outright disasters like E.T. from ever happening again.

That doesn’t mean gaming is without disappointing titles. Bad games still hit the market and highly-anticipated titles can still miss the mark. But those failures can sometimes be mitigated, and given time some games have risen to the level many hoped they’d reach when their first looks caused reason for excitement in the first place. The clearest example of a game that underwhelmed after sky-high expectations was No Man’s Sky, which was released in 2016 to a decidedly lukewarm reaction amid a mountain of hype and anticipation. The 2013 reveal trailer promised to be real footage from the game, which populated its vast planets and ecosystems as entirely procedural.

No Man’s Sky promised a universe of 18 quintillion planets filled with diverse wildlife and secrets to uncover. The hype was so big after its E3 trailer that Hello Games got death threats when the game was delayed a few months. And the actual release, though reviewed positively by some, largely disappointed. Multiplayer was put on the shelf for years, one of many features missing from the initial pitch. The vast universe of the game felt sparse and empty, and once you got over the visuals of random planets and creatures, there just wasn’t a whole lot to do.

For many who spent $60 on release day, buyer’s remorse was instantaneous. To this day the hype and marketing has negatively impacted the reputation of a game that’s changed considerably in the nearly four years since its release. In that time, Hello Games has rolled out many of its initial promises and then some. I bought it in September 2019 for $20 and got more than my money’s worth. The game is sprawling and expansive — earlier that month, it put out its Beyond update. Players can now grow “living ships” out of eggs and take part in multiple narrative arcs, with both solo and multiplayer missions.

It’s far from perfect, and can tend to be grindy and sparse in moments. Even now, it still has its bugs and quirks — the animation can be janky and I’ve had some freezes and save glitches that have frustratingly lost me a few hours of play — but it’s a title that also has missions and objectives actually worth losing. If you were to take the product for what it is, not knowing its reputation for initial failure, you’d be more than satisfied by the title it’s become. It just took years of development, much of it coming after the gamers who gave it a try because of its initial hype largely came away disappointed. For those that might give it a try when it hits Xbox Game Pass in June, they might have a completely different reaction to it than they would have on PC in 2016.

For games that struggled out of the gate, getting those users back is a difficult challenge. This spring saw a major expansion to Fallout 76, another title that made more news for what it lacked than what it was. Billed as four times bigger than Fallout 4, Bethesda braced fans for “spectacular” issues that were inevitable with a MMORPG version of Fallout. And the issues did come, along with some more basic complaints that Fallout 76: Wastelanders aimed to remedy.

Fallout 76 was an attempt at making a very different kind of Fallout game, though it came with the traditional catchy music and marketing of major Fallout release full of promise. But what Bethesda learned is that gamers wanted things they were used to getting from those games: namely, non-player characters to flesh out the lore and feel of a world. Without those elements, the game’s bugs and issues were even more apparent in a much more barren post-apocalyptic landscape. And so Wastelanders brings with it a raft of new NPCs that have “returned” to the West Virginia gamers first explored and found full of dangerous creatures and robots but completely devoid of living NPCs.

“With Wastelanders we got to take the bold vision of the original game and fill it in so it’s closer to the game that a lot of our fans wanted all along,” said Jeff Gardiner, project lead for Wastelanders at Bethesda. “Hopefully we did it in such a way that the people that already love it have reasons to enjoy it even more.”

If you’ve already played through hours of Fallout 76, the Wastelanders update now adds a Miscellaneous mission back at Vault 76 where you encounter treasure hunters looking for something in the still-sealed vault. From there, the NPC-filled mission fills out. And if you’re giving 76 a try for the first time with Wastelanders, your journey in the game begins by encountering these NPCs seconds after you emerge, as if they’ve always been there.

“We layered them in organically,” said Ferret Baudoin, lead designer of Fallout 76. “A year has passed and the world has changed with the arrival of outsiders adding another layer of history and interest to Appalchia.”

Much has been made of the problems gamers have found in Fallout 76 in its first year, but those that worked on it said the community that’s formed around the game — even if it tends to dive into the absurd — has a direct impact on whether improvements actually get made in a title.

“I know I’m going to sound corny, but we’re blessed,” Baudoin said, noting the active community in Fallout 76 despite its rough first year. “They’re dedicated, passionate, and have built a real community. Their feedback made a world of difference and has made Wastelanders shine all the brighter.”

Other developers say the key element in a game improving well after its release date is fan support, even if they’re not entirely satisfied with the result, because it’s likely the feeling is mutual.

“Hopefully your team cares and wants to make that adjustment to support those fans,” said Blake Low, a senior environment artist at V1 Interactive. Low’s team is working to release a first person shooter called Disintegration this summer, but he’s a Bungie alum that’s worked on Halo titles and Destiny 2, which has seen its own raft of updates and expansions in the years since its 2017 release. Many of those came after fan outcry over the life of the game, something that comes with the territory when it comes to modern titles.

“That’s something we’re trying to do right now. Be out there, be listening and continue that post-launch. And see what fans want,” Low said of Disintegration. “We’re not really talking about any DLC plans but we know we’re going to support the game post-launch. and it’s really based on what the fans want. So it is definitely important that the team cares. It makes the fans care more, too.”

Another V1 employee compared games like No Man’s Sky and Anthem — which will also see its core gameplay entirely reworked after a much-hyped but overall disappointing launch — to ET, but with a key difference. Unlike the Atari game forever trapped by its source code, the modern disappointments can always find second life after launch. As long, of course, as gamers are willing to return to give the game another chance.

Tom Cruise will (whenever movies start filming again) win his unofficial Hollywood space race with the Fast and Furious franchise to make the first narrative feature filmed in outer space. He’ll do so by reteaming with director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, American Made) to film on the International Space station with NASA’s blessing. The project will also be a partnership with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and who knows when this will actually happen, given that Cruise is currently entrenched within Mission: Impossible franchise productions. However, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has opened up on his hopes for the space-filmed movie, and he may be onto something.

Bridenstein spoke on camera ahead of Wednesday’s now-delayed SpaceX Demo-2 mission, as transcribed by the New York Post from within hours of footage. In short, the NASA chief revealed that his own career was inspired by Cruise’s Top Gun performance, and he hopes that the space-set film will inspire the next Elon Musk:

“I don’t admit this very often… but I was inspired to become a Navy pilot because when I was in elementary school, I watched the movie Top Gun… The question is, ‘Can Tom Cruise make a new movie that inspires the next generation Elon Musk?’ And if he can do that, then we’re all for it. NASA is all in.”

Sure, a next-gen Elon Musk might bring more bizarre baby names into the world, but the innovative soul that comes along with that would be priceless. Speaking of which, the SpaceX Crew Dragon launch has been rescheduled for Saturday. If it gets off the ground, the mission will make history with NASA astronauts onboard, so let’s hope for a safe liftoff, as well as for Tom Cruise movies to start shooting again soon.

(Via NASA & New York Post)

Sometimes, yes, it’s nice to watch a nice movie about nice people just trying to make their way in this world. Though, as director Nisha Ganatra (whose last film, Late Night, was a Sundance sensation) explains, the antagonist in The High Note (which will be available to purchase for streaming this Friday) is the institutionalized norms of the music industry itself. There’s no fiend twirling a mustache trying to sabotage anyone. Even the corporate suits with bad ideas in this movie are, in the end, trying to be helpful. The problem is the system.

Dakota Johnson plays Maggie, a personal assistant to the legendary Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). Maggie wants to be a producer, but is quickly learning about the obstacles set in place to make sure that doesn’t happen. Grace Davis is a world-renowned recording artist, but the record executives aren’t really keen on hearing about her new material (as she points out in the movie, only one black woman over 40 has ever had a number one song) and is pushing her to do a residency in Las Vegas. But, deep down, the heart of this movie is about people trying to do their best when the deck is stacked against them.

Oh, and then Bull Pullman shows up. And as Ganatra explains, she’s a big fan of Bill Pullman.

This movie seems just like, mostly, a bunch of nice people trying to make their way.

I mean, I always liked these big movies, these big studio films that just make you feel uplifted. You can follow your dreams and everything’s going to work out for you. I just feel people don’t make movies like that anymore. I don’t know if we got cynical as a culture, but I just really, always loved to feel really great when I leave the movie theater. It just appealed to me in that way that I haven’t seen in a long time.

And then Bill Pullman shows up, making everything better.

That is one of my favorite things. Everybody has that same feeling when Bill Pullman shows up. Everyone’s like, “Oh, yeah, everything’s going to be okay.” I love that was his voice on the radio all along. Because I think people kind of know it in the back of their heads, but then when they see him, there’s that feeling of relief and satisfaction. It’s also because you’ve been hearing his voice in the movie, and you just didn’t know. You know?

Was that a surprise to you? How much people love Bill Pullman?

No, because I’m so into Bill Pullman.

Okay, good.

I wasn’t surprised! Because I think everybody loves Bill Pullman. So as soon as we heard he was available, everybody universally agreed that it should be his part.

Okay, so you went to Bill Pullman and you said, “We have to have Bill Pullman in this movie.”

Yes. For sure. Because it was kind of like, who do buy as the radio DJ dad? Who also is fueled by he was a good dad, makes a good person, and was kind of cool, and a little edgier in his years and now is still kind of cool, but just sort of settled down a bit. It was kind of a very specific thing. And also who has a good radio voice?

Last week when Trump posted that stupid Independence Day video on Twitter, Bill Pullman came out against it. And I love that he did that.

Yeah. I feel so many actors play it safe politically, and they shouldn’t: artists are political temperature takers and aligners of our society. Artists are the ones who are supposed to speak out and get arrested, and go to jail, and right the moral wrongs that have been done, and at least call attention to them. I loved it when he did that. I just thought, yes! Yeah! I’ve been missing that. Where are the people who aren’t afraid of losing followers, but are just like, no, this is wrong. And I’m calling it out?

Like the Michael Jordan “Republicans buy shoes, too” line that was discussed in the recent documentary about him.

I haven’t seen Jordan doc, but that sounds a devastating moment. Oh my god, no.

He says it was a joke.

It’s like when John Waters said, “Don’t buy a house. Because as soon as you buy a house, you’ve got a mortgage. And as soon as you have to pay a mortgage, you start compromising.”

Is it difficult to make a movie without a true antagonist? Even Grace Davis, she has her moments, but seems like a nice person.

Well, I guess to me the villain was the limitations of the music industry itself. Grace is wholly confident and capable and doesn’t question herself or apologize for herself, but the industry is deeming her irrelevant. And I think that’s the villain: sexism and ageism. And so I felt like I was always fighting that as the villain in the arc, but that I wasn’t interested in a story where women were not working together and helping each other. And I love that in this movie they’re each other’s allies, even when they’re sort of getting on each other’s nerves, but they don’t work to hold the other one back. Each is the other one’s biggest supporter, and that is a really important message that needs to be put out there because so many times we’re told this myth of this idea that there’s only room at the table for one woman.

I think the older generation of women, who gave that incredible groundbreaking work to help us all get in, bought into that myth a little bit in front of them. And I think now it’s sort of being exposed that that was a myth all along. And nobody had to believe that, that there’s room at the table for everyone. And in fact, if you try to get more women at the table, it makes your job and your experience more satisfying all around, and everybody can rise together rather than fearing that another person coming in is direct competition for you.

‘The High Note’ will be available via VOD this weekend. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

All over the country this week, citizens have mourned and protested the death of 46-year-old George Floyd, who was killed by Minnesota police when an officer knelt on his neck despite his pleas that he couldn’t breathe. Now, however, the world has even more reason to mourn Floyd’s death, as The Houston Chronicle revealed in its report on the incident that the Houston native was formerly a member of one of the city’s most storied hip-hop groups: DJ Screw’s Screwed Up Click.

The Houston-based group was instrumental in the creation of the “chopped-and-screwed” style of extremely slowed down music that prevails in rap music to this day. The group also included members such as Big Moe, Big Pokey, Fat Pat, Lil Flip, Lil Keke, Trae Tha Truth, and Z-Ro, having a lasting influence over the region’s rap scene that can be heard in the music of well-known affiliates like Devin The Dude and UGK.

“Sittin On Top Of The World,” one of the crew’s standout regional hits, has been making the rounds on social media and Reddit in response to Floyd’s death according to Billboard. You can play the song above. Floyd was also briefly a member of Presidential Playas, releasing the album Block Party in 2000.

Read the full Houston Chronicle report here.

For the 12th year in a row, and 17 out of the last 18, CBS is the most-watched network on television. Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Better Call Saul get all the internet attention, but in the real world, where your grandparents reside, the titans of TV are NCIS (15.3 million viewers/episode), FBI (12.5 million), and Young Sheldon (11.4 million). The Big Bang Theory spin-off is the top-rated comedy, while a show you, a young person, actually watched, The Good Place, is down at #100 with 3.5 million.

The top 10 goes:

1. NFL Sunday Night Football (NBC) 19.9 million
2. NCIS (CBS) 15.3 milion
3. NFL Thursday Night Football (Fox/NFL Network) 15 million
4. NFL Monday Night Football (ESPN) 12.7 million
5. FBI (CBS) 12.5 million
6. Blue Bloods (CBS) 11.9 million
7. Chicago Fire (NBC) 11.6 million
8. This Is Us (NBC) 11.5 million
9. Young Sheldon (CBS) 11.4 million
10. Chicago PD (NBC) 11.2 million

(That’s by total viewers. If you sort by the key 18-to-49 demographic, it’s football in the top three spots, followed by The Masked Singer, The Last Dance, This Is Us, The Bachelor, Grey’s Anatomy, 9-1-1, Chicago P.D., and The Walking Dead. Slightly better?)

Here’s a fun game: how many of the 100 most-watched shows on TV do you watch? Not including football, and with all due respect to the anonymously popular God Friended Me, Bob Hearts Abishola, Bluff City Law, Curse of Oak Island, and Council of Dads (have you heard of Council of Dads? I have not), I’m at six. Someone remind me to binge all of NCIS: New Orleans (#22), so I have something to talk about with my family this Thanksgiving. I draw the line at Ellen’s Game of Games (#72), though.

And if you sort by network:

1. CBS (7,676,000; down 14%)
2. NBC (6,628,000; down 9%)
3. Fox (6,391,000; up 17%)
4. ABC (5,458,000; down 3%)
5. Univision (1,461,000; up 6%)
6. Ion (1,282,000; down 2%)
7. Telemundo (1,107,000; down 8%)
8. The CW (1,040,000; down 22%)
9. Me TV (740,000; up 5%)
10. Unimas (523,000; up 40%)

Shoutout to Me TV, the home of “classic television,” including The Andy Griffith Show, The Flintstones, and Petticoat Junction. I hope Gomer Pyle slaughters Young Sheldon in the ratings for the 2020-2021 season. For the full ratings list, click here.

Lil Yachty kicked off March with one of the year’s finest music videos so far, for “Oprah’s Bank Account.” The clip featured him as an Oprah-like talk show host interviewing Drake and DaBaby, and it served as a teaser of the guests that would end up appearing on the tracklist for the since-announced Lil Boat 3. The album is set to drop tomorrow, and ahead of that, he has shared the full tracklist.

The 19-song effort of course features “Oprah’s Bank Account,” and there are plenty of other guest spots on top of that. “T.D” is particularly loaded, as it features ASAP Rocky, Tyler The Creator, and Tierra Whack. Elwhere on the album, Future, Mike Will Made-It, Draft Day, Lil Keed, Lil Durk, and Young Thug can be found.

Check out the full Lil Boat 3 tracklist below.

1. “Top Down”
2. “Wock In Stock”
3. “Split/Whole Time”
4. “T.D” Feat. ASAP Rocky, Tyler The Creator, and Tierra Whack
5. “Pardon Me” Feat. Future and Mike Will Made-It
6. “Demon Time” Feat. Draft Day
7. “Black Jesus”
8. “From Down Bad”
9. “Love Jones”
10. “Can’t Go”
11. “Oprah’s Bank Account” Feat. Drake and DaBaby
12. “Range Rover Sports Truck” Feat. Lil Keed
13. “Lemon Head”
14. “Don’t Forget”
15. “Up There Music”
16. “Westside”
17. “Till The Morning” Feat. Lil Durk and Young Thug
18. “Whew’ Chile”
19. “Concrete Boys”

Road House is a movie that not only seems to get better with age, the stories about Road House seem to get better too. It’s great that Road House went from being universally panned to becoming one of the most-viewed movies ever on cable, but even greater that Bill Murray and his brothers would prank call Kelly Lynch’s husband and do running commentary every time it played on cable. (“Kelly’s having sex with Patrick Swayze right now. They’re doing it. He’s throwing her against the rocks.”)

That may go down as the greatest Road House story of them all, but we did manage to get a few more from director Rowdy Herrington when we talked to him for our retrospective. As one of Herrington’s stories went, Julie Michaels, who played the movie’s other blonde, Denise, who strips for Dalton (Swayze) and plays armpiece for Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara), won her part by writing “property of Joel Silver” on her thigh during her audition. Joel Silver being the super-producer (Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, The Matrix, a million other things) who pitched Road House to potential cast members in three words: “boobs and bombs.”

I didn’t want to just take Herrington’s word for it, I had to hear it from Michaels herself. And as it turns out, she’s had a pretty interesting career herself. After booking her first movie role in Road House when she was just 19, she went on to train with famous kickboxer Benny “The Jet” Urquidez and eventually transitioned to doing stunts full time. She’s also a former NCAA gymnast who trained kickboxing in Thailand. In addition to Road House, you can see her as the topless babe who beats up Keanu Reeves in Point Break. She’s currently married to stunt coordinator Peewee Piemonte (for 26 years) and the two shared an Emmy nomination last year for their work on SEAL Team for CBS.

It’s a hell of a resume. When I first reached out, I had no idea Julie Michaels would turn out to be the pin-up version of The World’s Most Interesting Man, but here we are.

—

You came up when I was researching [a Road House retrospective] and, naturally, I wanted to hear your story of how you got involved in the movie.

I had just moved to Hollywood from Florida. I went into an agent’s office because a friend of mine had a scheduled meeting with the agency and I went with him, just to go. I was sitting in the lobby, and when he came out of his meeting, the agent came out and he looked at me. He goes, “Are you an actress?”, and I said, “Yes, sir. I am.” He goes, “Come in here.” So I went into the office and 10 minutes later he gave me a slip of paper of where to show up for an audition, which turned out to be for Road House.

What was that audition like?

All six of them, you mean?

Oh wow. Yeah.

They were very, very, thorough for sure. There was a regular audition with the casting director and then later with the director, Rowdy Herrington, one with producer Joel Silver, and then there was a dance audition. There were several auditions. I think at the time I was too young to be nervous. It was just fun. One thing just got more fun than the next, and all the rest, as they say, is history. It seems kind of unfair, although I had already done several years of stage work by then but very little movie acting… In fact, I wasn’t even in the union, I was so young. So it was all a big learning curve.

I’ve always been kind of a seat-of-the-pants kind of girl and I learn really fast. And I was surrounded with really fabulous people, from our DP to Rowdy, and a plethora of actors that just had hearts that were bigger than their bodies. Terry Funk and some of the fight guys were my kind of guys, just from being physical and an athlete, so I would hang a lot with them. Of course, Patrick was always really great. Sam Elliot, to me, is like the ultimate guy on the planet. So sitting on the back of the grip truck with my little feet just dangling over, kicking like a little kid, listening to his stories and his lovely voice, it was a dream come true. It was one of those things that people say, “That’ll never happen,” you know? It happened.

How old were you at this point?

I think I was 19.

The way Rowdy Herrington told it, he said that you pulled your dress up and you had written “Property of Joel Silver” on your leg.

I had a very smart agent. In a dance audition, you’ve got to do something that’s pretty fab, so that was his suggestion. And I had the balls to do it. So I wrote “Property of Joel Silver” on the inside of my thigh. Kicked my leg up and stuck my foot on the top of his desk and the rest. Everybody blushed. It was great.

Yeah.

I’m surprised he remembered that. That’s so cool.

You went on to do stunts. You weren’t doing stunts before Road House were you?

Well, I was a martial artist. And I always hung with the stunt guys, but I always thought, “These guys are crazy.” But I always found myself hanging with them, just because I was an NCAA gymnast at the University of Washington. So I had that team mentality, and acting isn’t always like that. It’s more solo, where with stunts, everybody is as important as the next person. And I found myself hanging with them more and more. Then, right after that, I got cast in Point Break with Patrick and Keanu Reeves, and it was because of my fights. That’s when it really started open up, that the action on film is stuff that I just feel very connected to. Acting is my first love and will always be my first love, but when you can add stunts on top of that, it made me feel like a really authentic actor. And this was in the days of, the studios took you under their wing and you learned to fight, and you learned to ride horses, and you learned to do swordplay. That, to me, I felt was being the entire athlete and actor all into one.

Did you want to have more fight scenes in Road House?

No, because at that time for me, my plate was full with just making this character work. It wasn’t that mindset. She was an arm piece and she knew it. She was caught and she knew it. At the end of the film, they were talking about alternate endings and I was like, “Oh my gosh. Let me kill him [Brad Wesley]. She’s already beaten the crap out of him. Let me be the one. I’ll go to jail for it.” Ultimately, obviously, they didn’t do that, but for the most part, I wanted to do that one job and do it really well.

What do you remember about shooting the movie? I grew up in Reedley, California where part of it was filmed. I was just wondering if you might remember anything about any of the times you guys had shooting there.

There’s a thousand. We shot for a decent period of time. But most of it was, again, very new to me, so everything was fun. Everything was exciting. We flew up to Fresno to shoot the stuff around the ranch. It was neat experience to me because it was also the day that I met Sensei Benny [“The Jet”] Urquidez and became one of his students. We rode in the limo from the airport to the set, and he just introduced himself as Benny. I didn’t know who he was. He was the kindest, most humble, most delightful man I’d ever met. And then I got out of the limo and Charlie Picerni, the stunt coordinator, said, “I see you met Benny The Jet,” and I thought I was going to choke. He looked over at me with this cute little sweet sheepish grin as if to say, “It’s no problem. It’s okay.” But I couldn’t speak because I was like, “All this time I’m sitting next to Benny The Jet!” So that, for me, was one of the first parts of the shooting process that was so exciting and so fun.

Then we walked through this long field, Charlie Picerni, myself, and Sensei, and some of the guys were shooting bow and arrows. And he was walking and talking with me, picked up a bow and arrow without barely even looking through his sight and shot a bullseye. He put it down, and just kept walking. Again, I thought, “Holy crap.” Two of the most amazing men on the planet.

Everybody had this very unique je ne sais quoi. They did. Marshall Teague, the same way. Terry Funk became a very close friend of mine. I just loved him, and he has great uniqueness he brought to it. And the casting overall, to me, was what made this movie so great, was that it was like a modern-day western with the black hat and the white hat, and all these really fabulous henchmen.

So you were practicing martial arts before the movie? What were you practicing before that?

I grew up on a ranch, so I was very physical to begin with. And being a gymnast, that lent itself to really being physical in that manner. And I went to Asia and studied in Thailand. When I came back, it was just a few months before I decided that I was going to move to Los Angeles. The Thai style, they weren’t very accepting of women, as you can understand. In that a) it was brutal, and b) it was just not done. But I found coaches that would do it, and then trained in Florida before I came. Then once I got here, it was like, “Okay.” My sights were set on acting, and it wasn’t until Road House when I met Sensei Benny when I said, “Okay, now I know what Sensei I’m going to study with here.”

Then you studied with him for how long?

Several years.

When I was talking to Rowdy, he was talking about how when they were shooting that scene in downtown Reedley, the women had all come out of their offices and were peaking around corners trying to see Patrick, like he was a huge rockstar. Do you remember anything like that?

No, not really, because most of the stuff that I dealt with him was pretty one-on-one. He was so quiet and humble on set that even though I knew he had done Dirty Dancing…he really wasn’t as well-known to me, and I just knew him as “Buddy.” I look back at it now, I remember the day he passed away and I stood outside on my deck and I cried for three hours. All I could remember was that he was so humble and so kind to me. It was a very difficult thing to do the strip dance, but I knew I had to do it and I knew I had to be on point with it. And he made it so easy. His wife Lisa, too. She pulled me aside and she goes, “Look. You’re an actress. Act. Just do it.” Both of them made a big difference to me. So to me, they were just kind of like aunt and uncle. It wasn’t like, “Oh my gosh, it’s Patrick Swayze.” They made me feel a bit like family.

What was Joel Silver like?

Joel was awesome. He’s Mr. “Boobs and Bombs.” He actually named my hooters. He named them… I can’t even remember, Frank and Henry, I think it was. He would go, “It’s going to be Frank and Henry day coming up.” He was great. He knew his stuff. He’s about as good as they get when it comes to action. He would call on me to help some of the younger girls, if you can imagine that. Younger in the business, so to speak, to help them to try to get some of them a line or two. I felt like he was very fair. At the end of shooting, they kind of ran out of money, so instead of paying us they offered us our wardrobe. And we were like, “Heck yeah. I’ll take that wardrobe!” I still have my wardrobe from Road House.

So wait, they didn’t pay you at the end?

They ran out of money, and they basically said to everybody, “We don’t have any money. If you don’t want to work this week, we understand.” We’re like, “No, I want to work,” and he ended up giving us our wardrobe as payment.

Oh, I see. So you’d worked for the contracted amount of time, and they wanted you to come back for reshoots and they didn’t have the money for it?

Well, it wasn’t reshoots. It was just finishing it. I don’t remember. I don’t think it was a lot. I think it was just one of those things like, “We’re done.” They were toast.

You’ve been in the movie business for quite a while now. Is there anything that stands out to you about Road House that you think would be different now, or that you couldn’t get away with now, or anything like that?

Not necessarily couldn’t get away with, but it hit at a perfect time. The ’80s were a big action time, and it was action that was more realistic, not so much of the CGI. It was based on character-driven action, and it was a really powerful era for that. Now, I think stuff is so much over-the-top, and while that was campy, it wasn’t over-the-top. It was stuff that really legitimately could have happened. But it was because there was a clear line between the black and the white hat. Today, a lot of that is not really that clear, so the audience doesn’t quite know who to cheer for. Back then, they really knew who they were going to cheer for, and it had the best one-liners.”Oh, I thought you’d be bigger.” You know?

Yeah.

I also thought it was really great that when they wrote that script, they wrote this part about a blind guitarist. And somebody had seen Jeff Healey somewhere, and then it went to California and they cast him, not knowing that that’s who it was actually written for. He sat around some days and he was like, “Why am I doing this? This is such a waste of time. I should be on the road.” I’m like, “No, Jeff. You have to understand. This is going to make you a household name.” He’s like, “Really? I just think it’s a waste of time.” I’m like, “Dude, I’m telling you.”

That’s a great story. That era compared to now, what are some things you miss? What are some things you’re glad are not the same way that they were? Are there differences that stand out in your mind?

I don’t think so just because it’s more about the genre than the era. There are changes in the genre, for sure, but era-wise the biggest change for me is visual effects. I just think that unless you’re doing a fantasy, it ruins it. When we do our stunts, my husband is all about as honest as you can make it, as real as you can make it and make it safe. We’ve done some stuff that’s been crazy, but we did it because we knew we could do it safely and it was real, because I think people appreciate that.

There’s movies I see that are directed by stunt guys now, and even some of those, like they keep shaking the camera. I like the old ones where you could see the stunts.

Yeah. Agreed. Well-played. Yes, exactly.

Anyway, I appreciate you giving me so much time. Is there anything you want to add before I let you go that I didn’t ask you about?

No, I don’t think so. That was kind of fun going down memory lane, though, I have to tell you.

Yeah, for me too.

It is kind of interesting to know that it is the number one movie on television. Did you know that?

I heard that, yeah.

Did Rowdy tell you that?

Yeah, he said something like that.

Crazy.

I know the Bill Murray story about him calling Kelly Lynch’s husband every time it’s on TV.

That’s funny, right? I think they said it played in the movie theaters in Alaska for like a year. It’s crazy. It’s just one of those that for some reason… It’s all-American, blood and guts, boobs and bombs. It’s got a little something for everyone and some pretty nice performances.

Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can read more retrospectives here.

When the weather warms up, many of us instantly grab for bottles of vodka, gin, tequila, and rum. We just assume that sunny, hot days were made for cocktails using these spirits. But, if we do that, we’re missing out on one of the best warm-weather refreshers ever invented: the whiskey highball.

So, what is a whiskey highball? The whiskey highball is a tall drink made with whiskey, ice, a lime wedge, and your choice of ginger ale, soda, water, seltzer, or pretty much any sparkling water you enjoy. It’s simple, delicious, and always refreshing, especially when the sun’s out.

You’d also be remised to forget to mention Japan when enjoying a whiskey highball. When many people think of this thirst-quenching drink, they’re thoughts instantly go to Japan. Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii opened a chain of whisky highball bars referred to as “Torys” all over Japan more than 60 years ago. In recent years, the Japanese version has seen a bit of a resurgence with Suntory Toki being the go-to whisky for true fans of the drink.

Since we’re all about broadening our horizons whenever possible, we asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us their go-to whiskeys to mix into a whisk(e)y highball.

Sazerac Rye

Zack Musick, beverage director at Merriman’s Hawaii

My personal favorite is Sazerac Rye because it complements the ginger ale in a classic highball. But if you decide just to use soda water, Sazerac has enough complexity to keep the drink exciting.

Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

Christopher Chamberlain, national beverage development manager at E. & J. Gallo Winery in Modesto, California

I love a good blended scotch & soda. Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch Whisky is a beautifully crafted spirit. When combined with Q Mixers Light Ginger Beer, it offers both a hint of smoke and ginger spice for a very refreshing highball. Add the expressed citrus oils of a freshly cut lemon peel to create a bright aromatic to mirror those sunny summer days.

Heaven Hill Bourbon

Kenneth McCoy, chief creative officer at The Rum House in New Orleans

Heaven Hill Bourbon 80 proof is perfect for the summer. It’s everything you want in bourbon but at a mild 80 proof. It won’t beat you up, making it perfect with ginger ale as a summer refresher.

Crown Royal Apple

Robert Swain Jr., owner of OnTheRoX Bartending Services in the British Virgin Islands

A glass of Crown Royal Apple a day keeps the doctor away! Talk about refreshing, Crown Apple and ginger ale is a perfect combination for the summer with its sweet and tart flavors.

Monkey Shoulder

Anna Mains, brand ambassador at Monkey Shoulder

Monkey Shoulder highballs are my go-to. Monkey Shoulder is made for mixing, so the bubbles from the soda really bring out the orange, ginger, and vanilla notes from the whisky. If you want to be a baller, Monkey Shoulder is pretty much a slam dunk.

Suntory Toki

James Simpson, beverage director at Espita in Washington, DC

Toki Japanese Whisky from House Suntory is the perfect whisky for highball sippin’ this Summer. It’s slightly malty, subtle, and one of those bottles that shows you new layers drink after drink. Experiment with the sparkling water to find that perfect combination. I recommend starting (or ending) with Topo Chico from Mexico.

West Fork All Or Nothing

Jacob Cantu, tasting room manager for West Fork Whiskey Co. in Indianapolis

West Fork Whiskey Co.’s All or Nothing Corn Whiskey mixes perfectly with soda water and a splash of lemon for the perfect highball. With 100 percent corn in the mash bill, the sweetness comes through minimizing the whiskey intensity. The perfect refreshing combo for summer.

Hibiki Harmony

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Once you mix it into an ice-filled Collins glass topped with soda, you’ll know why. This whiskey exudes smoothness.

Hakushu 12

Tim Wiggins, co-owner and beverage director of Yellowbelly in St. Louis

Hakushu 12 Japanese whisky is an obvious but stunning whisky to use in a highball. I don’t typically like American whiskey highballs so I would stay away from bourbon. For a budget highball that tastes expensive, I would recommend a Highland Queen highball.

Hudson Manhattan Rye

David Powell, brand ambassador at Tuthilltown Spirits

I usually make myself a Manhattan-style highball with Hudson Manhattan Rye, sweet vermouth, lime juice, ginger, and soda. It’s almost like a mule highball with the added layer of sweet vermouth to expand the flavor profile a little bit. I’m probably going to be enjoying my fair share of those this summer on my terrace.

Cathead Old Soul Bourbon

Todd Johnston, beverage director for QED in Nashville

Cathead, which is one of my favorite small southern distilleries out of Mississippi, recently released its bourbon. Their bread and butter is their vodka but this bourbon, named Old Soul, is fruity and crushable and would be great for an easy-drinking highball.

When the coronavirus became a life-changing international concern, music festivals across the world made the decision to postpone their events until later in the summer, or even into the fall. Now it appears that these delays may not be enough. Primavera Sound, for instance, was initially pushed back to August, but has since been rescheduled to 2021. Now it looks like Coachella is preparing for the possibility that they may need to cancel this year’s festival.

Coachella was originally set to go down in April, but in March, it was pushed back to October. Bloomberg reports, however, that Coachella is getting ready to abandon the idea of a festival happening this year: Organizers are apparently asking artists scheduled to play the 2020 festival if they could perform in 2021 instead. While Goldenvoice hasn’t made any sort of public statement about canceling/postponing this year’s festival, this report appears to be a strong sign that at the very least, Coachella 2020 is in jeopardy.

At the top of 2020, Coachella revealed its lineup for this year’s festival, and it features Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Rage Against The Machine, Thom Yorke, Lana Del Rey, Calvin Harris, Run The Jewels, Megan Thee Stallion, Disclosure, Brockhampton, Charli XCX, Lil Uzi Vert, FKA Twigs, Lil Nas X, Carly Rae Jepsen, and others.

Notably, Coachella was one of the first major festivals to announce a postponement earlier this year, which set a precedent for other festivals to do the same. So, if Coachella really is pushed back to 2021, the 2020 festival season more broadly could be in big trouble.

If Coachella is actually delayed to 2021, maybe the delay will give the festival a chance to “stop sucking,” as Elon Musk put it.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

John David Washington had dreams of playing in the National Football League; he was even signed by the then-St. Louis Rams in 2006, and bounced around NFL Europe and United Football League, before an achilles injury ended his career. Luckily, he had a backup plan: Washington is now the leading man in a Christopher Nolan movie, like Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, and Matthew McConaughey before him. It helps that his father is Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, but as everyone who saw BlacKkKlansman can attest, Washington is a damn fine actor in his own right.

It was actually at the BlacKkKlansman world premiere where Nolan took note of his future-star. Esquire recently spoke to Spike Lee, who told journalist Kate Storey to pass this message to Nolan: “Dear Chris, this is your cinema brother, Spike Lee. I’m looking forward to seeing Tenet, starring the great, great John David Washington. Thank you for casting him and making yourself look good. Thank you for casting him, for hoisting him into the stratosphere. My question for you is: Did you decide that you’re going to cast John David Washington at the world premiere of BlacKkKlansman?”

Nolan responded:

“Oh, very much. By the way, it was a pretty intense experience to sit in front of Spike Lee at the premiere. And no, it very much sort of felt like destiny to me. That was an extraordinary screening, and the audience response to Spike’s movie was really electric in that room at Cannes; it was quite something. And I just felt a sort of magnetism there. It really was an important thing for me in terms of feeling like it was meant to be somehow.”

Nolan also said that he had previously seen Washington on Ballers, where he played Ricky Jerret, and it’s fun to imagine the super-serious filmmaker cracking open some cold ones with the boys (Leo) to watch Ballers. Make that into a $200 million movie.

Tenet comes out on July 17.

(Via Esquire)