FRIDAY –
Obviously, Comic Con is in full swing. You either got tickets or you didn’t. And if you’re interested in all the related events downtown that you don’t need tickets for, you can Google it all.
For music DOWNTOWN, you can hear singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist BEN KWELLER at the Casbah.
Jamaican singer SISTER NANCY is at the Belly Up Tavern in SOLANA BEACH. Another Jamaican, JULIAN MARLEY is at the House of Blues DOWNTOWN.
THE AQUABATS always come to town during Comic Con, but they’re not at House of Blues this year, they’ll be at the Observatory in NORTH PARK.
For laughs, you’ve got NATASH LEGGERO, DANA GOULD, and a few other comedians at the American Comedy Company DOWNTOWN. They’ll be there Saturday, too.
At Snapdragon Stadium SAN DIEGO FC play the Nashville SC, who are in second place in the Eastern Conference.
SATURDAY –
A big sporting event. Literally. The WORLD WIDE SUMO SUPER POWER SHOW at Petco Park.
For tunes, the BRIAN JONES ROCK ‘N ROLL REVIVAL will perform at Humphrey’s on SHELTER ISLAND.
Local singing legend REBECCA JADE will be at Loews in CORONADO.
If you’re looking for tribute bands, you got lucky – THE PETTYBREAKERS are at the Belly Up Tavern in SOLANA BEACH.
SUNDAY –
Country Music Hall of famer MARTY STUART & HIS FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES are at the Belly Up Tavern in SOLANA BEACH.
There’s a matinee show on Sunday, of a terrific musical that runs Wednesday through Sunday at the Lamb’s Players Theatre in CORONADO. It reminded me a bit of MixTape, and it’s called THE ‘70s – THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE ALBUM. The band is top notch (I especially liked the female bassist, Avery Nelson). They did a disco segment, brought out horns for some funkier stuff (Stevie Wonder, Tower of Power), a segment covering the singer/songwriters of the early ‘70s (Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Rondstadt, etc.), as well as the stadium artists like Elton John, Queen, The Eagles, and about 50 other acts. It’s 2 and a half hours of fun, and they do such a great job of weaving in short stories on how the songs/albums were created, before going into the tunes we all know and love.
AT THE MOVIES…
OH, HI!
Writer/director Sophie Brooks should get credit for giving us a fun, charming, sexy, and sometimes scary (think “Misery”) rom-com. Sure, it may be a tad unbelievable at times, but my wife and I had a blast watching it. The premise starts with a flirty couple going for a weekend getaway. Things start wonderfully for them, until we find out she thinks they’re in a relationship and he admits he’s seeing other people and didn’t think they were exclusive. The conversations they have about it feel realistic. It was nice to see Logan Lerman, who was so great in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” And as Vince Vaughn would say in “Swingers” – he’s all growed up now! Molly Gordon, who my wife likes on “The Bear” and I loved in the underrated “Theater Camp” – is perfect as she goes through a range of emotions. Even the small parts I enjoyed. Comedian David Cross played the creepy neighbor, who had a few good lines. Polly Draper, a talented writer/director/actress (and mom to Alex and Nat Wolff), had an interesting phone call. [side note: at the San Diego International Film Festival, they showed her movie “Stella’s Last Weekend” and it was one of my favorites that year, yet it never was released in theaters for some reason]. This also has the best use of a Kenny Rogers song since “The Big Lebowski.” It’s baffling to me that the film is getting mixed reviews. I think everyone that sees it will be glad they did. 3 ½ stars out of 5.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS
The other Fantastic Four movies weren’t so fantastic. So I was pleasantly surprised that this one was stylish, and I liked the early 60s, retro look. The pop art aesthetic was stylish and fun. The production designs and sets were fun to look at. Vanessa Kirby was not only fun to look at, she stole the show here as Sue Storm. She and husband Mr. Fantastic are having a baby, which would be good news if the world wasn’t about to be destroyed by Galactus (Ralph Ineson). I brought my buddy who knows all about these characters and is big into comic books. He was bothered with Pedro Pascal as Fantastic because he’s in so many movies (to drive home that point, he’s also in “The Materialist” and “Eddington” – as Mayor Ted Garcia – all in theaters now). The Human Torch was played by Joseph Quinn, who kept reminding me of Robert Downey Jr. in “Iron Man.” Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell), who continues to get great supporting roles, plays Mole Man. The Silver Surfer was played by a woman – Julia Garner. She was okay in the role, but I didn’t care much for the character. One of the most interesting actresses around, Natasha Lyonne, played it straight here. I wanted her to have a few funny lines. Eben Moss-Bachrach (The Bear) was fun as Ben Grimm. He was a foodie, pining for love. The special effects worked well. There’s a cute baby, which is always a plus. And the humor worked. One of those has Grimm being forced to say a line about it being “clobbering time” right before a fight, because it was in the cartoon featuring him. I love looking at movie marquees in the background of films. In this, one of them was showing a picture called “Sunrise in Minsk.” There were also nice tributes in the beginning and end, to co-creator and artist Jack Kirby. My buddy had mixed feelings on the movie, liking how they did things with some characters, and disliking how some things were different from the comic books. I thought it was fun, even though it was cheesy at times, and it’s all rather forgettable. 3 stars out of 5.