Float Fest 2018

San Marcos Float Fest makes waves with stacked music lineup for 2018

Fort Worth '90s rock heroes Toadies will be at Float Fest 2018.

Photo courtesy of KirtlandRecords.com

Feel like floating the river with a beer in your hand while listening to some of the best music acts around? The fifth annual Float Fest, set for July 21 and 22 in San Marcos, has just announced its lineup, and it's stacked with some of the best international and regional talent.

Big headliners include rap superstar Snoop Dogg; Australian psych-rock group Tame Impala; EDM powerhouse Bassnectar; and indie stalwarts Modest Mouse (they have to play "Float On," right?).

The event will take place at Cool River Ranch just outside of San Marcos, with access to tubing on the San Marcos River. The best part is organizers have scheduled performances on two stages — "Sun" and "Water" — so no one will miss a single performance.

Other anticipated acts include hot-as-a-Texas-summer rap duo Run the Jewels, Gary Clark Jr., U.K. indie rock band Glass Animals, rapper Lil Wayne, DJ extraordinaire Cashmere Cat, New York rock act Joywave, New Orleans' famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and electronic musician Com Truise.

A variety of Texas standouts are also slated to play, including alt-rock legends Toadies, Austin psych-rock band White Denim, vehicle Blackillac, Austin-based A Giant Dog, Houston hip-hop legend Bun B, R&B collective The Suffers, and indie rock group Vodi.

General admission tickets are $119 for the weekend, which includes camping. Daily passes ($79) and various VIP packages are also available (we recommend dropping the $30 for access to the Frigid Float Lounge to combat the hot temps). For more ticket options and to purchase passes, go here.

EDM superstar Bassnectar will lay down the beats at Float Fest 2018.

Bassnectar Facebook

EDM superstar Bassnectar will lay down the beats at Float Fest 2018.

music concerts festivals

Movie Review

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 plays to the interests of video game fans

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) in Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie in 2020 was one of the few video game adaptations that managed to appeal to both fans of the Sega game and those who just want to watch a fun movie. As the series moved into a second and now third film, though, it’s become increasingly reliant on giving the video game fans what they want, with not as much attention paid toward simply telling a good story.

In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) continues to live with human friends Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter), as well as Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba), who stuck around after the events of the second film. Dispensing with any kind of narrative coherence, the trio is called away by an undefined military force to help with the escape of Shadow (Keanu Reeves), another alien hedgehog who has been locked away off the coast of Japan for many years.

Suffice it to say that the trio does not initially fare well against the powerful Shadow, forcing Sonic to do the unthinkable: Ask his nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey), for help. What Sonic doesn’t anticipate is that Shadow has a history that left him with a grudge against most of human society, and he’s intent on using his powers — with a little help from his former mentor, Gerald Robotnik (also Carrey) — to exact his plans for revenge.

Made by the same team of director Jeff Fowler and writers Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the film is a combination of manic action, jokey sequences, and a dash of heart. The addition of Shadow ups the mayhem considerably, and the filmmakers rarely slow things down (although, oddly, the super-speed of Sonic and company feels lessened this time around).

The initial casting of Carrey gave the comic actor permission to indulge in whatever wackiness he could imagine, and giving him two roles in this film means double the nonsense. Ivo and Gerald (who’s Ivo’s grandfather, for the record) face off in a number of silly scenes, none more absurd than a dance sequence aboard a space station threatening to explode Earth (yeah, this movie is a lot).

Does the plot make a lick of sense? Absolutely not, but the filmmakers seem to acknowledge that fact, throwing anything and everything at the screen to try to entertain kids and/or fans of the video game series. It should come as no surprise that the end credits tease yet more characters from the video games joining the franchise, making it abundantly clear who is expected to get the most enjoyment out of the series going forward.

In addition to Carrey, the voice actors continue to make the characters fun. Schwartz and O’Shaughnessey provide the cartoon-style acting, while Elba and now Reeves give a nice counterbalance with their deep and serious voices. Marsden and Sumpter aren’t given much to do this time around, and Krysten Ritter shows up as Director Rockwell, a character who’s mostly there to move what little plot there is further along.

A four-quadrant movie is one that appeals to all ages and genders; Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a one or maybe two-quadrant movie at most. But it’s more fun than the other family-friendly offering this Christmas season, and fans of the video game will likely love the depiction of their favorite characters on screen, so it’s doing something right.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now playing in theaters.

movies film