Gruene Hall has two-stepped its way to No. 38 on the list.
Gruene Hall/ Facebook
The people have spoken: When it comes to concert venues, Texas has some of the best.
Yelp has compiled a list of the top 50 small and midsize music venues across the U.S., based on number of reviews and overall star rating on its site, and the Lone Star State scores big with six.
Unfortunately no San Antonio spots make the cut, but we can rest easy knowing a beloved neighbor has received the recognition it deserves. "Texas' oldest dance hall," Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, is No. 38. It makes a major impression for its history (originally built in 1878 and largely unchanged since), lack of air conditioning (the side walls open up), and cash-only bar (history, y'all).
The No. 1 spot overall goes to Skylark Lounge in Austin. Concert-goers praise the old-school music club's dark and dingy "dive vibe," along with its pretty decent pizza.
Also in Austin? The Cactus Cafe, the intimate listening room on the University of Texas campus, comes in at No. 27, and The Little Longhorn Saloon, everyone's favorite place for Chicken Shit Bingo, squeaks in at No. 50.
Two Dallas venues round out the Texas representation. Oak Cliff's Kessler Theater, once owned by country star Gene Autry, is No. 11. The Granada Theater, in Lower Greenville, lands at No. 42. Next-door neighbor Sundown at Granada is a huge plus for those looking for a nosh before or after the show.
Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Tommy Martinez, Emily Blunt, and Josh O'Connor in Disclosure Day.
With the release of Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg has now directed 17 feature films over 26 years in the 21st century, the exact same number over the exact same period of time he did in the 20th century. The first half of his career was mostly defined by his blockbuster films, while the second half has seen him exploring a lot more serious material. Disclosure Day marries the two for an experience only he could deliver.
The film starts in medias res, as Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) is being pursued by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) and a team of henchmen for stealing intellectual property from Wardex, a government contractor for which he works. As the audience gradually discovers, Daniel is a cyber-security programmer who has discovered evidence of alien life in the company’s servers. He and others within the company, including Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), are determined to release the information to the public.
Concurrently, television meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) starts experiencing weird things, including the ability to speak multiple languages and read people’s minds. Without either of them actively trying to seek each other out, Daniel and Margaret are set on a path to meet, with Scanlon (with the help of a mysterious alien device) trying to track their every move.
Directed by Spielberg and written by David Koepp, the film is an almost even mix between classic Spielberg wonder and a deep story about what it is to be human. By starting the film in the middle of the story, Spielberg immediately ramps up the excitement level. While the movie has relatively little action, that sequence and a few others deliver the type of propulsiveness for which Spielberg is revered, keeping the 145-minute film moving at a brisk pace.
Of the different types of alien movies Spielberg has made over the years, this one is closer to Close Encounters of the Third Kind than E.T. The story ponders the ethical, religious, political, and sociological effects that revealing the existence of aliens could have on the world. The debates had by various characters purposefully take the film out of being a sheer popcorn flick, forcing the audience to grapple with issues that they may have never considered before.
Unlike some other Spielberg films, he and Koepp don’t hold the audience’s collective hand throughout the story. There are a lot of times when viewers have to use context clues to understand exactly what is happening. That especially goes for an extremely important aspect of the world in which the story takes place that could pass you by if you’re only paying attention to the main characters’ dialogue. Spielberg’s using only subtle allusions for an element which would be the main focus of most other films is a fascinating choice.
O’Connor (Wake Up Dead Man, Challengers) has that everyman quality that a story like this needs. It always feels like it's him against the world, and does a terrific job of exuding both confidence and fear. Blunt delivers a fantastic performance, switching between confusion and composure with ease. Firth makes for a solid villain, and the story is helped by great turns from Domingo and Eve Hewson.
The idea that the nearly 80-year-old Steven Spielberg is still making blockbuster-style movies over 50 years after he made Jaws is astonishing, and the fact that he still knows how to make them work is even more impressive. Disclosure Day may not be the type of alien movie many were expecting, but it’s another high water mark in a career that has been full of them.
