Dallas top 40 radio station 103.7 KVIL is getting into the concert festival business, putting on the first-ever Poptopia at South Side Ballroom on September 24, featuring such acts as Phillip Phillips, Magic!, A Great Big World and ZZ Ward.
The lineup is heavy on up-and-comers, as all four main acts have released their debut albums in the last three years.
Phillips is the most well-known of the four, having won American Idol in 2012 thanks in part to his memorable coronation song "Home," which proceeded to take over the charts and television soundtracks. After the huge success of his first album, Phillips released his sophomore effort, Behind the Light, earlier this year.
Magic!, which just released its debut album, Don't Kill the Magic, at the beginning of July, is currently competing for song of the summer with "Rude."
A Great Big World reached its current great big status thanks to the song "Say Something" off their debut album, Is There Anybody Out There? Following its usage on So You Think You Can Dance, Christina Aguilera gave it a big boost by asking the band to re-record it with her, whereupon it became a top 10 single.
The concert also features appearances from British pop singer Katy Tiz, Dallas socialite Courtney Kerr and lifestyle guru Steve Kemble, among others. Gates open at 6 pm, and the show starts at 7.
Tickets for Poptopia are $39.50 apiece and go on sale at 10 am on July 25 at www.kvil.com.
American Idol winner Phillip Phillips is the headliner at the first-ever Poptopia on September 24.
Phillip Phillips Facebook
American Idol winner Phillip Phillips is the headliner at the first-ever Poptopia on September 24.
Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in The Christophers.
Director Steven Soderbergh is one of those filmmakers who — aside from the Ocean’s series — never seems to make the same kind of movie twice. He is somehow able to adapt his abilities to all sorts of different stories, making each of them as compelling as any other. His latest masterclass is in the London-set film, The Christophers.
Lori Butler (Michaela Coel), who restores art for a living, is approached by brother and sister Sallie and Barnaby Sklar (Jessica Gunning and James Corden) with a scheme. They want her to become the new assistant for their aging father, Julian (Ian McKellen), a famous artist known for a series called “The Christophers,” in order to gain access to unfinished paintings from the series and complete them herself.
Lori accepts the deal despite having some uneasy feelings about Julian, with whom she had a bad interaction years ago. Julian is just as wary, both because he knows of his children’s interest in the unfinished works, and because he would prefer to be left in peace. Although the trepidation on both sides continues for the bulk of the story, a grudging respect arises between two artists who know skill when they see it.
Directed by Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon, who last collaborated on No Sudden Move, the film is astonishing in its ability to be compelling with such a small story. Much of the film is spent inside Julian’s multi-story home as Julian and Lori have low-level confrontations about a variety of things, including the meaning of his art, her abilities, the fate of the remaining “Christophers,” and more. Each conversation brings out more detail about their worldviews and their thoughts about their lot in life.
Much of the success of the film lies in the performances of McKellen and Coel. The 86-year-old McKellen has not lost his ability to astonish with the spoken word, and the monologues he delivers are engrossing even when they’re about mundane things. Coel, best known for the 2020 HBO show I May Destroy You, is a great foil for McKellen, never backing down from his challenges and giving her own unique takes on her lines.
While the film can be enjoyable for non-art lovers, those who appreciate the vagaries of the art world will have a lot to chew on. Soderbergh and Solomon debate a lot of aspects of art, including whether it’s possible to separate the art from the person making it, why some art is valued more than others, the ethics of forgery, and more. Because the film is about a fictional artist, it gives the filmmakers a bit more freedom in their criticisms.
Aside from McKellen and Coel, Gunning (Baby Reindeer) and Corden are the only other two people who get significant screen time in the film. Both of them are, let’s say, acquired tastes, and each gives an elevated performance that matches the energy of their respective characters. Tilly Botsford makes a nice impression in a small role as Julian’s masseuse.
Soderbergh’s last three films — Presence, Black Bag, and now The Christophers — have nothing in common other than the expert filmmaker helming all of them. When you can make a ghost story, a spy film, and a small film about artists equally interesting, you know you’re doing something right.
