Flipping out

Olympics' biggest stars join Simone Biles for thrilling DFW gymnastics 'spectacular'

Jordan Chiles, MyKayla Skinner, Jade Carey, and Grace McCallum dazzled Dallas-Fort Worth at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships before they won a trove of Olympic medals in Tokyo — and now they're coming back to entertain fans in a thrilling gymnastics "spectacular." Nearly every member of the Team USA gymnastics squad (minus one, sadly, Sunisa Lee, who is a freshman at Auburn University) will join headliner Simone Biles on the Gold Over America Tour stopping at Dickies Arena on October 9.

According to an August 19 news release, also performing will be 2016 Olympic gold and silver medalist and Dancing With The Stars champion Laurie Hernandez; All-American, NCAA National Champion and viral video sensation Katelyn Ohashi; winner of three gold medals in 2019 and 2020 at the Tokyo World Cup Morgan Hurd; elite gymnast Shilese Jones; former USA Gymnastics Women's Athlete of the Year Chellsie Memmel (who mounted a comeback at Nationals in Fort Worth); 2021 French Olympian Melanie De Jesus dos Santos; and 2018 NCAA National Champion from UCLA where she achieved 10 perfect 10’s, Peng-Peng Lee.

“The Athleta Presents Gold Over America Tour will match athleticism and entertainment,” Biles says in the release. “The show embodies the themes of empowerment and togetherness, which was on display in Tokyo. Together, all the gymnasts on this tour want to inspire the next generation of women and athletes.”

Beyond being a demonstration of eye-popping twists and flips, the show promises to promote values of empowerment, friendship, positive body image, mental health awareness, and self-confidence, organizers say.

But let's be real. We're there for the eye-popping twists and flips, too — and we know this dream lineup can raise the roof with them.

For those who need an Olympics refresher:

(Deep breath)

Houston's Biles — the most-decorated gymnast of all time — experienced a medical issue called "the twisties" after qualifying rounds, which made her death-defying stunts too dangerous to compete safely. When she suddenly dropped out of the team final, her Texas training mate Chiles and calm-and-collected teammate McCallum delivered some unscheduled clutch performances that helped win the team silver medal.

And then ... when Biles couldn't compete in the vault final, Skinner — who hadn't qualified, announced her retirement, and packed her bags to leave Tokyo — got the call to compete in Biles' spot and won herself a silver medal.

And then ... Carey, who'd flubbed her vault in the same final where Skinner won the silver medal, came charging back the next day with a stunning floor exercise and won herself a gold medal.

And then ... Biles returned triumphantly on the very last day of competition with a "twist-less" balance beam routine she could compete safely, and won herself a bronze medal.

(Exhale)

These shining stars of the Games will each perform some of their most famous routines mixed with career highlights, personal videos, and social media interactions; "the show is a high-energy, gymnastics-meets-pop-concert spectacular," the release says. A crew of gymnastic dancers under bright LED video screens and lights will heighten the adrenaline, and some ticketholders will get to join them onstage at the end.

It could be fans' last time to see Skinner perform, as she still plans to retire. Biles has not yet announced her future plans, but there was much pre-Olympics speculation that she'd hang up her leotard after this year, too. Both women are a "grandmotherly" 24 in a sport dominated by teenagers.

Local fans of Hernandez will be happy to see her back on the mats, too, as an injury in warmups at the National Championships took her out of the Fort Worth competition; she served as an NBC commentator at the Olympics. (Follow her comeback journey, as well as those of Hurd and other elite gymnasts, in the excellent docu-series Golden, streaming on NBC's Peacock app — one episode goes inside Dickies Arena for Nationals.)

The 35-city tour, which starts September 21 in Tucson, Arizona will also make Texas stops in San Antonio on October 6 and Houston on October 8.

Tickets for the Fort Worth show start at $46.50, available through Ticketmaster.

To sign up for more information about VIP packages and a chance to dance in the show finale, visit www.GoldOverAmericaTour.com. Follow on Instagram & Facebook @GoldOverAmericaTour, Twitter @GoldOverAmerica and YouTube. #GoldInAllOfUs

Five of these Team USA gymnasts are going on tour.

Getty Images

Five of these Team USA gymnasts are going on tour.

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Movie Review

Ryan Gosling tries to save the universe in Project Hail Mary

Photo by Jonathan Olley

Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary

The reasons behind the success of 2015’s The Martian, which earned over $630 million worldwide and got nominated for seven Oscars, had as much to do with the novel written by Andy Weir as it did with star Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott. Weir’s commitment to making an entertaining story that was also scientifically accurate proved to be easy to translate into a blockbuster movie.

The same is true for Weir’s 2021 novel, Project Hail Mary, now a film starring Ryan Gosling. Gosling plays Dr. Ryland Grace, who opens the film waking up from an induced coma, alone on an interstellar spaceship named the Hail Mary. As his foggy mind clears, he - and the audience - learn that he was recruited to help an initiative to save the world after it’s discovered that a mysterious phenomenon is causing the sun to cool down, threatening all life on Earth.

The film toggles back and forth between Grace’s time on the ship and his whirlwind journey of scientific discovery on Earth, with revelations coming on both sides. On Earth, he mostly deals with Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), the unflappable and unstoppable leader of the international coalition dedicated to solving the problem. And in space, orbiting the far-off star known as Tau Ceti, he encounters another being he names Rocky, a five-limbed creature that looks like a boulder which teams up with him to try to save both of their worlds.

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and written by Drew Goddard (who also wrote The Martian), the film melds multiple genres into an astonishingly great whole. It starts off as a mystery, morphs into science fiction, transitions into actual science, becomes a thriller, adds in plenty of drama, and - for good measure - features plenty of comedy along the way. Shifting tones like this film does is tricky for many filmmakers, but Lord and Miller prove to be masterful at knowing just how much of each to include before it becomes too much.

One of the biggest keys to the story is the fact that Grace is not a hero in the movie sense of the word. He’s very smart, but he’s also an everyman, teaching middle school science after being shunned from academia. The circumstances of how he ended up on the Hail Mary are doled out in pieces over the course of the film, but it’s clear from the start that Grace’s talents are not the ones found in your typical astronaut. Ironically, it’s him being forced to do heroic stuff that imbues him with an atypical type of bravery.

The relationship between Grace and Rocky is unique, and Rocky ends up being as endearing an alien that’s been featured in movies despite the fact that he has no face and speaks only in musical tones. The film does a very effective job of putting the audience in Grace’s shoes, having to figure out ways to communicate with Rocky at the same time as he’s trying to figure out how to complete a mission he wasn’t trained to do.

Gosling is the ideal actor to portray a man like Grace. Essentially alone for much of the film, his innate charm and humorous delivery keep the film from feeling like an extended monologue. The flashback scenes to his time on Earth feature solid performances from people like Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Lionel Boyce (The Bear), and more, who fill in the pieces of the story without feeling out of place.

Project Hail Mary is a crowd-pleaser in all the right ways, delivering plenty of thrilling action and funny moments while also digging deep into science nerd elements. With a movie star like Gosling in the lead and successful filmmakers like Lord, Miller, and Goddard behind the scenes, the film makes an early case for being one of best of the year.

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Project Hail Mary opens in theaters on March 20.

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