With fancy, upscale bowling alleys sweeping across Dallas-Fort Worth, it was only a matter of time before the trend would reach West Plano. That will happen in January 2015 with the opening of Pinstack, a premier entertainment destination combining bowling lanes and restaurant.
Although that sounds a lot like Bowlmor, Bowlounge and Bowl & Barrel, the release calls Pinstack a "cutting-edge entertainment complex" that's "like nothing else in the region." Features include a full-service restaurant serving a chef-inspired menu of local and regional cuisine, a full bar, and a private dining area.
When completed, Pinstack will accommodate up to 2,000 guests with 28 state-of-the art bowling lanes with lane-side food and beverage service, a private bowling area, A/V capabilities, and Wi-Fi.
Pinstack will also include a two-level laser tag arena, a rock climbing wall and a high-ropes course suspended 20 feet above 100 of the newest video games and simulator technology. Okay, maybe Bowlmor, Bowlounge and Bowl & Barrel don't have those.
A VIP bowling lounge with eight lanes will be available for events with 20-180 guests. AV capabilities will include drop-down video screens. A slightly bigger events room will accommodate up to 250 guests and include 10 semi-private bowling lanes.
There will also be an outdoor covered patio with TVs and a granite top bar. No lanes, however.
Following Plano, a second Pinstack is slated to open in Fort Worth in 2016, at Alliance Town Center. Pinstack is operated by Entertainment Properties Group Inc., a Dallas-based group that operates five entertainment venues in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.
Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers in Reminders of HIm.
Texas author Colleen Hoover has gone from being a popular writer to a full-on celebrity in the 2020s, with the new film Reminders of Him marking the third adaptation of her books in just 19 months (a fourth, Verity, is scheduled for release in October 2026). All of her books that have been adapted so far - most notably It Ends With Us - are female-led stories that feature elements of romance and trauma, catnip for studios looking to appeal to the underserved demographic of women.
Leading the way in this film is Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), who returns to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming after spending years in prison for killing her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow), in a car accident. That relationship resulted in a daughter, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), whom Kenna gave birth to while imprisoned and is now being raised by her grandparents, Patrick (Bradley Whitford) and Grace (Lauren Graham).
Yearning to be a part of Diem’s life, Kenna tries to reconnect with Patrick and Grace, only to be rebuffed by Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), a former NFL player who now owns a local bar. In running interference, Ledger starts to become closer to Kenna, discovering that her tragic mistake shouldn’t be the only thing that defines her.
Directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Lauren Levine, the film features mostly surface level examinations of its themes and average performances, yet it winds up being effective thanks to a willingness not to rush through its storytelling beats. The filmmakers take the slow and steady approach toward the coupling of Kenna and Ledger, setting up their bond through a series of heart-to-heart conversations that makes any romance feel earned.
The majority of the focus is on Kenna reclaiming her place in the world, and on Ledger coming to terms with the fact that the person who killed his best friend is not inherently a bad person. The film definitely could have gone deeper in its explorations of grief and anger, but the sheer amount of time it takes in addressing the characters’ doubts and fears turns out to be sufficient for a film that’s not aiming to be considered a dramatic masterpiece.
It also helps that Caswill and Levine do a solid job of establishing the variety of characters that inhabit the film. Kenna and Ledger don’t always feel like fully-formed people, but they become so through their interactions with each other and the other townspeople. Lady Diana (Monika Myers), a girl with Down syndrome who lives in Kenna’s apartment complex, and Roman (Nicholas Duvernay), Ledger’s co-worker at his bar, help to broaden the appeal of the two leads.
Monroe has, to this point, been best known for starring roles in horror films like It Follows and Longlegs. While she does somewhat well in this role, her delivery is often more flat than you’d expect for a character going through what she does. Withers thankfully doesn’t remind viewers of his recent bomb Him, demonstrating a crossover appeal that should serve him well in the future. Whitford and Graham don’t get to do much, but their combined experience gives their roles exactly what is needed.
It may sound like damning with faint praise, but Reminders of Him is a competently made film that knows how to serve its core audience without insulting anyone who may not automatically be all-in for such a story. The filmmakers don’t try to force any of the key moments down the audience’s throat, and that stands out in a genre that’s not always known for its subtlety.
