The Best Weekend of Your Life

How to make the most of ACL Fest 2012: 5 insider tips

Photo courtesy of Austin City Limits
Photo courtesy of Study Breaks

Well, this is it. Starting Friday, we're knee-deep in ACL Fest for the last three-day weekend format before it switches over to an improved two-weekend schedule next year.

Even for veterans, the festival feels like a different beast from year to year, with new bands and different ways of experiencing the music. To keep you festival-goers happy and on top of your game, CultureMap has pulled together the top five tips on what's in store for you at this year's festival.

Enhancements to wristband credentials
The best news for one-day attendees is the opportunity to have a wristband, allowing for everyone to come in and out of the park as they please. This was not the case before, and it has led to thousands of disheartened music lovers throughout the years.

Now, with the RFID capabilities, you can register your wristband, allowing you to replace it if you somehow lose it in a mosh pit. Registering your wristband also enters you to win VIP upgrades and prizes from the festival.

Improvements to the ACL Fest 2012 app
The ACL app has been vital to scheduling the festival for years, but now you can also use the GroupMe chat function, which allows you to stay in communication with your group across the park. (Don't lose the flags or blow-up dolls, though. That's tradition.)

You can also post Instagram photos for the whole festival to see just by tagging #aclfest. And the music doesn't stop once you leave the park, thanks to the Slacker Radio ACL Fest Channel, which is streaming shows throughout the weekend.

Wider selection of Austin-friendly food and drink
The amazing food selection is one of the best parts about ACL Fest, and this year it's even better. Chi'lantro and Second Bar + Kitchen are two of the new additions to the ginormous food tent area, which already features Mighty Cone, Mandola's, Seedling Truck and Salt Lick.

Additionally, reflecting Austin's growing reputation as a serious craft-brewing community, the Zilker Drafthouse tent will have a huge selection of craft beers on tap.

Watch the Texas-OU game at the festival
It's a rare occurrence when the famous Red River Rivalry falls on the same weekend as ACL Fest, but this year some very hard decisions had to be made by fans of football and rock. For those who chose ACL, we salute you.

You should know that you can still watch the game on Saturday at the Rock Island Hideaway (in the middle of the festival, behind the Austin Ventures stage). Just make sure you're wearing burnt orange because this is Longhorn territory.

Watch the festival action on the web
If you didn't get tickets, don't fret too much. Although you won't get to experience the artists in person, you can basically get a front row seat in the comfort of your home by tuning in to the ACL Fest YouTube channel. This official webcast happens in real time, filmed onstage with the performers, so you don't have to miss a moment of the action.

It's easier than running from stage to stage while two of your favorite acts are performing at the same time (like, ahem, Friday night).

Those are the biggest announcements for this year, so now you're in the know. If I were your mother, I would also remind you to check the weather updates every morning and plan accordingly. You might need a poncho and sunscreen on the same day if this weather keeps up.

Go now. Have fun. Be safe. Wear earplugs. Come home at a decent hour. Make good choices. You know how we worry about you.

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Movie Review

Chris Pratt plays one man against the AI machine in thriller Mercy

Photo courtesy Amazon Content Services

Chris Pratt in Mercy.

It seems like every other movie set in modern times being released these days includes either a reference to or a plot revolving around artificial intelligence. In the real world, the benefits of the technology compete with its downsides, but when it comes to movies A.I. is almost always seen as a threat, including in the new film Mercy.

The audience is thrown headlong into the slightly futuristic story involving LAPD Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), who finds himself strapped in a chair in a sparse room, being told that he is on trial for killing his wife. Turns out he’s in a court dubbed “Mercy,” which is overseen by an AI judge named Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson). By the rules of the court, Raven has 90 minutes to provide reasonable doubt of his guilt, or he will be executed on the spot.

Raven is in a multi-pronged quandary: Not only does he believe he’s innocent despite a trove of evidence pointing to his guilt, but he’s also the poster boy for the law enforcement side of the equation, having arrested the first man who went to Mercy. Anger and disbelief for Raven turn into acceptance, which then turns into him tapping into his detective skills, scrutinizing every shred of evidence the court provides him in a desperate attempt to save his own life.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Marco van Belle, the film is a relatively propulsive thriller despite having a so-so story and even worse acting. The film is told in real time (with a few fudges here and there), so the concept alone of a man trying to prove his innocence in a short amount of time provides good intrigue. Bekmambetov’s use of digital elements as Raven scrolls through files or calls potentially exculpatory witnesses like his partner, Jaq Diallo (Kali Reis), keeps the film visually interesting.

On the other hand, the swift viewing of videos and documents by Raven, not to mention the high degree of cooperation by Judge Maddox, opens up more than a few plot holes. The filmmakers try to explain away a few leaps in logic by having Raven falling off the sobriety wagon the night before, but they can only use that excuse for so long. They also have the AI judge experience technical glitches along the way, errors that seem to point toward a wider conspiracy until they’re completely forgotten.

More than anything, it’s difficult to get over the wooden acting of Pratt and the misuse of other usually reliable actors. Pratt has no real presence, especially when he’s confined to a chair, so any emotion he tries to conjure up comes off as contrived. Ferguson is done no favors by a role that shows only her upper body and has her alternating between robotic and oddly sympathetic. Reis earned an Emmy nomination for True Detective: Night Country, but has little to do here, a fate that also takes out Chris Sullivan as Raven’s AA sponsor.

If you’re okay with turning off your brain for a little while, Mercy can be an enjoyable watch. But if you find yourself scrutinizing why characters make the odd decisions they do, or the wishy-washy way the film approaches AI in general, then you’re likely to find the whole thing lacking.

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Mercy is now playing in theaters.

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