Austin's favorite tequila has something new in store. Earlier this week, Tequila 512 simultaneously debuted an aged varietal and brand-new look.
With more than $1 million in funding from private investors and plans to make a big splash in the beverage world, Tequila 512 has updated its branding to convey excellence — evident by the brand's double-gold win at last year's San Francisco World Spirits Competition — while still reflecting its dedication to being "the prefect anytime tequila."
Founder Scott Willis describes the new look designed by local firm The Butler Bros. as "grown-up, sexy packaging that's still true to Austin and true to our brand." "Everything in my mind that I thought we already were," he says.
The state capitol and agave plant have been replaced by new iconography that acts as a subtle homage to agave and the distillery's use of volcanic spring water.
The label isn't the only thing new to Tequila 512. An añejo varietal has been added to the lineup that includes the award-winning blanco and the reposado, which debuted last year. Like the others, the añejo is triple-distilled with 100 percent agave in the Tequila region of Mexico.
Tequila 512 also is working with Republic National Distributing Company to expand its presence. Signing on with a national distributor means increased availability across the state and, eventually, in markets outside Texas.
Tequila 512's new look and añejo are on shelves across Austin now. Bottles retail for $25-$35.
There are some films for which making a sequel is natural, and others where a follow-up is wholly unnecessary. Gladiator, which both made tons of money and was named Best Picture at the Oscars, told an impactful stand-alone story that ended with the protagonist dead and no real loose ends. And yet because there’s always more money to be made, here we are 24 years later with Gladiator II.
The lead character this time around is Lucius (Paul Mescal), a general in a North African army who becomes a prisoner of war when the Roman army led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) bests him and his troops in battle. Taken back to Rome, he is put in the pool of captured men forced to fight at the Colosseum for the amusement of twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracella (Fred Hechinger).
Lucius is controlled by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), an ambitious schemer who bets liberally on his prized fighter and always has an eye to move up in the world. Meanwhile, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the sister of Emperor Commodus from the first film, is now married to Marcus Acacius and has a unique connection with Lucius that is fairly obvious from the get-go.
Directed once again by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa, the film commits a number of sins throughout its 150-minute running time, the most blatant of which is that, aside from a few embellishments, it essentially tells the same story as the first film. Lucius, like Maximus, is a deposed military leader who’s out for revenge on the person who killed his family. Instead of one obnoxious emperor, there are now two. And the only way for Lucius to earn his freedom is to fight his way out.
Stories told in the same world can echo each other and, if done well, overcome those similarities. But Gladiator II is shockingly boring for a purported sword-and-sandals epic. Scott and his team try to introduce new elements to the fights, like a gladiator riding a rhinoceros or a ship battle inside the Colosseum (with sharks!), but most of the sequences are inert with no propulsion to them.
The action fails because none of the relationships in the film amount to much. There are stand-out characters like Macrinus and the twin emperors, but instead of creating antipathy or strong feelings of triumph or defeat, the story just kind of happens without any sense of excitement or importance. Much of that issue lies at the feet of Lucius, who simply doesn’t inspire in the same way that Russell Crowe’s Maximus did.
Mescal is a fine actor who’s done good work in more intimate roles, but he’s not up to the task of being an action star, at least not in this film. Any bombast he shows with the character feels forced, and the story doesn’t give him enough opportunities to counteract that lack. Washington, however, fills up the screen with his charisma, and it’s during his scenes that the film comes closest to being rousing. Quinn and Hechinger are a lot of fun as the twin emperors, but in the end they feel like retreads of Joaquin Phoenix from the original.
Any sequel should have a purpose that sets it apart from what came before, but Scott, Scarpa, and the rest of their team fail in that respect in Gladiator II. It’s a mostly lifeless film that delivers scenes that would be exciting if they had any kind of good story to back them up.
