Navigating FFF Nites

No excuses: Our guide to eating, drinking and navigating around Fun Fun Fun Nites

Catch Austin band Orthy during FFF Nites.

Photo by Orthy/ Facebook

Sometimes you don't make it to Fun Fun Fun Fest for unfortunate reasons. Other times, you're lazy and simply don't feel like battling the large crowd. To counter any case for not partaking in Auditorium Shores merrymaking during the daylight hours, Fun Fun Fun Fest offers FFFNites, wherein you can see the same headlining bands, but in more intimate venues downtown.

To help guide your evenings, we broke down where to eat and drink in the establishments near to our favorite FFFNites shows, taking all thinking out of the equation for music —and party — lovers. Follow our plans and just focus on having a good time. Now you really have no excuse not to partake.

Thursday, November 7
Mohawk
Kurt Vile, The Tontons, Roger Sellers, Dana Falconberry, Leopold and His Fiction

Before the stacked lineup at Mohawk on FFF's opening Nite, treat yourself to a nice meal. It just might be your last civilized dining experience for the rest of the weekend (or at least the last dining experience you remember). Plus, Kurt Vile and his supporting lineup are so good, it might be refreshing to be in your right mind for the experience...

Go to The Backspace a few hours before the show (there's often a wait — don't let it deter you) a few blocks down on Sixth Street. Don't take a huge crowd; there's simply not space. Settle in at the bar or a cozy table and order a from-scratch, wood-fired pizza and bottle of wine.

After the show, head four blocks south from the venue to give The Gatsby, a new cocktail den, a try. The cocktails have cheesy names, but they're good, they're strong and they're served in a dark '20s-inspired den. But the real attraction is the back patio, which rivals Easy Tiger's in its expanse.

You can hash out the show there and head home at a decent hour so as to not burn yourself out before Friday.

Friday, November 8
Parish
Poolside, Bagheera, Orthy

Nu-disco duo Poolside will be supported by Austin's own indie-electro-inspired Orthy, and together they'll produce enough good, warm vibes to make you forget winter's approach and mentally transport you to a lazy summer day.

We're going to suggest grabbing a hotdog from eitherChicago House of Frank to keep the "poolside" theme going. Chicago House offers an expansive beer menu, while Frank has some knockout mixed drinks in Mason jars. Pick your poison, literally.

Your time spent inside Parish should put you in a chill good mood, so if you're feeling go-with-the-flow, it's time to go somewhere random. Like, say, the TheRussian House, where it's pretty likely you won't have to battle a crowd and you'll come back with a story — or at least with a new appreciation of vodka.

Saturday, November 9
Mohawk
Matt Bearden, Jenny Slate, Craig Robinson, Tenacious D, the Karaoke Underground

A comedy showcase provides the perfect opportunity to load up on margaritas at neighboring Serranos or 508 Tequila Bar, both of which are just a stone's throw from Mohawk.

This is one show you're not going to want to leave early and risk missing any epic one-liners, so fill up on some tried and true Tex-Mex after your day spent at the Fest — or after your day spent nursing a hangover from Friday night's revelry.

Afterwards if you have it in you, go to Easy Tiger, where you can take over a huge table with a group of friends and keep the comedic conversation going. Hungry again? Order the giant, freshly baked pretzel with housemade beer cheese.

Sunday, November 10
Hotel Vegas
The Impossibles

You made it to Sunday! You have to find it in you to support Austin's The Impossibles, who broke up in 2002 but reunited last year, to the delight of ravenous friends and fans, after a decade off. The group has teased on social media that new recordings are coming soon, so it will be interesting to see where they take their ska/punk/indie-rock sound now that they're all grown up.

Beforehand, go to Quickie Pickie and order a smattering of bar offerings — maybe crab cakes, cocktail sausages and French fries (remember it's not so much a bar as a high-end neighborhood market-cum-cafe). Point being, you can eat quickly and have time to walk across the street to Longbranch Inn, a dive that — though it has existed on East 11th Street in one form or another since the 1930s — feels more like Brooklyn than it does Austin.

After the show, stay at Hotel Vegas. In the adjoining Volstead Lounge, a huge crowd that's spent its weekend at Fun Fun Fun Fest will be assembled making it the perfect place to bid adieu to the weekend until next year.

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A Fun Fun Fun wristband gives you access to the corresponding night's Fun Fun Fun Nites shows.

Catch Austin band Orthy during FFF Nites.

Photo by Orthy/ Facebook

Catch Austin band Orthy during FFF Nites.

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Movie Review

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice full of nostalgia for fans of '80s original

Winona Ryder Michael Keaton Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Unless you’re a Tim Burton superfan, it’s easy to forget that 1988’s Beetlejuice was only the director’s second feature film, one that would set the template for all the other weird stories and images he would later bring to the big screen. Now, like so many other beloved ‘80s properties, it is being resurrected 36 years later with the legacyequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

It focuses on Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), now hosting a ghost hunter show while still occasionally seeing glimpses of her old nemesis, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton). When her father dies in tragic-but-funny fashion, she returns to her family home with daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux) to be with her mom, Delia (Catherine O’Hara).

It isn’t long before a series of events summons Beetlejuice back from the underworld, bringing with him mayhem and unexpected people, including a group of people with shrunken heads; Delores (Monica Bellucci), a woman looking for revenge on Beetlejuice; and Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe), a deceased former actor who now fashions himself as a type of detective.

Directed by Burton and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (the creators of Netflix’s Wednesday), the film has many of the familiar touches of the original, including multiple grotesque and scary characters. However, Burton’s filmmaking ability turns the images of reanimated bloody corpses, people having their souls sucked from their bodies, and more into fun entertainment, a trick that not many other directors would be able to pull off as well.

What’s missing this time around, though, is a coherent story. Instead of trying to tell one story with some side plots, the filmmakers give equal attention to multiple side plots, never properly bringing them together. Every major character has something different going on, to the point that it feels like there are five different short films vying for the audience’s attention. Beetlejuice is supposed to be the character that ties them all together, but his appearances are so sporadic that it never works.

Naturally, the film is also full of nostalgia for those who loved the original film. The talents of Keaton, Ryder, and O’Hara means the mere presence of their characters will be enjoyable for fans, as will the appearance of the original house and Bob the shrunken head. But other elements don’t work, most notably the awkward centralization of the deceased Charles Deetz, played by the now-disgraced Jeffrey Jones in the first film. They try to be creative in showing him, but it would have been better to explore a different reason to get the gang back together.

The 73-year-old Keaton is still as amusing as ever in the title role, even if he feels like a sidekick to everyone else. Ryder and O’Hara have seemingly turned into their movie personas over the years, so they both feel natural in reprising their roles. Ortega is a rising star, but she’s weirdly not showcased as much as you might expect in the film. Bellucci and Dafoe are given parts that amount to nothing, which is indicative of the larger story problems.

Ultimately, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice doesn’t give a good enough reason for it to have been made. It doesn’t move the characters forward in any significant way, it puts forth retreads of jokes that were funny in the first film, and it has way too much going on storywise. It might have been better for Beetlejuice to remain in the underworld, where he belongs.

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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens in theaters on September 6.

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