Your eyes might light up when you read this news. Austin’s Trail of Lights has been named one of this year’s 10Best Public Holiday Light Displays by USA Today readers. The Trail of Lights ranks sixth.
This is the fourth consecutive year the Austin Trail of Lights has received a Readers’ Choice Award in the category for public displays of holiday lights. A panel of experts — along with USA Today’s editorial team — selected 20 nominees, and then voting was open to the public for four weeks to choose the winners.
The Trail of Lights, held annually at Zilker Park, is a drive-thru-only event this year; vehicle passes are available through December 31.
Starting as a small community gathering around a yule log in 1965, the Austin Trail of Lights now features more than 2 million lights illuminating the park, 90 lighted holiday trees, and more than 70 other holiday displays and lighted tunnels.
The Trail of Lights Foundation operates the annual lighting display with support from title sponsor H-E-B, as well as backers like Ascension/Dell Children’s, Vista Equity Partners, KXAN, Cirrus Logic, Keller Williams Realty International, Northern Trust, Samsung Austin Semiconductor, Silicon Labs, SHI, the University of Texas, Audacy, the Austin Parks Foundation, the Austin Convention Center, and the Austin Community Foundation.
At No. 1 on the 10Best list of the best public displays of holiday lights is Holiday in Paradise in West Palm Beach, Florida. The event is anchored by Sandi, a 35-foot-tall, 700-ton holiday tree made entirely of sculpted sand. The holiday festival also includes a light show, entertainment pop-ups, singalongs with Sandi, and a synchronized dancing-water show.
Austin's Trail of Lights gets some worthy national attention.
Courtesy of the Trail of Lights Foundation
Austin's Trail of Lights gets some worthy national attention.
In a time when true movie stars seem to be going extinct, Timothée Chalamet has emerged as an exception to the rule. Since 2021 he has headlined blockbusters like the two Dune movies and Wonka, and also got nominated for an Oscar for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown (his second nomination following 2018’s Call Me By Your Name). Now, he’s almost assured to get his third nomination for the stellar new film, Marty Supreme.
Chalamet plays Marty Mauser, a world-class table tennis player living in New York. But reducing Marty to his best skill doesn’t do him justice, as he’s also a motormouth schemer who will do almost anything to achieve his dreams. He doesn’t have any qualms about wooing married women like neighbor Rachel (Odessa A’zion) or actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow), or hiding his true ping pong skills to win money in scams with friends like Wally (Tyler the Creator).
Marty is seemingly on the go the entire movie, whether it’s trying to convince Kay’s millionaire husband Milton Rockwell (Kevin O’Leary) to fund his table tennis ambitions; or trying to track down the dog of Ezra (Abel Ferrara), a man he accidentally injures; or trying to avoid the ire of the boss at the shoe store where he works. Just when you think he might slow down, he’s off to the races on another plan or adventure.
Directed by Josh Safdie and written by Safdie and frequent co-writer Ronald Bronstein, the film is an almost continuous blast of pure energy for two and a half hours. So many different things happen over the course of the film that the story defies conventional narratives, and yet the throughline of Marty keeps everything tightly connected. His particular type of brash behavior turns much of the film into a comedy as he does and says things that are both shocking and thrilling.
Another thing that makes the movie sing is the fantastic characterization by Safdie and Bronstein. Almost every person who is given a speaking line in the film has a moment where they pop, which speaks to airtight dialogue that the writers have created. Characters will be introduced and then disappear for long stretches of time, and yet because they make such an impression the first time they’re on screen, it’s easy to pick up their thread right away.
Safdie, as he’s done previously with brother Bennie (Uncut Gems), calls on a host of well-known non-actors or people with interesting faces/vibes to inhabit supporting roles, and to a person they are crucial to the film’s success. O’Leary (of Shark Tank fame), rapper Tyler the Creator, director Ferrara, magician Penn Jillette, and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi each deliver knockout performances. The relative unknowns who play smaller roles are just as impressive, making each beat of the film feel naturalistic.
Leading the way is the powerhouse performance by Chalamet. For one person to believably play both the famously reserved Dylan and also a firecracker like Marty is astonishing, and this role cements Chalamet’s status as his generation’s movie star. A’zion is a rising star who gets great moments as Marty’s on-again/off-again love interest. Paltrow pops in and out of the film, lighting up the screen every time she appears. Fran Drescher as Marty’s mom and Sandra Bernhard as a neighbor also pay dividends in small roles.
Josh Safdie’s first solo directorial effort is unlike any other movie this year, or maybe even this century. Thanks to its breakneck storytelling, a magnificent performance by Chalamet, and countless intangibles that Safdie employs expertly, the film smacks viewers in the face repeatedly and demands that they come back for more.
