In Orbit: MashBash 2019

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A staggering lineup of the world’s most innovative minds, a slew of events optimized for maximum showoff potential on the ‘gram, and a bounty of amazing tacos—it can only be SXSW. In 2019, the masses converged on Austin, hopping on motorized scooters to zoom to the next celebrity panel or legendary BBQ spot

And when they had their fill of absorbing knowledge and brisket, one party beckoned above all others. Where was the only place to take a selfie with an alien while enjoying a cocktail, piloting an AR-powered spaceship, and dancing your heart out? This year’s MashBash, of course, where we blasted off into the unknown in our space-themed celebration. Read more…

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‘Pet Semetary’ screened at SXSW and the early reviews are looking good

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Did Pet Semetary really need a remake? Does the answer to that question even matter?

The 2019 remake directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer is real, and it’s ready for its April 5 release. Critics and fans attending South By Southwest got an early look at the horrors to come on Saturday night, and the first reactions are now coming in.

It’s looking good, King fans! There’s only a handful of published reviews to draw from at this point, but they’re mostly positive, heaping praise on the writing and direction, the performances, and — notably — the smart tweaks that were made to one of King’s most popular and widely known stories. Read more…

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Beto O’Rourke gets a hero’s welcome at SXSW

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There was no missing Beto O’Rourke at the SXSW premiere on Saturday of Running with Beto, the documentary about his 2018 Senate campaign.

Even if you’d somehow overlooked all the reports that he’d be at the festival, and ignored all the chatter in lines outside the theater, it was simply impossible not to notice the excited murmuring among audience members – many of them clad in Beto O’Rourke t-shirts – when he made his way down the aisle of Austin’s Paramount Theater to take his seat.

But before we could watch him take the stage, we had a movie to watch.

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Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron’s ‘Long Shot’ is a well-intentioned misfire

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Stranger things have happened than a schlubby Brooklyn writer hooking up with a glamorous secretary of state. What pushes Long Shot from unexpected to downright unbelievable, however, is the context in which this coupling takes place.

The film, directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Liz Hannah and Dan Sterling, seems determined to comment on our current political climate — yet the world it creates feels so far removed from our own, it may as well exist in an alternate dimension. 

At least its stars are lovable in any universe. Seth Rogen plays Fred Flarsky, who is most economically described as a Seth Rogen type: shaggy, sweet, and Too Much in a way that comes all the way back around to endearing. Read more…

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‘Game of Thrones’ SXSW activation brings Westeros to Austin

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I totally meant to bleed for Game of Thrones. I just forgot to sign up.

Fortunately, a very patient man in vaguely medieval garb reassured me that donating blood wasn’t actually a prerequisite for entering Bleed for the Throne – the activation-slash-blood-drive presented by HBO and the American Red Cross at South by Southwest. 

He let me into the enormous event space, and I found myself in Westeros – or as close as I was ever going to get to Westeros, anyway. 

Bleed for the Throne consists of three parts, not counting the blood drive. The literal centerpiece is a hall made up to look like some combination of a church and a throne room, with the Iron Throne in the middle (with a glowing Red Cross logo behind it) and pews running down each side.  Read more…

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Foursquare introduces experimental ‘Hypertrending’ feature for SXSW

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Ten years later, Foursquare is still making a case for location-sharing tech.

The company known for popularizing the digital check-in at SXSW a decade ago now is showing off a new, experimental feature that takes advantage of all of the company’s location data. It’s called Hypertrending, and it’s launching now in Foursquare’s apps for SXSW attendees in Austin (you have to shake your phone to access the feature).

Hypertrending is essentially a real-time heat map that lets you see where people are at any given moment. It’s all anonymized, so you can’t see the location of any one individual, but the idea is to give users a window into where the masses are — something that could be useful for the thousands of people who descend on Austin for SXSW. Read more…

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