Two of comics greatest teams team up for the very first time! Something terrible has happened in Angel Grove! When the Command Center is breached and the teleporters are damaged, Zack is flung into another universe, where he’s mistaken for a villain by a mysterious masked vigilante. Can the other Power Rangers get to their friend in time to save him from Batman? Co-published with BOOM! Studios.
Writing
It’s easy to ask, “Why exactly do a crossover like this?” The short answer is that the Justice League movie is coming out and everyone gets to meet the team. They’re also still taking on the Suicide Squad in another series right now. Still, seeing the Power Rangers go against them feels similar to the League facing the Suicide Squad. The superior force is obvious from the start. The Justice League has been known to fight several gigantic monsters at one time, were the readers actually supposed to believe they would have problems against the Megazord?
Writer Tom Tyler utilizes the standard “Jump to conclusions resulting in heroes fighting” story done in many crossovers before. It’s serviceable, and interesting to see how the two teams would fight against one another. Unfortunately, this story oversteps itself a bit in the opening. It clearly shows Superman and the Power Rangers getting along before launching into its flashback. Sure, the reason they are together is interesting but only just enough to pick up the rest of the issues.
Artwork
Stephen Byrne’s art is the saving grace of this issue. The color and drawings mimics the impressive effect work shown in BOOM’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series. The element of the Power Rangers costumes forming around them like force fields is an excellent detail and really helps to present the fine work which went into making this issue so visually pleasing.
Conclusion
It’s a serviceable crossover and is already proving to be enjoyable. Unfortunately, it’s feeling a bit to by the numbers with its set up. A crossover with a more inexperienced team without gods and goddesses on it – like the Titans – would have been a much better idea. It would even make more of an impact. The Titans are mostly made up of heroes who were sidekicks and have spent their adult lives understanding what it’s like to live in their predecessor’s shadow. After the brief misunderstanding fight which would happen and the Titans could have passed on sage like wisdom about what it’s like to grow up after spending their teenage years in battle. Here, sure the older Justice League members can look down on the team and say “Keep up the good work kids,” but it just won’t have the same weight behind it.
The Coens aren’t necessarily strangers to television. Their iconic 1996 Oscar winner Fargo inspired FX’s excellent anthology series of the same name, which they executive produce. And though they’ve never written nor directed anything outside the cinema, that’s going to change soon. They’re jumping into the world of peak TV with The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a limited Western series which they’ll write and direct.
Details are limited otherwise, but Variety (via Vulture) reports it’s an “anthology event” set in the Old West, obviously, and it’ll intertwine six different storylines. Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Television is involved, and they intend to approach the project in a way that’ll combine TV with the theatrical. Whether that’s literal or simply metaphorical is unclear.
The scope of the project was considered “too challenging” to put inside one film, which is how it became the genesis of a mini-series. They intend to shoot it as a mini-series, though theatrical distribution is apparently not out of the question right now. Festival run, maybe? If it’s from the Coens, it’s sure to look beautiful. It would be nice to see it on the big screen, if in some form or another. Hopefully, Ellison and her team figure something out. They apparently having something similar to the original conception of The Dark Tower in mind, which will find different installments both on television and in theaters. Good luck.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs serves as the Coens’ follow-up to last year’s Hail, Caesar! They also wrote the screenplay for George Clooney’s upcoming directorial effort Suburbicon, which should hit theaters this year. It’s unclear how far along they are with this project, but they’re moving forward full speed ahead. All the best. Here’s hoping the world of television treats them as kindly as the cinema has these past few decades.
After Jughead and Sabrina had a disaster of a date (it was bad, guys, like, really bad. Like, think of the last time you ordered a double cheeseburger but inste—oh wait, I’ve already used that analogy? Dang. Well just trust me—it was bad) Sabrina pulled some devilishly good pranks on Jughead—unfortunately they all backfired and made Jughead even more likeable to everyone! Also Sabrina’s pranks were actually MAGIC TRICKS because she’s a TEENAGE WITCH and her powers were almost revealed to mortals. This caused a MUSCLY HORSE MAN monster to wreak havoc on Riverdale. Once he was defeated, she had a heart-to heart with Jughead and he convinced her to drop back in to high school, helping her out and saving their friendship in the process, before returning to his life of being Riverdale’s crowned prince of video games! And now, here’s Reggie.
Jughead #12 Written by Ryan North Art by Derek Charm Published by Archie Comics 2017
Writing
Jughead continues to be one of the most fun and enjoyable comics for anyone, and this issue is perhaps the best example that I have read. After the last couple of issues focusing on just Jughead and Sabrina, Ryan North brings in the whole cast for a fun video game centered tale that really showcases how great this cast of characters is when they are all together. The plot is simple; Jughead and friends are all playing a Mario Kart inspired racing game, with the winner being crowned “King/Queen” for a day. And of course, said crown just happens to be Jughead’s very famous piece of headwear. And the winner, of course, is the last person anyone would want to win. Seeing Reggie Mantle with Jughead’s crown is a great gag, and brings with it all manner of hilarity.
The characterization here is on point, as everyone has a great moment or bit of dialogue that not only rings true to them, but is also funny. Reggie is boastful, Archie is a bit clueless, Dilton is scientific, Betty is feminist, Kevin Keller is the voice of reason, and Veronica is rich. As for out titular hero, he means well, as always, but IS the one that puts things in motion for Reggie to win. It’s a classic Archie scenario with a modern twist and feel.
North even finds a way to sneak in some social issues, as there is a funny, yet relevant, bit about social media picture posting and how it could backfire. It feels like a quick one-off, but the epilogue makes it clear this will play out later.
And I can’t talk about the writing without mentioning the always great and now constant footnotes directed at the reader. Besides giving the comic a nice metafictional feel, these asides also help form a sort of conversation with the writer that makes it unique among all the Archie books. I hope those will always be a part of the book.
Art
Derek Charm’s art is perfect for this title (I’m sure I have said that before!). But with the video game sequences in this issue, Charm is able to get really playful. The race scenes are all composed of thick-lined, more cartoony renditions of the characters. And the color palate is a nice range of pastel colors with great icons and bursts of colors that actually make it feel like a moving video game. I even see a clear homage to Speed Racer in these scenes. Great stuff.
Also, Charm continues to draw the best Jughead in ages, with the denim vest with pins starting to become almost as iconic as the crown. It’s a great new design that has become, for me at least, an instant classic.
Conclusion
If you loved Archie as a kid, and have been wanting to check out his new universe, Jughead is the best book to do so. It’s not as “teen drama” as the regular new Archie title; it feels more classic. Yet it still has very distinctly modern touches and relevant issues to make it fresh and new. This issue specifically is a great new starting point, so go ahead and dig in!
Silence, like so many modern film masterworks, is not an easy film to watch or digest.
It puts human suffering and privation front and center. It questions the very nature of religious faith, and the universality of “truths” beyond specific social contexts.
Technically speaking, Silence is almost beyond reproach. Director Martin Scorsese approaches the material with reverence and a keen eye for detail. The actors, in particular Andrew Garfield, deliver unforgettable work characterized by compassion and palpable anguish.
Put simply, it’s the very definition of a “heavy” film. At least it should prove to be, for audience members for whom faith is a thought provoking or personal issue.
What’s it about?
In the early 17th Century, the Tokugawa shogun of Japan expelled Christian missionaries from the country, and outlawed the practice of Christianity. An inquisition across the land compelled commoners and Christian priests to apostatize — publicly renounce the faith — or face death by crucifixion or worse.
In Portugal, two Jesuit priests, Father Rodrigues (Garfield) and Father Garupe (Adam Driver), are informed of the unthinkable. Their mentor, Father Christovao Ferreira (Liam Neeson), has reportedly apostatized.
Unwilling to believe the report, the two young priests travel to Japan to discover the truth. Once there, they find villages full of “hidden Christians” — poor commoners devout in their belief and practicing in secret.
Rodrigues and Garupe do what they can, but it’s not long before the inquisition comes looking for them. In horror, they watch the land’s Samurai lords torture and kill Christians for not apostatizing, the very Christians the two tried to help by ministering to them.
Though shaken time and again in their resolve, the two cling to their faith and their mission. After all, Jesus himself was tested, according to scripture. How can they possibly do less for the faithful who need them?
But the horrors they witness continue to mount, and they find little sign of Ferreira. Once the Samurai make it clear that Rodrigues and Garupe have the power to end the villagers’ suffering, a hard question becomes unavoidable.
Whose glory does all that suffering and death truly serve? God’s, or their own?
Scorsese’s passion project
Reportedly, Martin Scorsese committed to making Silence as early as 1988, when he first read the 1966 Shusaku Endo novel upon which the film is based. Watching the final product, it’s clear the film was a labor of love.
The evidence of his vision for bringing the novel to life is everywhere, from staging to production design to the film’s expansive running time. Scorsese even earns a screenwriting credit for Silence, only the second of his career, alongside screenwriter Jay Cocks.
What results is a very patient, deliberately paced and meticulously crafted film. Scorsese provides an utterly immersive and compelling narrative, one that demands the very best from the performers bringing it to life.
Garfield, Japanese cast stand out
Andrew Garfield delivers yet another powerful performance, following his Golden Globe-nominated turn in Hacksaw Ridge. He seems determined to make the world forget those mediocre Spider-Man films that helped him break out, and it’s working.
However, Garfield’s is just one of many memorable turns in Silence. Neeson brings his trademark gravity in limited screen time. Driver, on the other hand, might be unrecognizable to those who only know him from his recent Star Wars work. His physical transformation alone is startling — add to that the emotion in his performance and you get career benchmark work.
Surrounding this talented trio is an equally talented ensemble of Japanese actors. Watch for a memorably silver-tongued turn by Tadanobu Asano, who plays Hogun the Grim in Marvel’s Thor films. Acclaimed actor and cyberpunk film director Shinya Tsukamoto also shines in Silence as Mokichi, a devout villager who helps hide the Jesuits and inspires them with his courage.
Worth seeing?
For fans of Scorsese’s long filmography, Silence is a must-see. Scorsese himself is on the record saying there’s a little bit of every film he’s ever done here. That alone should be incentive enough for any ardent devotee to give it a go.
Beyond even that enticement, however, Silence should prove rewarding as an exploration of how people internalize and practice faith. The film examines how different cultures interpret dogmatic practices and beliefs, and poses hard questions about devotion to abstract principle in the face of very real pain and death.
Again, it’s heavy stuff. To that end, if you prefer your Scorsese more gangster and F-bomb centric, Silence might be one of his films you skip.
Be advised, though. You may just be skipping out on what he considers his best.
Silence
Starring Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Tadanobu Asano, Ciarán Hinds, and Liam Neeson. Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Running Time: 161 minutes
Rated R for some disturbing violent content.
1, 2, Freddie’s Coming for You… 3, 4 Better Lock Your Door…
In 1984, the world watched in horror as a new villain appeared on the scene. This was no ordinary monster, it was the terrifying Freddy Krueger. Horror movies had never fully explored the nightmare concept quite as brilliantly as Wes Craven’s ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’. This flick – the first in a series of hugely successful Hollywood box office horrors – rocked the horror genre like never before.
The movie starred Johnny Depp, Mimi Craven, John Saxon, Robert England and Heather Langenkamp, among others. The premise of the movie is simple: a demonic, tormented entity infiltrates the minds of a group of teenagers on Elm Street. He’s hell-bent on brutalizing his victims in the cruelest and inhumane ways possible. The only way his victims can escape his wrath is to confront him within their own minds. But on Freddie’s turf, you’re never safe as that’s where this ghoulish, razor-clad villain guts his victims to death.
The premise of the movie is brilliant, and audiences around the world agreed: A Nightmare on Elm Street generated $25,504,513. Other sequels and prequels followed, and the total take of all Nightmare on Elm Street movies amounted to $370,495,086 – stunning for the horror genre. The most popular film in the series became Freddy versus Jason with takings of $82,622,655.
The runaway success of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies soon found a niche audience in the casino industry. A Nightmare on Elm Street slots is arguably the most terrifying slot game on the market, and it is available in a free-play mode at 888casino. This slots game is based on the latest Nightmare on Elm Street movie from 2010. It features 5 spinning reels, authentic video clips from the movie, bloodcurdling screams, and all the hapless characters too.
A caveat is in order: This is the most chilling slot game that I’ve ever encountered, and I’ve played them all. I found myself turning off the volume, much like I would during a tense scene in a horror movie, just to be able to get through the spins. Purists of the horror genre will be absolutely gobsmacked by the attention to detail and the eerie nature of this slot machine game.
From Horror to Comedy – Hollywood Inspires a Breakthrough Slot Machine Game
In 1998, Hollywood came up with a winner in The Big Lebowski. This R-rated comedy/crime mystery is rated at 8.2/10 on IMDb. It starred John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, and Julianne Moore. The Big Lebowski was directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. The movie tells the story of The Dude – Mr. Lebowski – who was mistaken for a millionaire. The characters in this bowling-inspired flick offer zingers galore, fantastic jokes, drama and so much more.
Jeff Bridges stars as The Dude, John Goodman stars as Walter Sobchak, and Julianne Moore was Maude Lebowski. The movie grossed just $17,451,873 at the box office in 1998, but it has acquired cult-like status among fans the world over. As fate would have it, this Hollywood flick would also find its way to the online casino arena.
Within no time at all, 888casino was hosting The Big Lebowski slot machine game. It features the Dude, Donnie, Jesus, Maude and Walter. It also features free spins (spares), wild symbols, expanding wild symbols and a fabulous Goodnight Sweet Prince Bonus Game. The Big Lebowski has 5 spinning reels, 25 fixed lines and lots of added extras to keep you bowling strikes.
An Epic Blockbuster Comes to Life at the Casino – Clash of the Titans
Once word got out that Hollywood movies were making the transition to online casino-themed slots games, there was no stopping them. The next big hit on the scene was Clash of the Titans slot. This adrenaline-fueled slot game tells the story of Perseus – an ancient Greek hero who is tasked with saving the world from cataclysm. This 5-reel, 20-line slot machine game offers adrenaline-loaded entertainment from inception to cash out. All those mythical Greek heroes in Zeus, Perseus, and the iconic Mount Olympus will feature in the Clash of the Titans. This is one not to be missed, and it makes the transition from film to slot game beautifully.
Tom Hardy’s James Keziah Delaney is a man seeking revenge in Taboo, the new FX series Hardy produced along with his father, “Chips,” and Ridley Scott. When he arrives back in London, 1814, after being in Africa for a decade and presumed dead in a shipwreck, Delaney knows his very existence is going to throw some best laid plans into a tailspin.
But he doesn’t care. He’s seen some shit.
Taboo is a vehicle for Tom Hardy to show off his always captivating crazy side. Delaney lumbers about town in a top coat and hat, scars telling the stories of his past. He makes his presence well known in town for good reason. His father has recently died, leaving him a shipping empire and a piece of land in the United States that is vital for the success of the rival East India shipping. The company, headed by Stuart Strange (Jonathan Pryce), thought that had all of their ducks in a row; they didn’t account for this duck coming back from the dead.
Delaney discovers just how upsetting his appearance is at every turn. His father’s servant is happy to see him, but apprehensive about his desire to dig into his father’s death. His half sister, married to a monster, may very well be happy to see him, but cannot express such emotions. He shows up at his family offices to discover they have been turned into a brothel by Helga, played by an unrecognizable Franka Potente. Then, a late night autopsy tells him what he probably already knew: his father was poisoned. And so the stage is set for a great deal of conflict over the next seven episodes.
While the madness Delaney experienced in Africa has not yet been fully explored, certain terrifying visions and ghosts of the ship he presumably died aboard have reared their head. Taboo is a series heavy in style. 1814 London is incredibly detailed, textured, sometimes beautiful amid the pollution and grime. It’s a fascinating show to simply observe, and Tom Hardy has such an animal magnetism to his every movement, I could watch him read the phone book for an hour. His Delaney is all menace and small twitches, a man on a mission with no time for platitudes or courtesy. He sees through the bullshit, and he has a plan.
It’s great to realize we will get at least seven more weeks of Hardy in this character and this setting.
In 2011, comic fans were introduced to Loose Ends, a Southern crime story told in four parts. However, only the first three issues were published, and the final chapter has been hanging in limbo ever since. Now, Loose Ends returns with a new home at Image Comics, and the creators promise to give the story its long awaited finale.
Sonny Gibson is a military vet living in his home state of North Carolina. He’s fallen on hard times, and gets roped into running drugs by an old Army friend. But before embarking on the trip to Florida, Sonny stops off at an old watering hole to make some amends. Things go south quick, and Sonny finds himself on the run with a waitress named Cheri.
This may sound like a familiar story, and it is. But it’s a familiar story with a strong twist from the creative team that makes it feel funky fresh.
Jason Latour writes an intelligent script. A lot happens in this first issue of Loose Ends, and some important details are revealed in cutaways and flashbacks. Latour doesn’t hold the readers’ hands through these moments, and he doesn’t use clunky expository dialogue. He simply tells his story and trusts that the reader will follow along. This trust is what sets Latour’s work above the rest.
However, as gripping as the script is, the art is the what makes Loose Ends #1 worth your $3.99. Chris Brunner’s pencils are raw and gritty like a crime comic should look, and Rico Renzi’s colors crank things up a notch. Renzi adds a vibrancy to the scene. Certain scenes, like Sonny’s drunken stupor, become all the more intoxicating. It’s a style that can only be described as “funky,” and it’s what keeps Loose Ends from being just another crime story.
Loose Ends #1 – The Bottom Line
Loose Ends is back and better than ever. Be sure to pick up issue one when it rereleases on January 25, even if you already gave it a shot the first time around. You’ll get the finale that you’ve been waiting six years for, along with a new format, new covers, and a few other updates. “But don’t worry,” said Latour in a recent Image+ interview, “Han still shoots first.”
Urban Myths is a UK TV show that features, among many other strange and confusing things, Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson.
You see, according to a Vanity Fair article, shortly after 9/11 Michael Jackson took a road trip with Elizabeth Taylor (played here by Stockard Channing) and Marlon Brando (Brian Cox). Totally crazy, and deserving of a completely batshit TV series like Urban Myths apparently is. And if that weren’t enough, this show appears to have actors portraying many other famous and infamous people.
Just… see for yourself:
https://youtu.be/le7214gXqB0
Fiennes had this to say about his controversial role in 2016:
“[Jackson] definitely had an issue, a pigmentation issue, and that’s something I do believe. He was probably closer to my color than his original color… [It’s] not in any way malicious. It’s actually endearing.”
Channing and Brian Cox look spot on in their roles. As for the rest of the cast, they look fine I guess. I don’t really know what to say or do after watching this. Is it offensive having Fiennes play Michael Jackson? Or is this entire thing just offensive and weird and totally insane? That’s probably the right answer.
However, Iwan Rheon, a.k.a. Ramsay Bolton, as Hitler is an inspired bit of casting. There’s no word on when Urban Myths gets going across the pond, so keep your eyes peeled for updates.
Probably elsewhere… I can’t post anymore of those pictures.
Assuming the report is true, we should be getting casting information extremely soon.
ABC ordered The Inhumans as a television series that will premiere this year. The first two episodes will shot with IMAX technology, and showed in movie theaters on September 4.
Are you looking forward to the show? Let us know in the comments below!
In November, Oak Park Brewing Company celebrated its two-year anniversary. In those two years, it’s become one of the region’s most celebrated breweries and restaurants which isn’t bad considering it was all started by four friends brewing in their garage with little to no restaurant experience. Ask anyone about opening a brewery and they will tell you it’s a risky endeavor, tell them you’re planning on opening a brewpub and they’ll probably call you crazy. I sat down with Bonnie Peterson, Tom Karvonen and Dave Estis to find out how they were able to make it work, even when the odds were stacked against them.
ON GETTING STARTED
Tom: We started as homebrewers, in (Bonnie and Dave’s) garage. Started doing these brew day parties, we called them big brew days. We’d invite people over, we’d do barbecue and Dave and I would brew. We always jokingly called their garage “Oak Park Brewing Company” never thinking at the time that we were going to open a commercial brewery.
After entering some contests and winning contests with their beer, Tom, Dave, Bonnie and Shannon decided they would open a real pub. The next question: where?
Bonnie: When we were looking for buildings we looked all over the Sacramento area and at one point we were going to do that industrial park model with a food truck. It’s funny, every time we looked at a building I’d have some excuse for why it didn’t work. I think all of us want to be a neighborhood space that people can come and enjoy themselves. I love Oak Park
Dave: I argued many nights with people that it really wasn’t worth looking anywhere else unless we change the name.
Bonnie: This building came up for sale actually. The broker that was helping us look for buildings contacted somebody who would be interested in buying it. He bought it with us in mind and did the remodel on the historic façade. We did all the remodels on the inside. Having a building owner like that who was so engaged and willing to help was really important. We wouldn’t have been able to do both, a remodel of a building like this and put the money into the brew house if we had to do it on our own.
TAKING ON A BREWERY AND A RESTAURANT
The initial plan never called for opening a restaurant. They were probably going to open a brewery in an industrial area like many of the other breweries in the region. Only they didn’t. They opened a brewpub in the heart of Oak Park. So, how’d that happen? None of them can say exactly, it just sort of ended up that way.
Bonnie: I like to say we got sucked into it.
Dave: I definitely didn’t want to do it.
Bonnie: None of us had it as our main goal; it just kind of evolved into that. Originally the building was going to be leased by a restaurateur and we were going to lease next door. And then it just sort of evolved into use sharing the space. And then they had some trouble coming up with their investment so we ended up building the kitchen. And then, once you put everything into it, you end up running it too.
DON’T FORGET THE BEER
At the heart of Oak Park was still the beer. It was the beer where it all began and it was still the beer they wanted to be most known for.
Tom: We decided early on, we’ve been saying British and Belgium ales with a West Coast edge, we didn’t want to just try to be another IPA house. Our main thing is doing more balanced beers. That’s one thing people like about our IPA. It’s more like an East Coast IPA than a West Coast IPA.
Bonnie: I think the other kind fun thing we kind of do, and maybe it’s because we started brewing in the garage, we really don’t take the styles too seriously. We let our brewers have fun.
Tom: (We want our beer to be) something a little different, something that’s a little more balanced and drinkable than a lot of the wreck your palate IPAs that are out there.
RUNNING A BREWPUB
You’ve got good beer and good food. On paper, those are all the ingredients you need for a brewpub. But as the four friends would discovery, running a brewpub is a whole other challenge. Dave and Tom had been project leaders and managers in their previous professions, but neither had ever run a restaurant.
Dave: It was 7 days a week, 16 hours a day for a while. It was bad.
Tom: Everyone told us you’re going to have to hire twice as many people as you think you need because half of them are going to suck so bad.
Dave: We had an initial general manager who put a really good team together and trained us how to do the restaurant side.
Tom: We have two sets of employees. We have our restaurant employees and our restaurant employees. We lucked out and got some really good people on the team early on and made (running Oak Park) possible.
OPENING WEEKEND
Oak Park Brewing Company now has around 45 employees. Dave and Tom pretty much split the business with Dave running the restaurant side of things and Tom handling the brewing. None of this made opening day weekend any easier.
Dave: Opening weekend, two days, 12-hour a day shoulder-to-shoulder the entire time, it was that packed the entire time. You didn’t have time to think. You just did what you possibility could.
Bonnie: We knew it would be difficult if we got big crowds. We knew we couldn’t do the full table service that was ultimately going to be the plan and our staff was trained for.
So was Dave nervous?
Dave: I wouldn’t say nervous. I tend to have a, “it’s too late to be nervous” attitude about things. Once it’s started and happening, it’s happening. There’s nothing you can do about it. All you can do is keep pushing forward.
PUB DESIGN
One of the best things about Oak Park is the feel. It’s a lot of brick and steel but yet feels welcoming.
Dave: Kind of Victorian-industrial, steam punkish look without trying too hard to do steampunk.
Bonnie: I think the other thing we can’t leave out is that a lot of the credit for the style of the building goes to our fourth partner, Shannon (Karvonen), who’s not involved in the day-to-day basis. She did most of the interior design herself, she really has an eye for that just came up with some really creative things we wouldn’t have been able to do on our own.
Pretty much everything you see in here is designed to look like it was here, but it’s all new.
Dave: It’s just supposed to be kind of a community place, where you can go and have some food, hang out with some friends, have a few drinks. You know that third place.
Tom: First place being home, second place being work and then third place being the pub.
EVOLVING ON THE RUN
The Oak Park owners had a team and an ambitious plan of running a brewpub with what they described as a white napkin menu. But you know what they say about best-laid plans.
Bonnie: A little too ambitious for our location and for a brewpub. Anybody that has visited us from the beginning until now has seen we shifted a lot.
You’re making really good food and you’re working really hard, and you’re not making any money on it. We had some really creative chefs that came up with amazing food, but when we started to push back because it wasn’t making financial sense to continue with that really amazing food, we lost some people.
Tom: We had to change the food around to be a little more friendly. We have some great dishes, seared ahi with wasabi mashed potatoes and stuff like that, but we definitely added a lot more things like sliders and wings.
And it’s not just the menu that’s evolving. It’s the location and their approach to the business as well.
Bonnie: We did the little beer garden area in the corner that now you can just seat yourself and come in and order at the bar. And that was in response to a lot of people who didn’t want full table service and didn’t want to wait 45 minutes for a table in order to have a beer.
That’s one of the adjustments we made to accommodate both sides of the equation and really make it a more pleasant experience.
WHAT’S NEXT
It’s fair to say that Oak Park has been a success. Call it a combination of offering something a bit different plus a unique location. Not the team is looking toward the future. They are bottling and selling their beers in the stores and are looking to expand their production facilities.
Dave: We’ll continue to building the brand. Continue refining the pub itself, while saving up to do a production facility. Kind of the ultimate goal is to be a regional brewery, kind of like Track 7.
Whatever the future holds its clear Oak Park Brewing Company plans to stay a part of the neighborhood where it all began.
Bonnie: The four of us always held our ownership in the brewery separately. It really was something each of us wanted to do. I don’t think any of us would give this up because it’s ended up being such a special place in the neighborhood, I love Oak Park.
Jughead #12
