What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T10 WHATS UP! March 15 - 21, 2020 This gripping show is actual- ly based on a 1973 movie of the same name, written by Michael Crichton, author of "Jurassic Park," "Congo," "Timeline" and many other page-to-screen suc- cess stories. It starred Yul Brynner ("The Ten Command- ments," 1956) as an android in the park, with Richard Benja- min ("Goodbye, Columbus," 1969) and James Brolin ("Traf- fic," 2000) as guests. In this version, the theme park actual- ly housed three alternate worlds with varying themes: Western World, Medieval World and a Roman World. While the film was popular in its time, HBO's take on the sto- ry is inventive and fresh. Critics can't help but com- pare this 21st century version of "Westworld" to HBO's other smash hit, "Game Of Thrones." The fantasy-drama series end- ed in 2019 after an eight-season run that had an enormous fol- lowing. Odds are, if you en- joyed "Game Of Thrones," you'll get hooked on "West- world." Hopefully, this fore- shadows a nice long run for our ranching robots. The show itself is full of big names who consistently turn in stellar performances. The cast so far has included Anthony Hopkins ("The Silence of the Lambs," 1991), Jeffrey Wright ("Shaft," 2000), James Marsden ("Dead to Me"), Thandie New- ton ("Beloved," 1998) and Ed Harris ("Apollo 13," 1995). Oh, and if you look closely, you can even catch NFL star running back Marshawn Lynch of the Seattle Seahawks making a guest appearance. This season, Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad"), Lena Waithe ("Master of None"), Tommy Flanagan ("Sons of Anarchy"), Michael Ealy ("Stumptown"), Vincent Cassel ("Black Swan," 2010), Kid Cudi ("How to Make It in America"), John Gallagher Jr. ("The Newsroom") and more join the cast. HBO has gone all out to make this experience truly immer- sive for fans, even developing a Virtual Reality experience with Survios, the interactive content studio. Taking it a step further, HBO created a dystopian- themed website run by a fake company, Incite Inc. Within the site, HBO tucked away two ad- ditional trailers for the show. It's a virtual treasure hunt for "Westworld" fans. The hidden trailers are dark and dramatic and suggest that Dolores' journey to freedom will come at a steep price. After two intense trailers full of mur- der and explosions, No. 3 is a complete surprise. It reveals Dolores' budding relationship with a new character, Caleb (Paul), and frames it as a ro- mantic comedy. The two of them order milkshakes, take long strolls on a pier and ride off into the sunset on horse- back. The trailer promises that Season 3 will be "35% more ro- mantic." The tongue-in-cheek humor is a nice break from the intensity of the hosts' fight for freedom. But, like everything in West- world, we have to wonder: Is any of this real? The trailer shows Dolores and Caleb sharing a Sleeping Beauty-esque kiss and attend- ing a Cinderella-style masked ball, and it seems the West- world operators could be trying to give this theme park a Dis- ney twist. "Westworld" has a history of leaving a few Easter eggs sprinkled through its epi- sodes. Its writing is often inten- tional and interconnected. And if this is still the case, what are they trying to tell us now? To find out the answer, sad- dle up for Season 3. "West- world" returns Sunday, March 15, on HBO. Tessa Thompson in "Westworld" continued from page T2 Breaking free: Season 3 of 'Westworld' ventures out into the real world TV FEATURE