BELIEVE WOMEN
The Pulitzer Prize-winning story "An Unbelievable Story of Rape," a 2015 collaboration between ProPublica and the Marshall Project that exposed how Lynwood, Washington, police botched a rape investigation, has been turned into a Netflix miniseries. Unbelievable explores the devastating consequences when police didn't take rape seriously in Washington, contrasting the case with Colorado detectives who took the extra effort to find the same serial rapist. The strength of the series is in its nuanced portrayal of the rape survivors, especially Marie (played by Kaitlyn Dever), who was betrayed by the very system set up to protect her. (WILSON CRISCIONE)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Some noteworthy new music arrives online and in stores Sept. 20. To wit:
Brittany Howard, Jaime. The dynamic Alabama Shakes leader goes it alone.
Hiss Golden Messenger, Terms of Surrender. The folk-rock ace is hitting the Bartlett Oct. 14 in support of his latest.
Robbie Robertson, Sinematic. The former Band man has made some pretty great — if sporadic — solo albums. (DAN NAILEN)
ONE WAY TO ROCK
There's a movie being shot in Spokane called Monsters of Rock, in which a kid has a vision of former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar, who encourages said kid to do whatever it takes to get the Monsters of Rock festival to town. The massive metal tour featuring Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken, Metallica and Kingdom Come really did play Joe Albi on July 20, 1988. The movie is filming starting Sept. 21, and needs 18 and older extras who could pass as high school kids. If only I were 30 years younger, my Dokken tattoo might actually come in handy. Interested in being an extra? Email your headshot and availability to morbackground@gmail.com. (I don't really have a Dokken tattoo). (DAN NAILEN)
WILD AMERICA
Earlier this year, the podcast Over My Dead Body examined the curious circumstances of a Florida law professor's murder. If that story sucked you in, good news: there's more. The show's new six-episode season concerns one Joe Exotic (maybe you saw him as a John Oliver punchline, back when he ran for president), a gay bigamist with a platinum blonde mullet whose rinky-dink big-cat zoos in Oklahoma made him plenty of enemies from animal rights groups. Host Robert Moor digs into the bizarre saga, which involves reality TV, mall magicians, a missing husband and a murder-for-hire. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)
TAKE NOTE
I wandered to the inaugural Huichica festival outside Walla Walla, and it was a good news/bad news thing. The good news: The festival, billed as a blend of indie music, great wine and tasty food, had some great music (Yo La Tengo and Robyn Hitchcock played twice; Waxahatchee, Titus Andronicus, Destroyer and the Minus 5, among others, also appeared). The food and wine were... fine. The bad news: No beer allowed in the campground. That's NOT what I call camping! Even so, this Washington addition to a fest that annually happens in California and New York is worth keeping an eye on for 2020. (DAN NAILEN)
