Big Picture

The stars align in Las Colinas

A A A Comments (0) By Mark Hughes Thursday, Jun 28 2001

Dallas gets its share of celebrity sightings, but the few-and-far-between-ness of them makes even B-grade celebrities seem fresh and exciting. Our favorite entries in the brush-with-greatness category are getting dirty looks from Jason Bateman (rumored to be a lousy tipper by local waitresses) when Necessary Roughness was filmed in Denton and meeting Chuck Norris (or was that his stunt double?) while taking part in a club scene in Deep Ellum. Then a friend claimed (although we're not sure we believe him) to have rented a copy of Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Judge Reinhold, whose reasoning for renting a movie he was in was, "It's gonna get me laid." And some girl we know was hit on in a bar by that guy in that movie. You know, that movie.

Details

The Studios at Las Colinas, 6311 N. O'Connor Blvd. in Irving, hosts the premiere of Pendulum with red carpet arrivals at 6:30 p.m., a reception from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the screening at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $50, or $15 for the movie only. Call (972) 869-7668.

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Before we digress any further, rest assured this is not one of those "Is Dallas the New Hollywood?" things. We know better than that. Dallas isn't going to be the new anything, especially not a Hollywood or Liverpool or Seattle or even the new Hoboken because everything star-studded taking place locally is actually happening in that little business park that could: Las Colinas.

For example, The Studios at Las Colinas and Blue Thunder Films are hosting the Texas premiere of the feature film Pendulum with stars Rachel Hunter, Matt Battaglia and James Russo in attendance opening night. Several metroplex locations, including Dallas City Hall and the Gypsy Tea Room, were used in Pendulum, and local cast and crew played a part as well.

Their collective talents went toward making "a gripping suspense thriller" about a police detective (played by Hunter, who is continuing the trend of ridiculously attractive police detectives) and her "controversial investigation into the murder of an esteemed Southern law professor from a prestigious Dallas institution." Not surprisingly, the plot also includes powerful people with dangerous secrets, sordid pasts, institutionalized corruption behind gilded walls and probably not a small amount of sex.

Two thumbs up for that.