No bride likes to get gussied up for her wedding rehearsal and arrive to the chapel only to be shot by an ex-lover and a gang of assassins. At least that's what we learned from Kill Bill, Tarantino's two-part tale of a vengeful bride and her quest to find her child. Uma Thurman isn't the first woman to go on a cinematic murder spree in the name of justice, but she'll probably be the only one in a yellow track suit.
Long before the bride wanted to kill Bill, there was another female assassin seeking revenge for a crime against her family. Lady Snowblood is a 1973 Japanese thriller about Yuki, a young woman whose sole purpose since birth has been vengeance for her mother, who was tortured and imprisoned by a group of thugs. The grindhouse movie influenced Tarantino's Kill Bill films, and now Lady Snowblood comes to Texas Theatre as the first film in the new Sunday series, Kimono Club. The series is billed as "the best in Japanese cinema, bad karaoke, Kirin and sake bombs," which sounds like a low-key Sunday evening to us. Watch the samurai swords fly and the blood spray when Lady Snowblood screens at 9 p.m. Sunday at Texas Theatre. Tickets are available at thetexastheatre.com.
Year of the Dragon Preview Party Friday, January 20, at The Crow Collection of Asian Art Friday nights in the Arts District are always fun if you're the type who enjoys cheap and free entertainment. If you're not that person, then we can't help you. But for those who are heading to the DMA or the Nasher tonight, make sure to check out The Crow Collection After Dark for a special preview of their Chinese New Year festivities. The Year of the Dragon officially begins on Monday, but all good parties have pre-parties. Tonight's activities start at 6 p.m. with face painting for the kids, a harp performance in the galleries and a Chinese lantern workshop. While the kids are making dragon puppets, take the Animals of the Zodiac tour for an in-depth look at astrological imagery in the museum's collection. Kung Fu artists and glow-in-the-dark dancing dragons will perform outside the museum at 8, and for those who want to keep the party going, there's karaoke with DJ Mark Ridlen in the Grand Gallery from 10 to 11:30. Admission is free. Visit crowcollection.org for the complete schedule of tonight's events.
Opening Receptions for White Steel, Blue Skies: A New Icon for Dallas' Skyline and The Trinity, Images that Inspire Friday, January 20, at the Latino Cultural Center As Brentney reported earlier this morning, there's a new exhibition of photographs of the love-it-or-hate-it (or just-don't-care-about-it) Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge at the Latino Cultural Center. Recent MasterMind award recipient Frank Lopez, along with six other North Texas photographers, will display their photos of the recently illuminated Calatrava design. Cristina Nava, Sibylle Bauer and Valerie Ontiveros are among the photographers whose work will be hanging at the LCC through February 25. We're betting Schutze will be far, far away in East Dallas when an opening reception for White Steel, Blue Skies: A New Icon for Dallas' Skyline starts tonight at 6 p.m.
Of course, there wouldn't be a bridge if we didn't have that glorious Trinity River. A jury selected 60 photos from approximately 700 submissions for The Trinity, Images that Inspire, and now those photographs of wildlife, landscapes and, of course, that bridge are on display through March 3. The LCC is doubling-down tonight with an opening reception for The Trinity exhibition beginning at 6 p.m. Admission to both receptions is free. Visit dallasculture.org/latinoculturalcenter for more information.
American Ballet Theatre Friday, January 20, and Saturday, January 21, at the Winspear Opera House For over 70 years, American Ballet Theatre has been the premiere national touring ballet company, performing classic ballets including Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, but the company has also amassed an international following by touring in Cuba, Russia, China and England. Now the American Ballet Theatre is bringing its sophisticated repertoire to the Winspear for two nights as part of the TITAS series. See the company perform Seven Sonatas, Company B, Duets and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux starting at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday. Tickets are $12 to $150 and available at attpac.org.
Big D's "Big News" Cupcake Wars Saturday, January 21, at NorthPark Center We've never seen an episode of Cupcake Wars, but we assume it goes something like this: Contestants are given a ridiculous Top Chef-style challenge, they bake cupcakes and judges pick a winner. But don't expect any baking at Big D's "Big News" Cupcake Wars. Sprinkles Cupcakes founder Candace Nelson, who's also a judge on Cupcake Wars, is hosting this local cupcake battle in which competitors have 30 minutes to decorate a cupcake spread. Local media members and bloggers are participating in the challenge in hopes that their chosen charities will get some money and they'll get the bragging rights. Resident NBC 5 hottie Meredith Land, Good Morning Texas host Amy Vanderoef and DailyCandy editor Brittany Cobb are among the participants. The winner's charity will receive $5,000, and the other charities will each get $1,000. The frosting starts flying at 3 p.m. tomorrow at the North Court in NorthPark Center, between Nordstrom and Macy's. Admission is free. Visit northparkcenter.com.
Too Cold To Hold 5K/15K Sunday, January 22, at Norbuck Park Organizers of the Too Cold To Hold 5K and 15K obviously didn't consult Pete Delkus before scheduling the race. Delkus would have rubbed his crystal ball and told them it's going to be a mild morning, but it's still cool enough that runners won't break a sweat in their relatively short trek around White Rock Lake. The annual race begins at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at Norbuck Park, but if you haven't registered yet there's still time. Sign up for the 5K ($35) or the 15K ($40) by tomorrow online, or if you want to pay an extra five bucks you can sign up at 7 a.m. on race day. For those who need a frosty, cold incentive to run, there's a beer garden with Miller Lite and Blue Moon waiting for you when you cross the finish line. The Butcher's Son and Ruth's Rolling Cafe will also be dishing out fare from their mobile kitchens. Visit runproject.org to register.
