Not everyone knows that Dallas is one of the hub cities that shaped modern video gaming. Pong started in a tavern in the heart of Silicon Valley; Pac-Man was put together by a team of programmers in another country; but here in Dallas, we gave gaming something it didn’t even…
Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, better known by first name only, are the radical comedy duo that speaks directly to the sensibilities of an entire generation of fans, while the generation before it struggles to understand just what the hell is so funny. It can be fun to observe parents…
Mixmaster presents “100 Creatives,” in which we feature cultural entrepreneurs of Dallas in random order. Know an artistic mind who deserves a little bit of blog love? Email lauren.smart@dallasobserver.com with the whos and whys. Movie buffs can have such an infectious love for film that it feels like it should…
A new Planet of the Apes movie is upon us and even though Rise of the Planets of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes are getting heaped, there have to be some naysayers out there who still insist that all the CGI in the world can’t…
North Texas is home to a major animation and voiceover studio, FUNimation studios, which not only creates beloved anime shows like Cartoon Network’s Toonami block and Dragon Ball Z, but also translates many popular Japanese manga shows into English. Just imagine all of the bloody sword fighting and incredibly complex,…
Comics who make it as premiere funny men or women usually have humdrum backgrounds and stumble into comedy as a way to escape the drudgery of their day lives. We know the drudgery of which comedian Steve McGrew sprung from the way that Papillion sprang himself from that Devil’s Island…
When Dallas/Fort Worth finally got an Alamo Drafthouse theater to call its own, every ravenous movie buff in the Metroplex knew it couldn’t match their unquenchable appetite for cult films, first runs and obscure favorites. So rather than risk having the Richardson theater eaten up by their fans (because as…
Open Carry Guitar Rally Trinity River Walking Bridge Friday, July 4, 2014 A miraculous “Open Carry” tradition started over the weekend on Fourth of July right here in Dallas. The miraculous part is that it didn’t involve needless public displays of heavy firearms and another reason to wonder if Kevlar…
Classical music may seem snooty but there are even music snobs exist amongst the snobbiest sound form of music. Beethoven is to classical music what the Beatles are to indie music fans. Hell, Jack Black even made fun of the Belgian born composer as an easy choice on one of…
Horror movies have an odd appeal. Most of them are an outlet that tap into our subconscious inferiority complexes and gives it a chance to yell at a group of human beings who truly have it worse than we ever will, “Man, it sucks to be them.” Those of us…
Calling Paul Varghese Dallas’ first breakout comedy star really isn’t giving him enough credit. Dallas wouldn’t have a modern comedy scene to go to without him. He’s not only become one of the city’s most recognizable faces but he’s become a national touring comic who has opened for some of…
Horror movies are so not-horrifying because generally the idiots who get speared in the skull or chainsawed by a masked loon generally don’t have the wits to survive a weekend getaway. If you sent these dolts to a lavish weekend at the Mirabeau Inn in Skaneateles, New York, they would…
Besides burying a redcoat in a coffin filled with apple pie, fireworks may be one of the most patriotic ways to celebrate love for America. They’re also one of the cheapest. Basically, you just stand or sit outside on Independence Day and wait for explosions, then you look in their…
Human interaction is a weird beast. It inspires a range of emotions from euphoria to awkwardness. It can make people fall in love and develop a deep seeded hatred for one another within the span of a single sentence. It can make people want to spend the rest of their…
The Internet is full of hatred and bile-spewing comments about video games. Hell, I’m guilty of it myself. If you shelled out money for the Duke Nukem Forever: Balls of Steel Edition, you’re entitled to throw out a couple of curse words in front of someone’s children at a Best…
The topic of guns is all over the news, whether they are being used as props of democracy and freedom or props of violence and destruction. Somehow, “gun nuts” actually found a way to be gun-nuttier when they thought it was a good idea to walk into public spaces across…
Soccer ranks somewhere just below lawn darts and non-metaphorical rat racing in American popularity. It’s got some American fans but not the kind of ravenous sports head who can start riots if a rival fan celebrates a goal just a little bit too long. Of course, that means you don’t…
My mind is full of fear. It’s always trying to get me to think five steps ahead of any situation and predict all the possible outcomes, especially ones that could lead to the stripping of my dignity and the utter degradation of my worth as a social being. Some might…
Every group of hard working, blue-collar, pop culture icons needs a proper vehicle. The A*Team raced in a custom painted 1978 Chevy van to the scene of ordinary folks getting screwed. Michael Knight argued with the teacher from Boy Meets World who was trapped like a possessed soul in a…
We would have paid good money to sit in the room when Nintendo got the big pitch for their disastrous WiiU console. Some guy who probably just got done running a Jack in the Box barges into the board room with crude drawings of what appeared to be an iPad…
I’ve always wondered if comedians are actually impressed by other comedians with armloads of awards. It would be hard to know their true feelings without conducting some kind of scientifically monitored Gallup poll. Comedians can be a naturally moody bunch, prone to fits of jealousy, but it’s usually over getting…
I’ve always wondered if comedians are actually impressed by other comedians with armloads of awards. It would be hard to know their true feelings without conducting some kind of scientifically monitored Gallup poll. Comedians can be a naturally moody bunch, prone to fits of jealousy, but it’s usually over getting…
