One of the more buzzed about competitions in the 2011 Oscar race was the Best Animated Feature showdown between How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3 and a quaint little French film by Sylvain Chomet, the man behind 2003’s The Triplets of Belleville. The Illusionist, definitely not to be…
For a country that boasts one of the oldest civilizations and the biggest population of any nation on Earth, China somehow remains a mystery to many Americans. It’s understandable, really, as the country maintains a bit of a split personality. Its communist government makes many think of an austere, agrarian…
There’s a saying that politicians are much like diapers: they need to be changed often and for the same reason. Is this because we tend to elect people that are easily corruptible and are ethical vacuums from birth, or is it because once in office, even the people with the…
Isabelle Huppert is one of those actresses that you know is a force to be reckoned with the second you set eyes on her. I first saw her in Hal Hartley’s The Amateur with a pageboy haircut I promptly copied and a sophisticated intensity that should have made her a…
Along with all of the excesses of the Super Bowl–including but not limited to: parties with P.Diddy; sightings of Fergie, high-end liquor sponsorships and party passes that cost more than a month’s groceries but don’t guarantee an actual view of any football action–it’s nice to know that there are some…
Much has been said in the past decade or so about the evolution (or devolution) of sports in this country. It’s been obvious for many years that it’s not just about the game anymore; it’s the personalities and the paychecks and the merchandising that make the headlines rather than the…
The cure for the winter blues is not in some sad bastard country album. The empathy that offers is tempting, but ultimately you’re forced to open a beer, take a big sigh, and agree wholeheartedly that everything sucks. What we all need (and some of us more than others, for…
The female buddy story is a virtual treasure trove of plot devices: heartwarming friendships, feminine empowerment, heartbreaking melodrama–you name it, it can be mined from the premise of ladies getting together to chat, bitch and bond. Shining examples from the genre include the film and stage versions of Steel Magnolias,…
Photography is a particularly challenging art form because it serves not only as a vehicle to stimulate our senses, but as a way to document the world around us. So a photographer doesn’t just have to possess an artistic flair–an ability to frame shapes and colors to make a visual…
When you find out you’re having a kid, people tell you that you need a lot of stuff: bouncers, swings, activity centers, mobiles, soothers and other various and sundry Bright Flashy Things. We got all that stuff, and you know what my kid likes to play with? Dish towels. Obviously,…
It boggles the mind when you think about the ways that American cinema is different from its European counterpart. Actually, counterpart may be too strong a word, as film produced in this country is by and large a completely different being than in most other places in the world, Bollywood…
Holiday travel conjures up a level of dedication in people that few situations do. For example, last Christmas Eve I left Dallas at 10 a.m. and arrived at my destination 140 miles away nearly 30 hours later, after spending a night on an icy rural highway with the cheerful members…
Museums are a very good thing during the Christmas holidays. Everyone on the roads loses their mind, making even a trip to Chick-Fil-A an epic battle to survive red-light running, intersection blocking and bumper riding all in the name of retail spending. Just sitting at home to watch TV requires…
Annie mania struck me hard as a seven-year-old. The movie came out that year leaving a sea of red-headed merchandise in its wake: I had Annie T-shirts, Annie dolls and Annie records. I wanted curly ginger hair. I wanted a scruffy dog named Sandy. And most of all, I wanted…
Every community movement needs a champion. While a number of bar owners, venue operators, and land owners have worked hard to overcome the challenges facing Deep Ellum over the past several years, few have had the impact that the Kettle Art Gallery has. The collaborative effort between property owner Don…
The concept of genius is one that has somehow become fluid. The guy at the jukebox who just played the Replacements song that fits your mood perfectly: totally a genius. Michael Gruber’s artful use of drops on KTCK-AM 1310 The Ticket: yep, freakin’ genius. But clearly, the term has become…
Everyone’s a photographer lately. Hit up any event or landmark locally, and you’ll see them: the hipsters with $1300 lenses; the grandmas trying to figure out the Hipstamatic app on their iPhone; the 12-year-olds tussling with tripods. It’s something of an epidemic, and it’s made possible by technology and the…
The unwavering focus and driven, almost brutal, determination of the Dallas shopper is something all newcomers to the area should be warned of. Seriously, nobody should have to face down the legion of seasoned Dallas housewives who’ve been honing their retail hunting skills in the hallowed halls of NorthPark Center…
For everyone who has ever said that Deep Ellum is dead…well, here you go: proof positive. Because throughout the month of October, all manner of dead things will be wandering around in Slaughterhouse 2010 as they set up shop at 2615 Elm St. Slaughterhouse is scarier than the bathrooms at…
Generally speaking, football and art go together like orange juice and toothpaste. It’s not that you can’t appreciate both, it’s just that it’s not really appropriate to pound back a beer, scream at Jason Garrett for another screwy passing game, and then settle back into your chair to discuss how…
There are some movies whose viewing is considered so mandatory that you’re subject to derision if you cop to not having seen them. Seriously, people act as if sitting on your couch and watching movies is some sort of grand intellectual conquest on par with completing all of the works…
I had to Google the words “Brad Pitt” and “Tibet” recently because my husband swore that Mr. Pitt was in a movie about the Dalai Lama and I asserted that he probably meant that Keanu Reeves was in a movie about Buddha. Turns out that–unfortunately for filmgoers everywhere–we were both…
