Javier Bardem’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Anton Chigurh, No Country for Old Men’s unstoppable killer, was one of the most chilling and memorable villains ever portrayed on film. Cunning, heartless and yet possessing an unwavering but twisted sense of morality, he is at once a forceful personality and an archetype of…
Cedric Delsaux’s Star Wars on Earth photo series shows characters from the Star Wars movies (Episodes IV through VI, the ones that didn’t suck) in modern Paris. The backdrops generally seem gritty and moody, like a parking garage, and strangely, the characters look right at home. There’ll be a junked…
Like the subject matter at the heart of its lyrics, Wounded Soldier is almost too much to bear. The ghosts of fallen soldiers and the traumatic memories of warriors still living seem to haunt every song in this brutal tour-de-force from Broadcast Sea. A press release notes that singer Sterling…
A wide-eyed, panting inline skater—no more than 12 years old—whizzes through a narrow concrete passageway past a fenced complex of quarter-pipes and launch ramps. “Guys! Guys!” he yells to his buddies. “There’s a band about to play! There’s a band about to play!” It looks like Vicki Eisenberg’s prediction is…
By high school, I was certain I knew everything—and certainly everything there was to know about the two squares who were always bossing me around. But my parents still managed to surprise me occasionally. One of those moments was when my dad recommended Southern Culture on the Skids. I thought…
The only weakness this show’s got is non-musical; local fans of loud, challenging and sometimes just plain strange punk rock may be dedicated, but how many will visit Carrollton for an Easter Day show? Pools is a promising young guitar/drums thrash-punk duo from Rockwall. Wax Museums from Denton plays loud,…
El Gato had some big expectations to meet. It’s been almost six years since its last release, and the beautifully rich, layered orchestral pop of 2002’s We’re Birds would have been a tough act to follow even without the long wait. Surrender! may not quite be the equal of We’re…
Swooping synthesized strings, throbbing bass lines, pounding drum machines and heart-on-the-sleeve vocals: PlayRadioPlay’s Texas sounds like what a sensitive, horny teenager would come up with if he were locked in the bedroom with a keyboard and a swimsuit calendar featuring the ladies of One Tree Hill. Single-handedly created by Dan…
As phenomenal as High School Musical and its sequel are, every time I watch them I can’t help but wonder how much better they’d be if the characters were ice-skating. The first time Troy and Gabriella kissed, I imagined Zac Efron crouching, then lifting Vanessa Hudgens spread-eagle above his head,…
Corn-nuts are the worst snack ever. Apparently, those tooth-cracking chunks of halitosis have a part in Vicki Cheatwood’s play about a bride who falls for the groom’s brother at her own wedding. “Love, marriage, sex, liquor and Corn-nuts: 10:10 is the relationship you’d never go back to, and the sex…
Do you need someone to tell you how to create an eco-friendly landscape? The people selling you a class on it sure think you do. I prefer to go with my gut when it comes to taking care of the planet, rather than clutter my head with information. For example,…
He’s best known for his “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” but George Carlin’s routines on poor language have always been my favorites. Gripes such as, “What the hell is pre-board? Get on before you get on?” and “Get on the plane? Fuck you, I’m getting in the…
If the Transmissionary Six were from Texas, everyone would rip them for sounding like Knife in the Water or any number of the state’s many soporific, country-influenced slow-core acts. Fortunately for them, they hail from Seattle, where I imagine their gentle, slightly twangy snail’s-pace melodies pair nicely with a heroin…
Whether you want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day or catch some South by Southwest acts coming through the region (or do a little of both), festivals are a good option this week. And you don’t even have to make a trip down I-35 (the “I” stands for “Immobile”) to Austin…
The last time Gogol Bordello performed at the Granada, the band filled a clothes dryer with a tour’s worth of dirty laundry and turned it on, blasting the funky exhaust into the audience. The gesture was completely unnecessary: Gogol’s wild live show can work even a theater full of freshly…
Judging by the overproduced songs on their Cry to the Beat EP, New York’s The Ropes play the kind of polished, electronica-tinged pop rock that 10 years ago would have had them written off as a Garbage clone. But Sharon Shy’s strong songwriting may help them avoid becoming the next…
Suck it, Austin. Will Johnson may have moved from Denton to your overrated yupster hamlet years ago, but when it comes time to debut music from Centro-matic’s forthcoming double album, where does he book a show? That’s right: Dallas. Austinites will have to wait until the South by Southwest performance…
Other than the city of Boston, the 2004 Red Sox curse-breaking World Series win and Martin Scorsese’s 2006 Oscar-drought-breaking film The Departed had something else in common: Both prominently featured songs from Beantown Celtic rockers the Dropkick Murphys. The band’s anthemic rewrite of the 1902 showtune “Tessie” fueled enthusiasm for…
Two and a half weeks after exchanging eight players in one of the most dramatic trades in Dallas sports history, the Mavericks and the New Jersey Nets face each other on the hardwood. I don’t have anything to add to the trade discussion. But I always wonder what goes through…
My, how Savor Dallas has declined. For example, they charge $135 for the Reserve Tasting at the Nasher, in which wines and spirits are served in Riedel stemware. Riedel crystal? I wouldn’t pour my dog’s Fiji water into a Riedel bowl if he gnawed my face off. Anything less than…
For a couple weeks leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, many Caucasians aren’t just white—we’re Irish! In the wake of Black History Month, we long to have a culture worth celebrating, even if the only thing we know about our heritage is that Irish people drink Coors Light with green…
If you’ve ever watched Fox NFL Sunday and thought, “Gee, I’d like to see a whole lot more of that guy who does the John Madden imitation,” you’re in luck: Frank Caliendo is on tour. Maybe it’s unfair to reduce him to that. After all, Caliendo is a remarkably versatile…
