Cars, the latest vehicle to roll off a Pixar assembly line that has thus far yielded nothing but spit-shined classics, answers that age-old question: What would Doc Hollywood have been like had it been populated entirely by cars? If the promise of that particular premise–in which a hotshot (in this…
Like the Grand Ole Opry plopped into a fragrant barn at the county fair, Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion befits its roots in frosty Minnesota soil through its worldview, Buddhist by way of Scandinavia: Life is about suffering. The wind chill is below zero, and so is your spouse;…
It’s clear by now that British director James Marsh regards America as a vaguely amusing madhouse–a reliably primitive, thoroughly benighted backwater infested with dangerous grotesques. He is, after all, the fellow who gave us the supercilious TV documentary The Burger & The King: The Life & Cuisine of Elvis Presley…
You could call The Illusion a comedy. You could call ipecac an after-dinner liqueur. That doesn’t make those descriptions accurate. The Illusion is Dallas Theater Center artistic director Richard Hamburger’s bitter dose of theatrical medicine after the tasty fun of Hank Williams: Lost Highway, a jukebox musical audiences loved so…
The John Wayne/John Ford Film Collection (Warner Bros.) Featuring the most epic pairing of director and actor in Hollywood history, this 10-disc box spews machismo all over. Wayne and Ford defined not only the western and war-movie genres, but also our culture’s image of rugged manhood. Among the highlights is…
Face paint? Check. NoDoz? Check. Deep wellsprings of violent nationalistic pride? No doubt, mate. Yes, it’s time for the World Cup, that quadrennial spectacle that consumes the globe for a month of TV marathons, street parties, and patriotic gestures by men with shaved skulls. That means it’s also time for…
Black Hawk Down: Extended Cut (Sony) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: The Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Fox) Charmed: The Complete Fifth Season (Paramount) Dumbo: Big Top Edition (Disney) Entourage: The Complete Second Season (HBO) The Fast and the Furious: Franchise Collection (Universal) Firewall (Warner Bros.) Garfield: The Movie — The…
Come midnight, no surprise if you feel a bit “shagged and fagged and fashed,” thinking that bedways is rightways and it’d be bezoomny to not grub some spatchka. O, no, my brothers, ’tis then when you must head you to the sinny to viddy “gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh”—that is…
The CityArts Celebration people just might be the most intelligent event planners ever. Know why? Because CityArts takes place the second weekend in June. Not the last in July, not the third in August. These people realize that we actually live in Texas, in Dallas, in the meteorological equivalent to…
We have trouble believing that people are still interested in Diana, Princess of Wales. Once the world’s most beloved royal icon, Lady Di took her taxi ride to heaven nearly a decade ago—old news, right? The 11 characters in The Dianalogues would certainly disagree with that stance; the Panther City…
Few film pundits predicted the aloof little coming-of-age comedy Breaking Away would amount to much. But like its underdog hero, Breaking Away was a serious contender—nominated for five Academy Awards in 1980 (including Best Picture) and winning for Best Original Screenplay. A delightfully daffy Dennis Christopher stars as a recent…
We no longer live in a green slime world. Eighties television attacked children with the wonders of colorful goo in three ways—Ghostbusters, Double Dare and You Can’t Do That on Television. These days, Nickelodeon (the original slime champ) clings to its messy, artificially colored applesauce past (yes, that’s what the…
Diva Barbra Streisand is famous for her song about people who need people. One of the people she has needed is Marvin Hamlisch, her former concert tour director and manager. Suffice it to say, Hamlisch knows a thing or two about Babs. So we imagine he’ll know what he’s doing…
James Frey’s fraudulent work, A Million Little Pieces, gained national attention as an Oprah’s Book Club pick. When he was outed for conjuring up a significant portion of his so-called “memoirs,” Oprah let him have it for “duping” her. Lying is one thing, but duping Oprah is another—rest assured Frey…
Somewhere, the old boy must be chuckling sardonically under his big, bushy mustache. First, Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a tale of boyhood life on the Mississippi suitable for children. Nine years later he produces The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, starring one of the little rascals from…
The last time I checked, Santa Fe was in New Mexico, but nevertheless you can still enjoy Santa Fe Days on the Square this weekend in Carrollton. The event features traveling representatives from a host of Native American tribes (including the Navajo, Comanche, Cherokee and Santa Domingo Pueblo) descending on…
Videogames compete with movies for our entertainment dollar. Top-grossing movies rely heavily on computer animation and graphics. The actors behind computer-generated characters win Oscars. It’s because of trends like this that we have events like the Industry Giants 2006: Giant Steps Forward computer graphics, animation and gaming forum. The annual…
I wasn’t really sure who the Grapevine Heritage Foundation was at first, but they’ve charmed the pants right off of me with this event. Yes, I am that easy. In conjunction with the North Texas Mustang Club, they’re presenting a “classic car double feature.” Along with some sweet-ass Ford Mustangs,…
Sue Loncar is many things. She serves as the Artistic Director of the Contemporary Theatre of Dallas. She has a lead role in their production of Stanton’s Garage. She’s also married to local lawyer Brian Loncar. You can’t help but wonder if she’ll take liberties with the third act and…
Your experience with theater in high school was limited to a shoddy adaptation of Twelve Angry Men. Or Our Town. Or any other play that gets performed at high schools across the country on a daily basis. But what did you expect? It’s not like you were ever given the…
The dog days of summer are three months away, but we’re all for a dog-centric afternoon that promises canine comedy. With contests like “Doggie Bulldozer,” “Stupid Pet Tricks” and “Best Costume,” dog owners will be wiggling on their backs in happiness. Operation Kindness’ 12th annual walk-a-thon starts with a leadoff…
Since he came of age in the late 1950s, the man known as Chip Taylor has made his living as a golfer, a gambler (He once finished third in the World Black Jack Championship and was banned from the casinos of Atlantic City for being too awesome) and most famously,…
