For a combination dental practice/art gallery on Hibernia Street, the name “Hibernia Dental Arts” is undeniably accurate, but it’s not very reassuring. I prefer exact measurement over artistic license whenever nerves and drill bits occupy the same space. “Dental arts” makes it sound like dental school had a quidditch team,…
Flip Orley certainly boasts some good reviews for his stand-up comedy. But as a comedy hypnotist, it’s difficult to gauge just how funny he really is; it could just be that his hypnosis skills are so powerful that you’ll just think you’ve had a good time. I suppose there’s no…
Great artwork is about pulling off the unexpected, like pairing a cute pair of wedges with fatigue pants or throwing a litter of baby ferrets off a high-rise balcony. Nobody expects it to rain baby ferrets. But that would be sick, so maybe it’s better to stick to the predictable…
The other day, we found a binder filled with all kinds of crap—photo sets from Dallas Observer events, along with trinkets, mementos and cute captions written in colorful paper. We said to ourselves, “Wow! What an incredibly dorky way to commemorate our promotional nights out. If only this junk was…
Davy Rothbart loves trash. Just look at the USA Network’s “Characters Wanted” tag featuring the frequent This American Life contributor and founder/editor of FOUND Magazine (as well as the publication’s two compilation books)—the man hauls off and dives into a dumpster, for cryin’ out loud. But the personable and effervescent…
With ice caps melting, sea levels rising and Poseidon sinking fast, this is no environment for any disaster movie–particularly a real one–to take our interest for granted. Thus An Inconvenient Truth, named for the superbad news of global climate change, isn’t just another lefty doc for the art-house set, but…
You know how in most romantic comedies, the best friends are nearly always more interesting than the actual leads we’re supposed to care about? The Break-Up doesn’t play that game. Vince Vaughn is the focus and the primary source of entertainment, which is all the more impressive when you consider…
There was a time when people moaned whenever Hollywood would remake–and thus suck the life out of–a classic movie. These days, Hollywood just sucks the life out of movies that weren’t that great in the first place. Ah, progress. Well, June 6, 2006, is upon us, which means it’s time…
About 10 minutes into Michael Cuesta’s 12 and Holding, the following thought came to mind: Not afraid to put children in harm’s way. Twenty minutes later, not afraid was replaced with compelled. As he did in L.I.E. , which introduced child molestation into a fetid tale of adolescent obliteration, Cuesta…
Take Me Out, Richard Greenberg’s Tony-winning drama now playing at Addison’s WaterTower Theatre, tells a “What if?” story. Several, in fact. What if a major league baseball player–not just any player but a superstar–announces in the middle of a winning season that he’s gay? And what if the team needs…
The dripped bumpy surfaces of Charlotte Smith’s paintings and the bulbous pneumatic contours of William Cannings’ sculpture convey explosions. You’ll find no destruction or apocalypse in the exhibition Pop Up at Pan American Art Gallery. Rather, theirs is an artful blast that, in the case of Smith, makes for patterns…
If the creepy, self-flagellating albino monk in The Da Vinci Code really wanted to suffer, he’d drop his flesh-shredding cat-o’-nine-tails, pick up a controller, and play The Da Vinci Code videogame. It’s that bad. Now it can be told: The Da Vinci Code game is one of the crappiest, crap-lousy…
The Bette Davis Collection, Vol. 2 (Warner Bros.) A Fine Romance (Tango) Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (Dark Sky) Freedomland (Sony) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Fox) Hercules/Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (Image) John Wayne: An American Icon Movie Collection (Universal) The Kids in the Hall: Complete Season 4 (A&E)…
Will & Grace: Series Finale (Lions Gate) The way this got hustled to shelves, mere days after Will Truman and Grace Adler said their mushy farewells, you’d think this were some classic adios — another M*A*S*H or Cheers wrap-up. Alas, it was just another Very Special Episode of a show…
If you attend a baseball game this week, you’re much better off seeing the Frisco Roughriders than the Texas Rangers. That’s not much of a hot sports opinion—the Rangers are currently on a road trip through Chicago and Kansas City, so any visits to the Ballpark in AmeriQuest this week…
Goodfellas has everything you need in a flawless movie—memorable, career-making performances; dramatic, heartbreaking moments; memorable lines and scenes; and Robert DeNiro in what was probably the last grand slam performance of his career. (If you make a good enough case, I might give you Bronx Tale or Heat. If you…
Parents, take a moment to venture back to the days when you were but a child or perhaps an adventurous teen. Now go ahead and tell me there wasn’t some crazy shit you would’ve paid money to keep your parents from finding out about—and probably still keep secret to this…
Do you dream in black and white or color? If the dreams in question are, in fact, Bombay Dreams, the answer isn’t just color but color, sequins and everything Bollywood (India’s version of Hollywood). The musical is typical of producer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who also brought forth musicals such as…
Snow and the gentle plink of a balalaika reminds me of my childhood, bundled in a sleigh crossing the Latvian plains…wait. That wasn’t me. Sergey Vashchenko and Vladimir Kaliazine wore those fur hats and muffs and later mastered the three-stringed balalaika and buttoned accordion that Russians call the bayan. In…
Scholars have pondered it, scientists have dissected it, and still no one can explain why celestial imagery and three-minute guitar solos fuse so naturally. Laser Floyd would be mesmerizing enough, but the Planetarium at UT Arlington has upped the light show ante with their Rock Hall of Fame full-dome projection…
Scholars have pondered it, scientists have dissected it, and still no one can explain why celestial imagery and three-minute guitar solos fuse so naturally. Laser Floyd would be mesmerizing enough, but the Planetarium at UT Arlington has upped the light show ante with their Rock Hall of Fame full-dome projection…
Here in America, we’ve got lots of different kinds of gypsies wandering around. Let’s see, there’s the Rom, the Ludar, the Romnichels, the Black Dutch. I don’t know what kind of gypsy Esmerelda is, but she’s participating in Mayor Miller’s Summer Reading Program. At 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Audelia Road…
