“Has God made you promises?” The judge is testing Renée Jeanne Falconetti’s Jeanne d’Arc, interrogating her direct line to God. It is an indelible scene from Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 silent French film, The Passion of Joan of Arc. Dallas filmmaker Dom G. Jones was a sophomore studying film at…
Jessica Luther was born to be a football fan. Her dad raised on her the sport, and when the time came for her to choose a college, she only sent in one application: to Florida State, where she would attend every single home football game. But now when the author…
Ever been to the Pollock Gallery at SMU? No? Ever even heard of the Pollock Gallery? Also no? That’s not surprising. Despite the romantic idealization of curious, art-hungry university students and despite what was no doubt an intentional choice to put the gallery in SMU’s student center, students rarely venture…
You risk losing a little respect from the alternative comedy community if you publicly admit that you like watching Seinfeld or the comedian for which the show is named. Jerry Seinfeld seems like a comedy relic in the modern annals of comedy where boundaries are tested and pushed and observations…
Dear Stoner: I’ve tried sativas and indicas, and they’re all fine and dandy, but I’m looking for something more in the middle. What are some good hybrids that are actually hybrids? Happy Jack Dear Jack: All hybrids are actually hybrids. In fact, nearly all of the strains you’ll find nowadays…
It’s been a tumultuous summer for the arts community. Artists and gallerists have been embroiled in a battle with the fire marshal’s office, which has shut down many art events this summer over ambiguous certificate of occupancy issues. Now many of the same outspoken arts advocates are protesting the potential…
A Dallasite walks into a bar … paints a glass and still has a full week of affordable and wide-ranging events to keep the entertainment level at top-gauge. That’s no joke. Choose from a look into theology, emotional theater, a Bavarian blowout and a day when parks take over downtown…
Do This! So, it’s a month till everyone’s favorite spooky holiday, but we all know the best costumes require planning. Each year, Rose Costumes in Denton (5800 Interstate 35 North, No. 508) does the pro-Halloween a solid by putting a huge assortment of vintage and used costumes on sale. From 10 a.m. to…
Until 2008, it was illegal to sell sex toys in Texas, although this problem was commonly skirted by labeling devices “massagers” or for “novelty purposes only.” But even now that it’s perfectly legal, you may not be familiar with the best places in Dallas to buy them. Sure, you could…
Here’s a gorgeous and audacious slice of East Bay life that’s dreamily attentive to Northern California sun and concrete, to the shambled beauty of a street couch under a BART station, to the slow thump of cruising stoned with hip hop bumping, to the way suburb-city edges into city-city and…
If you’ve visited The Wild Detectives’ Twitter this week, you may have noticed something different: shameless click bait. Instead of the usual tweets promoting events at the Oak Cliff bookstore or sharing articles on literacy, their Twitter feed is populated with “shocking facts about garlic” and a story about a…
In 2010, 20-year-old Marisol Valles Garcia volunteered for a job no one else wanted, police chief of the tiny Mexican border town Práxedis Gilberto Guerrero. The job was open because the previous police chief had been beheaded by drug lords. Officials mistakenly thought putting women in police leadership would deter…
Warm light melts over comedian Matthew Solomon as he stands on stage at the Safe Place workshop at Mable Peabody’s Bar and Chainsaw Repair in Denton. Solomon regales the audience, a handful of other comedians, about one of his mother’s characteristic outbursts during a visit home. As the laughter subsides,…
The Hollars tells the familiar tale of a dysfunctional family pulled together by unfortunate circumstances. John Hollar (John Krasinski, who also directed) is a frustrated graphic novelist with a pregnant girlfriend, Rebecca (Anna Kendrick). When he gets the news that his mother, Sally (Margo Martindale), has a brain tumor, he…
Dear Stoner: Do marijuana allergies exist? If so, what happens if you’re allergic to marijuana and smoke it? Mick Dear Mick: Marijuana can cure many ills, but like pollen, peanuts or grass, it’s also capable of making some people swell up and turn red. According to a story in U.S…
If you’re a child of the 1980s or ’90s and haven’t made a voyage to the Free Play Arcade in Richardson, you are passing up a chance to experience time travel. The game room that’s tucked away in a strip mall on East Belt Line Road takes you back to…
Dallas hasn’t been the same since The Real Housewives of Dallas wrapped its first season back in May. No one here can handle the limbo of “is there or isn’t there a season 2?” Our district attorney and police chief both posted their resignation and stray dogs have just been wandering the…
What looked like giant shards of glass were suspended from the ceiling at odd angles and pulsating with hyperactive designs. Entering the room was like stepping inside a broken mirror that reflected psychedelic electronic images, immersing the viewer in a frenetic visual pingpong. Eric Trich was the man behind the disorienting…
For the next four weeks, the Observer will highlight women who work behind the scenes as organizers, publicists, managers and activists to better the Dallas arts community. When Amber LaFrance says, “I’ve always been a hustler,” she’s telling the truth. The co-founder and owner of PR firm CultureHype pursued a career in ballet…
Dear Stoner: Does marijuana help with depression? Searching Dear Searching: Unfortunately, the answer is not a simple yes or no. There’s such a wide range of studies on the subject that trying to wrap your head around it can make your hair fall out — or leave you more depressed…
School’s back in session and even if we’re still sweating a little bit (or a lot), there’s that twinge of fall lurking around the corner. This week’s recommendations have the butterflies ushering in decidedly autumnal events like Burton screenings, Nick Cave releases and yes-oh-yes, costume sales. Take a jacket to…
Opening your film on the image of a child plummeting off a cliff, presumably to his death, is a fairly foolproof way of getting the audience’s attention. And Alexandre Aja’s hyper-stylized coming-of-age-movie-slash-fantasy-slash-psychological-thriller The 9th Life of Louis Drax excels at grabbing you with a steady stream of provocative and ornate…
