During a 2009 Daily Show interview with Maziar Bahari, the Canadian-Iranian journalist who, earlier that year, had been imprisoned in Iran for 118 days on espionage charges, Jon Stewart said, “We hear a lot about the banality of evil, but so little about the stupidity of evil.” Or about its…
Citizenfour opens at the Angelika on November 21. With the first two documentaries in her post–9-11 trilogy — My Country, My Country, a portrait of Iraq under American occupation, and The Oath, which focused on two Guantánamo Bay prisoners — Laura Poitras seemed to be making a bid for the…
In the mid 1990s, self-appointed cultural gatekeepers used to wield Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s Dumb and Dumber as proof of the deterioration of film artistry. Those people hadn’t, of course, actually bothered to see the movie, and thus had no sense of its peculiar, sweet-spirited, un-toilet-trained brilliance. Times have changed,…
Take notice Dallas avant-garde fans, we don’t get chances like this very often. Aventures and its slightly more structured “sequel” Nouvelles Aventures are amongst Gyorgy Ligeti’s most fascinating works. Composed for three singers and instrumental septet, these miniature anti-operas (what the composer termed “mimodramas”) are equal parts haunting, hilarious, and…
Have you ever thought to yourself, “Gee, these all-you-can-eat pancakes sure are tasty. But you know what would make them even better? A cash bar, art by over 50 emerging artists and live body painting demonstrations.” Yeah, I didn’t think so. But some weirdo genius did, and they turned that…
Wanda Sykes is a funny lady. Her particular brand of DGAF comedy is smart, irreverent and well-informed, and by the way, she’s pretty much the only working comedian today that can boast a tenure with the NSA. That’s right—while many of her counterparts only have vocations in douchebaggery and idiocy…
Tensions between the US and the Australian entertainment industry have been a little mixed since we refused to accept Yahoo Serious as a movie star. It’s a shame because Australia is full of some very funny people who deserve a shot at the big time in the States. Wil Anderson…
Pretty much every big name in comedy came out of the famed Second City in Chicago. The theater gave some of the most famous names in funny their first big time on stage like Bill Murray, Keegan-Michael Key, Bob Odenkirk, Peter Boyle, Fred Willard and the late Harold Ramis. Of…
The third annual Dallas Whiskey and Fine Spirits Festival will take place Saturday, November 15 at Centennial Hall in Fair Park. General admission tickets include entry to the event plus access to beer, wine, spirits and food samples. That’s right, you get three different classes of alcohol plus snacks. Just…
There are two tours of note happening on Saturday, November 16. The first, Taste of the Bishop Arts District Walking Food & Historical Tour, will come in handy if your parents are in town. Nothing says “I’m an adult now, see” like an educational tour peppered with provisions from the…
So, technically speaking, we should probably file this under Period Costume Events, but that file doesn’t exist. But hey, there’s a picnic involved and it sounds like an awesome time, so Food Event it is then. This event is sponsored by the DFW Costumers Guild (which are said to be…
Last year, Art Con broke my heart. Dallas’ most dynamic charity arts event put a stunning painting up for auction that I coveted hard; it was right there at my fingertips and I lost it when the bids started to spiral past my mortgage payment. I took solace in the…
Shopping local is important, folks. We shouldn’t have to tell you that. But Deep Ellum Outdoor Market is making it easy for you with its appropriately named Fall Deep Ellum Market. Local musicians, including Richmond Punch, Justin Pickard and The Thunderbird Winos, and Sydney Wright, will be there to perform…
We know, we know. On top of picking out a Christmas tree, setting it up, and watering it, you also have to decorate it. It’s exhausting. Ornaments are typically just those glass or plastic things your parents store in a cardboard box in the attic and make you get out…
Remember that time last year when you tried to go to the mall for your Christmas shopping? Actually, you probably don’t. Rage clouds memory. Let me refresh—you spent an hour circling the parking lot in an automotive version of “The Hunger Games”, except with higher stakes. Once you secured a…
Meat Fight 2014 is sold out, of course, but I wanted to mention it just to remind all of you who don’t have tickets how awesome it’s going to be. There there. Don’t be meat sads. I would dry your tears away with some paper towels, but they have to…
On the same weekend that the city hosts the Dallas Faces Race conference, the Dallas Museum of Art presents Black Radical Imagination, “a touring program of seven short filmsthat delve into the worlds of new media, video art, and experimental narrative. Focusing on new stories within the diaspora, each artist…
Art Art With a Side of Soup Soup dinners aren’t normally associated with high stakes, but Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas will change that this Sunday when they host CADD FUNd: Winner Takes All at 3015 at Trinity Groves. The $40 price of admission will get you fed and the…
Deep Ellum’s newest bar-slash-record-store, Off The Record, stays busy. Apart from the luxury of drinking cocktails where you can also buy records, Off The Record offers an ever-growing list of social and cultural events too. It seems every week sees OTR add another installment to its High Fidelity series, which…
Regarded as the founder of the art music tradition in America, Charles Ives is arguably the most important composer the U.S. ever produced. Which means that anytime the man’s work receives a stage, especially locally, it deserves attention. Despite being one of the modernist’s less radical pieces, Ives’ “Symphony No…
” Join us for a rare opportunity to experience one of Dallas’ most elegant architectural icons. Designed by Philip Johnson for Dallas construction magnate Henry C. Beck and his wife Patty, the home was completed in 1964 and features an exterior of arched colonnades, a double grand staircase in the…
Someday you’ll say you saw them when. Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Dance Department presents Portraits, which an array of dance featuring the Dance Seniors of the Class of 2015. “Serving as both performance and audition, this one-night-only event presents solos showcasing the technique…
