Jonathan Norton almost didn’t apply for the Artistic Innovations grant twice. But the third time was the charm for the local playwright, who was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Mid-America Arts Alliance this week. Of 137 applicants, Norton was one of 15 recipients of the grants, “awarded to support…
Last year, Jerry Saltz bemoaned the death of the New York City gallery show. He was pointing to the emergence of an online art market that no longer required collectors to be present at opening night receptions. It deflated the communal conversations at such events, leaving him with fewer people…
This week just won’t end. It’s been one fire after another that needed putting out. But we’re finally rounding the corner to see the glorious week’s end off in the distance. It didn’t come quickly enough but now that it’s arriving, the Monday doldrums begin to slip away. Now, it’s…
The business of childhood is the business of waiting: waiting for Christmas, waiting for school to let out, waiting to be old enough to stay up past 9 p.m. No other movie I can think of better captures the wistfulness of those days full of waiting than Richard Linklater’s Boyhood,…
Wish I Was Here, the movie that actor and second-time director Zach Braff partially funded with money raised through Kickstarter, isn’t nearly terrible enough to satisfy all the grumblers who are hoping to see it fail. When Braff couldn’t secure traditional financing for the film, he appealed to the fan…
It turns out that the cars and planes of Cars and Planes can kiss. Deep into Planes: Fire & Rescue, a time-killing kid-flick whose title is an exact summary of its plot, the filmmakers introduce us to two creaky old Winnebagos, a husband and wife in their sunset years, revisiting…
From the first line of Christhelmet, you know you’re in for something special in this gritty, great new musical written, directed by and starring Matthew Posey at his 40-seat Ochre House Theatre. “There’s gonna be a lot of feelings felt this summer,” warns Rosie (Dante Martinez), the jaded barkeep of…
The annual Festival of Independent Theatres is underway at the Bath House Cultural Center. Opening night featured two of the eight shows by companies too small to have their own permanent spaces. Instead of a dazzling launch for the four-weekend fest, however, the productions by PrismCo and Nouveau 47 were…
If the Saw series taught us anything, it’s that every quasi-inventive genre movie is fated to become a yearly franchise with increasingly diminishing returns. The Purge practically cried out for this treatment from its premise alone: James DeMonaco’s film had a big idea — a near-future in which “any and…
A defiantly R-rated farce seemingly commissioned to plug the We’re the Millers-shaped hole in the summer lineup, Sex Tape is warmer and more amusing than its ads would lead one to believe. In fact, it’s almost good enough, leaning a little too hard on the innate likability of stars Cameron…
The horror comedy is a tricky topic to tackle because it has balance both genres in one movie. It’s like watching a plate spinning act. If it goes wrong, it’s still entertaining but for all the wrong reasons. The Spanish movie Witching and Bitching is one of the good ones…
Splits on silks; tits on tightropes; pasties on platforms. Burlesque and cirque are a match made in sexytime heaven. The circus arts already have sexy women on swings, so why not add a little strip tease? If you’re into that sort of thing, Viva Dallas Burlesque hosts its mind-numbingly frequent…
The stroke of midnight brings different feelings depending on your age. For kids, it’s a thing of wonder—a magical hour that we get to see during sleepovers and covertly on Christmas Eve. For young adults, it’s just part of the day; two hours ‘til closing, and the time when they…
At the corner of Ross and Peak Avenues there is a furniture store with a permanent sign reading, “Everything Must Go.” The fervor-raising, marketing scheme, no-holds-barred sale is not a novel approach to getting things off the shelves. Shrewd businessmen have been doing it for centuries. The new version of…
When it comes to space exploration, there’s just no room to be jaded: Space is…well, it’s scary as hell, and nothing short of super-rad. The moon? Flying from Earth and landing on the freaking moon?! Seriously. How can anyone debate how unbelievably cool that is? They can’t. Which is why…
Unless you’re immersed in the urban erotic poetry scene or a fan of HBO’s Real Sex you probably aren’t familiar with Jessica Holter, activist, author and founder of The Punany Poets theatre company. Curious Dallasites can finally get a taste of Punany 8 p.m. Saturday when Holter brings her show…
If you’re not a Z-list celebrity, you’re probably never going to make it onto Dancing With the Stars and if you’re tone deaf, American Idol is probably out too. Well, at least the “you’re going to Hollywood” part. But if you have at least $36 to spare, you can head…
Whether you watch classic movies regularly or not, chances are you’ve seen Billy Wilder’s Some Like it Hot, or at least a few scenes from what is, arguably, the ‘greatest comedy of all time.’ You know: Jack Lemmon and the beautiful Tony Curtis simultaneously pulling and not pulling off their…
Basically, the Fine Arts Chamber Players’ annual Basically Beethoven Festival is a great way to try out a classical concert on the cheap (read: free). It’s also the perfect post-Sunday-brunch activity; its cool and dark inside Dallas City Performance Hall, the music is lovely, and you don’t even have to…
Games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake transformed the video game universe from a tired collection of happy pixels into a bloody orgy of gaming greatness. The industry wouldn’t have produced modern FPS giants like Borderlands, Far Cry, and Call of Duty without id Software’s legendary vision for blood, beasts…
Are you looking for some comfort? Well, end your woes like the evening sun and take in a show at Samuell Grand Amphitheatre (1301 Tenison Parkway). The opening night of the latest Junior Players summer production starts 8:15 p.m. Tuesday. The kids will be strutting the boards in a production…
Stage designer Peter Wolf had a long, prolific career creating elaborate sets for Broadway productions, but he was famous locally as the chief stage designer at the Dallas Summer Musicals for more than 30 years. His name should be household, but it’s sadly lost in the spotlight’s shadows. Fortunately, as…
