America’s second favorite committer of treason, Julian Assange, is to speak and be interviewed at SXSW on March 8, the Austin mega-fest has announced. Obviously he won’t actually be there, as he has been a geographical prisoner since 2012, trapped inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London by a now presumably…
When Jeffrey Grove transitioned into his new DMA gig, Senior Curator of Special Projects and Research, the role of Senior Curator of Contemporary Art was left open. That was back in May, and yesterday the institution announced this is no longer the case. They’ve wrangled in Irish-born, England-stationed, Gavin Delahunty…
Peter Mayhew, the man who spent three Star Wars movie probably sweating away half of his body weight in a Chewbacca costume, must have a wealth of sci-fi history hiding in his Boyd, Texas, home. This weekend, he dropped a bunch of it on the malleable, easily blown minds of…
Comedian Brian Regan, a Letterman regular and car buddy of Jerry Seinfeld, will perform this Friday in Big D. I set up a phoner with the G-rated comedian from his home in Vegas to get his take on his act, taking a car ride with the comedy king and growing…
Classical musicians sometimes have a warped sense of time. For instance, as Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya reminded his audience on Saturday night in his introductory comments, Sergei Prokofiev — a composer often considered “modern” and whose music was featured on this weekend’s program — was actually…
Since the annual No Pants Subway Takeover arrived in Dallas, taking public transportation has become much more interesting. Sunday brought an afternoon of skivvy-clad commuters, hopping aboard DART to surprise and alter the days of unsuspecting fellow riders. We sent photographer Ed Steele to follow these brave, stripped-down souls through…
Don’t Talk – Siri from Alamo Drafthouse on Vimeo. The Alamo Drafthouse has a strange monopoly in the movie business on public service announcements that find new and creative ways to tell their patrons to shut off their phones. Their latest entry into their PSA vault is nothing short of…
The creepiest boy-faced actor working today will be at the Texas Theatre in mid February for a two-part show. Crispin Glover is coming to make your Valentine’s weekend a little more magical, but in a weird way. On Saturday, February 15 and Sunday, February 16, Glover will perform dramatic narration…
You might think that a show that features nothing but bizarre moments from the starry-eyed days of the VHS tape wouldn’t last five minutes when anyone with two thumbs and an iPhone can download one of a billion embarrassing moments from YouTube or laugh at tragedy after tragedy along with…
My sinuses are finally clearing from the Christmas vacation flu/cold/snot/crap that’s been going around. And just in time, too, because there are some great concerts coming up in the next few weeks and it’s impossible to fully appreciate the delicate vibrations of the world’s most expensive violin or catch all…
Calling all photography students! The lovely and friendly people at the Dallas Observer are recruiting a photo intern for the upcoming semester. Our interns work directly with the art director and the web editor to supply quality photography for blogs and slideshows, covering events including burlesque shows, art openings, local…
Some big announcements came out of SXSW yesterday. Supernova heartthrob/astrophysicist/author/educator Neil deGrasse Tyson will participate in a keynote interview for Interactive on Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m. So for the love of laminates, if you’ve ever known anyone in a power position at SXSW, now is the time to…
This amazing rap montage is just a swig from the found bottle. Suck the rest down on Saturday when Found Magazine the Found Footage Festival and A/V Geeks unite to battle for scavenger bragging rights at Texas Theatre. This weekend the city activates, flowing with new energy. Gallery and art…
Colin Quinn brings his one-man show Unconstitutional to the Wyly Theater at 8 p.m. Friday. While he might be an SNL veteran, TV host, and stand-up comedian, Mr. Colin Quinn is better known these days for his conceptually ridiculous Twitter account. Sounding absolutely nothing like Colin Quinn himself, his account…
You’re never quite sure where you are when you talk to Neil Hamburger. The standup walks a fine line that can leave you dancing between genuine reality and some bizarre universe where you’re not sure if the hand you hold in front of your face is real or even your…
A comedian, storyteller and founding member of the sketch troupe The State is bringing his deep and dark storytelling podcast to the Dallas Comedy House next month. Kevin Allison will record a live episode of his popular Maximum Fun podcast Risk! at 10:30 p.m. Friday, February 7. The podcast is…
It’s all there in black and white. For nearly 30 years Pegasus Theatre has been presenting Dallas writer-actor Kurt Kleinmann’s comedy take-offs on old B-movie murder mysteries and Hitchcock thrillers. The shows are presented in Kleinmann’s trademarked visual style that eliminates everything but shimmery shades of black, white and gray…
New Zealand stuntwoman-turned-actress Zoë Bell is fully aware of her unique position as an action star that also does her own stunts. After working as Lucy Lawless’s stunt double on Xena: Warrior Princess, Bell was discovered by Quentin Tarantino on the set of Kill Bill. After that, Bell has enjoyed…
In Spike Jonze’s new sci-fi romance, Her, Joaquin Phoenix plays a divorcee who rebounds by falling in love with his smartphone. On a recent Wednesday, however, he’s a delinquent boyfriend, leaving his iPad abandoned on a chair in a Lebanese restaurant as he bounces off to the parking lot for…
Here’s a movie that’ll flop in Kabul. Lone Survivor, the latest by Battleship director Peter Berg, is a jingoistic snuff film about a Navy SEAL squadron outgunned by the Taliban in the mountainous Kunar province. After four soldiers — played with muscles and machismo by Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile…
The terrible reality of modern life is that even beautiful young people on a first date can’t go a whole evening without checking their phones. We need to be potentially connected to every possibility at all times; just allowing the present to happen has become increasingly foreign. That’s the idea…
Without big truth-telling scenes, grand, great-lady, Meryl Streep-type actors would be out of work. Hell, Meryl Streep would be out of work. But for now, at least, August: Osage County, John Wells’ film adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit, keeps her out of the bread line. Streep plays…
