A big-bang demolition derby, J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 seems bound for box-office glory. Opening three weeks before the Fourth of July, this Steven Spielberg-produced, kid-centric 21st-century disaster flick could well hang in at theaters till the 10th anniversary of 9/11—an event that haunts Abrams’ surefire blockbuster nearly as much as…
(Editor’s note: We mistakenly ran a full review of Beginners in last week’s issue, though the film opens this Friday at the Magnolia. To read the complete review, visit www.dallasobserver.com.) Playing an emotionally asphyxiated illustrator whose cancer-stricken dad comes out of the closet at age 75, Ewan McGregor looks positively…
The finest Western you’ll see this year, The Princess of Montpensier is set in aristocratic 16th-century France, in the heat of Counter Reformation. Mélanie Thierry’s father barters her for the titular title, marrying her off to Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet’s shy, pained prince—instead of her heart’s first choice, Gaspard Ulliel’s Duke de…
Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), a rampant 15-year-old only child, has two presiding preoccupations, detailed in rapid voiceover throughout Submarine: a broody classmate, Jordana (Yasmin Paige), and the flatlined sex life of his parents (show-stealers Noah Taylor and Sally Hawkins), brought to crisis by the arrival of mom’s glam-guru old flame…
It takes an elite brand of nerd to walk away from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and say, “Nine hours was not nearly enough.” Fathom Events is answering that plaintive, geeky wail with a three-night theatrical event that brings even more fur-footed folks and elf-on-orc action to the silver…
A lot has changed since 1867. However, one practice left totally unaffected by the changin’ times is the 144-year-old phenomena of putting on a big, floppy, over-the-top hat and gambling on beefed-up horses with silly names running around a track. With the Belmont Stakes—the third and final leg of the…
You wouldn’t know it to look at Chris Hardwick, with his boyish good looks and his scruffy, hipster look, but he is a nerd. No, not a music nerd or a comedy nerd, or any other genre-inspired cute way of calling him a fanatic; Chris Hardwick is a Star Wars-quoting,…
Lalo Guerrero may have best been known as the “Father of Chicano Music,” but he was also the father of Dan Guerrero, the self proclaimed Gaytino of Hollywood. As the son of a beloved icon in the Chicano civil rights movement, Dan Guerrero had some big shoes to fill, and…
You can dance if you want to, or, you can just watch some talented folks at magnet school Booker T. Washington do it much more competently. This Friday and Saturday, the Bruce Wood Dance Project debuts two of the nationally acclaimed choreographer’s brand-spankin’-new performances at Booker T’s Montgomery Arts Theatre…
Before he became the best-selling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Rick Riordan was a middle school teacher. You can’t get better market research than that. The formula that has earned Riordan legions of devoted young fans is simple: Combine adventurous mythology with snarky dialogue. Or as…
Living in the shadows of an older sibling can be tough. Ask Tony Rock. His brother dropped out of high school and worked in fast-food restaurants, which sounds pretty easy to top, but then his brother also became one of the most prolific comedians alive. Yeah, that Rock. Tony doesn’t…
There are few professions more interesting than that of tattoo artist. On one hand, the pro tattooist gets paid to create intricate, often beautiful pieces of art on a daily basis. They form relationships with clients and collaborate on permanent illustrations that people live with for the rest of their…
Read a few thrillers or mysteries and you’ll start to pick up on a common villain. More often than you’d expect, it isn’t a drug kingpin, brothel owner or racketeer pulling the strings on some murderous scheme, but rather some crooked land developer. That seems to be the case in…
If you’ve been waiting for the next weekend away at the races, it’s finally time to load up the beer and sunscreen for some fun at Texas Motor Speedway. The IndyCar and Camping World Truck Series is packing up and heading south for three nights of racing. The Firestone Twin…
If Murder at the Orient Burlesque was set in a strip club we’d have to go all women’s lib on ya. Since it’s set in the wonderful world of burlesque you won’t hear a peep from us. The play kicks off with a Russian princess joining the burlesque troop. She’s…
Who doesn’t like a good story? Whether it’s a Dr. Seuss classic, one of Steinbeck’s novels or even a one-act play, a good narrative is hard to beat. What many don’t know is that it isn’t just parents making up plotlines for sleepy toddlers and pros working on their great…
Though it was set in the present day, the 1983 film Tron feels futuristic. It was among the first films to extensively use computer animation, its score (by Switched-On Bach composer Wendy Carlos) was a pioneering mix of digital and orchestral music and the plot’s notion of a human being…
The New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham has haunted the streets of New York City for decades, snapping shots of the best dressed of the rich and famous and down and out in The Big Apple. In his columns “On the Street” and “Evening Hours,” Cunningham chronicled fashion trends for…
Lord Naritsugu (Gorô Inagaki) is a royal terror, and the court fears Caligula-like horrors should he come into his royal succession. Samurai Shinzaemon Shimada (Koji Yakusho) is secretly recruited to preclude this possibility with his sword, leading the title’s dirty baker’s dozen on a hit-job quest. Set in 1844, in…
Cinematographer Tat Radcliffe’s gray Turin sets the monotone of The Double Hour, while director Giuseppe Capotondi softens promising material to mush for the refined digestion of sophisto audiences. Guido (Filippo Timi, Vincere’s Mussolini), a retired policeman turned security guard, is a habitué of speed-dating events, where he meets Sonia (Ksenia…
Nature has always inspired artists to create beautiful works. Claude Monet created approximately 250 different artistic variations of water lilies in his flower garden, and it’s easy to understand why he produced so many of those paintings: Water lilies are undeniably beautiful, unlike, say, the West Texas desert spotted with…
Turns out Half and Half isn’t about cyborgs at all. It’s about marriage, but before you fall asleep at least read the description. Half and Half is a comedy that takes a look at two couples. The first couple is set in the 1970s with the husband in the role…
