Arts & Culture

Even if some of the most important artists (and musicians and writers, while I’m at it) in history struggled with mental illness, the concept of “outsider art”–which broadly defined, can include self-taught and folk artists, but especially connotes the work of the disturbed–has always made me uneasy. For every person…

As if the Magnolia Theatre weren’t art-house enough for you, it is also home to the Magnolia Bar Gallery, which constantly displays rotating exhibitions from some of Dallas’ best local artists. Whether you’re in the West Village to catch a movie or do some afternoon shopping, a stop at the…

South Pacific! Where the wind comes sweeping down the…no, that’s not quite right. By order summer lingers through September in…South Pacific? No, no, no. OK, so even if you’re not 100 percent conversant with the classic songs of South Pacific, the underlying story and themes are familiar. Girls meets boy,…

When we think of Mexico, we think of spring breakers doing tequila shots off each other’s bodies and attempting to swim in the ocean while wearing a sombrero. OK, maybe that’s just Cancun. Well, there’s much more to the country that is located south of Texas. From now until August…

Women in ancient Greece sure knew how to control their menfolk. Or, at least the fictional ones did. In the classic play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, the title character tries to end the Peloponnesian War by telling all the non-single ladies to withhold sex from their husbands, which was shocking back…

It’s a little ironic, don’t you think? Who would have thought that the most impractical of all pessimists would end up making all the money? Welcome to Leo Bloom’s world in The Producers. An anxiety-ridden accountant, Bloom makes a business deal with Broadway producer Max Bialystock in hopes that their…

The Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, 1202 Dragon St., will show its new exhibit, Tales from the Crypt, through the end of summer. Not to be confused with the HBO series hosted by the “Crypt Keeper,” the show features numerous photographs rescued from the gallery’s archives. It features dug-up work…

If you’re one of those people who loves musicals–you know what’s on Broadway, who’s in it and why the star of that one show wants to have the costar flattened by a piano–then go see Forbidden Broadway. The biting musical revue has been around since 1982, and the biggest hits…

When we’re in the mood to munch, we love to snack on our beloved Fig Newtons. But we’re a little hesitant to try the purple, squishy, turnip-shaped fruit in its pure form, even after years of watching our mother pop them whole into her mouth straight from the tree in…

Bring your kids to share the art of film and bone up on their North American neighbors as they watch delightful and innovative movies this Thursday, the last day of The Modern Kids – Summer Flicks series at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. As a bonus, attendees will…

Ain’t no party like a LAN party, and every August, thousands of gamers from around the world stream into Dallas for the largest one in the world: QuakeCon, billed as “the Woodstock of gaming.” Built around a series of Quake Live tournaments with around $50,000 in prizes–plus a pair of…

The general rule of movie sequels is simple: don’t make them. Good movies come singly and perhaps in the rare trilogy, but as is the case with most sequels, there’s never a good reason to make a fourth one. Case in point: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal…

This weekend at the Inwood Theatre sees a return to the big screen for the precocious Max Fischer, Rushmore Prep student and founder of the Rushmore Bombardment Society, who falls in love with a teacher and quickly demonstrates the damage someone can do when the woman he loves breaks his…

Sherlock Holmes is a treasured character in literature whose appeal has crossed over since the inception of modern media. The beloved detective has been featured on radio shows and in various incarnations on TV and in film, most recently with Robert Downey Jr. playing the role (with gusto, we might…

“Love Is A Battlefield.” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” “We Belong.” “Heartbreaker.” Sure, you’ve heard these songs sung (and/or whistled) by your mom, by poseurs on American Idol, by 12-year-olds in their Flingy McDingdong Rockband bands and by every possible combination of drunk chick plus off-key at karaoke night…

What? Don’t tell us you’re not familiar with the easy, breezy, laid-back songstylings of Jack Mother-Lovin’ Johnson. The pro-surfer turned casual-rock icon somewhere around the time he put the board down, kicked off his flippy-floppies and picked up an acoustic guitar. We can’t be bothered with an exact date, though,…

With baseball season ending, it’s time to knuckle down and hope the Rangers can pull off a winning season, something they haven’t done in years. Hey, have a little faith; it’s possible. If anything, at least fans can still enjoy all-day tailgating parties, horseshoe games and firework Fridays. Even more…

Considering we could buy some flowers at the store and sit in our own chilly air conditioning for the Arboretum’s usual admission price, we normally wouldn’t pick August as the month to go. But now that the Arboretum’s August Dollar Days are upon us, we’ll have to reconsider, as $1…

The kind of walk we usually take on Saturday mornings involves last night’s clothes and a severe case of shame and regret. This week, we’re gonna give fitness for a good cause a try instead. The 15th annual Run, Walk and Roll, benefiting United Cerebral Palsy of North Texas, includes…

Long before little orphan Annie ever immortalized the phrase, “the sun’ll come out…tomorrow,” there had long been another orphan Anne in town. The Anne I speak of is the title character from Lucy Laud Montgomery’s famous novel Anne of Green Gables. Both of these orphans have red hair in common,…