We first met Savion Glover when he was just a wee oneâ€â€tap, tap, tappin’ his way onto Broadway (as well as screens big and small) and into our hearts. He was only 10 when he first appeared on the scene, but now he’s 33â€â€with stage, film, directing and dance credits…
Vessels in the Night, or a Practical Guide for Unimaginative Husbands sounds like something Dr. Phil would hawk. But while it would probably be a best seller, in this case, it’s the catalyst of Every Trick in the Book, a play presented by the Classical Acting Company. Here, a woman…
Comedian Patton Oswalt recently made a plea for Americans of porn-buying age to stop relying on the Internet to educate today’s youth. He argued that kids should be exposed to pornography the way his generation was, via used dirty magazines found in the woods. If you share Oswalt’s nostalgia for…
You’ve visited the Book Depository, the Grassy Knoll and the X in the street at least a hundred times. You’ve listened to all the facts, bought the memorabilia and stood in the window. But the conspiracy still lingers: Did the government dye John F. Kennedy black to hide him from…
“I guess it doesn’t matter where I begin,” reasons the adult narrator of Running With Scissors, the inevitable Oscar contender adapted from Augusten Burroughs’ wacky memoir of coming out as a gay teen in his adoptive guru’s carnivalesque commune. “No one is gonna believe me anyway.” No one? In fact,…
there’s a scene about halfway through Catch a Fire during which freedom fighters—men and women, each boasting such nicknames as “Pete My Baby” and “Hot Stuff”—are being trained at an African National Congress safe house in Mozambique. Their ranks consist of South Africans who’ve been politicized by cruel life under…
Of all the hundreds of pedophile priests to be flushed out of the woodwork in recent Catholic Church history, Father Oliver O’Grady has to be one of the most harmless-looking and the most sinister. Wispy, unremarkable and accommodating, with an ingratiating half-smile playing permanently about his thin lips, Father Ollie,…
Leave it to Tennessee Williams to pick the perfect name for a character in the throes of an emotional breakdown: Brick. Failed pro football player, miserable husband to the sexually pent-up Maggie, Brick Pollitt is a crumbling hulk of a man, one of three central figures afraid to face hard…
Reservoir Dogs: 15th Anniversary (Lions Gate) Quentin Tarantino’s first film shows its age these days, mostly because we’ve seen all its tricks done far better by now. From the nonlinear storytelling to the pop-culture gabfests to the shameless cribbing from obscure films, everything that once seemed so shockingly fresh has…
Viewed from an airplane high over the islands of San Esperito, the land seems to stretch out endlessly. The sun slowly rises over the ocean, bathing the clouds in ochre and throwing stark shadows on the lush jungle below. If only there were something worth doing down there. Welcome to…
An American Haunting (Lions Gate) Astaire and Rogers: The Complete Film Collection (Warner Bros.) Freak-Out (Anchor Bay) Greg the Bunny: Best of the Film Parodies (Shout!) Justice League Unlimited: Season One (Warner Bros.) La Commune (Paris, 1871) (First Run) Looking for Kitty (Velocity/ThinkFilm) The L-Word: The Complete Third Season (Showtime)…
Perhaps stung that a certain other DFW sports postseason meltdown grabbed all the headlines, the Dallas Stars have been playing like men possessed early in this young hockey season. Oh, sure, they aren’t the Stars of old—an aging Mike Modano has been stripped of his captain’s title, for instance—but let…
While Frank Campagna may be a pretty special guy, there’s not a whole lot that’s very special about knowing him. Is that a typical, backhanded Dallas Observer compliment? Hardly. The artist and gallery owner is just about one of the friendliest guys in town, and even if you’ve never shaken…
I hope I haven’t missed the yearly presentation of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Even as a thirtysomething, there’s a certain nostalgia that I gladly suffer watching it. And each time, my heart always goes out to poor Linus. Whether it’s suffering at the hand of his verbally abusive…
I have mixed feelings about haunted houses. There is nothing like that thrill of some blood-covered ghoul lunging toward me from the darkness. But when I notice the same masks I saw at Target while shopping for my own costume, the experience kind of loses its fear factor. I long…
What’s left of Nick Lachey? Probably not much, considering what he brought to the table. From a lackluster start as a member of the third most popular late-’90s boy band to a career-making move as the husband of the third most popular late-’90s blond starlet, Lachey stretched his 15 minutes…
Till we got a good look at the schedule of guests for the latest Dallas Comic Con, taking place Saturday and Sunday at the Plano Centre, we were going to claim Ron Glass as the event’s biggest name; Barney Miller, Firefly and Serenity, dig? Or maybe late addition Lane Garrison…
We’re getting old. Remember the days when skateboarding, BMX, inline skating and freestyle motocross were called extreme (or, for that matter, even punk)? Well, those days are gone—we are now pleased to inform you about the LG Action Sports World Championships for the above mentioned activities. Qualifications for this event…
Liquid eyeliner, Revlon blackberry lipstick and Doc Martens are not required. Let out that sigh of relief—I know I did—since the 7th Annual Goth Ball does not require attendees to venture back to their tormented sophomore or junior years. Costumes are totally up to you, which means, thankfully, godawful Robert…
Few things make life more miserable than having to deal with a guest who has overstayed his welcome. (I’m lookin’ at you, Grandpa. Quit milkin’ that artificial hip and get back to the lonely days of staring at SpeedVision and the gardening channel, will you? I need my room back.)…
Hecate Hill is this really cool place where Bigfoots hang out. And they don’t take too kindly to being killed, OK? So when these hunters in Southern Oklahoma kill one of them, all hell breaks loose. Or does it? That’s the central question of Hecate Hill, a one-act play at…
Halloween is my favorite holiday for two reasons: (1) It’s the only day of the year you can take candy from strangers without getting felt up, and (2) I love costumes. When I was little, I dressed up as Peter Pan for Halloween for three years in a row. From…
