Among the major effects of COVID-19 on the larger cultural world was the erasure of the summer movie season. Since the mid-1970s when blockbusters like Jaws and Star Wars first took off, the summer months have become the time when studios release many of their most profitable releases. The past…
Consuming commercial media comes second nature to Americans. It’s a language we speak fluently, learned through osmosis, tailored around illusive data and marketing schemes designed to hit us right where it matters: in our primal need to hoard goods. Nationwide, the entertainment industry employs over 400,000 people a year, and…
Outdoor entertainment is nothing new for Rooftop Cinema Club, which is set to open a Dallas drive-in Tuesday. The new venue will be the fourth Texas-based drive-in the company has opened since March. While Rooftop has been around for a decade, its owner, Gerry Cottle, has been in show business…
This year has undoubtedly been one of the worst summers for the usually busy movie theater industry. It’s the time of the year when all the big — and even some smaller — studios release their most anticipated films to the public to take advantage of the summer season. Thanks to…
COVID-19 has thrown 2020 into chaos, and it just keeps on giving — there’s still an election to worry about in November. The past month, in particular, seems to have been largely dedicated to the minutiae of how this election will proceed with mail-in and absentee voting, as well as thoughts…
The first iterations of the classic anime series DragonBall Z came to America’s screens in the late 1990s, courtesy of Cartoon Network. It took a few seasons for the fantasy adventure cartoon to find an audience, but when it did, the show dropped a spirit bomb on its competition by…
It’s hard to look at “back to school” catalogues or Walmart displays without a good deal of apprehension. While Dallas ISD is planning to open schools on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with both in-person and remote opportunities, many of the details are up in the air. Gov. Greg Abbott has stressed…
For the last 77 years, it’s been illegal for a movie studio to own a movie theater. That law is no longer on the books. The Paramount Consent Decrees were established by a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1948 called U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures preventing film studios from owning licenses…
Deepfake technology has reached alarming heights in recent years, but every once in a while, someone uses it for benevolent purposes. Case in point, one person used it to answer the age-old question, “What if John F. Kennedy was a fan of the animated television series Rick and Morty?” Last…
By now, fans of The Umbrella Academy have either binged the entire second season, which was released on Netflix on July 31, or they’ve practiced self control by spacing them out to last a little longer than a couple days. Either way, the second season of the comic book adaptation…
This past week saw the release of Chasing the Light, the epic memoir of legendary filmmaker Oliver Stone. A word like “controversial” doesn’t even begin to describe the work of Stone, whose films have delved deep into hot button political issues and sparked intense debate for decades. Some have decried…
Venny Etienne’s first fashion show was at the church on Utica Avenue. “When you grow up in Brooklyn, that’s how you and your friends know what churches you go to,” he says. “Like, ‘Oh, you go to the one on Utica Avenue? Yeah, me too!’” In front of 500 churchgoers,…
Good morning to you, you diehard Chip and Joanna Gaines fan. Life got hard for you when they announced in 2017 that they would end Fixer Upper, their HGTV show about remodeling homes in Waco after five seasons, didn’t it? You were all, “Wah! How will I know what is…
Another day, another pushback. While safety during the pandemic is rightfully at the forefront of most people’s minds, many understandably yearn for a future where arts and entertainment will be “back to normal.” The film industry has certainly seen a huge shift in how films are distributed, and with productions…
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders hopefuls will begin their annual training camp in a few days. Kelli Finglass, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders director, sent a fan a Cameo a few days ago that gave a bit of insight to this year’s training camp. (Cameo is an online site where fans can request personalized…
Fort Worth native Grace Mitchell, the star of HGTV’s One of a Kind, has been curating her design aesthetic for much of her life. Mitchell started out with a design blog called A Storied Style and wrote for publications at night while her four kids, all under the age of…
In the Season 1 finale of Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy, Vanya Hargreeves (Ellen Page), a superhero-turned-villain whose power is the ability to convert sound into energy, plays a concert that results in an apocalypse. When her brother Five (Aidan Gallagher) manages to gather all of their siblings in…
Since its opening in 2015, Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical phenomenon about the life of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, has become a cultural sensation, and one of the only shows to unite theater’s biggest fans and those who eschew show tunes at all costs — gripping audiences with its inspiring story…
Since its premiere in 2016, the sitcom Search Party has developed a cult following. The dark comedy tells the tale of the disappearance of Chantal Witherbottom and a group of friends who suddenly find themselves involved with the mystery. In the most recent season, characters Dory Sief (Alia Shawkat) and…
From a creative perspective, the first thought on some people’s minds during the pandemic is “What kind of art will come of this?” Screenwriters and producers are scrambling to create original film and television programs inspired by COVID-19. Meanwhile, a Dallas actress is already ahead of the game. On a…
Everyone has probably had a frustrating conversation with someone through steaming face masks or online. Some of us seem so steadfast in our beliefs and opinions that getting someone to even acknowledge and process them feels like it should be some kind of competitive Olympic event. Now imagine having to…
As a result of the pandemic, the entertainment world has been drastically changed, and it will be interesting to see how these changes will ripple into the award shows that generate so much attention. How will the Oscars, the Grammys and the Tonys celebrate a year in which so much…
