Most sequels are born of good box office rather than good ideas, but it’s hard to imagine a more calculating, creatively bankrupt piece of real estate than The Hangover Part II. Trade out Las Vegas for Bangkok, a tiger for a monkey, a lactating hooker for a trannie stripper, a…
L’amour fou opens with unbroken footage from designer Yves Saint-Laurent’s 2002 speech announcing his retirement from fashion, after 40-plus years at the helm of the massively important label bearing his name. It’s a stunning performance, flowing from naked confessional (“I have known the false friends of tranquilizers…and emerged dazzled but…
For awkward teens, the thought of playing volleyball triggers horrifying flashbacks of a ball sailing toward one’s face during middle school gym class. For armchair athletes, it evokes pristine beach courts populated by fluid, golden-bodied Olympians like Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. They make the whole kill and dig thing…
It is unfortunate that Memorial Day has become more synonymous with barbecues and boat rides than it does the military. It is also unfortunate that some people cannot even tell you what the day commemorates other than a long weekend. But for those of you who do know and remember…
In this modern age, two things seem to constantly be in the forefront of our minds, the media, everything: comedy and war. The laugh of the day versus violence in some part of the world. Strange, that pair. They fit together better than one would expect based on definitions alone…
It’s your day off, but instead of spending the evening on the couch, watching those daytime soaps that have been sitting in your DVR for weeks, head to Buttons Restaurant, 15207 Addison Road, for a buffet worthy of an extra day off. The restaurant is serving a barbecue dinner with…
Part steamy small-town jamboree, part honest-to-God Czech cultural celebration, the National Polka Festival in Ennis is one of your best chances all year to escape the mess of the city and remind yourself what you love about living in Texas. Wash down your barbecue, klobase or pork roast with a…
Indulging in your senses is good for the soul. Senses send impulses throughout your body; they fill your veins with pleasure and joy. Your fingers tingle and a sense of contentment moves from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. You smell the spices in the…
The passion of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth’s life was motion study: determining whether a process- from shaving to assembling a rifle- could be done more efficiently through fewer motions. In light of their 12 children, you have to wonder if the couple was also conducting experiments on the most efficient…
If you’ve ever been made to sing or listen to “The Eyes of Texas,” you probably immediately realized two things. First, the arrangement is highly reminiscent of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” Second, the lyrics primarily consist of creepy messages that seem even creepier if you replace the word…
While Chinese-born, U.S.-based contemporary artist Xiaoze Xie’s works possess clearly political undertones, the figures and depictions in most of his works are reduced to abstract forms highlighting the transitory nature of time and its effects on memory and history—collective and individual. He’s known for photo-realistic paintings of stacked newspapers and…
We like to think everybody who gets stranded in an airport indulges in fantasies of some gorgeous guy you used to know showing up carrying a Statue of Liberty-sized torch for you. Steven Dietz’s play Shooting Star, about former lovers who find themselves and each other while snowed in at…
If origami had a human form, it would be yoga. Everything from the warrior pose to the chaturonga involves the flexibility of a pretzel. The moves may look easy, but oh boy, yoga is a tough workout to master. Not only does it involve continuous twists and turns, it also…
The Bernie Madoff case hovers over Ponzi, the new play by Elaine Romero getting its world premiere as the mainstage production in the New Works Festival at Kitchen Dog Theater. A mysterious investment genius named Jack guarantees high returns on the millions entrusted to him. It takes at least $6…
Is it porn or is it art? is always a question that gets debated with people’s nekkid parts show up on the walls of galleries, homes and museums. Collectors and appreciators of vintage porn are a special breed, regarding the images not so much as a source of entertainment or…
Ancient Greek and Roman nymphaeums were grottoes built up around naturally occurring grottoes traditionally thought to house water nymphs. Originally the nymphaeums sprung up near naturally occurring springs and streams, later the monuments were filled with flowers and greenery and decorated with mosaics, sculptures, painting and fountains. These ornate spaces…
Two blond, big-haired, big-boobed icons stare down on the action in the musicals Rock of Ages and 9 to 5. In Rock of Ages, whose Broadway tour is now at the Winspear Opera House, the guardian angel is Angelyne, the odd Mae West-like creature whose pneumatic cleavage once decorated billboards…
Khan might be remembered in Western circles as a rapacious warlord, but to many central Asians he’s the father of a culture who unified his people, created borders that exist into modern times and supposedly gave rise to such innovations as passports, postal services and even pants. The world tour…
Last week, the world experienced a great loss when wrestling legend Randy Savage and his wife suffered an automobile accident, with the “Macho Man” passing from his injuries. Fortunately, his newly wed wife Lynn survived the crash with minor injuries, and our hearts go out to her and all the…
Last week’s edition of the Dallas Observer was gloriously illustrated by poster artist/illustrator James Flames, one of the many fantastic artists exhibiting at Flatstock 29 back in March at SXSW in our fair state’s capital (of which you can still view the images we captured here and here).Not only were…
When you’ve got a 10,000 square-foot penthouse with picturesque views of the Trinity River and downtown skyline, entertaining at home is kind of mandatory, but entertaining a bunch of strangers who are specifically there to see your home might be a different story. The Dallas Architecture Forum is known for…
Pico Iyer is a travel writer’s travel writer, one of a small elite among the living (also Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson, Jan Morris) whose travel writing ranks as literature. In an era when most travel publications want stories about Five Fab Luxury Hotels for Dogs or Ten Terrific Places to…
