Twenty days before his death in 1996, Timothy Leary taped a farewell message disclosing his thoughts on morality. At that point, 30-odd years after his attempts—along with author Ken Kesey and their band of psychedelic sidekicks, the Merry Pranksters—to initiate revolution through the potentially mind-expanding powers of LSD, no one…
Vincent Bugliosi’s name suggests some type of horror movie aesthetic, but that may be because his name already sits atop one of the scariest stories ever: Helter Skelter. He’s the author of this masterpiece and was also the prosecutor of Charles Manson. Bugliosi has recently lent his eye for detail,…
Children might not know it, but they’re all in training to grow up to be special effects dudes (and dudettes). C’mon, the SPFX crew spends the whole day bringing monsters to life, playing with robots, staging battles with action figures and painting faces—the neighborhood playground is practically your internship, kiddos…
Here’s what you need to know about hellogoodbye: Their music has been described as “power pop/synth pop,” they’ve appeared on MTV’s The Real World Austin and in publicity photos they’ve been seen blowing on dandelions, standing in a field with a deer and sitting in a locker room wearing nothing…
People love to hate on the Eagles, but give them some credit: They created an entirely new music genre where rock peters out and where country doesn’t kick in. The Eagles mined this bland space between rock and country for a decade, selling millions of records and leading the way…
In his quest to conquer the Orient in the late 1700s, Napoleon Bonaparte led the French army into Egypt, hoping to wrest its valuable resources from the British and pave the way east. He took with him 160 of France’s most notable scholars, artists and engravers in order to document…
How doth thee love the ladies? You buy them cheap drinks in hopes of getting in their pants. You courteously text-message them a couple days after getting them in the sack…to get that Shiner you accidentally left in the fridge. You do not love the ladies, you poseur! Atone for…
Like most other kids, I got my fill of cartoons every Saturday morning. In hindsight though, my television proclivities leaned toward the sitcom and somewhat frighteningly so. I remember feeling sorry for Edith Bunker because she was so meek. I was disturbed when George Jefferson would walk on British neighbor…
Vincent Bugliosi’s name suggests some type of horror movie aesthetic, but that may be because his name already sits atop one of the scariest stories ever: Helter Skelter. He’s the author of this masterpiece and was also the prosecutor of Charles Manson. Bugliosi has recently lent his eye for detail,…
Do you think we’re never going to survive unless we get a little crazy? Have you been kissed by a rose on the grave? Have you twice impregnated supermodel Heidi Klum? If so, then you’re probably Seal Samuel, survivor of a childhood battle with discoid lupus that left you with…
For the life of me, I will never understand how a person can spend a day in 90-degree heat and then declare that they need a cup of tea. I took my very British mother to the Arboretum last week, and I guarantee that if she’d known they were having…
Have you ever sat around watching Sister Act on a Saturday afternoon and thought to yourself, “Damn, I really wish this were a British comedy starring Robbie Coltrane and Eric Idle dressed as zany nuns instead of that annoying Whoopi Goldberg trying to teach nuns how to sing?” After all,…
When I signed up to write about the Firemen’s 5K, I was all, “Too easy. Firemen are hot. Firemen all sweaty? Even hotter. I’ll make jokes about kittens stuck in trees. Innuendo about firemen and their hoses.” But when I went to their Web site, I saw that the race…
The Wendell Baker Story, written by Luke Wilson and directed by Luke and older bro Andrew, bowed in March 2005 at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, where the film had been shot two years earlier. That the movie—which also stars other brother Owen Wilson, Eva Mendes, Eddie…
Coming out of Shrek the Third, I asked the two smart pre-teen girls I had in tow what they had liked about the picture. Projectile vomiting and multiple farts, they said promptly, best Shrek ever. Ordinarily I’m not big on poop and flatulence, but in this instance I sympathized; there’s…
What a friend she has in cheeses. Sister Elizabeth Donderstock, member of an obscure offshoot of the Amish called the “Squeamish,” is the goddess with gouda in Amy and David Sedaris’ lactose-irreverent one-act comedy The Book of Liz. Bootstraps Comedy Theater is putting on this curds-and-way-funny little play right now…
Pan’s Labyrinth (New Line) Guillermo Del Toro has made a career of mixing slam-bang special effects (Hellboy, Blade II) with creepy atmospheres (Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone). But with Pan’s Labyrinth, he’s used his entire palette for what will likely be remembered as his masterpiece. Mixing Franco’s Spain with fairy tales,…
Army of Shadows: The Criterion Collection (Criterion) Arthur & the Invisibles (Genius) Bill/Bill on His Own (Brentwood) Bunny Whipped (Think) Caddyshack: 20th Anniversary (Warner Bros.) Chasing Liberty (Warner Bros.) Curse of the Zodiac (Lionsgate) The Dead Girl (First Look) Denzel Washington: Spotlight Collection (Universal) ER: The Complete Seventh Season (Warner…
If you’re looking for a laugh, find a kid raised on Grand Theft Auto and introduce him to Pac-Man for the first time. As he stares at you blankly, explain the addictive joy of eating dots and the simplistic genius of the neon-blue maze. When he sneers, “That’s it? It’s…
At times it seems the Dallas Observer’s own Matt Pulle has seen every gangster flick ever made. If it’s got a De Niro or a Pacino (or even a Liotta or a Pesci) in it, he’s seen it at least three times, if not more. I think he even saw…
Tiresome, bumbling Barney the Dinosaur. Chattering, yapping Pee-Wee Herman. These were the great Saturday morning TV characters of Generation-Y’s childhood. A disturbingly happy, mentally deficient dinosaur and a pasty dude with questionable sexual interests? Worst of all was the veneer of innocence cast over their dark cores. Better that I…
Among the various and sundry monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C., there are a few subtle works that may be off the beaten path, but are no less impressive. One of these is the Albert Einstein Memorial, situated in a grove on the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences…
