It is often written of Harrison Ford that he’s the most profitable movie star in history, to the tune of some $3.8 billion in box-office receipts worldwide. Of course, once one subtracts from that total the first three Star Wars movies, the Indiana Jones trilogy and two outings as CIA…
This is not George Lazenby making his doomed run at James Bond, or even Mel Gibson presuming to play Hamlet. This is serious heresy, combined with a touch of felonious assault. It has evidently not occurred to Steve Martin that, just as there is only one Eiffel Tower, there is…
Let’s get right to the point: If you are the type of person who enjoys seeing attractive naked girls meet a hideously graphic demise, there’s a scene in Final Destination 3 that will wear out the pause and rewind buttons on your DVD remote a few months from now. Mega-stereotype…
That Curious George existed at all–much less as a franchise, an icon enduring some 65 years–was a result of “happy circumstance,” wrote Houghton Mifflin publisher Anita Silvey with some understatement in 1991, upon the 50th anniversary publication of The Complete Adventures of Curious George. Silvey and critic Leonard Marcus recall…
Somebody at the Richardson Theatre Centre has been watching late-night Cinemax. Director Regan Adair’s production of Christopher Hampton’s Dangerous Liaisons throbs with passion, a three-hour make-out marathon replete with pretty babes in clingy lingerie, a courtesan who lets her lady lump double as a writing desk and a virgin who…
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DreamWorks) Not since Finding Nemo has there been a movie so easy to recommend for all ages and tastes. But despite having crafted a near-perfect film, directors Nick Park and Steve Box second-guess themselves constantly on their audio commentary, as well as…
Maybe it’s because we’re hung up on our past more than ever — riding a wave of giddy, nonstop nostalgia and absorbing anything that will help recapture the bliss of the good ol’ days — but Capcom’s Mega Man X Collection feels more fun than ever. The follow-up to last…
Bambi II (Disney) The Batman: The Complete First Season (Warner Bros.) The Best of the Electric Company (Shout!) The Best of Youth (Miramax) The Cary Grant Box Set (Sony) Cote D’Azur (Strand) Daltry Calhoun (Miramax) Doom: Unrated Extended Edition (Universal) Elizabethtown (Paramount) Eros (Warner Bros.) Grounded for Life: Season 1…
Before Amy Fisher or Vili Fualaau, there was Lolita. Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film captures the essence of one of the most influential and oft-alluded-to works of literature. Based on the Vladimir Nabokov novel of the same name, Lolita tells the story of a middle-aged scholar plagued by his lust for…
I know this whole Vagina Monologues thing has really taken off in recent years, but I’m just not sure I fall for it. As someone who has close–one might say, intimate–knowledge of this particular aspect of femininity, I have a hard time believing that a monologue is the best the…
There is no shame in avoiding the crowds munching in the name of love on Valentine’s Day. In fact, the best, most romantic Valentine-y celebrations I’ve personally been privy to have taken place before the “holiday”…thanks to scheduling issues and subsequent massive groveling. So Aqua Italian Bistro and Bar wins…
Emerge from your dark living room, turn off your TiVo-ed marathon of Law & Order and loosen your grip on those tubs of Häagen-Dazs, folks. Valentine’s Day is now officially over, which means you can show your lonely face in public once more. Yeah, it’s a bum holiday, but it’s…
Many artists gather their inspiration from trips to new places. Sean Scully’s Wall of Light, for instance, was inspired by a trip to Mexico. On display at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St., Wall of Light is based on what Scully recalls from this trip–especially the…
Some people have a mind for physics. Others have the stomach for the study of human anatomy and all the blood and unpleasantness that entails. I, however, have a heart for history, which is why the Dallas Historical Society’s Have a Heart for History Day sounds right up my alley…
With a title like Dances at a Gathering, Daydreaming in Dallas, one might assume that the Chamberlain Ballet’s latest production would actually take place in its namesake city. However, you would be wrong—although you have to admit one might daydream of Dallas while sitting in the chilly confines of a…
The latest member show at 500X Gallery is a test of perception and an exploration of rarely seen images by Diane Sikes, Shannon Sullivan and Brad Wehring. Sikes fashions objects out of submerged memories that render a fuzzy déjà vu-like lack of clarity for the viewer. Sullivan’s pieces are more…
Don’t expect to find some old retired boxers when you meet 92-year-old “Pinetop” Perkins or 90-year-old David “Honeyboy” Edwards because, one, they’re not boxers and, two, they’re not even close to retirement. And neither are their colleagues, 96-year-old Henry James Townsend and 90-year-old Robert Lockwood Jr. These men are living…
Love is a four-letter word. Probably the most used subject in all of the arts, people just can’t get enough of it. There’s even a holiday for those people who just love everything there is about love. For those of us who would rather poke love in the eye with…
We’re with the Japanese on this one: Game shows aren’t worth their salt unless the contestants are humiliated, abused and scared out of their minds. If a lady makes thousands of dollars spinning a wheel, there better be spikes, snakes or cans of tear gas involved. That’s why we’re fond…
The Nile perch was first introduced to Africa’s Lake Victoria in the 1960s, and it has since decimated the native fish population and spawned a large-scale fishing industry that earns millions annually. The Oscar-nominated documentary Darwin’s Nightmare (coincidentally the title of my unreleased documentary on intelligent design) tells the story…
Speaking of Texas film, thank goodness for FilmFrog Productions and its Dallas Film Series. They promote Texas films (and others) each month with a feature and a short at each screening. Not only that, you get a meet-and-greet and a Q-&-A with the filmmakers. Score! See Bit Parts, a locally…
As a true Texan, I believe it’s a requirement to have seen the 1956 Oscar-nominated film Giant. It may even be in the state constitution somewhere (but I could be wrong). Apparently it’s been termed the “national film of Texas,” and it’s about as big at three-plus hours. Can you…
