Maybe it’s a just a sign of the Blumhouse-era horror-movie world we find ourselves in, but there’s something refreshing about a scare flick that (a) actually shows you its monster occasionally and (b) gives you a definite reason to be afraid of it. Hiding things in shadows to enhance audience…
Dear Stoner: If I breed a new strain from a male and female plant, can I name it whatever I want? Is there any sort of convention to follow? Bob the Breeder Dear Bob: You are free to name it whatever you come up with — no matter how stupid…
Most of the notable mid-size theaters in DFW will produce at least one new play in 2017. This is an exciting trend. A commitment to producing and developing new works gives artists a reason to consider our city a a viable arts community. While some theaters will produce new works by…
For more than a decade, Dallas’ MLK Symposium has brought together a host of speakers who follow Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of social and economic fairness. The 12th annual symposium, titled “MLK’s Legacy: issues of social justice in the twenty-first century,” will examine modern rifts in America’s social justice fabric while also…
In Krys Boyd’s 10-year tenure as host of KERA’s Think, she’s become well known for asking thought-provoking questions of celebrities, scientists, politicians and authors. Her probing opens up a dialogue that oftentimes results in more questions than answers, and Boyd is okay with that. The show is called Think after…
Art, Beats & Lyrics Gilley’s Dallas 1135 S. Lamar St. 7 p.m. Friday Free If you find yourself struggling to answer the question “What is art?” you have the chance to bounce around ideas with fellow art and music lovers at Art, Beats & Lyrics from 7 p.m. to midnight…
Dallas has served as a backdrop for many shows and films, including the eponymous soap, Dallas; Robocop; Talk Radio; and Born on the Fourth of July. But if new legislation passes, there may not be much more filmmaking in Dallas’ future. In 2004, the Texas Legislature saw a potential economic…
The Bad Kids of Crestview Academy is a sequel, and if you’re asking yourself, “Of what?” you’re not alone. Just add to that the question of: “Why?” The original low-budget mega-gore film Bad Kids Go to Hell had a modestly kitschy, fun premise to match its title: The Breakfast Club…
One of the quasi-bohemians in Mike Mills’ gauzy 20th Century Women loves to document ephemera, taking photos of everything she owns. A similar instinct — archiving as art — guides Mills’ movie itself, a trip back in time in which era-specific talismans substitute for genuine thought. Though big feels glut…
Forget cedar-smoked meats, steel-toed boots and rattlesnakes. Fort Worth’s own Brent Hull put Texas on the map for another reason, and it recently landed him his own History Channel show. As host of Lone Star Restoration, Hull takes a closer look at the beauty and craftsmanship of historical preservation. Whether…
Near the end of Underworld, the 2003 film that launched the popular (and profitable) horror franchise, Viktor (Bill Nighy), king of the vampires, tries to kill the werewolf (a.k.a. Lycan) lover of his protégé, Selene (Kate Beckinsale), and she is not pleased. Grabbing a sword, Selene leaps straight up and…
For better and for worse, Peter Berg has found his genre. After oscillating between sports (Friday Night Lights), superheroes (Hancock) and even board games (Battleship) without much distinction, the writer, director, producer and actor has made a loose trilogy in which Mark Wahlberg reenacts recent tales of American heroism. Lone…
Somewhere inside the 128-minute Live by Night is a reasonably solid 168-minute movie struggling to get out. No, that’s not a typo: You can sense the contours of an absorbing story as writer/director/star Ben Affleck’s slapdash and fragmented assemblage limps along. Most of the pieces are there, but they remain…
Upon reopening after the holidays Paul Black, co-owner of Photographique in Deep Ellum, found himself swamped with customers. His business offers traditional photographic services such as developing film, restoring damaged photos, producing prints both large and small, and renting out their darkroom to eager photographers. But before the birth of…
Rachel Livedalen – To Lisa With LoveOpens Saturday 500X Gallery 500 Exposition Ave. Rachel Livedalen’s interdisciplinary works explore contemporary femininity viewed through the lens of generations past. Growing up, she loved Lisa Frank so much she’s about to unveil an entire solo exhibit dedicated to the sticker maven. It’s a…
Back in the late ’90s, before making it as one of Hollywood’s most revered and provocative photographers, Tyler Shields called North Texas his home. And on Saturday he made a stop back through his old bailiwick for the reception of his latest book, Provocateur. The standing- room-only event gushed with…
Mike Crum and Rob Cayhill celebrated New Year’s Day with a “fun-raiser” – good food, live music and kickflips at the new 4DWN community skate park. Both Crum and Cayhill are skateboarding industry vets who run the park as a nonprofit space. It’s a free skate park for all of…
Tue 1/10Church isn’t somewhere we often think to go when we want to broaden our horizons. It’s a place to discipline your mind, sure, but expand it? Highland Park Methodist Church (3300 Mockingbird Lane) is challenging our preconceived notions with their Authors Live series, which invites acclaimed authors of both…
In the ’80s and ’90s, there were action movies. They starred muscly guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, or martial artists from Jean-Claude Van Damme to Cynthia Rothrock, or actors who were dedicated to the physical demands of the genre, like Bruce Willis or Wesley Snipes. They mostly told…
Almost all of the history of American movies flows into Steven Spielberg, and the movies that have come since can’t help but be in response. As a storyteller and as a cultural figure, his closest precedent isn’t John Ford or David Lean, but Dickens, another age’s popular titan, beloved more…
New year, new us! JK, new year, same ol’ us: watching TV and hiding in a hole from the bitter January cold and impending doom. The only solution? Watching all the television! You can take the day of the inauguration off to protest, but I expect you back under the…
Six grandmasters recruited to UT Dallas from all over the world by program director Jim Stallings have led the team back to chess’ version of March Madness with a chance at a sixth win at the Final Four, a round-robin style event that this year pits UTD against Texas Tech, St. Louis University and Webster.
