Jerry Russell, founder of Fort Worth’s Stage West theater and father of state Senator Wendy Davis, has died. The sad news came from Davis, who released this statement Thursday morning: “I am heartbroken to report that my father, Jerry Russell, passed away peacefully in the early hours of this morning…
Biology dictates that small children, particularly those ages 2 to 4, are just not good people. They can be sweet, sure, but they deploy that only strategically and in private. In public, there are fits and lapsed “inside voices” and the total inability to just sit in a chair and…
Catch Jimmy Cliff as antihero reggae god in The Harder They Come, which just got a 40th anniversary reissue. Puff, puff, pass your way to Texas Theatre tonight to see it, then stick around for a dub/reggae afterparty in the lobby. But wait, there’s more. Kick it off tonight with…
There are very few things in life that may help ease the pain of realizing you’re more than halfway through your life expectancy: some kind of trophy spouse or companion, plastic surgery, some kind of gypsy or voodoo potion that can reverse the aging process. Of course, those treatments come…
Go local. We hear it, we do it (sometimes) and we chastise others when they don’t. Local food. Local beer. Local music. Well, now’s your chance to check out D-FW’s local film talent. On Thursday, the USA Film Festival once again partners with the Texas Association of Film and Tape…
The movie that made college look like it was worth racking up a mountain of debt that even a Republican fundraiser couldn’t pay off is getting the special screening it deserves tonight … again. (More on that in a bit.) The Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson will screen National Lampoon’s Animal…
Richard B. Riddick — Dick to his friends, if he had any — is an intergalactic meathead who has glowered through three movies, two video games and a cartoon. He’s both the luckiest and unluckiest man alive: lucky because he’s impossible to kill, unlucky because everyone keeps trying. In the…
Short Term 12 is the kind of film that sounds agonizingly depressing on paper but mesmerizes onscreen. It’s a delicate yet passionate creation, modest in scope but almost overwhelming in its emotional intricacy, ambition and resonance. Easily one of the best films so far this year, it’s a nearly perfect…
Whether you realize it or not, your existing knowledge about that little Caribbean nation known as Jamaica is a result of one iconic movie — and no, we’re not talking about Cool Runnings. Perry Henzell’s The Harder They Come, the groundbreaking crime film set in Kingston, starred none other than…
We sure do love our arts around here, especially ones with Texas ties. That’s why we’re uber-thrilled about TexFest, a one-day film festival highlighting all things Lone Star. Presented by the USA Film Festival and the Texas Association of Film & Tape Professionals, TexFest offers three programs of Texas-made feature-length…
One of our generation’s most fascinating artists opens a solo show at Kirk Hopper (3008 Commerce St.) Friday. James Magee has spent more than three decades communicating with a desolate swath of West Texas landscape to build his opus The Hill, which remains in perennial construction. Acting as engineer, designer,…
Maybe the gender-bending of Sheik and Zelda got you a little excited. Maybe you always wanted to see what Master Chief was packing under the armor. Maybe you wondered exactly what happened when Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man turned in for the night. If video games ever aroused your sexual curiosity,…
It seems a little odd that someone — particularly someone not in drag — would make a career impersonating Dolly Parton, seeing how Dolly isn’t, not to be crass, dead. Elvis impersonators? He is dead or returned to his home planet or otherwise not available, so that makes sense. But…
Isis Brantley fought a fight that few in Dallas even know existed. A leader in the underground hair-braiding movement, Brantley was arrested in ’95 for practicing her craft without a cosmetology license. Known throughout the international hair community as Naturally Isis, she refused to accept the charge, arguing that cosmetology…
While the rest of the country is getting over their gay pride celebration-induced hangovers, Dallas is just kicking its own festivities into high gear. That means it’s also time for the annual Dallas Pride Performing Arts Festival, presented by the Uptown Players. Since you can’t start off a good pride…
There are so many things right about Fall Fly Days that the complete and total misname, Family Friendly Babes and Bombers, is almost worth an overlook. Almost. You can’t say babes and then call yourself fun for all ages, unless you’re that coronary-inducing chicken restaurant over in Carrollton. But this…
The Dallas Pride Performing Arts Festival wraps up Sunday with a staged reading of Cock by Mike Bartlett. Bartlett is from England, so before you get in a lather about the name being smutty, just know that the word has a different meaning there (actually, no, it still means penis)…
If you can’t make it to TacoCon, head to FIG. Better yet, learn to manage your time and attend both. FIG sounds like a lesser food, right? WRONG! It’s the Fashion Industry Gallery and it’s holding its Finale — which isn’t a celebration of the gallery’s untimely demise, but actually…
As we direct our gaze to San Antonio’s Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, where the bulk of 2013 Texas Biennial action shakes out, it’s easy to miss a local contribution occurring at CentralTrak (800 Exposition Ave.). Friskt kopplat, hälften brunnet (Quickly connected, half burned) is the newest mission launched by…
If you think Jewish cinema begins and ends with Mel Brooks, might we gently suggest that you expand your references? And the 17th Annual International Jewish Film Festival of Dallas is an excellent place to get a glimpse of how alive and, well, international Jewish films are right now. The…
Talk about bang for your buck: Where most theater treats you to one solid piece of play writing, Kiss Me Kate gives you layers of it. The Cole Porter masterpiece takes on two separate but kind of intertwined romances, a dose of ’40s-era gangster drama and an entire Shakespeare production…
As Fort Worth celebrates its annual Fall Gallery Walk — a magical, lengthy day when art spaces filled with new work stay open from noon to dusk — Dallas is again left to fend for itself. The Design District shakes off its summer break with the standard three-hour art window…
