William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist, will be at the Dallas International Film Fest next week for a Q&A after the 40th anniversary screening of a film that profoundly fucked up my adolescence. I know, I know. It fucked up a lot of people. My mom told me that before…
DIFF begins this weekend (see our guide here), and it takes over Klyde Warren Park on Saturday for Family Day, a too-cute community event and baseball season kick-off pairing that features a free screening of The Sandlot. Whether you’re hungry, excited about Rangers Opening Day, feeling adventurous, or craving art,…
The Place Beyond the Pines opens with a close-up of Ryan Gosling’s chiseled abdomen and heavy breathing on the soundtrack. Then in a single, five-minute tracking shot, we follow Gosling’s character, Luke, across a fairground and into the tent where Luke and two other stunt motorcycle performers ride their bikes…
Programs handed out at performances of Rx at Kitchen Dog Theater should list possible side effects of seeing the new Kate Fodor play: sudden bursts of laughter, slapped knees, tickled ribs, split sides. And if you relate to the predicaments of the characters, perhaps some major waves of empathy. Such…
Solo comedy actor John Michael Colgin is only 23 and still finding his way as an out-gay writer and performer of his own material. His latest is the enjoyable but uneven John Michael and the Order of the Penix, his third show at the small experimental company Nouveau 47 at…
By Mad Men’s fifth season, Betty Draper had walked out of our lives, and a much plumper Betty Francis had waddled in. The audience response to this swollen version of a once-slender character: a collective cringe. Suddenly Betty became a joke. In no time, a parody of Ram Jam’s “Black…
When people think of Bobcat Goldthwait, many still picture the wobbly-voiced spaz from the Police Academy films or One Crazy Summer. However, in the last decade, Goldthwait has become a respected director, and has redefined the black comedy with World’s Greatest Dad (starring old pal Robin Williams) and God Bless…
Oh, how far the tattoo has come in recent history. Mom used to whisper that people with tattoos were all convicts and biker gang members. Now she DVRs L.A. Ink and engages her tatted-up hairstylist in serious conversation about her sleeve. The film Tattoo Nation gives us a glimpse into…
National Geographic’s Boyd Matson is a throwback to ye olde days of the adventurer, when men wrestled lions in the Sahara, went deep into the Amazon and climbed mountains in Nepal, all while keeping death in their back pockets. The journalist and National Geographic Weekend host will be stopping by…
If you want to see Julia Sugarbaker going off on someone, turn on Lifetime. If you want to see a man playing Julia Sugarbaker going off on someone, get your sweet Southern derriere down to the Rose Room at S4 (3911 Cedar Springs Road). It’s there that you will discover…
Grab your favorite taffeta dress, book a radical stretch limo and get ready for a night to remember, because Burlesque Prom is upon us. Putting an adults-only twist on one of high school’s most time-honored traditions, Viva Dallas Burlesque brings a new kind of formal to the Lakewood Theater (1825…
Gallery openings in Dallas can cause palpitations. With each space offering up a new collection, you’re forced to whittle down your path to several must-see shows. Saturday is that night, and we’ve picked through the lot and found three openings that you should visit during the magical free wine window…
When it comes to a good experience, three little words can make all the difference: “the second annual.” That phrase can mean no bullshit, fewer kinks, more awesomeness and, in the case of the Big Texas Beer Fest, more stomach padding than last year’s inaugural event. The festival — launched…
The best way to turn future generations into film lovers is to start them young. If you give younglings a fun afternoon in the sun, filled with live music, crafting activities, bounce houses and balloon animals, and let it all culminate in the screening of family favorite The Sandlot, then…
As arts budgets reduce and grant money evaporates, we feel the absence of creative exposure. That buck then gets passed to families, who in turn have to fund cultural experiences out-of-pocket. This Saturday you’ll get some relief as ArtsPark returns to provide a whole afternoon’s worth of completely free and…
The Ghost Sonata, Swedish playwright August Strindberg’s bleak chamber play, first produced in 1908, focuses on the inhabitants of an apartment building that might actually be a physical manifestation of hell. In the dreamlike sequences, ghosts wander around in the daytime, women are turned into mummies and the utter despair…
A duet of dysfunction. Love drowning beneath its own surface tension. Physical interaction replacing trust and communication. It’s the new, abstract and hyper-racy performance piece Pizzicato Porno, written and told by real-life couple Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear. As you might guess by the name, Porno isn’t for younger eyes…
Taking our dogs to new, unfamiliar places and allowing them to go berserk is the secret passion of all dog owners. Occasionally, that backfires. It turns out that dogs do not love: art galleries, bowling or Rollerbladers. Just trust us on this. Their leg-shake dreams involve lots and lots of…
Hemming together Dallas’ radical fringe is a Deep Ellum legacy. It takes balls for a community to create and perform on its own terms, just a DART stop away from the meticulously structured, high falutin’ Arts District. And still, it does. We’re all better humans because of that. Honoring the…
Unlike your eighth-grade guidance counselor, Deschutes Brewery actually believes in you. Or at least it believes you can drink beer and play oversized games. It’s the Beer Olympics, after all. Also known as an evening where you get to try a kegload of new beers and play all your favorites,…
Cheryl Strayed had a pretty big 2012: Her memoir, Wild, was released, chronicling a journey across the Pacific Crest Trail in her early 20s, a way of dealing with the death of her mother. It was also revealed she was the voice behind literary website The Rumpus’ much-loved Dear Sugar…
The old adage about suffering for your art means surviving hell, then making the experience palpable for others. Michael Bise has unfortunately been there. His autobiographical drawings are sometimes so vivid they hurt, detailing a childhood full of family conflict and a life spent dealing with a congenital heart condition…
