Once comic actors reach a particular career stage, they often choose one of two paths: A) They stop being funny and start being all Hallmark heartwarming, i.e., by growing a beard and playing a psychiatrist. B) They accept unambitious, work-for-hire roles in mass-market family comedies about some combination of dogs,…
Set in East Germany in 1980, Christian Petzold’s superb Barbara is a transfixing Cold War thriller made even more vivid by its subtle overlay of the golden-era “woman’s picture,” the woman in question being Dr. Barbara Wolff, brilliantly played by Nina Hoss in her fifth film with the writer-director. Yet…
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, one must have a heart of stone to watch Jacques Audiard’s outrageous melodrama Rust and Bone without laughing. Loosely adapted from two works in Craig Davidson’s 2005 short story collection of the same name, Rust and Bone finds Audiard returning to the overdetermined characters and swift…
There’s traffic from Silver Lake. That’s why Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund, the stars of On the Road, are late to the Benedict Room of the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. We’re as psychically far from Jack Kerouac’s Beat gospel as you can get: fidgeting under crystal chandeliers in…
Quentin Tarantino has been Googling himself, and it’s starting to become a problem. The filmmaker, whose eighth feature, Django Unchained, opens on Christmas Day, is famously an analog evangelist: He writes his scripts in longhand; he bans cell phones from his sets and hasn’t had one of his own in…
I don’t know about you, but I am sick of being too large for ball pits, jungle gyms and enclosed corkscrew slides. I miss the old days when I could giddily run through gaggles of colorful plastic tubes, scrape my knees on concrete and ignore signs dictating how tall I…
When staring down infinity’s barrel, you will ask yourself some crazy questions. “Does my cat know I’ve stopped loving him?” “Do you wear the same outfit for eternity, like a cartoon character, and is it what you have on when you die?” And maybe most important: “Will there be cheese…
If you have even the slightest, faintest, mildest tinge of fear that all of this matter currently in existence may be gone tomorrow, I’ve got a little advice. Spend time with nerds. Yep. It’s a simple lesson, but an important one. When standing in the nucleus of nerd cloud, the…
You know who’s been partying like the world’s ending since WAY before it was trendy? S4 and the Rose Room. The action on Cedar Springs is always poppin’ off, and Friday — well, they’ve decided to ask the all-important question: “End of the world, or not: Wouldn’t you rather be…
Even foolish (read: Very Important) anti-holidays like Friday’ s can accidentally cause a cycle of “what ifs?” For many, the thought is “what do I want to be doing when everything ends?” Smoking that secret emergency cigarette? Maybe. Sex in an alley? Not after the ringworm incident. After ruling out…
In case none of your Facebook friends have mentioned it, the end of the world is nigh. December 21, we’ll all be consumed by some Mayan control freak with a penchant for calendars and the New Year’s plans you’ve been obsessing over will all be for naught. Or not. Ultimately,…
If you think Charlie Murphy is just a bit character from Chappelle’s Show, or merely the older brother of cinematic superstar Eddie Murphy, you are severely mistaken. When he is not on television, or making appearances on the silver screen, he is killing audiences with his standup routine. The actor,…
Hey guys, have you ever been dragged to a traditional performance of The Nutcracker? How was it? Did you find yourself checking your phone for Mavs highlights or silent suicide techniques? Yes? Well, instead of staring at nut-hugged dancers, surprise your significant other with tickets to something a bit spicier,…
If Tchaikovsky had spent time in New Orleans, then The Nutcracker as we know it may have been a bit different, but since he was a white guy from Russia more than 100 years ago, he put forth The Nutcracker as it typically stands. Though a classic, it doesn’t resonate…
Feeling guilty about all of those skipped family dinners in 2012? Still haven’t ordered mom a Christmas present? Ease your conscience and get into the holiday spirit by snagging tickets for the whole fam to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s annual Christmas Celebration. The evening, which features the Dallas Symphony Chorus…
You’ve been kvetching all year about how hard it is to meet a nice Jewish guy or girl in a city without a proper deli. So, this year — as it has the prior 33 — the JCC will make it super easy for you. They pick the one night…
Filled with the same family traditions year after year, we know every holiday season comes with its highs and lows, and, sadly, they often overlap. If your annual viewing of A Christmas Story (the high) is usually ruined by screaming relatives and the smell of burnt turkey (oh, so low),…
Mars living is a joyless affair for its native children, and it’s easy to understand why: There’s no Santa. Why, he’s marooned way down on Earth, tinkering away at the North Pole while those poor little alien youths sit twirling their thumbs, bored as all git-up. Well, not anymore. Not…
What’s it going to take to get you to the Chinese Lantern Festival? You’ve seen people rushing in and out of it looking simply thrilled. You’ve looked through photo posts on the Observer arts blog, The Mixmaster, that explain, in great detail, that it’s decidedly awesome. And then, just when…
Once upon a time, we were all architects. Our first toys, blocks, opened up a world of design to us, with all of their shapes, colors and potential. We learned early on that a giant entryway is where it’s at, and that stylish red cylinders will not balance well on…
Do you know of some crazy person who covered their house in more than two million twinkling Christmas lights this year? If so, tell us so we can crash that holiday party. Otherwise we think you should join us this weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway Gift of Lights for…
The end of 2012 is quickly approaching, and in honor of Dallas’ eventful year we’re asking all of our readers (or at least the ones who haven’t canceled their Instagram accounts in a huff) to send us their Instagrams. Send photos of your favorite events, places, people, restaurants, art exhibits,…
