For a few days at the end of April, the Hyatt Regency will temporarily become Cybertron. This fan convention, which is known throughout the known human multi-verse as BotCon 2012, serves as one big ol’ Transformers gush-a-thon. This year, Hasbro (the awesome toy company that makes awesome Transformers), is also…
The best part of having experienced your Big Film Fail in the first weekend of DIFF is knowing that you’ve gotten major disappointment out of the way and you can now just sit back, relax, and finish out on a high note. Maybe the note won’t be quite as high…
Dallas Symphony Orchestra music director Jaap van Zweden was on the road this weekend making his debut with the New York Philharmonic (New York Times review of Thursday’s concert in Avery Fisher Hall here). Taking van Zweden’s place at the podium in Dallas Thursday through Sunday was the much-acclaimed young…
Dallas just played host to a tremendous weekend of art. From the flooding of international and local galleries at F.I.G. to the pop-up Salon des fefuses-inspired offerings at the Shamrock Hotel, art-lovers worked overtime to absorb it all. One of the more interesting events of the weekend was the high-concept…
We love film here at the Observer, so this year we dispatched our finest stringers to chronicle what they’ve seen and guide you through the Dallas International Film Festival. Touch base for daily reviews by Merritt Martin, Jennifer Medina and James Wallace. Movie fans are damn happy that we live…
Are you a die-hard, complete immersion festie? Did you take the week off of work so that you’d be able to see all of these great movies? We salute you. Whether you’re planted in those seats from beginning to end, or just catching what you can this evening, we’ve got…
It’s the perfect day to hunker down at DIFF, so our staff crunched the schedule and created a game plan. Here’s your guide to today’s indies, docs and features. Click the film titles for background information…
Don’t you dare spend tomorrow rearranging your hair scarf collection; it’s sad and you’re better than that. Instead get excited about this weekend’s art parties. Most happen on Saturday, so poke around the Dallas Art Fair that morning, then support your local galleries (by consuming their bevies) all evening long…
Back off, McCarthy – by “Commies” we mean the folks at the Shamrock Hotel Studios, a dynamic little pop-up artists’ colony at 4312 ½ Elm. On account of the Shamrock’s history as a former brothel, they figured it would be a perfect place to toss their own damned art fair…
Our pet profiles series celebrates those supportive (and adorable) friends who round out the homes of notable members of the Dallas community. Name: Lil’ John (Johnny) is a 6-year-old AKC registered toy poodle, who spends 24 hours a day with his owner. Owner: Steve Porter (Lodi), glass artist at Dallas…
You got a DIFF badge, that’s awesome! You’re about to have so much fun. Now the hard part: With five theaters screening simultaneously, you need spreadsheets to organize your daily plan. Guess what? We made spreadsheets! You can chill out and eat a taco. You’re welcome. Here’s our picks for…
“Purgatory” is perhaps too strong a word, but it is the only term that adequately captures the sense of suspension. Drifting, in-between, among and about but not within, Morehshin Allahyari lives stranded between cultures and countries as an intercontinental wanderer. Since determining not to return to Iran for “awhile,” she…
Last night’s Dallas Art Fair gala had a Champagne sponsor, so I was there. As was every Dallasite with a Bentley. Even the cocktails were wearing Chanel. I went into the scene with one goal: photobomb and later befriend Maxwell Anderson’s sassy fun wife, Jacqueline. (Oh, the brunches we would…
The Dallas 2012 Dallas International Film Festival kicks off its boots tomorrow and starts that film ferris wheel a-rolling for 11 days of features, docs, shorts, animated films, awards, Q&As, talk shows, panels and of course plenty of star spotting and people watching (it is Dallas after all). Here are…
The Dallas Opera and The Dallas Symphony Orchestra are each presenting romantic masterpieces over the weekend. Here’s the rundown: Watts plays Grieg Pianist Andre Watts is a model virtuoso. Along with superb technical facility, he brings a true showman’s cocktail of ease and energy to his performances. Watts’ aesthetic (and…
George Hamilton is in town. You can tell the actor is somewhere near the Fair Park area by the faint orangey glow emanating from the stage at the Music Hall, where Hamilton is appearing in the touring production of the musical La Cage aux Folles. He plays a gay cabaret…
‘Big Rich Texas The ick levels continue to rise as Pageant Maven Mom (I just call them whatever the hell I want) learns that her live-in god-daughter might be preggers with her live-in son’s baby. Yeah. They grew up together with at least a casual family vibe, and now they’ve…
Y’all got that beer-can helmet polished up yet? What are you waiting for? You’re going to need your hands free if you want to place opening weekend bets at the track, dig in the popcorn over at the film festival and stroke your imaginary beard while staring pensively at canvases…
At the end of The Cabin in the Woods, the world is destroyed by an apocalyptic hand of fate — an actual hand, mind you — yet that is not a spoiler, not really. The real spoilers in the film are in the tricky mechanics crafted by writers Joss Whedon…
The latest phantasmagoria of cinematic quotation from Canadian director Guy Maddin, Keyhole is an extremely loose adaptation of the Odyssey. Jason Patric plays Ulysses Pick, leader of a two-bit gang who, carrying a nearly drowned girl on his back, returns home after a long absence. With his criminal accomplices confined…
The wild and wonderful Westons of Oklahoma are back. Think your family’s crazy? This bunch thrives on hard liquor and invective. As the subjects of Tracy Letts’ much-honored play August: Osage County, the Westons are the most pill-addled, booze-soaked, internecine American family to tear up a stage since the Tyrones…
Tease up your hair and plaster on the Salon Selectives, Sassy City Chicks Fashion Bash is headed to Dallas. Founder Isela Blair shout-says, “It’s time for our glamorous friends down south to experience the ULTIMATE girls’ night out event. Get ready to be wowed, Dallas!” If you listen closely, you…
