In hindsight, the 1984 hit Footloose can be seen as the link between the old Hollywood model of a let’s-put-on-a-show musical, based on original songs brought to life in elaborate choreographed numbers, and the later Hollywood model of youth films, perfected in the ’80s by John Hughes and terminally calcified…
Life is a series of constant adjustments to ever-shifting realities in Gun Hill Road, a Brooklyn-set indie about a criminal, Enrique (Esai Morales), who returns home after a three-year prison term to find that things aren’t quite as he remembered them. Specifically, wife Angela (Judy Reyes) is trying to end…
Premiered as a BBC1 telefilm, now flaunting its wasteful widescreen in theaters, Toast adapts the autobiography of Nigel Slater, a popular British food writer looking back in condescension on the Midlands of his youth. The film begins in the middle-class Wolverhampton home where young Nigel is raised on a tinned-food…
A home-invasion movie as instantly forgettable as its title, Trespass is not without disturbing images: namely, Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman as spouses. The two Nics play Kyle and Sarah Miller, owners of a sprawling modernist manor and parents of back-talking teen Avery (Liana Liberato). Yet the luxe exteriors cannot…
For Spring Awakening to work its magic, it needs young performers who look hot, sing hotter and radiate sexuality with the heat of a thousand suns. At Addison’s WaterTower Theatre, where the first local production of the Tony-winning musical is now running, the temperature’s rising. It’s exciting to see this…
What better way to break in a new trail than with a casual jog followed by a hearty feast in the park? The extension of the Santa Fe Trail, which links White Rock Lake to Deep Ellum, will premiere with a 5K race on October 13, launching from Lindsley Park…
When October rolls around, few things stoke the Halloween fires like a classic Alfred Hitchcock flick paired with a tub full of popcorn. Once again, The Angelika Film Centers of Dallas and Plano make it easy for Hitchcock devotees to flock together at the theater’s popular monthlong celebration known as…
There are many things we can do for “the cure” these days. We can wear ribbons, buy products in a specific color, post on our Facebook walls or all of the above. Although there are as many causes as there are ills to cure, Dallas’ own Susan G. Komen for…
The revolution may not be televised, but what about sketched, painted or printed intaglio? The just-opened Smoke and Mirrors Gallery and Info Shop hosts the Art as a Weapon exhibition, a show that features artists whose work is intended to be just that, a political weapon to inspire public action…
NorthPark Center (8687 N. Central Expressway) is a mall for more than just random shopping and people watching. With its world-class art collection and special year-round events, NorthPark is a destination for people who want to revel in the cool and interesting, and one of the biggest event draws every…
The glut of awful vampire flicks can be blamed on the campy Twilight series, but we like to think the influx of zombie-infested films rests on a higher cinematic level. Sparkly, lovesick vampires ain’t got nothing on the neo-classic Shaun of the Dead or AMC’s creeptastic The Walking Dead. Not…
Ludwig Von Beethoven, rocker of the transitional classical-romanticism era: His works reminds some that revolutionary music does not need to be bolstered by flashy glitz and glam. For those who admire his work, A Beethoven Bonanza will feature concert pianist Jeffrey Siegel showcasing the revered composer’s vast tones on Monday,…
New media artist Brittany Ransom is a visual, interactive artist who examines the divide between human, animal and environment. Take for instance her “Track Series,” a research series that examines the paths of beetles via video, photos and motion capture images. Or “HOST” a five-channel video installation with a single…
Over the last three months, the Mixmaster’s resident dancer, Katie Toohil, has allowed us through her Director’s Notes series to peer into the intimate details of producing a show based on the confrontation of sorrow, a unique introspection expressed through emotional, original choreography and contemporary music. Loosely based on the…
There’s art and then there’s art. And while I typically skew low-brow, I can’t help but be curious, impressed and several other adjectives with For The Birds, an art show featuring Chaitra Linehan. The press release for the show states that Chaitra has created an effect “that implies the dissociation…
Most of us think first of beer when it comes to Oktoberfest, following that thought with images of Teutonic hotties in dirndls or lederhosen. But at BlackFinn American Saloon (4440 Belt Line Road in Addison and 4001 Bagpiper Way, Suite 101 in Arlington), German food is no O-fest afterthought. Through…
The SlaughterHouse has been terrorizing Dallas for a full decade. In their second year at their new Deep Ellum location, the 16,000 square-foot haunted house has been completely renovated. It’s populated by 40 actors, old horror movie sets, hundreds of props and something to scare just about everyone: bloody chainsaws,…
Ontario expat Christine Bisetto is an artist. Her shtick? She is very much into time — fascinated by it, even. Bisetto, these days a Texan through and through, incorporates the idea of days, months and years into her work, where it serves forevermore as a reflection of her own life…
If you can’t watch a scary movie without flinching every 30 seconds, you may not want to partake in a night full of skeletons, chain saws and men in masks. As horrifying as it may sound, some people actually love the few minutes of torture. This year’s lineup of haunted…
If you’re a fan of works by actor, director, author and playwright Sam Shepard, you should know that although he’s from Illinois, he does have Texas ties, having donated his papers to Texas State University a few years back. So, you could take a road trip down to San Marcos…
Are you skeptical about the investment value of photography? If so, Afterimage Gallery has a story for you. The gallery sold an Ansel Adams print in 1973. At the time, the 16-by-20-inch print of “Moonrise” went for $250. Today, it’s worth more than $55,000. But although Afterimage has shown many…
If Southern Gothic is notable for its bleak, surreal look at Southern society, then Texas Gothic, in its particularly desolate setting and with its high concentration of eccentrics, is even more so. The Webb Gallery’s Texas Gothic exhibition gathers together the artwork of Texas natives who specialize in the strange…
