It’s not like I needed much help getting radicalized at UT in 1970, what with the Vietnam War, campus protests and a host of college indiscretions at $10 an ounce. But never before had I seen a movie with such a strong strain of “anti” as MASH–anti-war, anti-hero, anti-authority. I…
I’ve always wondered what it must be like for actors to play roles that denigrate themselves or the culture that spawned them, whether it’s a little person playing a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz or a Latino actor playing a stereotypical East L.A. gang banger in a straight-to-DVD action…
First of all, Up is not a movie about a cranky old coot who, with the help of a roly-poly Boy Scout, finds his inner child during a series of magical adventures experienced from the front porch of a dilapidated manse held aloft by hundreds of helium-filled balloons. Such, of…
Sam Raimi wants to go home again. Often a drifting virtuoso in the years before finding his Spider Man gig, with Drag Me to Hell Raimi defaults to the horror romps that made his name (namely, the Evil Dead trilogy), bringing the old barreling camera and viscous ickiness back. Made…
Pocket Sandwich Theatre takes a break from its usual popcorn-throwing fluff to give audiences something better to chew on, the premiere of Death: The Musical, a new R-rated musical comedy by Dallas composer-writer Scott A. Eckert. The title might be a harder sell than Macbeth, but the show itself is…
I have an embarrassing story that involves Bryan Adams. Actually, I think most people that have any story at all regarding the Canadian singer would characterize it as embarrassing, but I digress. It is 1991. I am at our local record store at our local mall, and I am charged…
I can totally understand the fascination people have with the mermaid and octopus. Sure, the mythical fish-chick and the eight-limbed sea beast have been popular figures in art and literature for ages longer since I’ve been alive, but I was marked with an interest in them at a young age…
Artist Judy Youngblood’s paintings look a lot like the water cycle illustrations you’d find in your average environmental science textbook. If they’d been drawn while on mushrooms, that is. “Autumn Bluster” shows giant raindrops falling on the silhouette of a running figure, while “Plenty of Sunshine” features giant raindrops splashing…
When I first saw Thomas the Tank Engine on Shining Time Station, I immediately thought, “Why is this show ripping off The Little Engine That Could?” The beloved children’s story was my favorite, after all, and Thomas seemed a poor substitute, even if they somehow landed George Carlin to co-star…
Personally, I’d rather not go to a mall when I need to do some shopping. They’re always too crowded with bubblegum-chewing skater kids and angry mothers speed-walking with their baby strollers, and the music is always obnoxiously loud. The Jewish Community Center feels my pain, because this Sunday they are…
The Pro Plan Rally Across America “Rally to Rescue” campaign is traveling the country and making a stop at the Dog Days of Denton in Quakertown Park. The rally focuses on pet rescue and adoption, but there are also training shows and lectures on dog personalities that instruct how to…
Found Magazine taught me how to save. See, every year I save up found items that I deem worthy and wait for Found Magazine’s Davy Rothbart to visit Dallas celebrating another fab book release so I can give it to him in person…in a posted, addressed envelope so he doesn’t…
Now’s the time of year when you suddenly notice it. That first day at the pool, all these months of being out of the sun and too lazy to meet your buddy for golf, tennis or a bike ride become painfully obvious. Or maybe you’re one of those obsessive-compulsive over-exercisers…
I admit it–clowns freak me out, and I know I’m not alone. I wouldn’t say what I have is a full-on phobia, and yes, it is almost definitely related to that scene in Poltergeist, but it still makes me jump a bit when a clown is in the same room…
Summertime in Texas can turn us all into a bunch of drinkers. With the heat index rising everyday, we’d live on a diet of anything, as long as it had “ice cold” in its name. But instead of sitting around the pool with cans of Lone Star until we’re beet…
To my dismay, it turns out the Lowbrow movement doesn’t have anything to do with the kind of masterpieces I considered lowbrow art. Rather, it’s an “underground visual art movement that began in Los Angeles in the late 1970s and now is a widespread populist art movement that has been…
Did you know the famous Arthur Miller play All My Sons was based on a true story? Kind of upsetting considering it’s about businessmen who knowingly sold the government defective airplane parts during World War II. Not to mention that the play includes a man falling in love with and…
Exhibit curators are an underappreciated group of people. We know going into an art gallery or a museum that the artists are responsible for what we see around us, but I think we often forget that the curators are responsible for how we see it. And honestly, the context of…
Oompa-Loompa, doompadee doo, Watters Creek has a movie for you. On Thursday, the 1971 scrumdiddlyumptious classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory will be featured on a two-story inflatable screen at Watters Creek. Just think about how creepy Gene Wilder will look on a surface that large. The feature presentation…
Chef, instructor and cookbook author Terry Thompson-Anderson knows a dish or two about Texas eating. If her highly praised Texas on the Plate isn’t proof enough, her Central Market Texas Tastemakers class focusing on the Hill Country should be. In it, Thomson-Anderson will discuss Lone Star ingredients for locavores (or…
It’s not like Sally Struthers doesn’t have options. After all, she could have studied high school, TV/VCR repair, computer programming, auto mechanics, PC repair, bookkeeping, hotel/restaurant management, learning the personal computer, electronics or gotten her specialized associate’s degree in business management or accounting. But she didn’t–she decided to keep her…
Fancy desserts are nice, but something simple and sweet–without the need for seasonal berries or a blowtorch–usually suffices. The Triple-licious Dessert Tasting for Kids doesn’t offer gourmet treats, but chocolate-covered Rice Krispies treats, cupcakes, M&M brownies and more should satisfy any sweet tooth 6 to 9 p.m. Thursdays at the…
