The onset of summer (and accompanying Texas heat oppression) inspires us to do a little California dreaming. And they’re not dreams of just any California. We’re imagining the chilled-out, laid-back, Southern California vibe that is synonymous with cool culture. Luckily, to make our dreams reality, we don’t have to go…
Random fact: I was only 7 years old the first time I ever made sushi, thanks to my grannie. She believed every child should know how to make a California roll. Seventeen years later, I get to dust off my sushi board for the Advanced Sushi class at Central Market…
When I heard a description of the latest film showing at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (3200 Darnell St.) as part of the Magnolia at the Modern series, I thought to myself, “That could just as easily describe the Mexican film Y Tu Mama Tambien.” Listen to this:…
So I’m watching a video clip of comedian Chas Elstner discuss NASCAR versus Indy cars and how the body changes a great deal after 40 (which, according to him, includes a possible decrease or backing up of semen, so I’m gonna go ahead and say watch out, 30-somethings…of both genders)…
Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams needn’t wonder if she’s having an impact on her audience. Odds are good that every time she looks into the crowd at a concert, she’ll see a veritable ocean of tween and teen girls wearing her hair color of the moment and their best approximation…
Writer-director Rian Johnson fashions a universe in which time is a fluid thing—where everything takes place in a familiar today and an otherworldly yesterday, where the audience is at once agreeably comfortable and inexplicably unsettled. When his characters don’t look out of place in their derbies and dusters, they sound…
Both warning and advertisement, the Terminator films are technophobic teases, selling tickets by promising this decade’s model of killing machine: the classic V8 1984 Schwarzenegger; the bullet-streamlined, liquid-metal ’91 Robert Patrick of T2: Judgment Day; Kristanna Loken’s 2003 T-X (with burgundy pleather upholstery). Terminator Salvation, a departure in many ways,…
Nuns are funny. They must be, or why would so many playwrights type so many comedies about goofy brides of Christ in black-and-white get-ups? This week there are two funny-nun shows going on: Hail Mary!, a new Tom Dudzick comedy at Fort Worth’s Circle Theatre; and at Artisan Center Theater…
Two of Oak Cliff’s most notorious residents are the subject of the 1967 Oscar-winning film that will show at the site of a different–and even more infamous–chapter of the Dallas neighborhood’s history. Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde, starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, is an enjoyable if romanticized portrayal of…
For those of us who don’t flee town for Memorial weekend, a good fest or fair is just the right thing. Dallas doesn’t disappoint with the 40th annual ARTFEST, Friday through Sunday at Fair Park. Enjoy the works of more than 200 artists, the music of several bands and the…
One of the largest polka festivals in the country started in Ennis back in 1966, based on a dream (an idea actually) and the fact that people have loved to polka since the dance was born in 19th-century Czech culture. When you’re standing in Ennis, eating a kolache, watching couples…
Sometimes a goose is just a goose. Not so for Mother Goose. Local artist Marilyn Parrish delves deep into the work of the feathered friend who introduced us to Baa Baa Black Sheep, the mulberry bush and the Muffin Man and finds plenty of artistic fodder for sculptures and multimedia…
It’s that time of year again, when North Texans don their polo shirts and Lacoste visors, practice those golf claps, and pretend we live in the merciful aridity of Southern California. This year’s HP Byron Nelson Championship is scheduled for Memorial Day week (ending May 24), at the Four Seasons…
French leprechauns, or “Lutins,” are way more hip than regular leprechauns. They won’t lead you to a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but rather to a dose of culture by way of a movie screen. The little guys have finally made their way to Dallas to…
Cats and cat people get a crap deal when it comes to popular culture. Not only are cat owners destined for a lonely, fur-covered retirement (see “cat lady, crazy”) but movies and TV shows invariably cast the cat as the bad guy (see Cats And Dogs, Inspector Gadget.) Small steps…
I have a vague memory of attending one of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s outdoor performances at Flagpole Hill as a little kid, though it’s possible I’m conflating the memory with some other grown-up thing my parents dragged me to at the city park. All I remember is that I spent…
The image of a potbellied man with a chainsaw doesn’t scream art. A department store, gleaming and empty at 11 a.m., and the warm glow of Walgreens on a December evening aren’t obvious moments of art either, but the works featured in the America Works exhibit at the Valley House…
Something about Nick Z’s work takes me back to various points in my childhood. In one glance, I’m browsing a slightly intoxicated Eric Carle-ish illustration. At another, I’m gazing at the bottom of a rebellious tween’s skateboard deck. Then, looking at his design for the ARTCO Pepsi can, I’m suddenly…
The shadow of the late West Texas art legend Donald Judd looms large over Spatial Shifts, the newest exhibit at Marty Walker Gallery (2135 Farrington St.). Artist Jay Shinn’s work–which features stainless steel rods and paint fashioned into minimalist installations–has been compared to that of Judd, while New Yorker Rupert…
Twenty-five years after the last episode of Happy Days aired, they’re still livin’ happy and free. The popular sitcom might be long gone, but you can still enjoy Richie, Potsie, Ralph Malph and the gang this summer at the Music Hall at Fair Park. And it just wouldn’t be Happy…
When it comes to celebrity crushes, I’m stuck in the 1980s. I’m not big on the whole Brad Pitt nonsense; I’d rather have John Cusack standing outside my window playing Peter Gabriel on a boombox. So you can only imagine how giddy I was to find out his 1997 hit…
Being a sports fan can be pretty hard work–especially when your team isn’t doing so well. It’s a labor of love to have team spirit when the odds are against you, but not everyone’s a fair-weather fan in this town, and there’s always a chance for a big comeback. Luckily…
