Reel FX Creative Studios is technically a creative production studio, offering services like visual effects, animation and design work on projects like AFI Dallas, Kung Fu Panda and Enchanted. But they also host an onsite art gallery. Granted, that art gallery seems to showcase work heavy on the mediums that…
OK, so what to do you do if you’re an up-start designer and don’t land a spot on Project Runway? Doesn’t mean you don’t have the skills. Doesn’t mean you can’t cut a mean silhouette or work wonder with metals and clasps. Just means you may be one of the…
Those of you who’ve seen Beyoncé Knowles’ fine, fine, fine acting work in Dreamgirls and Austin Powers in Goldmember might have missed out on her first feature-length offering–Carmen: A Hip Hopera–which hit the little screen in 2001 on MTV. Co-starring ER’s Mekhi Phifer as a cop, Mos Def as a…
So sorry to be the bearer of grim news, Frisco, but the mass exodus has already begun. The Rangers best pitching prospect, Eric Hurley? He’s hurling for the big club now. Catcher Max Ramirez? He, too, is in the show. Chris Davis? Gone. Yes, it’s prospect-reaping time for your Texas…
Writing about greatness leaves a scribe in an unenviable position. I mean, can you imagine trying to encapsulate the greatness of Tiger Woods without seeing Tiger Woods? “He parred, and then he birdied.” Would that encapsulate what Tiger can do with a dimpled ball? No, you’d need F. Scott or…
Back in the day, travel was about jet-setting adventures or having all your oxen drown in the river. Today, we stress out about 3 oz. (or is it 8 oz.?) liquids, baggage charges and near-incompetent security. Our suitcases are carriers of anxiety, not excitement. It’s appropriate, then, that the new…
Post-apocalyptic wastelands generally make exciting, compelling settings for movies and books. From the action heroism of Road Warrior to the heart-wrenching examination of loyalty, love and survival in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, the destruction of society as we know it will probably be a recurring theme in literature and film…
Alert the bourgeoisie. There’s to be an uprising at NorthPark Center this summer. Finally those of the cut-off jean shorts and NASCAR tank tops have a reason to infiltrate the inner sanctum of the $200 Diesel jeans-wearing, exclusivity-lovin’ Dallas elite. And it has nothing to do with a Bass Pro…
Films about senior citizens are generally real downers. Either someone ends up languishing with Alzheimer’s (see The Notebook or Away From Her) or someone kicks the bucket (er, The Bucket List), or both. Even the ones that are supposed to be life-affirming end up being overwhelmingly depressing. I avoid these…
People often ask what makes Dallas so special. New York is a bastion of culture and art, Los Angeles is awash in glitz and beautiful people, and Chicago is a stomping grounds for culinary innovation. People here point to the shopping. That’s right — we’ve got great shopping. If that…
The Sixth Sense, starring Bruce Willis as a dead man, was writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s breakthrough, but its follow-up, Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis as the walking dead reborn as a superhero, was the filmmaker’s masterpiece. It remains the most quietly influential of all recent superhero movies, the unacknowledged template for…
“In a nation of frightened dullards, there is always a sorry shortage of outlaws, and those few who make the grade are always welcome.” So wrote Hunter S. Thompson of the Hells Angels after riding with California’s motor-psycho Mongol hordes in the mid-1960s, a feat of embedded journalism that left…
A good production of a good play about a bad production of a bad play is the tricky part of staging Noises Off. Michael Frayn’s three-act inside joke about the delicate nuances of live theater—and what happens when absolutely everything goes awry—is getting decent laughs in a polished, if not…
A self-proclaimed bibliophile, I’m a champion for the tangible text–eBooks are a cop-out and most book-to-film adaptations just plain blow. The only time something beats out a book is when the real deal’s right in front of you, so don’t worry about tracking down a copy of People’s Lives: A…
To quote the late Rick James, “Cocaine is a hell of a drug.” At one point, Oliver Stone was as famous for his cocaine use as for his films. 1987’s Wall Street is his stunning depiction of this hunger for “more.” More money, more power, more everything. In the ’80s…
In Fort Worth, on July 5, 1958, Casa Mañana was born. A sold-out audience of dapper black-ties and fashionable gowns enjoyed a performance of the musical Can-Can and an icon nestled itself into a comfortable — and seriously reputable — home. Saturday, that same icon celebrates it’s mid-century birthday with…
The best kind of art is not the work that makes you scratch your head and wonder if you’re culturally illiterate, but the kind that lets you have an “a-ha” moment despite the fact that you know more about Perez Hilton than Gerhard Richter. People fall into the trap of…
Even with the assistance of Detective Google, I’m having a difficult time grasping the tenets of commedia dell’arte. You see, ONSTAGE in Bedford starts running Pinocchio Commedia this Friday at 8 p.m., running through July 12. The play is Johnny Simons’ retelling of the ancient lying-will-cause-physical-deformation fable in something called…
Which is better: sex or fireworks? Seems like the two could share a lot of the same terminology — a Roman candle, a bottle rocket or a screamer just sound dirty, don’t they? We’d continue, but we’re out of space, so let’s just say this: You can sample some of…
I don’t know if you guys have noticed yet, but it’s July again. That’s right, sports fans, it’s every Texan’s favorite time of year for to run a little foot race — if you’re completely insane, that is. Come on, folks, it’s f’n hot out there. If you must, however,…
Sculptor Margo Sawyer’s work takes inspiration from the work of Piet Mondrian and the De Stijl movement (Not just a Jack White-led garage rock trend, turns out) and can be seen all over the State of Texas, from her outdoor sculptures at Houston’s new Discovery Green park to the installation…
What do gouache, assemblages and ebullient figures have in common? Well, at least one thing: I have no idea what any of them are! But if you’re an artistic person, I’m sure you do and that’s probably why you’ll be heading to see the three exhibits on display at Conduit…
