For years, Blue Bell Creamery’s slogan was, “We eat all we can and sell the rest.” Maybe that’s why I can’t get their peppermint ice cream year-round; some bigwig on a mint kick is gulping it all down before it even gets to the store. And that’s not even counting…
If you enjoy WFAA Channel 8 movie critic Gary Cogill’s benign movie reviews then you’ll probably enjoy the Metropolitan Winds’ Close Encounters of the Oz Kind hosted by the man himself. The evening of movie music by the symphonic band will feature selections from the films that make up the…
Evil stepmothers and hungry kids who end up in cages isn’t the stuff of today’s Disney-fied fairy tales. But since Hansel and Gretel was a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, it took their trademark twist toward the dark and macabre. Instead of ball gowns and glitter, this fairy tale reflects some…
Ten years on, it’s nothing short of mind-boggling that the Great Swing Scare of 1997 ever happened in the first place. I’m sure you all remember the horror—swing dance nights at your favorite bars, frat boys incessantly quoting Vince Vaughan’s character from Swingers, and of course, left-field radio hits from…
I love those well-intentioned parents who try to keep the education going during their kids’ summer break. Efforts to get them all cultured up with trips to the museum, symphony and theater add up to a proud gleam in mom and dad’s eyes while clandestine yawns are borne from their…
Who knew someone who claims to not understand sex, and who yet was put on trial for allegedly touching young ladies on their naughties, could be such a hoot?! Somehow Paula Poundstone has transcended her oddities and resurrected her career. In fact, she has twisted said oddities into positives, utilizing…
Why do some insects have feminine names like “damselfly” and “ladybug,” but there aren’t any ‘machobeetles’ or ‘manwasps’? It seems unfair to the menfolk. Although, I heard damselflies were named as such because they’re similar to dragonflies, but smaller and weaker, so maybe it’s the female bugs who should be…
I saw The Music Man in high school. I remember it having one of the most earworm-y soundtracks of anything I’d ever heard. “Ya Got Trouble,” “76 Trombones,” “Shipoopi,” “Marian the Librarian,” “Pick a Little, Talk a Little/Goodnight, Ladies,” “Gary, Indiana” and “Till There Was You” were permanently embedded in…
We’ve never really understood tribute bands. It’s one thing for a band to play some covers, but to devote your entire musical career to aping one particular artist—especially one that sucks like, say, Sublime—seems the opposite of rock ‘n’ roll dreams come true, as Meatloaf might put it. In fact,…
Whether you like yours played on a traditional ektara or fused with hip-hop, reggae and house, get your Bhangra fix from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday at Clay Pit’s (4460 Belt Line Road in Addison) Bollywood Beatz blowout. Share the latest buzz from the world’s hottest film capital, Mumbai…
Names—they can be a tricky thing. Take for example Spiritual Stories of Inspiration in Metal. What’s that all about? It sounds like a lecture series on the spiritual awakenings running rampant in the world of heavy metal. Perhaps there’s a session covering Vince Neil’s salvation, courtesy of his Surreal Life-inspired…
Years before Titanic, “The Governator” and, um, Beauty and the Beast, there was one strange and wonderful event that united James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton. It was called The Terminator. Before this 1984 sci-fi masterpiece was released, Arnold had made a small name in such offerings as Pumping…
A skilled actor vanishes into a role; a movie star appropriates it. As presence trumps character, the star personifies Brecht’s alienation effect, and whatever its ostensible subject, the movie becomes a vehicle—the latest installment in an ongoing career or, in the case of a great star, a public myth. Angelina…
Mike Enslin, the travel writer played by John Cusack in 1408, could use a better travel agent. Every hotel room in which he finds himself booked is said to be occupied by the ghost of some suicidal creep or a murderous goon who left behind a pile of bodies in…
Who wouldn’t want to take Sylvia home? Talk about adorable. Young, blond, frisky—she’s every middle-aged man’s fantasy. She also has four legs, a tail and fleas. A.R. Gurney’s fluffy comedy Sylvia, currently playing at Contemporary Theatre of Dallas, asks if it’s possible for a mutt to break up—or possibly save—a…
Evan Almighty, the follow-up to Bruce Almighty, is the work of an angry God. At 89 minutes that last a lifetime, it’s a sanctimonious sitcom dolled up as the most expensive comedy ever made—$175 mil, so they say, no doubt choking—and marks an unfortunate low point in the history of…
Die Hard Collection (Fox) You don’t need to watch the included preview of Live Free or Die Hard to know it’s going to blow; as this set proves, only odd-numbered Die Hards are any good. The first one, of course, is the perfect popcorn flick, and the bonus-disc extras here…
Once upon a time, the world breathed magic. Some believed this magic should belong only to the powerful, while others felt it was for everyone. So all the world’s beings went to war. The first battle took place in Brazil, where a lone elf with a sniper rifle notched an…
Animaniacs: Volume 3 (Warner Bros.) Bridge to Terabithia (Buena Vista) Gray Matters (Fox) Harrison’s Flowers (Lionsgate) If . . .: The Criterion Collection (Criterion) The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico (THINKfilm) Lucille Ball Film Collection (Warner Bros.) The Manhattan Project: Special Edition (Lionsgate) The Many Adventures of Winnie…
The Dallas Children’s Theater will be putting on a fun-for-the-kiddies-who-love-doggies production with PINKERTON!!! (If you’ve never heard of Pinkerton, think of the old comic strip Marmaduke and you’ll have a pretty good idea. He’s a lovable Great Dane who gets into all sorts of mischief.) For those—young and not-so-young—who have…
If your children thrive on painting outside the lines, this may be early signs of Inner Picasso Syndrome. (Quick test for symptoms: mrpicassohead.com/create.) The art world declared the Spanish genius to be history’s greatest child prodigy, but he disagreed, “There are no child prodigies in painting…[only] the genius of childhood.”…
Reebok knows how to pull in the crowds. Seriously, 2-year-olds who just learned how to say “mavwick” to 20-something puck worshipers to 80-year-old baseball-lovin’ coots are going to line up to score the good seats for the Sixth Annual Reebok Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game this Saturday at Dr Pepper Ballpark…
