It’s New Year’s resolution time again, and now we have to revisit the same goals we set last year. Our personal favorite is to lose weight, and we’ve succeeded–and failed, and succeeded again, and failed again. Oddly enough, though, we never could yo-yo for real. But maybe you understand our…
12/26 Christmas is for kids. I’ll admit it, even though I love to put garland on my door with twinkling white lights and bright red apple ornaments. Even though I still bought some resemblance of a Christmas tree in the form of a foot-tall fern with gold trimmings to prop…
12/28 I’ve been obsessed with cheerleading competitions since fourth grade. After two sessions with a coach who gave me cheer and my parents a run for their money, I stood on one very shaky leg and tried out for the squad. Despite the French braid crafted from my permed bi-level…
12/25 It’s possible that after the kids wake you up at 6 o’clock Christmas morning and tear open the goodies, they’ll be bored and restless by the time early afternoon saunters around. Fortunately, the Cinemark IMAX theater has an alternative activity with Disney’s first made-for-IMAX feature premiering on the much-larger-than-life…
12/29 Before the flute even presses against the lips, a tingling mist flutters from the delicate bubbles. Enchanting champagne, the mender of worry, the lover of laughter. It lingers on your tongue and lifts your mood, transforming a stern face into a blooming smile. After a glass or two, the…
12/31 The same year in which we surrendered our last pair of footy pajamas, we didn’t laugh on New Year’s Eve. Instead, with one hand over our eyes and the other gripping a plastic glass of cold duck, we shivered in terror through a New Year’s Eve marathon of black-and-white…
For all of its inspired side trips down Imagination Lane (let’s call it that, because the “memories” of protagonist Edward Bloom are too majestic to be trusted and too affecting to be discounted), Big Fish is ultimately about one thing: the relationship between a son about to become a father…
You know how it’s often the ones we love whose flaws are most apparent? Well, when it comes to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, I am smitten. This film is a miracle, an extravaganza equal to its predecessors and in some ways more stunning. It…
The Mona Lisa Smile in question belongs, of course, to its star, Julia Roberts. Why? For no particular reason, actually. It’s just what Italian professor Bill Dunbar (Dominic West) calls her–Mona Lisa, perhaps because he’s an Italian professor possessing few points of reference outside the works of da Vinci. But…
William H. Macy’s plain-vanilla features and hang-dog screen demeanor have served him well. Who could resist him as the clueless car dealer who hatched the disastrous kidnapping plot in Fargo, or as the distraught husband of a frisky porn star in Boogie Nights? A splendid character actor with a gift…
Evidently, the French-Canadian writer-director Denys Arcand has a tremendous capacity for dividing the art-movie/film-fest crowd into enemy camps. Arcand’s fans see him as a vibrant wit with a supple mind, capable of juggling many ideas at once and spicing his quirky analyses of contemporary society with playful asides and deadeye…
Dallas theatergoers can be aggressively vocal with their opinions. Some audience members open their gobs and offer audible reviews of a show while a performance is in progress. This sort of behavior may be appropriate at a gladiator ring or topless revue, but it is generally frowned upon at an…
Every year, the barren, icy tundra of wintertime Dallas sparks fear in the hearts of metroplexians. Soon enough, we will have to brace for the utmost terrors caused by the forces of brutal Father Frost. Yes, that’s right: Thermostats will get cranked an extra two degrees warmer. The horror! OK,…
Thursday, December 18 Any fan of black-and-white photography has seen Edward Weston’s bell pepper shot, “Pepper No. 30.” Its seductive lighting makes what is to some simply food into something sensual and alive with curves and hollows. His “Eggs and Slicer” and “Chambered Nautilus-Halved” also show his affinity for no-frills…
There are many symbols for this time of year. There’s the Nativity for religious Christmas, and Santa and Rudolph for secular Christmas. A menorah for Hanukkah, and–according to Friends–there’s the Hanukkah Armadillo who delights kids with tales of the Festival of Lights. Kwanzaa and Los Posados have candles and light,…
12/20 It has come to this: During last week’s poker game, my friend Shane and I found ourselves swapping recipes for, among other things, shrimp with grits, exotic chili and chocolate soufflés. We then donned our aprons, cinched our skirts and waited for the hubby to bring home the boss…
12/21 My man Beardog Wheeler–have you ever heard a better name for a biker?–says that rain or shine the December 21 Big Texas Toy Run, which benefits underprivileged and challenged metroplex children who need a little holiday-season help, is going to be a roaring success. So get your bike tuned…
Ongoing Sitting here trying to write another holiday feature, I discover that my kitten can’t stand the fact she’s not getting all of my attention. Instead, my computer–a square thingy without feathers, fur or bells (all things she can relate to because I spoil her in toys)–has suddenly become a…
12/23 Who’s afraid of the big bad ballet master? Certainly not Texas Ballet Theatre, formerly Fort Worth-Dallas Ballet, which recruited an internationally acclaimed Brit to run the creative side of its classical dance company. Word has it that Ben Stevenson is kindly yet tough on the dancers, and the box…
12/19 A choir and musicians in long white robes. A precocious kid too talented for her age. Tap dancers. Comedians. The lineup of the Polyphonic Spree’s Fourth Annual Holiday Extravaganza reminds us of many childhood holiday seasons spent in nursing homes, tap-dancing to “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and…
To get the obvious out of the way first: Something’s Gotta Give is a film designed to appeal to older women, and it very likely will. Diane Keaton gives a good performance in it as a post-menopausal playwright who gets back in touch with her libido. The movie will probably…
Remember the Farrelly brothers? Makers of Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary? Known for crossing the line of good taste and making fun of the differently abled, but with a sufficiently sweet streak that they could be forgiven for such? Kinda popular until Trey Parker and Matt Stone…
