Less than a generation ago, Yonkers, New York became the face of segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation in my backyard. A federal court order to construct 200 units of low-income residences east of the Saw Mill Parkway, i.e., in the white part of town, led to riots and bombings, death…
Frank Artsmarter isn’t here to judge you. He wants the general public to judge you. Which is why he has partnered with Glasstire to create the ArtSmarterPrize, an open call contest that has been described by some as “an artist invitational in which every artist, no matter his or her…
We are just a few weeks from summer ending, school starting and the return of the arts in Dallas. Enjoy these final quiet days before your calendar again fills up with events you cannot miss and art you want to see. In the meantime, here are three things to fill…
Meryl Streep in a comedic role is one of the few good things in Ricki and the Flash, and the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton sands down many of the rough corners of the ground-breaking rap group’s controversial history. On this week’s Voice Film Club, Alan Scherstuhl and Stephanie Zacharek…
In the holy trinity of N.W.A., each icon had a power: Dr. Dre produced, Ice Cube wrote the words and Eazy-E was the comic relief. N.W.A.’s biopic, Straight Outta Compton, blurs those roles. Both Dre and Cube produced the film and seem to have edited the script with a red…
Even if you’re the sort who believes there can be no such thing as too much political coverage, it can’t hurt to cast a fond glance back to 1968, when only three networks — NBC, CBS, and the perennial laggard ABC — jockeyed for the attention of the American public…
At the start of Woody Allen’s campus comedy Irrational Man, caddish professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) drives up to a new school that’s already steeled itself for his arrival. “Of course, my reputation — a reputation — preceded me,” admits Abe. Such defensiveness also applies to his tabloid-attacked director, who…
It doesn’t matter how old you get or how many women a guy has asked out on a date. Asking a woman to go out with you never gets easier. If it is easy, then that guy is a psychopath who isn’t in touch with their feelings and will definitely…
Upon stepping in the front door of J. Hall Gentleman Tattooers, a friendly “butler” (heavily tattooed receptionist in a T-shirt) welcomes you into the institution (tattoo shop), and offers you a bottle of water (Fiji!). If you have ever been to a tattoo shop before, you know this type of…
For multiple generations, episodes of The Simpsons contain an entire lexicon of examples and comparisons. “That’s just like one time Bart did …” Or “That reminds of the episode when Homer said…” The show has more than 25 seasons under its belt, so avoiding the references to the bright yellow,…
In the summertime slump, you’re probably feeling like you’re not very creative at all. There’s nothing about 104-degree temperatures that make you want to create art, much less go out and find the inspiration to do it. Still, even though it’s a veritable inferno out there, this week offers a…
For all the pearl-clutching and handwringing from conservatives and supposed feminists alike, the eXXXotica Expo came to Dallas this weekend without much incident. As far as we know, there was no flood of trafficked prostitutes in the streets of the suburbs, or children whose eyes were burned out at the…
On a Monday night last September, a gaggle of verbose, bright-eyed young people dressed in miniskirts, jeans and tennis shoes filled with the backyard of the Oak Cliff literary watering hole The Wild Detectives. With little warning and at a great volume they began to tell jokes and sing poetry to…
Amanda Wingfield, 1930s tiger mother. The matriarch in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, now playing at Theatre Three, fits the profile: overbearing, controlling and obsessed with pushing her adult children toward her idea of success. She wants son Tom to work his way up in the St. Louis warehouse where…
There’s a long held idea, fabricated by an optimistic adult that the stories we tell teenagers should be optimistic, aspirational. Maybe that’s why it comes to picking books for curriculums we ban the ones that even sniff of hardship, violence or reality. But if you give a group of teenagers…
It isn’t often that you hear the words “Dallas-based author” and “ultimate orgasm” in the same sentence, but for Jenny Block, that’s just life. Her first book, Open, a book about “sex within the context of open marriage,” thrust Block into the world of “sexperts.” From there, she became a…
If you have managed to brave the crowds and cleared away shelves at Carrollton’s new cheap-ass heaven, Daiso Japan, you should be commended for your efforts. Since those lines that wrapped around the building on the scorcher that was opening day, Daiso has stayed busy. Even a few days later,…
1. Really, it’s all in one line of dialogue. Late in Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four, that ever-lovin’ man-mountain Benjamin J. Grimm sets himself at last to the good work of bad-guy punching. As he rushes off to pound Doctor Doom, he mutters, “This is what I do.” He’s resigned to…
I don’t know why there are so many juried shows opening on the same weekend, and I’m not sure that I like the looks of them any more than any other summer group show. But I suppose if we can build a justice system on twelve impartial men, why not…
One of the biggest and most fist-shaking misconceptions about anime is that it’s made just for children. Often when asking folks what they think of when they hear the word “anime,” these are always mentioned: Pokémon and Dragonball Z. It’s sadder than a Weeping Willow. Sure, a lot of —…
Kate Firth is one of the few artists in Dallas working in steel, not to mention one of the only women. And her art is getting bigger and better all the time. Last week, she completed her biggest project to date, a public sculpture called “I Feel You Feel Me,”…
When boredom strikes this weekend, pull these events up on your iPhone faster than a gun from a holster in a classic spaghetti western, speaking of which, you can see one of those at the Texas Theatre. Thursday, Aug. 6 Neo Camerata The phrase “summer tour” evokes images of a…
