Think universally, laugh locally. Big themes come laced with oodles of hometown references in Heaven Forbid(s)!, the biting new comedy written by and starring Marco Rodriguez, now playing at the itty-bitty Ice House Cultural Center in Oak Cliff. It’s the first new show in two years from Rodriguez’s Martice Enterprises,…
Bubba Ho-tep Limited Edition (MGM) Intentional camp is difficult to do well. It’s a contradiction that usually comes off cutesy and forced. The old Batman series pulled it off, and it’s been B-movie god Bruce Campbell’s livelihood. But in a long career of overacting and mugging, Campbell’s peak may be…
Masterfully edited and cumulatively walloping, Charles Ferguson’s No End in Sight turns the well-known details of our monstrously bungled Iraq War into an enraging, apocalyptic litany of fuck-ups. One may have already heard some or all of the absurd, shameful, appalling details that Ferguson collects—the well-connected American kid plucked straight…
Stardust is less an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 1999 novel than of its dust-jacket synopsis. That will come as disconcerting news to fans of the author, who thus far has avoided the fate of fellow fantasy writers and comics creators who’ve had their works mangled by the studios’ clumsy assembly…
Chris Tucker still believes in Michael Jackson. You can tell, because in the very first scene of Rush Hour 3, the actor-comedian squeals melodically, grabs his crotch and throws his arms up to the heavens. All that’s missing is a giant offstage fan to make Tucker’s shirt billow out behind…
Ingmar Bergman directed more than 50 features, but he was a significant figure in 20th-century culture in part because he was so obviously significant. Last week’s inch-above-the-fold front-page New York Times obituary cites Woody Allen’s pledge of allegiance: The Swedish director was nothing less than “the greatest film artist…since the…
Stupid video-game logic, rule no. 154: When thousands of fugly, bloodthirsty aliens take over a spaceship, it’s best to send in a lone woman with a flamethrower.That’s the entire plot of Alien Syndrome, a pseudo sequel to Sega’s 1987 “run ‘n’ gun” arcade game of the same name. And despite…
Beneath (Paramount)Brigitte Bardot 5-Film Collection (Lionsgate)Luis Bunuel: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (Lionsgate)Disturbia (DreamWorks)The Dog Problem (THINKfilm)The Dresden Files: The Complete First Season (Lionsgate)8 Simple Rules: The Complete First Season (Buena Vista)The Fly: Collector Set (Fox)Full House: The Complete Seventh Season (Warner Bros.)The Hills: The Complete Second Season (Paramount)I Think I Love…
Yes, it’s time for the annual Kartoffel Festival. If you weren’t aware of it, kartoffel is German for men’s lingerine. No wait, that’s lederhosen. A kartoffel is a potato. And potatoes apparently are a big part of German cuisine. If you’re into good food with weird names you owe it…
The Pillowman is a creepy name for a play. It makes me think of the super-creepy chief antagonist in those Saw movies. Or maybe the Pillowman is like the Spoon Man in that Soundgarden song—some scary street performer who does weird things with pillows. Actually, though, this play is more…
God may have blessed Texas but he never blessed Little Texas, the forgotten ’90s country band that came out of Nashville at a time when Music Row started turning mainstream country into soft rock. In an odd way, the band should be remembered, not for its music, but for what…
You’ll have two chances to see God or Satan in the next few days if you head to Denton. (And you thought it would be another lazy weekend waiting for sunshine around the pool.) As stars in their own back-to-back student-directed plays at University of North Texas, the Opposition Duo…
You’ll have two chances to see God or Satan in the next few days if you head to Denton. (And you thought it would be another lazy weekend waiting for sunshine around the pool.) As stars in their own back-to-back student-directed plays at University of North Texas, the Opposition Duo…
Sure, I’m a huge Mavericks fan, but even I can admit Dirk and Co. need to stop shooting the long ball sometimes and go in for the rim-rattling dunk. Josh Howard and Pop Mensah-Bonsu can throw down occasionally, and Diop can put it up there without even jumping, but come…
I was loading up the snark gun, getting ready to wail on all the old folks who might be planning to head out to catch the Rush show this Saturday at Smirnoff Music Centre. (A sample: Who’s the tour sponsor, Ex-Lax?) Then I remembered something, namely, me at 14, huddled…
Not to get all po-mo on you, but half the satisfaction of indulging in Dallas native Harry Hunsicker’s latest thriller, Crosshairs, is savoring the delicious weirdness of the fact that its protagonist is Lee Oswald, a former private dick and Gulf War I vet who, in aiding his femme fatale,…
Dr. Seuss stories are universal. What is a Christmas without the Grinch? What’s a milestone without Oh the Places You’ll Go? But after a lifetime of hearing these stories, we’re ready to shake them up a little. We know that Sam likes Green Eggs and Ham. We’re familiar with that…
Ah, the circle of life. No, we’re not talking about that lion-hearted Elton John song, we’re talking about the realization that you’re born a being in need of care and you ultimately end up that way too, should you live well into old age. Sure, you have a baby, fully…
The Quinceañera—a festive party to celebrate a girl turning 15–is a lovely custom not well understood by many people outside Hispanic culture. Though sometimes as complex (and expensive!) as a wedding, with limos, cakes, bands and a gorgeous white dress, the “quince” is much more than being princess for a…
Aww nuts. Here I was thinking Vodka and Kisses was going to be a sordid after party of endless booze and anonymous sex but no, it’s a play. Two chicks are total best friends forever until a man enters the picture and the inevitable kick to the curb comes to…
Altruism is overrated, especially in light of that 15 minutes of PerezHilton.com surfing time you lost because you feel obligated to chat with Lonely Steve over in accounting. How ’bout something special for number one? Do it guilt-free: for the next three Thursdays (August 9, 16 and 23), all the…
It’s tough to say anything new about the 1969 Woodstock music festival. We have so much perspective (after almost 40 years!) that everyone pretty much knows the story already. Whether it’s your scene or not it’s hard to deny the power of the film that documents the event, though. You…
