One small head start for woman. One giant step backward for women. You know something's screwy when the first runner to cross the Dallas White Rock Marathon finish line isn't the winner. And when, in an era of monumental gains by female athletes on the cusp of competing against males...
Depeche Mode's new album begins with a bang--15 seconds of harsh, grinding, construction-site screech seemingly designed to quell suspicions that these dance-rock elders have been softened by age and irrelevance. You can hardly begrudge them their determination; since 2001, when the trio released Exciter, their moody synth-pop moves have been...
With nearly 9 percent of the U.S. retail market to itself and $288 billion in annual sales, Wal-Mart takes in more revenue than most countries. And despite a swelling tide of allegations regarding unfair and illegal labor and environmental practices, Wal-Mart's reign continues unmolested. In his latest documentary, director Robert...
Conspiracy theory: If you've flipped through our Night & Day section this week, you've already seen a jumbo-sized item about Saturday's Art Conspiracy show at the historic Texas Theater--artists create works in only 24 hours, bands play, proceeds go to charity. Interesting stuff, sure. But music fans should take an...
Most of the year, I try to live up to the general rule of thumb around the offices of this newspaper, which is: "Every little chance you get, please try to tell the readers something they don't already know." Normally I devote more of my energy to reporting than pontificating...
I was wrong. There, I said it. Wasn't so bad. Humbling but not horrible. Therapeutic even. Won't you join me, Bill Parcells? Because you, too, are wrong about Drew Bledsoe. After the Giant debacle two weeks ago I prematurely kick-started the annual Cowboys mystery, "Who's Next?" As in, the next...
Putting together a sequel to a hit videogame is tricky business. Play it safe and give people more of the same, and it ends up feeling stale. But try to innovate too much, and you dilute what made the game great to begin with. Soul Calibur III somehow manages to...
The Southwest is exposed in infrared 11/17 I'm suspicious of people who would choose invisibility for their superpower. Everyone knows the real reason they want it is to sit undetected in dressing rooms and be pervy. I want a superpower--such as flying or a heightened sense--that opens up unavailable worlds...
Rogue Wave's Out of the Shadows was last year's great indie-pop debut--a bittersweet album of '60s-inspired pop ideal for melodists and English lit students who had gone too long between Shins albums. It was the work of one man--Oakland's Zach Rogue (born Zach Schwartz), who recorded the album before even...
One of the best things about hate mail is when angry readers get upset about a band that I've lauded repeatedly. "Why do you go on and on about Record Hop, The Tah-Dahs and Man Factory when you could talk about a real band like Feces Frank and the Porcelain...
Ever since its Broadway debut in 1996, Rent has generated a loyal, almost cult-like following. Showered with praise, the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical touched a nerve among the young, artistic, gay, urban and alternatively dressed people who identified as outsiders and wondered how they would make their way in the world...
Amid Hollywood's zillion-dollar explosions and computer-enhanced trickery, plenty of quieter, better films sneaked into theaters virtually unnoticed this year. Following are our reviewers' favorite overlooked movies of 2005. Some of them never made it to local screens, but many have since made it to the video store: Balzac and the...
BEEM! So far it's definitely low-BEEM! But if writer-actor John S. Davies pares down his autobiographical one-man comedy, he might have something with higher wattage here. Presented in a Sunday night showcase format, the one-act switches among three characters: Davies, the actor; Bill Beem, an egotistical Kansas City chef who...
The little boy cried. His mother's words didn't make sense, but he knew enough to be afraid. "You'll never see me again," she said in the car. Then she dropped him off at his stepmother's house and drove away. Sam Gross was 9, his mother's only son, a boy everyone...
What is Dallas hip-hop like? Depending on where you hung out this weekend, your answer to that question could go in one of two directions--positive and exciting, or scary as hell. You would have reached the latter conclusion if you were standing anywhere near Club Hush on Friday night around...
Caroline Dingwall has her game face on. Perched before the piano in a mirrored practice room, the 12-year-old's intent gaze hides her inexperience as a performer. She stretches her fingers gently across the keys, playing the opening notes to John Lennon's "Imagine." You'd be forgiven if you suppress a cringe:...
Richard Gere? That's the first thought that came to mind upon learning that Mr. Salt-and-Pepper-Sexy-Buddhist-Wasp had been cast as Saul Naumann in Bee Season, the film version of Myla Goldberg's best-selling novel. In the book, Saul is an oppressive and learned Jewish patriarch, a cantor and student of mysticism whose...
Pity the videogame zombie. He spends his short afterlife dodging self-righteous heroes hell-bent on peppering him with buckshot, setting him on fire, or blowing him to smithereens with a bazooka. Well, Stubbs is here to even the score. Set in the 1950s, Stubbs the Zombie casts players as the eponymous...
Shine on, golden warriors: Allow us to make a few enemies right here, right now, by making a hyperbolic declaration. Dallas' best chance at giving the world a Coldplay-level mega-success--one that can strike the perfect balance between mainstream adoration and critical acceptance--is Radiant. Sure, we ultimately think other local bands...
Dead Like Them Drink one glass of wine per day--no more, no less. Also drink cranberry juice, green tea, only bottled water, soy milk. Eat only natural foods; eat only chemically engineered foods. Don't eat anything...ever. If we tried every piece of advice about preventing cancer, stopping the aging process...
If 2003's It Still Moves was the album that showed why My Morning Jacket was ready to play stadiums, Z is the one that proves they deserve lasers and smoke machines. While the band's music has always walked a fine line between twang and space-rock, Z sees them stretching out...
Years ago, I had a running joke with a group of friends in a band. Whenever something stupid happened, I'd be quick to quip, "This is 'part two' of your VH1 Behind The Music episode." That is to say, one guy dropping a ketchup bottle would become the reason behind...
