Archive for May, 2013
The Bard in Texas
Pantagleize funnels Shakespeare through twang and old-timey music.JIMMY FOWLER
A Midsummer Night’s Dream has long been the favorite Shakespeare play of Violet O’Valle, founder and artistic director of Pantagleize Theatre. She’d never considered directing a production of it, however, until she heard ...
Killer or Filler?
New recordings by post-bluesy Oil Boom and psychotic Lindby say, “Listen.”FORT WORTH WEEKLY STAFF
Oil Boom’s Gold Yeller Last August, just a few months after the Dallas-Fort Worth trio Oil Boom dropped its first, widely acclaimed EP, Black Waxy, frontman/vocalist Brian Whitten departed, leaving the gravelly post-blues ban...
English for the Test
Finding citizenship courses for non-English-speakers is getting a bit easier.LISA MARIA GARZA
Lots of folks in North Texas want to become U.S. citizens these days: Federal agency records show that the rate of applications for naturalization has risen by more than 20 percent in the last year. But there’s a big problem ...
Ruby Sparks: Dreamgirl
A novelist writes a girlfriend for himself, and an actress writes a role for herself.KRISTIAN LIN
When you hear the plot of Ruby Sparks, you’ll think you’ve heard it before. You’ll be right, in a sense — the story’s roots go back to the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. But you’ll be wrong, too, because this retell...
Fizzy Campaign
Will Ferrell and company stump for laughs in this election season.KRISTIAN LIN
When we last left Will Ferrell, he was starring in Casa de mi Padre, an intriguing though failed experiment in genre parody. His new comedy, The Campaign, is a better, funnier movie, and even if it doesn’t rank among Ferrell...
Nuclear Threats
Are federal regulators retaliating against their own nuclear inspectors?ANDREW MCLEMORE
About 9:30 a.m. on June 7 last year, workers at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant near Omaha, Neb., raised the alarm. Some minutes earlier, an electrical fire had sparked in a large fuse box –– the result of poor install...
Pretzel Logic
Twisted Root serves up scrumptious burgers with a silly smile.LAURIE BARKER JAMES
Twisted Root Burger Company was started by Jason Boso after he did what most service industry folk fantasize about doing to a hard-to-please customer. Boso spouted off, apparently in a big way, and got fired. But that led Boso,...
Comics and Canals
BIG TICKETThis week we spotlight two presentations by our local art museums about the works hanging in their collections. The Amon Carter starts things on Thursday with an unusual “talk back” session, in which members of the public a...
The Gurdwara Attack and Identity Politics
ZACK SHLACHTERIn the wake of the attack Sunday on the Oak Creek, Wisc., gurdwara, the media discourse has largely added insult to injury. Anyone who turned to television for continuous coverage of the attack had only one option, CNN. Unfortu...
Mass Shootings? Sure, But Did You Know To Run Away?
Andrew McLemoreCould there be a better sign of how accustomed to mass shootings we have become? We no longer view these atrocities as surprising. We actually expect them. What else can be concluded from a six-minute public service video, pr...