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02/18/2010

Whoever Lola wants, Lola gets

Lola’s back. The spicy, sassy PI, Delores “Lola” Cruz, returns home only to find her entire family mourning her death in Hasta la Vista, Lola! by Argyle author Misa Ramirez. The second book in Ramirez’s mystery romance series features the novice Latina detective hot on the trail to find out who stole her identity.

 Denton Time (.pdf)


Professor dishes out sweet intrigue
Combine murder with mystery, throw in some humor and a little romance, top it off with a dollop of ice cream, and what have you got? A recipe for a chick-lit mystery by Denton resident Wendy Lyn Watson, I Scream, You Scream, published by a Penguin Books division last October.

Prodigious talent in concert
Three high school students will be featured during the Lewisville Lake Symphony concert “Stars of the Future” on Friday night.

Moonlight serenade
Texas Woman’s University actors and theater technicians hit the ground running in December.

Dragon slayer

Materials world
“Materials: Hard & Soft,” the Greater Denton Arts Council’s annual nationwide contemporary craft competition, continues in the Meadows Gallery at the Center for the Visual Arts, 400 E. Hickory St.

Year of Mays
Jazz pianist and composer Lyle Mays returns to Denton next week to perform at University of North Texas — his first visit since his student days in the ’70s.

Jaffe’s gig list: First Norah, then NX35
Latest news: Sarah Jaffe, Denton’s smoky-voiced songstress, has been committed to North by 35 Music Conferette for a while, thank God. But news broke from her publicists at Stunt Co. that the rising star will be opening for Norah Jones next month, in addition to being part of the inimitable Denton flavor celebrated by the fest. (We also share her love of Edith Piaff, thanks.)

Lone Star innovators

Formal wear
A new exhibit shows just how much more formal life could be for children of decades past.

Promises, promises

Flavors as bold as the colors
Walk into the vestibule of Siam Off the Square Thai Restaurant, and you’ll be greeted by Monique the mannequin, who on any given day may sport a traditional Thai dress, football jersey or cowboy hat.

Shudder island

Paramount Pictures
Mark Ruffalo, left, and Leonardo DiCaprio co-star in the thriller Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese’s creepy adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel.

Wiseguys and goodfellas give way to hallucinations, nightmares and evil doctors in Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese’s creepy new mystery. Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), with a screenplay from Laeta Kalogridis, this multisided thriller plays its secrets so cleverly that a viewer could easily get lost in its complex misdirection. Even when it becomes apparent that not all is what it seems, several other surprises lie ahead.


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02/11/2010

Nothing but the truth

For the third year, Denton will host Thin Line Film Fest, an international documentary festival that runs Feb. 17-21. During the five-day event, 46 films will be screened — with an even split between features and shorts. Moviegoers will have the opportunity to go to numerous world, Southwest and Texas premieres and view 13 international films representing nine countries. In addition, 25 filmmakers from as far away as New York City and Japan will attend screenings of their works.

 Denton Time (.pdf)


Local parties let good times roll
Several Mardi Gras celebrations will happen this week around Denton County.

Sweet deals
Some sweet stuff is available this week for Valentine’s Day. Two such events are fit for the family.

Dual faces

Long road home

Fest assembles first-night lineup
Latest news: On Wednesday, the volunteer corps organizing what Pitchfork calls South by Southwest’s “baby cousin” announced the music lineup of the first night of North by 35 Music Conferette.

‘Cyrano’ rests his pen this weekend
Denton Community Theatre has an ultimate date night on the bill with the final weekend of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Campus Theatre.

Unlucky in love
Bitterness and comedy come in equal measure in Sundown Collaborative Theatre’s play Women and Wallace, which closes this weekend.

Children’s book tells story of a feisty hen
Author Wanda Perry will sign copies of her children’s book, Minnie the Hen Gets a Family, from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Hastings, 2311 Colorado Blvd. in Denton.

Fabulous ’50s

The other white meats
Forgive me. I might be the only person in North Texas who didn’t watch the Super Bowl. I know, I heard. That wasn’t the game to miss. It wasn’t just good, it was great. To be honest, I’m only so-so interested in professional football, unless it’s the Dallas Cowboys. I figure Jerry Jones could use one more person telling him how to run his team, and Tony Romo wants to feel the love, especially since Jessica is out of the picture. Otherwise, I root for the team with the finest uniforms.

Artificially sweet
Like many of the sugary confections prevalent this week, Valentine’s Day may not be what you wanted for the allegedly romantic day, but it is just about what you would expect. Take the sappy Love, Actually and trade its Christmastime trappings and its London setting for Valentine’s Day in Los Angeles, and the result is this superficially complex yet ultimately predictable romantic comedy. Not surprisingly, superficial and predictable are words closely linked to director Garry Marshall, the one-time television maven who graduated to turning out assembly-line movie schlock (Dear God, Exit to Eden).

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02/04/2010

The nose knows romance

Director Brad Speck needed all the blood, sweat and tears of his staff, his crew and his cast to open Cyrano De Bergerac at the Campus Theatre on Friday. All of them, he said, were working toward the same end. “I want this to be an absolutely beautiful show. Beautiful sets, beautiful costumes, beautiful language,” Speck said. “From the moment the show opens, I want the audience to feel like their at the Hotel de Bourgogne in 1640 Paris, to the very end of the show — I want this to be beautiful.”

 Denton Time (.pdf)


Tokens of love
Love is in the air. Instead of flowers that fade or candies that quickly disappear, consider a lasting memento. A thoughtful present doesn’t have to be big nor expensive. After all, the gesture — more than the gift — means the most. Here’s some ideas to get your romantic energy flowing — just a few ...

Texas acts fill out NX35 lineup
It’s official. North by 35, a festival in its infancy, has scored some major bands to headline the event, which is a mix of straight-up music festival volume and a music wonk’s master class dream.

Creative flourish
Of all the forms of contemporary craft, the only kind you won’t see in “Materials: Hard & Soft” is furniture.

Art and science

Bring on the baggage
Wallace Kirkman is smart. He’s also troubled. To add insult to injury, Wallace has trouble relating to women.

Library introduces youths to physics
Children will have a chance to learn about the laws of physics by conducting experiments at Emily Fowler Central Library on Saturday.

Never mind the Joneses
When you visit country artist Corey Smith’s profile on MySpace.com, the first song that streams comes with a title that elicits a cringe.

One hand clapping

Rote romance, to the letter

Screen Gems
A brief, intense romance sparks between John (Channing Tatum) and Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) in Dear John.

Dear John goes trippingly down the same sugary path previously laid out by other offspring of “novelist” Nicholas Sparks. In the literary goo that is Sparky-world, love conquers all, even Alzheimer’s (The Notebook) and hurricanes (Nights in Rodanthe). And lovers defiantly overcome obstacles that would make the travails of Romeo and Juliet seem laughable. Coming soon: pestilence and a plague of frogs. Director Lasse Hallstrom showed an intelligence in transferring novel to screen in his adaptation of John Irving’s The Cider House Rules. Here, however, he struggles mightily before eventually succumbing to the saccharin-saturated Sparky-world.


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