Denton Record Chronicle | News for Denton County, Texas

02/25/2010

Opera lovers are in for a rare treat. Bedrich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, usually sung in English for American audiences, will be presented by the University of North Texas College of Music in its original language — Czech. This romantic romp, one of the most popular operas of all time, is filled with light, folk-like tunes and a story of true love that prevails.

Denton Time (.pdf)

Poet to visit UNT for reading
Henri Cole looks the human condition full in the face.

Trash bags at the ready locals armed against litter
Last year, about 1,200 volunteers collected 250,000 pounds for Denton’s Great American Cleanup.

Impressionists
Two exhibits focused on printmaking are featured in Texas Woman’s University’s East and West galleries through March 17.

Reel-to-reel time
This just in: The eight-track tape isn’t dead. You heard us. Pull those buds out of your ears and pay a reverent moment to the eight-track. Musician and music historian (at least we think so) Bucks Burnett is bringing his recording antiques to Denton for North by 35 Music Conferette.

Woe there
Billy Brent Malkus comes by his Americana roots honestly enough: He has credits on a hog farm in the Chesapeake Bay area. But he must have had to shake off the drawl to stand tall in Baltimore, where he had a stint in a punk outfit. He milks it in the Texas Sapphires, who stop in Denton on Saturday.

Play studies couple divided by abduction
University of North Texas students have produced a drama with real-life relevance, especially after Sept. 11, 2001. Lee Blessing’s Two Rooms finds a married couple strained by the husband’s abduction in Beirut.

Beat keeper
After she was featured on National Public Radio, artist Dessa touched off a hot debate on the NPR Web site about her credibility as a hip-hop artist.

Popcorn concert has family appeal
The Lewisville Lake Symphony is serving up popcorn and a performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf on March 7.

Shadow boxing

Summit Entertainment

Former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan, left) enlists a nameless writer (Ewan McGregor) to write his memoirs in The Ghost Writer.

A GPS device figures prominently into one of many plots found in The Ghost Writer, a thriller from director Roman Polanski. And that’s convenient, because the gadget will also come in handy to keep track of the film’s many twists and turns. The Ghost Writer is based on Robert Harris’ script, adapted from his historical novel. Harris takes fairly current events and weaves a convoluted conspiracy theory, giving the film both an immediacy and a familiarity.

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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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