 |
BEST INDIE FILM THEATER
Angelika Film Center
5321 E. Mockingbird Lane. 214-841-4700
Showtimes vary. Open seven days a week. Tickets: $5.50 for students and seniors; $6 for matinees; $8.50 general admission for shows after 5 p.m.
www.angelikafilmcenter.com
Dallas is always striving to be considered a world-class city. From bids to host the Summer Olympics to calling its football club “America’s Team” (remember when people cared about the Cowboys?) to building a dauntingly beautiful skyline, Big D likes to think of itself as Big Apple West.
Perhaps the surest sign that Dallas can claim a kinship with New York is the Angelika Film Center at Mockingbird Station. Like its big brother in the Manhattan’s SoHo district, Dallas’ Angelika is a hangout for cultural stimulation as much as it is a movie theater.
First there’s the architecture and decor an arresting, bold and welcoming two-story edifice that towers over Mockingbird Station like a monolithic guardian. Then there’s the Cafe Angelika, a nifty little bistro that’s worth a trip just for a piece of one of the marvelous cakes.
But ultimately, it’s the challenging art-house films, shown with respect for their audiences in quality accommodations (like the comfortable stadium seating), that draws in the fans. The eight screens have projected such gripping recent films as Pedro Almodovar’s “Bad Education,” “Testosterone,” “Bear Cub,” “Mrs. Henderson Presents” and “The Dying Gaul.”
It’s easy to feel comfortable being yourself at a place like the Angelika. The theater attracts a sophisticated and cosmopolitan crowd that appreciates independent lifestyles as much as independent movies. As conservative as Texas is, it still manages to find room for three Angelikas within its borders one even in button-downed Plano. In some ways, places like the Angelika are more than just venues for movie-watching. They are ambassadors for a different way of looking at the world, and spreading the independent spirit to everyone.
Arnold Wayne Jones
BEST RADIO: GENERAL
KERA 90.1
3000 Harry Hines Blvd. 214-871-1390
www.kera.org
BEST RADIO: GLBT FRIENDLY
KERA 90.1
3000 Harry Hines Blvd. 214-871-1390
www.kera.org
BEST VIDEO RENTAL
Tapelenders
3926 Cedar Springs Road. 214-559-0707
Seven days a week, 9 a.m.-midnight
www.tapelenders.com
BEST TV
NBC/5 KXAS-TV
3900 Barnett St. Fort Worth. 817-654-6300
www.nbc5i.com
BEST DRAG ENTERTAINER
Wayne Smith
3851 Cedar Springs Road 214-219-6425
Performs Wednesday, Saturday and Retro Sundays at Mickey’s.
www.mickeysdallas.com
BEST LIVE MUSIC VENUE
NOKIA Theatre, Grand Prairie
1001 Nextstage Drive. Box office: 972-854-5111
www.nokialivedfw.com
MOST IRRITATING RADIO DJ
Kidd Kraddick, 106.1 KISS FM
14001 N.Dallas Parkway. Suite 300
1-800-543-3548
On air from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the “Morning Show with Kellie Raspberry and Big Al.”
www.kiddlive.com
MOST PLASTIC LOCAL
TV PERSONALITY
Jane McGarry, NBC/5 News
3900 Barnett St. Fort Worth, Texas
817-654-6300
Anchors weeknights at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
www.nbc5i.com
BEST ADULT VIDEO RENTAL
Tapelenders
3926 Cedar Springs Road. 214-559-0707
Seven days a week, 9 a.m.-midnight
www.tapelenders.com
BEST ENTERTAINER
Denise Lee
Recently released an R&B, jazz CD titled “Someday Now.”
www.deniselee.net
BEST TV: GLBT FRIENDLY
Logo
Digital channel, available nationwide. www.logoonline.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition, March 17, 2006.