Reality Bites: South Beach Tow

Categories: Reality Bites

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It's 10 AM, do you know where your car is?
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We're going to watch them all, one at a time.

You know, I don't ask for much. I'm happy to take this weekly bullet for the amusement and horror of Art Attack's readers, because it (usually) allows me an outlet for my more misanthropic tendencies and (occasionally) gives me an unexpected glimpse of something genuinely entertaining.

But I require a certain level of authenticity. So-called "reality" shows are carefully edited for maximum shock value, if not staged outright, but rarely have I come across something like South Beach Tow, which is more fake than Mickey Rourke's bout with Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania XXV.

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Top 5 Carrie Fisher Characters

Categories: Film, Stage, Top 5

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The bikini that made young boys into men
Check out our interview with Carrie Fisher.

Now through Sunday, May 20, the lady who once famously donned a gold lamé bikini will make her way to the stage of the Hobby Center. Carrie Fisher, in all her self-actualizing, uncompromising glory, will have a six-day stint in Houston for her celebrated live solo show, "Wishful Drinking."

Fisher has been in Hollywood for a long time. Her mother is actress Debbie Reynolds and her father is singer Eddie Fisher. Carrie Fisher was born into fame. Being Hollywood royalty did not make for an easy life. Fisher has often been frank about her battles with drugs and her time spent in rehab. Her first novel, Postcards From the Edge, touched upon her addiction issues in a semi-autobiographical way.

"Wishful Drinking" was first created for the stage in 2006, then was turned into a book, then a documentary and then back to the stage. The show has garnered rave reviews for its funny and honest portrayal of Fisher's life.

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Dear Hollywood, Get Some New Ideas: Little Shop, Carrie

Categories: Film

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Feed me Joseph!
I will preface this with two facts. 1. I am quite fond of the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors movie/musical 2. I am madly in love with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Neither of these facts convinces me in any way that there should be talks of a Little Shop remake starring JGL.

The Little Shop of Horrors was originally a Roger Corman film released in 1960. The 1960 version was, more or less, the film most of us are familiar with, save the characters inexplicable need to break into song. The film became something of a cult classic, and in 1982 it was adapted into an off-Broadway musical. The music was composed by Alan Menken, who you may have heard of based on the fact that he wrote the music to just about every Disney movie throughout the 1990s.

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The Afrobeat of FELA!Makes its Way to Jones Hall

Categories: Stage

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Photo by Tristram Kenton
Paulette Ivory and Sahr Ngaujah recreate the life of Fela, composer and civic activist in Nigeria
Paulette Ivory didn't even know who Fela was when a friend of hers called her up and told her "There's a role with your name on it."

The British actress who'd done Lion King and been living in Los Angeles went to a meeting and signed on to FELA!, the three-time Tony Award winning project produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Shawn "Jay-Z Carter and Stephen and Ruth Hendel.

Now on national tour for more than a year and headed for Houston's Jones Hall in early June, Ivory has gone to city after city where there are people who know about the late Nigerian musician Fela Kuti who also became an activist in his country. And even though it is sent in the 1970s and in an African country, the story line has universal appeal, she says.

Because it's about standing up for what you believe in. One man standing up and fighting. People are always standing up for their own causes in their own lives. He did it even though he was beaten down regularly. Most people would give up," she says.

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4 Most Ridiculous Moral Panics in Video Game History

Categories: Gaming

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In 2008 the NPD Group did a survey showing that 72 percent of Americans have played video games. It was up from 64 percent in 2006, and it's probably even higher now. Video games have gone from a novelty to being recognized as a legitimate art form, and their influence can be seen throughout the world.

And yet, to this day there are still wide swathes of people who simply do not understand anything about them. The medium is seen as having mystical powers of persuasion, voodoo technology capable of mind control, or even as weapons.

The result is that there have been some absolutely ridiculous moral panics centered around video games over the years, and here we expose the four stupidest ones.

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100 Creatives 2012: Raul Gonzalez, Painter, Photographer, Sculptor, Muralist & More

Categories: 100 Creatives

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"More Work Ahead"
Raul Gonzalez is a really busy guy. As an artist his mediums are as wide open as the sky. He paints, photographs, sculpts, collages and creates murals; just to name a few of his preferred methods. On top of all that, he works a 9-5 at a print shop in Spring, which is what pays the bills. In addition to working, Gonzalez is very active in the Houston art scene with a long list of exhibitions under his belt. To top all of this off, he will be attending the University of Texas at San Antonio next fall to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree, so there's that too.

Much of Gonzalez's mixed-media work is based in photography and evolves from there. He will bike around town or snap a picture at an intersection and build the image into a large-scale piece of art. In Gonzalez's mind art is everywhere and ever present. Down to the most mundane of scenarios, he will find a source for his material.

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Brave New Waves Steps In For Binarium Sound Series

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Paul Connolly (a.k.a. - brightbluebeetle) performs at Super Happy Fun Land.
Paul Connolly, a seven-year vet of Houston's improvised music community, hopes that his recently minted Brave New Waves Sound Series will be up to snuff with the other experimental-music happenings around town.

With his deep knowledge and grasp of electronic music, there shouldn't be any worries.

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DVDs & Blu-rays: The Grey

Categories: Film

The Grey stars Liam Neeson and Dallas Roberts; Joe Carnahan directs, writes and produces.

It was easy to like The Grey when it came out last January and its release now on DVD/Blu-ray is a bright spot in an otherwise dreary week. In the film, a group of tough guys working on an Alaskan pipeline are flying home for some R&R when their plane crashes in the middle of the wilderness.

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Come to the Alley & Get to Find Out What We're Up Against

Categories: Stage

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Photo by Jann Whaley
(L-R) Julia Motyka as Eliza and Nancy Lemenager as Janice in the Alley Theatre's production of What We're Up Against.
What most intrigues director Scott Schwartz about audiences' reaction to What We're Up Against is whether they see a woman battling to get ahead in an architecture firm more as a comedy or as a drama.

"The audience is the last character in the play," he says.

The black comedy by Theresa Rebeck is the second time that Schwartz has directed one of her plays at the Alley. Previously, he directed Mauritius and when he had a chance to meet Rebeck later at a new play conference, "we kind of got to be friends," he says, and they have stayed in touch.

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Next to Normal: Singing Through the Craziness

Categories: Stage

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Photo courtesy Stages
Melissa Anderson
Mom is bipolar and as she gets worse, it gets tougher and tougher to be part of her family.

So what should we do? Sing about it, of course.

Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, nominated for 11 Tony awards and winner of three -- best score, orchestration and leading actress -- the rock musical Next to Normal arrives at Stages Repertory Theatre, telling what its director Melissa Anderson calls "a story about finding your humanness and trying to keep your connection to your family."

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