Film & TV
March 4, 2022
TM Recommends: A Transportive TikTok Travel Agent
Plan your next road trip, work out, and binge-watch with our staff’s help.
Film & TV
Incisive criticism, features, and news related to Texans on the screen—and behind the camera
Texas Country Reporter
February 25, 2022
The Texas Furniture Brand That Starred in Hollywood Westerns for Decades
W.R. Dallas has been crafting western furniture since 1929. The company’s iconic pieces have appeared everywhere from Hollywood films to hotel chains.
Film & TV
February 18, 2022
The New ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’: They Came, They Sawed, They Didn’t Cut It
The sequel to Tobe Hooper’s slasher sucks all the fun out of psychotic cannibal killers—but it does have a message for Californians headed to Texas.
Film & TV
February 17, 2022
The Human Cost of Horse Racing
In ‘Jockey,’ Dallas director Clint Bentley draws dark lessons from a life lived on the track.
Film & TV
February 16, 2022
A Reconsideration of ‘SubUrbia,’ One of Richard Linklater’s Least-Loved Films
Richard Linklater’s ‘SubUrbia’ is ‘The Last Picture Show’ of the nineties.
Film & TV
February 11, 2022
The Dallas Mortuary Accused of Producing the Worst Funerals Ever
Seventeen families are suing the Golden Gate Funeral Home for allegedly desecrating their loved ones' bodies.
Film & TV
February 10, 2022
‘Marry Me’ Is a Fun, Ridiculous Revival of the Big Budget Rom-Com
Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson, perhaps surprisingly, have enough chemistry to carry the film's outrageous premise.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
February 9, 2022
Houston’s River Oaks Theatre Escapes Demolition—And Will Probably Get a Better Cocktail Menu
A grassroots campaign—and a multibillion-dollar corporate real estate acquisition—kept the bulldozers away.
By Mimi Swartz![Mimi Swartz's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
February 8, 2022
Jesse Plemons Is the First ‘Friday Night Lights’ Alum to Earn an Oscar Nomination
The Texas native’s slow but steady rise to stardom just hit a new benchmark.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
February 2, 2022
‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ Turns the Texas Ice Storm Into Cold Exploitation
The Austin-set firefighter show devotes four episodes to the 2021 freeze while ignoring all of the real-life drama.
Film & TV
January 31, 2022
‘Mija’ Captures the Beauty and Pressure of Life as a First-generation Daughter
More visual poem than documentary, the film tracks a music manager and singer who follow their dreams while providing for their undocumented parents.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
January 28, 2022
Robert Rodriguez Put His Mark on ‘The Book of Boba Fett.’ It Caused a Disturbance in the Force.
The Austin filmmaker’s episodes of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ embody an existential crisis over the future of Star Wars.
Film & TV
January 27, 2022
The Funniest Scene in ‘Licorice Pizza’ Almost Didn’t Happen
Harriet Sansom Harris, who plays an unhinged talent agent, had to be convinced to emerge from her pandemic quarantine in the woods.
Film & TV
January 25, 2022
Are Chip and Joanna Gaines Too Big to Flop?
Magnolia Network, helmed by Waco’s First Family, has already weathered its first scandal. Viewers will keep tuning in.
Film & TV
January 25, 2022
The Chart-Topping Songs of Disney’s ‘Encanto’ Give Latino Families a Voice
The characters might be fictional, but to the Latinos who see their own families reflected in them, it’s a relief to see them say what we wish we could.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Sports
January 22, 2022
Director Eva Longoria Bastón Opens Sundance With ‘La Guerra Civil’
For the Corpus Christi native, the story of the 1996 championship bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez was also her story.
Books
January 21, 2022
Texas Monthly Recommends: A True-Crime Tale of Two Murders
‘Blood and Money’ has it all: new oil money, an equestrian heiress, a handsome plastic surgeon, River Oaks mansions, and gossip-worthy trials.
Film & TV
January 19, 2022
‘Cheer’ Season Two Is Almost Unrecognizable
The popular Netflix cheerleading docuseries, set in Corsicana and Athens, takes a nosedive from feel-good to deeply disturbing.
Film & TV
January 19, 2022
Edi Patterson Is the Holy Terror of ‘The Righteous Gemstones’
The Texas City native and star of the hit HBO comedy series talks Judy Gemstone, ham slices, and why there’s nothing worse than someone trying to be funny.
Film & TV
January 18, 2022
‘How I Met Your Father’ Is a Casualty of the Nostalgia Machine
The gender-swapped sequel will be an easy watch for sitcom fans, but the callbacks and in-jokes tip into the saccharine.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
January 13, 2022
Goodbye to ‘Search Party,’ the Show That Satirized a Generation
Comedies must choose whether to punch up or punch down; watching ‘Search Party’ has always made me feel like I’m punching myself.
Film & TV
January 6, 2022
The New ‘Queer Eye’ Season Is a Healing Work of Pandemic Art
Can the Fab Five help a society ravaged by grief recover? The answer is yas.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
January 5, 2022
‘Yellowstone’ Is the Country’s Biggest TV Sensation. Why Are Critics Shrugging?
The Yellowstone prequel series ‘1883’ was a smash hit—and just the beginning for Taylor Sheridan’s western empire. Only viewers seem to care.
Film & TV
December 21, 2021
Ten Notable Performances From Texan Actors in 2021
From newcomers to reliable veterans to a pop star remaking her TV career, these were the actors worth watching this year.
Film & TV
December 17, 2021
Texas Monthly Recommends: A Contemplative, Beautifully Shot Western
‘The Power of the Dog,’ featuring Dallas-born Jesse Plemons, is well worth your time.
Film & TV
December 17, 2021
HBO and HBO Max to Get First Dibs on Texas Monthly Stories
The premier entertainment brands are entering a three-year deal with the National Magazine of Texas that gives them a “first look” at articles and podcasts they’re interested in adapting as TV series.
By Dan Goodgame![Dan Goodgame's Profile Photo]()
Music
December 17, 2021
The Texan Who Saved the Beatles
In Peter Jackson’s documentary ‘The Beatles: Get Back,’ Houston-born pianist Billy Preston makes a strong case for himself as the fifth Beatle.
By Cat Cardenas![Cat Cardenas's Profile Photo]()
Film & TV
December 17, 2021
‘The Tender Bar’ Pours Out a Warm, Flat Coming-of-age Drama
Texas actor Tye Sheridan stars alongside Ben Affleck in the sentimental yet skippable story of an aspiring writer, directed by George Clooney.
Film & TV
December 14, 2021
‘The Novice’ Puts a Nightmare Spin on the Traditional Sports Movie
The unnerving feature debut from Red Oak native Lauren Hadaway plumbs the gloomy depths beneath a college rower’s quest for greatness.
Film & TV
December 13, 2021
There’s Nothing New About ‘Twentysomethings: Austin,’ and That’s Precisely Its Appeal
The cringey Netflix show strikes the classic reality-TV balance of being both hard to watch and impossible to turn off.
Film & TV
December 9, 2021
Texas Could Sure Use a Man Like Hank Hill, I Tell You What
Twenty-five years later, Mike Judge’s ‘King of the Hill’ still captures something essential about Texans and Texas life. But are there any Hank Hills left?
Film & TV
December 8, 2021
‘The Chosen’ Is Christian TV That Even Heretics Can Get Behind
The streaming phenomenon, produced just outside of Dallas, is winning converts with its ‘Friday Night Lights’ spin on faith.
Film & TV
December 8, 2021
Skip ‘The Freak Brothers,’ and Read the Original Comics by Its Texan Creator Instead
The new show has a strong premise that’s derailed by cheap laughs. But cartoonist Gilbert Shelton’s counterculture strips are still great.
Film & TV
December 3, 2021
Filmed During Lockdown, ‘Red Stone’ Is a Return to Normal, Mediocre Thrillers
Fort Worth writer-director Derek Presley overcame unprecedented odds to make his otherwise unremarkable thriller about a tormented hit man.
Film & TV
December 1, 2021
Sean Baker’s Provocative ‘Red Rocket’ Gets Down and Dirty in Texas City
The latest from the director of ‘The Florida Project’ sees a scheming former porn star wash up along Texas’s Gulf Coast.
Film & TV
November 19, 2021
Season Two of ‘Love Life’ Has Nothing New to Say
Dallas native William Jackson Harper is a romantic lead who's prone to repeating mistakes and slow to mature.
Books
November 19, 2021
How the Alamo Drafthouse Turned Trash Cinema into a Cultural Institution
A new book tells the sweeping tale of the Alamo’s Weird Wednesday series, the American Genre Film Archive, and Austin’s custodians of cult.
Film & TV
November 19, 2021
Mckenna Grace Is the Only Thing Alive About the New ‘Ghostbusters’
The rising Grapevine star brings fresh spirit to a movie that’s fatally preoccupied with reviving the dead.
Libations
November 19, 2021
Escape to the Tropics at Austin’s Tiki Tatsu-Ya
Indulge in over-the-top cocktails like the Skeleton Cruise, which comes in a boat with dry ice and activates bar-wide light and sound effects.
Film & TV
November 16, 2021
The Legendary Flop of ‘The Legend of the Lone Ranger’
How an Amarillo oilman stole the mask right off the Lone Ranger’s face, and made one of film’s most infamous failures in the process.
Film & TV
November 11, 2021
How the Pandemic Showed Me a Different Way to Watch Movies
Over one hundred movies later, a virtual movie club learned some surprising things about classic movies—and about friendship in dark times.
Film & TV
November 3, 2021
‘The Harder They Fall’ Is a Fun, Stylish Revisionist Western
Dallas-raised actor Jonathan Majors leads a star-studded cast as outlaw Nat Love seeking revenge.
Film & TV
October 29, 2021
Richard Linklater’s ‘Waking Life’ Is Still a Long, Weird Trip Worth Taking
He made the low-budget film at a low point in his career—but twenty years later, it stands the test of time.
Film & TV
October 28, 2021
‘Student Bodies’ Remains Texas’s Strangest Contribution to Horror Movie History
The 1981 slasher spoof prominently features Houston and a future Texas politician, but that’s not all that’s notable about it.
Film & TV
October 21, 2021
‘The French Dispatch’ Is Wes Anderson at His Most Self-indulgent
The Houston filmmaker’s latest is a valentine to defiantly idiosyncratic storytellers like Wes Anderson.
Film & TV
October 15, 2021
‘Halloween Kills’ Time and Patience
The sequel to David Gordon Green’s franchise reboot is all filler, same old killer.
Film & TV
October 12, 2021
‘Hard Luck Love Song’ Is A Tune You’ve Heard Before, But It Hits All the Right Notes
Austin-raised writer-director Justin Corsbie’s debut about a down-on-his-luck troubadour feels as warmly familiar as the Americana songs that inspired it.
Film & TV
October 7, 2021
Apple’s ‘Foundation’ Is Dull, but Lee Pace Is Our Intergalactic Emperor Daddy
The Houston-raised actor shines as a pompous space tyrant in the otherwise dreary Isaac Asimov adaptation.
Film & TV
October 6, 2021
Fifty Years On, ‘The Last Picture Show’ Is an Indelible Texas Movie
There may be no more powerful film about growing up with nowhere to go.
Business
October 5, 2021
At Heritage, Pokémon Cards Are the New Bitcoin
The collectors are younger, the payouts are bigger, the collectibles are … nerdier. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions has entered a wild new era.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()