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    Cinematic Escape

    Room overcomes spoiler ads with stellar performances

    Alex Bentley
    Oct 30, 2015 | 12:43 pm
    Room overcomes spoiler ads with stellar performances
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    The difference between the written and spoken word can often be cavernous, especially when it comes to a book being adapted into a movie. There are nuances on each side that color what the reader or viewer gets out the experience, with imagination playing a big part in that process.

     

    This can explicitly be seen with the new movie, Room. Based on the book by Emma Donoghue, it follows two characters: Ma/Joy (Brie Larson), who was kidnapped by a man she calls Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) seven years ago, and Jack (Jacob Tremblay), her son who was born while she was imprisoned in a small shed behind Old Nick’s house.

     

    Uncertain when, if ever, they would be able to escape, Ma has taught Jack that the room they’re in is the entire world. Consequently, Jack refers to everything in the room as if they were his friends: Sink, Bed, Wardrobe, etc. Upon Jack’s fifth birthday, Ma decides to finally try in earnest an escape attempt, using Jack as the means to the end.

     

    If you’ve seen the trailer or commercials, it’s no spoiler to say that they succeed in their attempt. As written by Donoghue and directed by Lenny Abrahamson, the film is split almost evenly between Ma and Jack’s time in captivity and their acclimation to the world at large after their escape.

     

    While each part has its fair share of dramatic moments, the film as a whole ends up being underserved by the equal split. By not spending more time in the room or showing the full range of what Ma/Joy has had to sacrifice over the years, the story feels muted. On the other end, a full film could be made about the difficulties of entering an unfamiliar world, and the amount of time given for that here just doesn’t seem adequate.

     

    But what saves the film are the performances of Larson and Tremblay. As she has in recent films like Short Term 12 and The Spectacular Now, Larson has the ability to display empathy and anger with just as much force. She never overplays her role here, allowing each moment to unfold honestly and without pretense.

     

    Tremblay is likely to become the next go-to child actor after this performance. He elicits both pity and wonder in how he plays Jack, especially following the escape. His role is not showy and it never needs to be; he performs it simply and beautifully.

     

    While the book version of Room remains better purely because of the details that Donoghue can include there without sacrificing the narrative, the film still delivers in the end. The power of the story comes through thanks to the unique mother and son relationship that Larson and Tremblay portray so well.

    Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson in Room.

    Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay in Room
      
    Photo by George Kraychyk, courtesy of A24
    Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson in Room.
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    Books News

    Indie Bird's Bookstore to open store & cafe at Preston Royal Dallas

    Alex Gonzalez
    Jul 9, 2025 | 3:55 pm
    Stack of books and coffee cup.
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    Brick-and-mortar bookstores continue their thrilling comeback, with a new one coming to a prominent North Dallas corner: Called Bird’s Bookstore, it's an independently-owned store opening in the Preston Royal shopping center at 6025 Royal Ln. #207, in a former massage place next to Eatzi's, where it will debut in August.

    Bird's Bookstore promises to be a unique retail destination incorporating elements of Scandinavian, Japanese, and mid-century modern design with books, magazines, and artisanal products.

    Owners Drew and Emily Dawson are a young couple inspired by design, history, and travel. Drew previously worked in the nonprofit sector to private equity before pursuing this decade-long dream. Emily is a former graphic designer who founded Emily by Design, a wardrobe consultation company in 2022.

    The couple first conceptualized the idea when they began dating 11 years ago while students at the University of Texas at Austin.

    “Initially, it was an idea that we wanted to execute towards retirement age,” Drew says. "But as I saw Emily follow her passion and open her own vintage clothing styling business a year and a half ago, I said, 'It's time for me too. I want to follow my passion and open this bookstore.' There's really no time like the present."

    Drew estimates that the shop will carry about 3500 adult fiction and nonfiction books at at time, along with 2500 kids and young adult books.

    “I like everything,” Drew says. “I like incredibly thick history books, memoirs, biographies, horror — all of it. We’ll be selling everything, including self-help and kids' books, since the area has a ton of families, and Emily and I have our own little one on the way."

     Emily and Drew Dawson Emily and Drew DawsonCourtesy

    While Drew handles the bulk of the book selection, Emily will oversee coffee table books, design books, and magazines.

    “We're going to have a strong selection of about 20 magazines covering the design and creative fashion industries, like Neptune, The Gentlewoman, and L’Etiquette," Emily says. "I'm anticipating there will be a draw for that because — other than certain shops in New York — there's not a place where you can buy these titles in person."

    Bird’s will also sell stationery and paper goods from European and Japanese vendors, as well as plates and bowls from Marcello Ortega of Marcello Andres Ceramics.

    The store will also house a small cafe serving coffee from Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters and baked goods from acclaimed Bresnan Bread and Pastry in McKinney.

    The couple keep their eyes on current reading trends, using sites like TikTok’s “BookTok” community, as well as literary social media outlets like Goodreads. Emily credits these platforms — as well as book clubs by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Jenna Bush Hager — for keeping bookstores alive.

    Dallas-Fort Worth is witnessing a small independent bookstore revival with Interabang Books nearby, plus Wild Detectives and Poets Bookshop, which just opened a second outpost in Deep Ellum.

    With the opening of Bird’s Bookstore, they hope to not only cultivate a space for those passionate about books, but also eliminate the burnout that comes from being attached to screens all day.

    “I think there's a fatigue of everything being online,” says Emily. “And I think there's a yearning for a community space that is beautiful, and feels like a second home — a place where you can get amazing customer service. We're excited to hopefully be that place for some people.”

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