The second of four shows of Conan at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas was a little lackluster compared to day one. There were no local celebrities, and the opening monologue failed to entertain save for a fun bit in which the podium where sidekick Andy Richter stands turned into a mechanical bull.
Hands down the highlight of the night was a pre-taped segment showing O'Brien visiting Mary Kay headquarters. Seeing O'Brien alternately crack up and creep out Mary Kay employee Crystal was worth the price of admission alone:
O'Brien made up a song about Dallas using only Wikipedia, which failed to get going until he pandered to the audience with some pointed jabs at Houston:
Seth Rogen was the main guest, and his time was mostly spent extolling the hotness of Zac Efron, his co-star in the upcoming movie Neighbors:
The only recurring bit of the night was shooting baskets via catapult at AT&T Stadium with random items, this time a "newborn baby" and Willie Nelson's back taxes, a joke that's almost a quarter of a century old:
Here's hoping for a higher quality day three when The Big Bang Theory's Simon Helberg and Denton's own Eli Young Band appear.
Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights.
Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights is one of those classic books assigned in high school English classes, and it has received a number of film adaptations over the years, each of which differ in numerous ways from the source material. Purists won’t receive any reprieve from Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaptation, with a title that is stylized as "Wuthering Heights”for good reason.
Cathy (played as an adult by Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) have known each other their entire lives, with Cathy’s alcoholic and inveterate gambler father (Martin Clunes) taking in Heathcliff on a whim when he was a boy. The two bond as they grow up together, although Cathy always seems to have an eye on moving up in society from their relatively impoverished lifestyle.
Cathy finally gets her wish when the rich Linton familyled by Edgar (Shazad Latif), moves in down the road, Despite discovering she has feelings for the now grown-up Heathcliff, Cathy sees Edgar as her way out and agrees to marry him. A scorned Heathcliff flees, returning years later as mysteriously wealthy. His reappearance ignites something in Cathy’s soul, and the two engage in a perhaps unwise affair.
Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) infuses the dusty material with an energy that’s not typically present in stories set in this particular time and place. Aside from the occasional Charli XCX song (the singer created a whole concept album for the film), the film looks and feels like a period piece, albeit one that doesn’t get bogged down in the drudgery that can sometimes come from films set in the distant past.
Much of that has to do with the lust the filmmaker puts into the story. Even if you’re not familiar with Brontë’s book, you can rest assured that Fennell has strayed far from the text, giving Cathy and Heathcliff thoughts and actions unthinkable in the 19th century. Fennell plays with expectations by opening the film with audio featuring creaking noises and a man grunting, conjuring up a situation far different than what is actually happening, and she also makes liberal use of rain, sweat, and tears to make the actors enticing.
What she can’t do, however, is make the two lead characters compelling. Cathy is a striver who never seems to know what she wants out of life, and Heathcliff goes from a bore to a brute over the course of the film, with no clear indication that he likes anybody, much less Cathy. Anyone expecting some kind of grand romance will be disappointed as Fennell is much more interested in making the film weird, like having the walls of Cathy’s room look like her skin, complete with freckles.
Robbie and Elordi do well enough with the material, and it’s clear that both of them are committed to bringing Fennell’s vision to life. Their styles tend to balance each other out, and if the story had been committed to their characters’ relationship, they might be lauded for their chemistry. In the end, though, the supporting actors feel more interesting, including ones played by Hong Chau, Alison Miller, and Clunes.
This version of Wuthering Heights should never be construed as an alternative to reading the book for any high schoolers out there. While Fennell makes the film interesting with her technical filmmaking choices, the story never finds its footing as it fails to sell the one thing that it seems to promise.
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Wuthering Heights opens in theaters on February 13.
