Movie Review

Shazam! zaps the fun back into the DC Comics movie universe

Since comic book movies have become the dominant force in the movie landscape, starting with the release of both Iron Man and The Dark Knight in 2008, Marvel and DC have gone down divergent paths. In general, Marvel has attained its massive level of success because they have put fun at the forefront, while DC has remained mostly mired in dark stories that also tread all-too-familiar ground.

Someone on the DC side has finally come to their senses and decided to let loose in their latest film, Shazam! In a superhero-meets-Big situation, foster kid Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is magically transported to a lair where an ailing The Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) is searching for someone to whom he can transfer his powers. The 14-year-old Billy is soon transformed into a much older superhero (in the form of Zachary Levi), complete with a host of powers that he cannot control.

With the help of his comics-loving foster brother, Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), Billy sets out to try to harness his powers and the attention that comes along with them. One person who definitely takes notice is Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), who had a failed encounter with The Wizard Shazam when he was young, and who has made it his life’s mission to take down whoever gained the wizard’s trust.

Much as with Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the early part of the movie focuses on Billy having a blast figuring out and using his new powers. Director David F. Sandberg and writer Henry Gayden do a fantastic job of showcasing these sequences, really emphasizing the joy and wonder that a teenager would have if he were to find himself in such a situation. Levi, Angel, and Grazer sell the giddy emotions of their characters for all they’re worth.

The film is far from one-note, though. Both Billy and Dr. Sivana have tough backstories, and the moments where each directly confronts those issues contain some real drama. Those stories also color their actions in a variety of other ways, giving their confrontations extra heft. Having a villain who’s evil-yet-relatable is always a tough thing in a superhero movie, and Dr. Sivana becomes one of the better ones thanks to the solid storytelling.

The uniqueness of Billy’s “family” in the film also plays a big part in its success. Living in a group home with Freddy, Darla (Faithe Herman), Eugene (Ian Chen), Mary (Grace Fulton), Pedro (Jovan Armand), and foster parents Rosa (Marta Milans) and Victor (Cooper Andrews) creates a dynamic not often seen in such films. By the time the film reaches its climax with a whopper of a twist, each member of the group has earned their place in the narrative and in the audience’s heart.

While a gritty action movie can sometimes be a good choice for a comic book movie, keeping things light and entertaining is more often than not the right way to go. Shazam! is as fun as they get and could be an indication of great things to come for the DC Comics universe.

Jack Dylan Grazer and Zachary Levin in Shazam!

Jack Dylan Grazer and Zachary Levi in Shazam!

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Jack Dylan Grazer and Zachary Levin in Shazam!

Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records opens location in Garland

Josey Records

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."

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