Movie Review

The Half of It turns Cyrano on its head in delightful high school remake

There are certain stories that are so classic that they can be changed into many different forms. Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac has inspired numerous films in the past 123 years. That includes at least 10 straight-up adaptations, as well as movies like Roxanne and Megamind, which used the framework of the story to tell their own unique tales.

The latest to give its own twist to the Cyrano story is Netflix’s The Half of It. Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) is a brainy and shy high school senior who makes money on the side by writing papers for her fellow students. When her classmate Paul (Daniel Diemer) asks for help in composing letters to his crush, Aster (Alexxis Lemire), Ellie is put in the unfortunate position of writing love notes to a girl for whom she also has feelings.

Writer/director Alice Wu goes for the gusto in changing up the Cyrano story. She not only sets the story in modern times and gender-switches the protagonist, but she also has Ellie be gay and the only Chinese student at her small-town high school, adding multiple difficult layers for her to navigate.

The pleasant surprise is that for a film set in high school, it deals in a relatively high degree of intelligence. Wu never downplays Ellie’s intellect, having her reference philosopher Albert Camus, author Kazuo Ishiguro, and classic movies in her writings. But she balances it out with a fair number of high school stereotypes, providing an easy entrance for viewers who may not be familiar with those figures.

The film is primarily about the love triangle of Ellie, Paul, and Aster, but Wu smartly explores how, especially in hormonal teenagers, feelings can be extremely fluid. Aster is in a relationship with a narcissistic jock, who believes everyone loves him, including Ellie. Meanwhile, Ellie reluctantly helps Paul, but the more they work together, the more each starts to like the other in ways that are confusing for both of them. And Aster has to reconcile the bumbling demeanor of Paul in person with the eloquent letters and message she gets from “him.”

Wu mixes in elements of Ellie’s Chinese heritage, giving her extended moments with her widowed father, watching movies and cooking in their cramped kitchen. She also shows but never overplays the casual racism that Ellie encounters, such as when certain students shout “Chugga-chugga-Chu-Chu!” at her.

Lewis plays her role almost perfectly, making her buttoned-down and bookish but with a quiet confidence when the time calls for it. Diemer makes for a great foil, with his Cro-Magnon look and dumb but earnest delivery. The character of Aster could be just the ideal dream girl with no depth, but Wu gives her plenty of background and Lemire knows exactly how to play every moment she’s given.

The Half of It has a lot going on, but it manages to keep all of it flowing in a coherent and fun manner. With a fantastic concept, it features more than a few surprises along the way, easily elevating it way above your typical high school movie.

Leah Lewis in The Half of It.

Leah Lewis in The Half of It

Photo by KC Bailey

Leah Lewis in The Half of It.

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Movie review

New Hellraiser is stylishly gut-wrenching, but lacks substance overall

Jamie Clayton as Pinhead in Hellraiser

Photo courtesy of Spyglass Media Group

Jamie Clayton as Pinhead in Hellraiser

Horror franchises, even more than ones featuring superheroes, action stars, or animated characters, have proved themselves to be eternal. No matter how many times a villain or monster is bested by the hero of the film, filmmakers find a way to bring them back to try to wring more scares out of their presence.

The original Hellraiser came out in 1987 and was followed by nine sequels, including one as recent as 2018. But everything old is new again, and so now we get the reboot. An opening sequence reintroduces the series’ central device, a puzzle box that stabs unwitting users, thereby summoning horrific figures known as Cenobites to inflict torturous pain on those who’ve been stabbed.

Cut to a few years later and a group of young people are ensnared by the puzzle box’s allure, including the central figure Riley (Odessa A’zion), an addict who lives with her brother Matt (Brandon Flynn) and roommate Nora (Aoife Hinds). Riley’s boyfriend Trevor (Drew Starkey) convinces her to help him steal things from a warehouse, inadvertently bringing the puzzle into their lives. When Riley tries solve the puzzle, all hell is unleashed on the group.

Directed by David Bruckner and written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski, the film is a stylish yet mostly empty demonstration of gruesomeness. The Cenobites – who go by names like The Priest (aka Pinhead), The Chatterer, and The Weeper – are freaky-looking creatures with all manner of flayed flesh and painful piercings. Their mere presence and supernatural ability to grab victims by chains and hooks is scary, but an actual reason for why they keep procuring more targets is lacking.

The story is hit-and-miss, with the main group alternating between heroic, stupid, or heroically stupid decision-making. Riley seems to be a person who’s unreliable at best, yet person after person tries to intervene on her behalf, a loyalty that is left unexplored in the film. While the way Riley and the others eventually fight back against the Cenobites makes sense, the scenes featuring those fights are uninspiring.

The most interesting aspect of the film is the one that is explored the least. A mysterious man named Voight (Goran Visnjic) is introduced in the opening sequence, reappearing in the film’s final act. He has a particular connection to the puzzle box and Cenobites that makes him half villain/half victim, one which could have been fleshed out a bit more to make him less one-dimensional.

A’zion, who kind of looks like Alia Shawkat, makes for an unusual protagonist. She’s not that expressive, so the audience really has to dig deep to empathize with her character. The other members of the group are also generic, never bringing anything that makes you want to care about them more. The actors playing the Cenobites are good, although the makeup does half the job for them.

This reboot of Hellraiser is the classic example of style over substance. Much effort was made into making the film look as good as possible, but the story fails on multiple levels, making all of those visuals in service of very little.

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Hellraiser debuts exclusively on Hulu on October 7.

movies

Jakes Burgers opens family-friendly Gameday spinoff in Dallas' Lake Highlands

burger

Jakes

Jakes burger topped with all manner of things.

Massively popular Dallas chain Jakes Burgers & Beer has opened a new spinoff: Called Jakes Gameday, it's almost exactly like a Jakes Burgers & Beer, but with added features including games and family-friendly amusements.

The new concept opened on October 4 in Dallas' Lake Highlands, at 7215 Skillman St. #300, in the Kingsley Square shopping center at the intersection of Walnut Hill Lane, taking over the former Picasso's Pizza & Grill space (in the same center as the first Dallas location of California cookie chain Cookie Plug, opening later this month).

Founded in 1985 by hamburger guru Jake Keller of Keller's fame, Jakes preceded the "better burger" trend by making a burger that was better than fast-food, with attention to detail like hand-cut fries.

They were ahead of their time on other now-popular trends such as a big selection of beer, which they serve in giant 18-ounce frosty schooners, and a big commitment to patios, which have become an essential accessory.

They have lots of big screen TVs for sports viewing inside and out, plus generous happy hours.

In addition to burgers, the menu includes wings, chicken-fried steak, veggie burgers, salads, sandwiches, chips & queso, quesadillas, and loaded fries. They do a fierce weekend brunch with avocado toast, breakfast tacos, and the "cinnapig" – a cinnamon roll topped with crumbled bacon.

The concept was taken over in 2003 by Greg Garvey, who retired and sold to Mad Concepts Group in 2021.

The chain has seen some closures in recent years including Henderson Avenue and Uptown, which was forced to close to make way for a high-rise.

But Mad Concepts, which also owns the Slim Chickens and Floyd’s 99 Barbershop chains, has big plans, with four openings the next year, bringing them to 11 total.

New Jakes Burgers & Beer locations coming soon include:

10677 E. Northwest Hwy. in the former End Zone at Plano Road
Aledo, at 601 N FM 1187
and a big opening in Addison, at 14920 Midway Rd.

"We previously had a location in Addison and we are so excited to be returning," says VP of operations Kendra Shier.

They're also opening another Jakes Gameday in Plano at 3303 Parker Rd.

"We bought all of the former End Zone bars, which we'll spruce up - they were all in great neihborhoods so we'll be closing them and transforming them," she says.

Lake Highlands is an ideal fit for the "Gameday" concept, she says.

"Gameday has all of the trademarks of a Jakes with the burgers and sports bar aspect, but also a game room for kids," she says. "Parents can still go watch the game but it's a family-friendly environment."

craft-beer openings

Size matters

Surprising DFW city boasts the biggest houses in Texas, new ranking shows

new build house for sale Fort Worth

Photo courtesy of Zillow

This newly built home is 2,255 square feet, the average size in Fort Worth.

If everything’s bigger in Texas, that should include our homes, right? Well, a new study shows homes in the Lone Star State are among the biggest in the country — but not the biggest.

Texas appears at No. 11 on American Home Shield’s list of the states with the biggest houses. In Texas, the average home is 2,170 square feet, well behind top-ranked Utah (2,800 square feet).

But don’t despair, fellow Texans. Six Texas cities land on American Home Shield’s list of the top 20 major cities for home size. And surprisingly, they're not led by big shots Dallas or Houston.

Fort Worth takes the prize for the biggest homes in Texas.

After reviewing more than 500,000 U.S. home listings from Zillow, American Home Shield (whose list looks at average home sizes in the country’s 50 largest cities) concluded that Fort Worth boasted the biggest homes among large cities in Texas, averaging 2,255 square feet.

Following Fort Worth are:

No. 7 Austin, 2,081 square feet
No. 11 Houston, 2,041 square feet
No. 16 El Paso, 2,004 square feet
No. 17 San Antonio, 2,002 square feet
No. 20 Dallas, 1,930 square feet

In case you were wondering, the big city with the biggest houses is Colorado Springs, Colorado (2,760 square feet), while the tiniest houses are in Honolulu (825 square feet).

“Several factors can dictate how large the average home is in a certain state or city,” says American Home Shield, which sells home warranties. “One of the primary factors is the age of the housing stock. American homes have gotten larger over time; states with a higher percentage of new homes tend to have larger homes on average.”

home-for-sale rankings