Deep Ellum Club News

Lizard Lounge to spawn little lizard in Deep Ellum

The Lizard Lounge, Dallas' temple of electronic dance music, is spawning a baby lizard, and it's going into one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city: Deep Ellum.

Owner Don Nedler has secured the space at 2911 Main St., where previous tenants have included Eden Lounge and Santiago Cantina.

"We love what's happening in Deep Ellum — how can you not?" Nedler says. "You have old clubs like Trees and newer places like Three Links and Black Swan. And I love that it's becoming a dining destination.

The new club is smaller than Lizard Lounge and therefore can serve as a venue for smaller shows featuring up-and-coming performers and DJs.

"That's a mainstream audience that needs some late-night options, and I feel like a boutique dance hall would do really well."

Nedler looked at a few spots in Deep Ellum before finding this jewel of a space, which includes a 3,000-square-foot interior and a spacious rooftop deck.

"I liked it for several reasons," he says. "The deck is amazing. It's a free-standing building with parking, which is unusual. Also, it's near but not in the middle of an entertainment district. That's a formula with which we've succeeded in the past."

His intent is to provide an alternate smaller space where customers can go on nights that the Lizard Lounge is not open.

"We wanted to create something to complement what we're already doing," he says. "We have two faithful audiences: the Lizard Lounge and The Church, our gothic/industry-music nightclub-within-a-nightclub that we host every Thursday and Sunday night.

"But we needed another venue. The people who like The Church don't have a lot of options. So we'll provide a place where they can go on nights of the week other than Thursday and Sunday."

Since it opened in 1991, the Lizard Lounge has welcomed every meaningful act in dance music, from Moby to Crystal Method to Deadmau5, often before they broke out big. It has also over the years hosted rock shows in its parking lot featuring acts such as 311 and Barenaked Ladies, with the downtown skyline as a backdrop.

The new club, which Nedler has yet to name, is smaller than the Lizard Lounge and therefore can serve as a venue for smaller shows featuring up-and-coming performers and DJs.

"We'll move the boutique dance acts in there, and it also gives us a chance for shows on Tuesday or Wednesday, since the Lizard Lounge isn't open those nights," Nedler says. "We love the idea of having a place for our customers on other nights of the week."

Key to his plans is the acquisition of a dance-hall permit, the outmoded document required by the City of Dallas to allow for dancing on the premises.

"I've already applied," he says. "The definition of 'dance hall' has changed. Dance halls are different now. It's no longer a thing where two people dance on the dance floor. Dancing erupts spontaneously all over the place. But we're going to do it legally and get the permit."

That said, it won't be a loud place. He'll build in quiet zones where people can have a drink and not be overwhelmed by the music. Over the next few months, he'll redo the sound system and refresh the interior, while hosting the occasional spontaneous event. And this weekend, he'll host a preview party on Saturday night, with info to come on the Lounge's Facebook page, to give his faithful legions a sneak peek.

"But no dancing!" he says. "Until we get the permit, I cannot allow dancing."

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Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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