Real Housewives Recap

Real Housewives of Dallas kiss and make up after feisty fight

Real Housewives of Dallas Tiffany Hendra

You don't want to mess with Tiffany Hendra.

Photo courtesy of Bravo

A whole lot of carny kid spilled out of LeeAnne Locken in the opening moments of this week’s episode of Real Housewives of Dallas on Bravo.

LeeAnne grew up working the carnival circuit — as we’ve been reminded in every episode so far — and sometimes her carefully tended glossy veneer as Dallas charity do-gooder slips just enough to see her tough and ornery side.

Continuing from last week’s cliffhanger, LeeAnne is seen stalking angrily out of the all-ladies cocktail party at the now-closed Stephan Pyles restaurant, with bestie Tiffany Hendra close behind. What ticked off charity maven LeeAnne were some uncharitable remarks by ginger spitfire nemesis Brandi Redmond.

Champagne was thrown, ruining the pricey print frock of snooty nose-and-boob-job nurse Cary Deuber. (And not even coming in a close fourth to any of the top three wine tosses in Housewives history.) Calling Brandi “a little piece of trash,” LeeAnne, in a striped jumpsuit, hit St. Paul Street ready for war. “I have two choices: kill the bitch or start crying,” she hisses.

Tiffany misjudges LeeAnne’s mood in this scenario. Instead of calming her friend down, Tiffany gets right in her face and screams, “Don’t you [F-word as a gerund] talk to me like that!”

“I’m done!” LeeAnne screams back.

Now get this: Not a foot away from Tiffany and LeeAnne on the otherwise empty downtown Dallas sidewalk in the dusky light of evening, a small man can be seen making a call on his cellphone. He doesn’t seem to notice the cameras or the two heavily blush-dusted women about to throw down right in front of him. He’s this week’s uncredited cameo, a silent leprechaun who had to make a call right then and there. (Maybe he was dialing 911 in case blood was spilled. Maybe he was calling Uber to get a ride back to actual reality.)

The fight then escalates to non-injurious poking and shoving between the ladies. LeeAnne runs over and whacks the camera capturing footage of this scene. (If there’s anything you don’t do as a TV “real housewife,” it’s make viewers aware that there are cameras rolling.)

Then in a bit of inspired, spontaneous choreography, LeeAnne steps off the curb and is almost flattened by the downtown Dallas trolley. She reacts by punching the trolley, kicking off her shoes and padding barefoot to the other side of the street.

At this point, the soundtrack from Carmina Burana would have been perfect.

Instead, we cut to domestic drama unfolding on some other day at Brandi’s mansion, where her hubster is off on another biz trip while she’s arranging an awkward family reunion for her mother, her long-estranged grandfather, and his wife. All this stuff is boring as bejeebers to watch until, at the reunion backyard barbecue, Brandi’s husband arrives late and drunk and ignores all the company.

The Redmonds’ marriage is in the red zone.

Brandi’s friend Stephanie Hollman, on the other hand, lives in a dream world inside her palatial mansion. Stephanie is a wispy blond who speaks in a sing-songy baby voice, drawing out vowels. Her seventh anniversary date with hubby Travis is “gonna be so romaaaaaantic. Like we’re in caaaaaah-lege.”

For the date they ride in a gold Rolls-Royce to de Boulle jewelers, where Steph picks out a $70K diamond bracelet. “The most beautiful distraction I’ve ever received,” she says.

Later Brandi gets weepy hearing of yet another perfect moment in Stephanie’s perfect marriage. Brandi’s husband bought her french fries and 29 other food items when she turned 30, she recalls. Brandi wants carats, not carrots.

Back to LeeAnne and Tiffany, who resolve their tiff after frosting each other at a clothing drive for Legacy Counseling Center. They meet for lunch and swap kisses and apologies. “We’re gonna sit down and come to Jesus together,” says LeeAnne.

Tiffany explains her angry outbursts toward her friend of 25 years by reminding her that she’s half Japanese and half Native American. “I will scalp you and go Mr. Miyagi,” Tiffany says. Hands up if that offends. Yeah, thought so, too.

We end this week back at Brandi’s, where she’s at the kitchen counter, sawing away on a fresh tomato with a dull knife. She and the not-the-sharpest-knife-in-the-drawer have a lot in common.

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Real Housewives of Dallas airs at 9 pm Mondays for the next five weeks on Bravo.

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Movie Review

Zombie flick 28 Years Later revives franchise for new generation

Photo by Miya Mizuno

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later.

The 2000s brought two of the best zombie movies ever made in 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. Both films, despite being made by different filmmakers, featured intense action with fast-moving zombies, harrowing sequences, and real emotional connections with their main characters. Now the original director and writer - Danny Boyle and Alex Garland - have returned with the first of a possible three sequels, 28 Years Later.

The rage virus from the first two films that turns humans into insatiable monsters has successfully been contained to the United Kingdom, and one group of survivors has managed to band together on a small island off the coast of England. We’re introduced to the group through Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his wife, Isla (Jodie Comer), and his son, Spike (Alfie Williams).

Isla is sick with an unknown illness, while Jamie is set to take the 12-year-old Spike on his first trip to the mainland to hunt zombies. That trip not only gives Spike an education as to the different types of feral zombies that now populate England, but also a clue that other people have survived there. When he discovers that one of them may be a doctor, he makes plans to take his mother there in hopes of finding a cure for whatever ails her.

While the first two films were notable for their brisk pace that kept the potency of the stories high, Boyle and Garland almost go in the opposite direction for much of this film. The first 90 minutes are relatively slow, with only a couple of sequences that raise the blood pressure. The final half hour or so go a long way toward filling that void, so it’s clear that the filmmakers were biding their time for the story to come in the sequel. A bit more balance in this film would have served them well, though.

What they do show involves some weird, wild stuff that is objectively upsetting, even for fans of the genre. The zombies have evolved in strange ways, giving them a variety of body shapes and abilities to suit the environment in which they live. These storytelling choices may thrill some and have others scratching their heads. Another human character living on his own (played by Ralph Fiennes), appears to have gone the way of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, with a revelation that is bone-chilling.

Boyle, who’s directed everything from Trainspotting to Slumdog Millionaire, doesn’t have a signature style, and he makes some choices in this film that test your patience. He occasionally employs an odd technique in which the film stutters, for a lack of better term. It’s a bit jarring, especially since it doesn’t seem to improve the storytelling. He also inserts scenes from older films involving medieval warfare that emulate the bow-and-arrow weaponry used by characters in this film, but the exact connection he’s trying to make is unclear.

The young Williams has a lot put on his shoulders in the film, and he proves to be up to the task of carrying the story. He isn’t precocious or annoying, instead reacting almost exactly like you’d expect a boy of his age to do when faced with extreme situations. Taylor-Johnson and Comer are good complements for him, drawing him out with their polar opposite characters. Fiennes makes a huge impression in the final act of the film, while Jack O’Connell makes a very brief appearance, teasing a bigger role to come.

It’s difficult to fully judge 28 Years Later because it’s designed to only give you part of the story; part 2, The Bone Temple, is due in 2026, while a third film will follow if the first two do well. This film has its moments and winds up on the positive side of the ledger, but it’s also a frustrating experience that could have used a more stand-alone story.

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28 Years Later is now playing in theaters.

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