Fans of the late David "Kidd" Kraddick will finally get their chance to mourn the radio icon in Dallas. Kraddick's public memorial service will be held Thursday, August 15 at AT&T Plaza, outside American Airlines Center. The service begins at 5:30 pm and will feature several live musical performances, including a concert by Ben Folds, one of Kraddick's favorite artists.
The entire service will be live-streamed online at KiddTV.com. A closed-circuit feed of the first ever Kidd's Kids benefit concert, which is at 7 pm August 15 at the House of Blues in Dallas, will blast the Jonas Brothers in AT&T Plaza.
"Thursday is going to be a beautiful day of remembrance doing two things my dad loved: listening to great music and supporting Kidd’s Kids," Kraddick’s daughter, Caroline, said in a statement. "This charity meant so much to him and it is such an honor to carry on his legacy,"
Kraddick died in New Orleans on July 27 of apparent cardiac disease. His morning show, Kidd Kraddick in the Morning — broadcast in Dallas on KHKS 106.1 KISS-FM — reached millions of listeners across the country.
Friends and family attended a private funeral for Kraddick on August 2 at The Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Arlington. Kraddick's co-hosts Big Al, J-Si, Jenna and Kellie Rasberry resumed production on the live morning radio show August 5 after an outpouring of public support for them to do so.
An online petition to keep the remaining cast of Kidd Kraddick in the Morning has generated more than 51,000 signatures. The petition's authors — Alberto and Jessica Flores of Dallas — also created Kraddick's RIP page on Facebook, which has more than 260,000 fans.
Thursday's event, dubbed "Tribute to Kidd," is sponsored by Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, the City of Dallas, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Stars, WFAA, Southwest Airlines and Ustream.
Longtime radio personality Kidd Kraddick died at the age of 53.
nydailynews.com
Longtime radio personality Kidd Kraddick died at the age of 53.
Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, and Hayley Atwell in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.
Over the course of 30 years and eight films, the Mission: Impossible film series has proven to be the most reliable of any action movie franchise. Not all of them are equally good, but with Tom Cruise (who will be surprising fans at Dallas screenings) in the lead as Ethan Hunt, they can be counted on for at least a couple of mind-blowing stunt sequences per film, enough to keep fans clamoring for more.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning has the feel of being the last film in the series, and not just because the 62-year-old Cruise is getting up there in age. Following up closely on the events of 2023’s Dead Reckoning Part One (Part Two changed to The Final Reckoning for unknown reasons), the film has Hunt trying to stop an A.I. villain known as The Entity from taking over the world’s collective stash of nuclear weapons.
To do so, Hunt and his cobbled-together team - Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg), Grace (Hayley Atwell), and Paris (Pom Klementieff) - must hopscotch around the world, tracking villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) and trying to figure out a way to get The Entity’s source code, which is located on a sunken Russian submarine. Oh, and they also have to evade capture by a disgruntled U.S. government, led by now-President Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett).
Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie and co-written by Erik Jendresen, the film might just be the most convoluted one in the series so far. The filmmakers layer on tons of exposition, with lots of flashbacks to previous events in the series to explicate the events of the present, as well as providing unexpected connections to previous films. The plan for stopping The Entity and the references to the past are so dense that the first half of the film is relatively boring.
Things pick up in the final 90 minutes of the three-hour film, mostly because that’s when the majority of the action takes place. More than other entries in the series, the film considers the geopolitical implications of Hunt’s actions, and he has to negotiate with a variety of high-powered people to do what he deems best. While his efforts are somewhat preposterous, even by the standards of the series, they lead to a bunch of fun sequences that provide levity among the world-changing drama.
Ultimately, what makes the film succeed are its action scenes. Cruise has done stunts on planes/helicopters before in the series, but what he does during a biplane sequence toward the end of the film is almost beyond belief. Yes, he’s attached to the plane with harnesses that are digitally erased, but he’s still doing it hundreds of feet in the air at great bodily risk considering how often he gets tossed around. There has been other spectacular stunt work in the series, but this one deserves to be near the top of the list.
The flashbacks to scenes from throughout the series underscore just how much Cruise has changed in the past 30 years, but also make it amazing that he’s still willing to sacrifice his body as much as does in this film. No other actor goes as far as he does to entertain the masses, and the events of the story even give him opportunities to show off his dramatic acting skills.
The supporting cast is more packed than usual, and all of them enhance the film. In addition to Hunt’s team, the President has a group of advisers that includes actors like Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman, and Janet McTeer. Other recognizable faces like Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), Trammell Tillman (Severance), and Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding) show up for impactful roles.
Whether or not this is the last film in the current incarnation of the series, The Final Reckoning has a lot to offer for longtime fans, as well as some fresh great action that remains some of the best Hollywood has to offer. The story may be completely baffling, but with Cruise and other appealing actors leading the way, there’s more than enough great entertainment to go around.
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Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning opens in theaters on May 23.
