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Sneak-peek the gripping new film about legendary Texas journalist Molly Ivins

Celebrated writer Molly Ivins is the star of this new documentary.

RAISE HELL - The Life & Times of Molly Ivins/Facebook

Fans of Molly Ivins, the legendary Texas journalist, humorist, and media firebrand whose byline appeared in more than 400 newspapers nationwide, will be glad to know the wait is almost over for the new documentary about her life, Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins.

The gripping new film hits theaters around Texas on August 30, but Alamo Drafthouse will feature special advance screenings around the state on August 28. Locally, they'll take place at Alamo in Lake Highlands (8:30 pm), Las Colinas (8:30 pm), North Richland Hills (7:45 pm), and Denton (7:45 pm).

After the screenings, a conversation with filmmaker Richard Linklater, former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief Emily Ramshaw, and director Janice Engel will will be live-streamed from an Austin theater.

The documentary is directed by award-winning filmmaker Janice Engel (no relation to Margaret and Allison Engel, the twin-sister journalists who wrote the 2010 play Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins).

Raise Hell chronicles Ivins' career as a sharp-tongued, rabble-rousing, leftist reporter and columnist who went after corruption wherever she found it — most particularly, in her home base of Texas.

Although her bylines appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Texas Observer, she spent more than two decades of her career writing for newspapers in Dallas-Fort Worth: at the Dallas Times-Herald from 1981-1991, and at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from 1992-2001.

Ivins died in Austin in 2007 at the age of 62, after a long bout with Stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer.

Ivins was not your typical political reporter. Brash, witty, and standing 6 feet tall, she spent her 40-year career fighting corruption, defending free speech, and making all the right enemies. A pioneering woman in a male-dominated field, she skewered the good old boys’ system with her incisive writing and her gift for deploying a well-timed bon mot torpedo on her targets.

By turns moving and hilarious, the film is a candid portrait of a reporter who shined with moral clarity, even while matching legislators drink for drink. Dan Rather, Paul Begala, and Rachel Maddow are some of the people who are interviewed. A portion of ticket sales from the film will be split between the ACLU and The Texas Observer.

Raise Hell will hit screens nationwide in September.

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Showings for Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins are available via the documentary website.

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Concert News

State Fair of Texas hosts full day of music featuring Fort Worth bands

Photo courtesy of TRVR?

TRVR? will be one of four Fort Worth musicians getting a special showcase at the State Fair of Texas.

For the very first time, the State Fair of Texas will welcome bands from a neighboring city to take over the stage for a day: Hear Fort Worth Day will spotlight Fort Worth musicians who will perform throughout the afternoon and evening on Monday, October 5.

According to a release, four Fort Worth music acts will get their own special showcase, performing on the Bud Light Stage (near Cotton Bowl Stadium) all day long, with sets starting roughly every two hours between 1 and 7:30 pm.

This marks the first time Dallas neighbor Fort Worth has its own day at the State Fair of Texas, which welcomes more than 2.5 million attendees over 24 days.

Kicking things off at 1 pm will be TRVR?, an independent artist known for introspective, relatable, and wholesome songwriting. Under his birth name, Trevor Douglas, TRVR? first found the spotlight at 16 with a Top 24 finish on American Idol.

Following him at 3 pm will be Mollie Danel, who was named Fort Worth Weekly’s 2026 Female Vocalist of the Year. Danel has developed a distinct voice and lyrical identity, with her recent EP, Sunshine Girl, confronting mental health, loss, and doubt with hard-won hope.

Third up at 5 pm will be Matthew McNeal, who has released five studio albums alongside longtime collaborator Andre Black, including HIGHLONESOME, which recently won the 2026 JAMBALOO Music Prize.

The day will wrap up with a performance by singer-songwriter .Marcel. at 7:30 pm. He pairs sultry R&B crooning with rapid-fire, rhyme-based prose, earning a reputation for slow-burning tracks of remarkable sonic depth.

The showcase is presented by the Hear Fort Worth Music Office, a division of Visit Fort Worth that is dedicated to amplifying the city's local music scene.

"It’s an honor to showcase our city’s sounds on one of the biggest stages in Texas, the State Fair,” Tom Martens, executive director of the Hear Fort Worth Music Office, says in the release. “This is a big opportunity to export our music to bigger audiences and promote tourism to our city.”

For more information, visit BigTex.com. Fairgoers are encouraged to beat the traffic by riding DART or, if traveling from Fort Worth, Trinity Metro.

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