An out-of-town name in art supplies is coming to Dallas: Jerry's Artarama Art Supplies & Framing, a small chain based in North Carolina, will open a store at Preston Valley Shopping Center, taking over the former Tuesday Morning at 12817 Preston Rd., at the intersection of LBJ Freeway.
A spokesperson for Jerry's real estate broker, Bradford Commercial Real Estate Services, says in a release that Preston Valley was the only spot they toured, stating, "the demographics of the LBJ Freeway-Preston Road intersection are as good as you get in retail."
Jerry's sells art supply and materials and offers custom framing, canvas-stretching, demonstrations, and special events. It was founded in 1968 by Jerry Goldstein who began painting to help him quit smoking, and saw that no retailer was selling art supplies at a discount, and opened his first store in Great Neck New York with his wife Arline.
The chain has since grown slowly, with stores in 15 cities in 10 states. Dallas will be the fourth in Texas, following locations in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio — four out of the five cities where CultureMap has a bureau. Jerry's, maybe it's time for you to look at Fort Worth.
They only open one location per city, which is probably good news for Asel Art Supply, the Dallas-based art supplies chain founded in 1951, which is employee-owned and has locations in Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Arlington, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Lubbock.
Preston Valley's other tenants include Chili's, India Palace, Terry Costa, Boot Barn, Dougherty's Pharmacy, and Maple Leaf Diner, which will be Jerry's next-door neighbor.
For most of the 21st century, and especially the last 15 years, Tom Cruise has been a “movie star” rather than an “actor.” That’s not to say he’s a bad actor, but rather that his focus has been on making blockbuster movies where his unique ability to go all-in on action supersedes any need for introspection. Now perhaps past his action movie days, he’s giving full-on acting another try in Digger.
Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an eccentric oil baron whose current project is drilling for oil in Greenland. Turns out that’s a bad idea in multiple ways, most significantly when an explosion at the site manages to calve an ice shelf five times the size of Boston. That humongous piece of ice then starts on an inevitable collision course with mainland Europe, where it is predicted that there will be hundreds of thousands of deaths and uncountable property damage from the ensuing tsunami.
That sounds bleak, and it is, but the film plays the scenario for laughs thanks to over-the-top characters like Digger, his sister Emma (Sandra Hüller), U.S. President Compson (John Goodman), and the unnamed Vice President (Michael Stuhlbarg). As those people and others try to spin the disaster of epic proportions, others like the scientist Ganesh (Riz Ahmed) try to get the leaders to see reason or to take responsibility for their actions.
Written and directed by Alejandro Iñárritu and co-written by three others, the film has more than a few surprises in store, including one big one that will go unspoiled here. Suffice it to say that for anyone who might be put off by how Cruise (who seems to be channeling his Les Grossman character from Tropic Thunder) and others are acting in the trailers for the film may change their minds about the performances after actually having seen the complete product.
What can be said is that the film is a wild, wacky, and occasionally disorienting experience that also doubles as a cogent critique of the governments and corporations responsible for climate change and unchecked capitalism. Digger is a motormouth who often cuts off people with relevant information to impart, having already determined that he knows all he needs to know about a certain topic. He’s stuck in his ways in many respects, including trying to keep alive a 20-year-old cat that clearly wants to die.
Once the full scope of the story is revealed, it becomes easier to understand what Iñárritu and Cruise are trying to accomplish with the film. It has some similarities to Stanley Kubrick’s dark satire Dr. Strangelove, but it also tries to stay grounded in certain ways. The push-and-pull between those who only seem to be out for themselves and those who want to get to the truth of the matter is played out on different fronts throughout the film. Not all of it lands, but enough does to not make the film seem completely unhinged.
Cruise has been nominated for three Oscars, and it’s clear he’s aiming for a fourth nod with this performance. He does his best to sell every quirk and aspect of the character, epitomized by a gonzo speech that utilizes every mental and physical skill he can muster. The supporting actors are hit-and-miss, but Ahmed comes off the best as a person serving as Digger’s moral conscience. He’s an antidote to Cruise’s mania, but then turns it up to 11 when needed.
Not everything is as it seems in Digger, and the out-there approach by Iñárritu and his team falls into the love-it-or-hate-it dichotomy that applies to many of his films. The very fact that everyone involved was willing to dedicate their whole selves to such an off-the-wall concept makes it deserving of attention, even if not everything is a success.
