This year's hottest headlines

From Christmas lights to Banksyland, these 2022 Dallas arts & entertainment stories earned an ovation

Editor's note: As we look back at the most-read arts & entertainment stories of 2022, we see Dallas readers were eager to get out and have fun, in ways both familiar (Christmas lights) and new (an immersive Banksy experience). We covered a sad musician obituary and the sad closure of a beloved art supply store. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders got the boot from CMT, but CMT announced it's coming to Texas for its big awards show. These are the most popular A&E stories of the year.

1. Where to see the most spectacular Christmas lights dazzling Dallas-Fort Worth in 2022. In early November, it was already time for Dallas-Fort Worth to light up, merry and bright, for the 2022 holidays — from towering trees that twinkle and shine to dazzling drive-thru displays and immersive walk-thru experiences. This was our guide to the biggest, brightest, most spectacular Christmas light displays in the area (many of which are on through at least New Year's Eve). We also broke out the top homes and neighborhoods for lights in a separate list.

2. How to get every possible discount at the 2022 State Fair of Texas. The 2022 edition of the State Fair of Texas started its 24-day run at Fair Park on September 30, with music, games, and food. But first, we were here for discounts. There were a multitude of discount ticket options being offered by the State Fair and other entities, meaning there's no reason you ever had to pay full price.

3. Texas will host CMT Music Awards for the first time ever in 2023. Big news for country music fans: During Carrie Underwood's sold-out show in Austin on November 2, CMT Music Awards co-host Kelsea Ballerini came on stage to announce that the CMT Music Awards will come to the city's new Moody Center next year. Airing Sunday, April 2, 2023, the fan-voted awards ceremony will be hosted in Texas for the first time ever.

4. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team gets the boot from CMT. After 16 seasons, CMT broke up with "America's Sweethearts." The network revealed on March 31 that Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team was not being renewed. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders organization said, however, that it would "look forward to continuing the exclusive journey on a new platform."

5. Dallas musician Jess Barr, one-time guitarist for Slobberbone, dies at 46. A Dallas-Fort Worth musician and club owner died at a young age: Jess Barr, who was a member of seminal alt-country rock band Slobberbone, passed away in the early hours of December 6; he was 46. Friends of the family said he suffered from a heart condition.

6. Art of Banksy comes to Dallas in immersive event with signature secrecy. Street artist Banksy has always been known for his secrecy, and Dallas got a taste of that when a new immersive art exhibition, Banksyland, came to the city for two weekends, June 24-July 4. Held in a secret location in the Dallas Arts District, Banksyland is an international touring exhibition that immerses audiences in the works of the elusive artist.

7. Dallas hires Martine Elyse Philippe as new director of arts and culture. The city of Dallas has a new Arts boss: Martine Elyse Philippe, who has worked in arts administration and the nonprofit world, was appointed Director of the Office of Arts & Culture, a division of the City Manager's Office that fosters partnerships and support with arts and cultural organizations. Philippe began her tenure on December 5.

8. Dallas-based art store chain is calling it quits after 71 years. After 71 years, a revered Dallas-based art store chain is calling it quits. Asel Art Supply, first founded in downtown Dallas in 1951, is closing all its stores as of December 31. That includes locations in Richardson, Arlington, Fort Worth, two in San Antonio, and one in Lubbock.

9. Dallas Summer Musicals lands big Broadway shows and new name for 2022-23. In March, Dallas Summer Musicals — or Broadway Dallas, as it would now be known — revealed its 2022-23 season of touring Broadway shows in partnership with Broadway Across America, and there were some pretty big names on the list. They were not just musicals and not just in the summer.

10. Vivid new mural in Deep Ellum Dallas is from a world-famous artist. In November, Deep Ellum became home to a new mural from a world-famous graffiti artist. Entitled: Texas Tantrum Trots and Pals, it's from Ron English, dubbed the "Godfather of street art." The large-scale mural measuring 1,728 square feet is on the southwest corner of Good Latimer and Elm Street, in a building with plans to become a Velvet Taco.

Photo courtesy of Enchant

Enchant runs nightly at Dallas' Fair Park through January 1, 2023.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig searches for elusive new bond in audacious film Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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