128 BEST OF DALLAS® 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS & RECREATION | FOOD & DRINK | SHOPPING & SERVICES | READERS’ CHOICE | CONTENTS premise is simple enough: Beard plays a former Army Ranger who falls in with the wrong crowd; violence ensues. But efforts to add emotional grounding to the film go a long way towards elevating this to legitimately affecting genre fare. The late Michael Madsen’s performance, compelling as anything he ever did, has garnered praise, but he’s far from the only thing to celebrate here. This is a full-meal movie, cooked up in North Texas for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy. ....................... Arden Cho instagram.com/arden_cho Unless you spent the last year living under a rock, you know who the K-Pop Demon Hunters are, whether through the film’s global omnipresence or your own fandom. What you might not have known, however, is that Huntrix trio leader Rumi is voiced by Plano’s own Arden Cho. That’s right, the amethyst-haired badass who led the film to two trophies at the 2026 Academy Awards likely knows what the Plano Balloon Festi- val is and carries nostalgia for the dearly de- parted Collin Creek Mall. The other two demon hunters are cool too, but how could Cho not be our bias? ................ Wyland wyland.com/ Most muralists aren’t known as celebrities, but one name (literally a mononym) overtook Dallas headlines this year in a story that is fated to outlive the art it’s based on. A down- town, life-sized whale mural hit its 20-year peak in relevancy this summer after it was shamelessly painted over to make way for a FIFA World Cup-inspired project. Luckily, the mural’s original artist, Wyland, is as pas- sionate about artists’ rights as he is about ocean conservation. The renegade muralist has filed a $25 million federal lawsuit against FIFA for the wall’s destruction. We’ll be root- ing for Wyland in this one. RIP the whales. .......................... Save Dallas City Hall savedallascityhall.com/ A great grassroots movement does more than protest; it reframes the conversation. Save Dallas City Hall has done exactly that, rally- ing preservationists, architects, film fans and everyday Dallasites around the idea that I. M. Pei’s monumental civic landmark is an asset, not an obstacle. What could have been dis- missed as insider architecture talk became a citywide argument about memory, public land, tax dollars and who Dallas is actually being built for. When a “RoboCop” screening turns into a rallying cry, you know something has caught fire. This movement made City Hall feel like the people’s business again. .......................... ....... Fine Print 212 S Madison Ave., Dallas instagram.com/fnprnt_shop We, in print journalism, hold those who ad- mire the power of print in high regard. Mag- azine shops, with niche publications from across the world, aren’t a luxury reserved for the cities with subways. We have them too, thanks to Fine Print, whose collection of hard-to-find-elsewhere publications is seri- ously diverse. Need inspiration for your new apartment? Turn away from Pinterest and look to Fine Print for a copy of The New Era, a design magazine that explores Scandina- vian interiors. Or maybe you need a good tip on your favorite artist’s favorite artist’s favor- ite artist; you’ll find them in the pages of a copy of AnOther Magazine. Or maybe you’re looking for a regular shmegular copy of the Dallas Observer; you’ll find that there too. ............................. .................... Texas Theatre 231 Jefferson Blvd., Dallas thetexastheatre.com We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. The Dallas cinema scene is seriously underrated. And no one would agree with us more than the team at the Texas Theatre. This cultural institution (and the scene of Lee Harvey Oswald’s arrest) is devoted to bringing Dallasites truly diverse programming. With just two theatres, they’re limited to screening what will be the year’s Academy Award nominees and other things that are truly peculiar. So whether you want to be the typical cinephile who ranks “The Godfather” as one of their favorite movie, or a niche movie lover who considers “Pink Flamingos” art, you should stop by the Texas Theatre. ...................... .............. The Kessler Theater 1230 W. Davis St., Dallas thekessler.org There are many great music venues in Dal- las, but a serious shortage of music venues with a great patio for a quick cigarette break between the opener and the headliner. The Kessler Theater happens to be one of the few, and the best, as far as we’re concerned. The Kessler Green, as it is known, isn’t just an intermission landing zone; in the spring and summer, the space also becomes a stage, which is delightful. It’s spacious, unlike one particularly large venue in Dallas that ushers hundreds of smokers into a cramped corner to breathe in each other’s exhalations, ro- mantically lit and tucked just enough out of the way to feel like a secret garden. Plus, the ambient noise radiating from inside the mu- sic hall makes it all the better. Photo by Kathy Tran Cure for Paranoia takes a reading break at Fine ..................