Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

If you haven't caught festival fever in Dallas yet, this weekend will win you over. In addition to the final few days of the Dallas International Film Festival, there are multiple other festival-type events taking place, along with some world class soccer, theater in the great outdoors, a unique Easter celebration, and an appearance by a huge pop star.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, April 6

U.S. Women's National Soccer Team vs. Russia
It will be another two years until the next Women's World Cup, but that doesn't mean you can't work up a little patriotic fervor as the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team faces off against Russia in an international friendly. The game, taking place at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, will feature players like Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and more.

Main Street Garden presents Movies in the Park
In honor of The Statler's reawakening, Main Street Garden presents the Movies in the Park series. Beginning in the 1950s, the series showcases an iconic movie from each decade, making the way back to the future. The classic Elvis Presley movie Jailhouse Rock kicks things off, followed in subsequent months by Breakfast at Tiffany's, Superman, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Forrest Gump, and Best in Show.

Dallas Theater Center presents Electra
Building on Dallas Theater Center’s unique approaches to Greek tragedies, audiences can expect the unexpected in this one-of-a-kind production that takes place outside at Annette Strauss Square. Electra’s mother murdered her father, and Electra just can’t let it go. With the return of her brother Orestes, the siblings seek justice … or is it vengeance? The production runs through May 21.

Friday, April 7

2017 Deep Ellum Arts Festival
The Deep Ellum Arts Festival celebrates its 23rd anniversary with a party covering six city blocks along Main Street, from Malcolm X Boulevard to Exposition Avenue. The adult-oriented festival, going on through Sunday, features more than 150 performances on both outdoor and indoor stages, more than 200 juried fine artists; dozens of concessionaires and local restaurants; street performers, jugglers, and other whimsical characters; and more.

Dallas Art Fair
The 2017 Dallas Art Fair, taking place through Sunday at Fashion Industry Gallery, features over 90 galleries from 16 different countries, including new additions like Gagosian Gallery, Lehmann Maupin, Simon Lee Gallery, Skarstedt Gallery, and Shane Campbell Gallery. There's also the Dallas Music Experience on the FIG lawn, showcasing performances from Sam Lao, Blue, The Misfit, Sealion, Party Static, and Cygnus.

Saturday, April 8

Old 97's County Fair
Two of Dallas' favorite musical institutions, The Old 97's and HomeGrown Music and Arts Festival, have joined forces to create a festival experience unlike any other. The festival at Main Street Garden features performances by The Old 97's, Lucinda Williams, Mavis Staples, and others; a 40-foot Ferris wheel; corn dogs to hold you over until Big Tex is back; and plenty of opportunities to try your luck in the midway.

Dallas Love Field presents Easter Egg Hunt and Carnival
Dallas Love Field presents a family-friendly Easter Egg Hunt and Carnival. The event, taking place at Dallas Executive Airport, includes an Easter egg drop from a Dallas Police Department helicopter, Easter egg hunt, petting zoo, train rides, bounce houses, food trucks, and a special appearance by the Easter Bunny. Each hunter is encouraged to bring his or her own basket to collect eggs.

Sunday, April 9

Dallas Museum of Art Family Days
The Dallas Museum of Art presents a series of sponsored Family Days celebrating the once-in-a-lifetime exhibition “México 1900–1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and the Avant-Garde." Taking place every Sunday through May 14, Family Days features programs and activities inspired by the exhibition, along with free admission to the exhibit.

Ariana Grande in concert with Little Mix and Victoria Monet
Pop singer Ariana Grande has led quite the life for only being 23 years old. She starred on the Nickelodeon shows Victorious and Sam and Cat before transitioning into a full-time singing career in 2014. Each of her first three albums have debuted at No. 1 or 2 on the Billboard charts, and she's worked with everybody from Nicki Minaj to John Legend. She performs at American Airlines Center alongside Little Mix and Victoria Monet.

Old 97's County Fair takes place at Main Street Garden on April 8.

Photo courtesy of Old 97's

Old 97's County Fair takes place at Main Street Garden on April 8.

event-planner

Movie Review

Korean monster movie Hope delivers thrills despite its lengthy runtime

Photo courtesy of Neon

Hwang Jung-Min and Hoyeon in Hope.

Monster movies can take on all sorts of different flavors, from all-out mayhem to quieter ones where the monster can sometimes be the protagonist. The new South Korean film Hope splits the difference to a degree, delivering action-packed sequences while also attempting to understand the non-humans in a way.

The story starts in medias res, with an unseen creature having already done great damage to a huge bull and laying waste to much of a small Korean town. The local sheriff, Beom Seok (Hwang Jung-Min), tries to take control of the situation in the town, while a group of hunters led by Sung Ki (Zo In-Sung) travel into the nearby woods to see what they can find there.

Thus starts a nearly nonstop, 160-minute epic of each side trying (and mostly failing) to defend themselves against gigantic creatures who seem hellbent on destroying everything in their path. It’s not until 40 minutes into the film that the audience is shown one of the monsters in detail, and the less said the better about what it actually looks like, as the mystery behind it keeps the intrigue going.

That initial section of the film is the best, as Beom Seok — eventually joined by deputy Sung Ae (Hoyeon) — goes on a frantic hunt around the town, always just far enough behind the monster to keep from seeing it. The utter destruction he witnesses and his interactions with various locals are intense and oddly funny, with the hectic conversations he has laced with fear and incredulity over how different people choose to act.

Writer-director Na Hong-jin bounces back and forth between the people in the town and the group in the forest, doing his best to maintain the momentum of the first section. This approach works for a while as each group makes their own discoveries about the creatures and has run-ins with them that more often than not are ill-fated. Using a mixture of relatively good CGI, great production design, and an abundance of gore, the filmmaker shows he knows how to make an effective blockbuster-style film.

The trouble is, he doesn’t know when to stop. Somewhere around the two-hour mark of the movie, the story starts to become repetitive and Hong-jin introduces elements that don’t mesh well with what has come before. For some reason, he decides that some of the creatures should speak, a move that is baffling on several fronts. The biggest one is that they are voiced by English-speaking actors like Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell, but each speaks a non-human language, rendering their performances moot.

Jung-min puts in a fantastic lead performance, one that requires him to vacillate between abject terror and in-control leadership. In-Sung is almost as good, although his character requires him to play one note over and over again. Hoyeon, who some may recognize from Squid Game, delivers an extra shot of energy when she enters the film, something she keeps going despite her character being forced to say some bad lines.

If Hong-jin had kept the focus Hope a little tighter, the sci-fi thriller might have ended up toward the top of this year’s films. But by choosing to extend the story into territories that don’t add much to the plot or make much sense, the filmmaker puts a damper on what was a fun and brutal monster movie.

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Hope is now playing in theaters.

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