Weekend Event Planner

College Football Playoff festivities top best weekend events in Dallas

The events surrounding the first-ever College Football Playoff championship game dominate the landscape this weekend — and they appeal even to those who don't like sports. Before Oregon faces off against Ohio State at AT&T Stadium on Monday night, you can get in the mood with a wide variety of activities.

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, January 8

Undermain Theatre presents The Flick
A play about three workers at a movie theater may seem bland on the surface, but it won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, so it's a must-see. Undermain Theatre presents the regional premiere of The Flick, featuring three people whose battles and heartbreaks are more compelling than any movie at their theater. The play runs through January 31.

Luke Wade in concert with Mark Allan Attwood
It was a surprise that Luke Wade didn't make the finals during the latest season of The Voice, but as he told us at the beginning of his ride, his goal wasn't to win the show, but to win over America. You can be witness to the next phase of his career at this concert at Trees, which also features Mark Allan Attwood as opening act.

Friday, January 9

College Football Playoff presents Playoff Fan Central
Just as it did last year for the Men's Final Four, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas plays host to a festival featuring a slew of family-friendly activities surrounding the College Football Playoff. Think mini pep rallies featuring the bands, cheerleaders and mascots from both Oregon and Ohio State; interactive games; autograph sessions; exhibits and more. The festival runs every day through Sunday.

CMT Ultimate Kickoff Party Live from the College Football Playoff National Championship
If you need another reason to go to Playoff Fan Central on Friday, attendees are the only people with access to this all-star country concert. It's strictly first-come, first served in Hall B to see acts like Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Big & Rich, Brett Eldredge and others. Plus, it doesn't cost extra, as it's free for anyone already at Playoff Fan Central.

Saturday, January 10

College Football Playoff presents Extra Yard 5k
If you haven't already secured your tickets for the championship game on Monday and consider yourself a skilled runner, you might want to try the Extra Yard 5k at Fair Park. The overall male and female winners win one pair of tickets each, as does the winner of a drawing to which every runner receives one entry.

Shen Yun 2015
The 2015 season at AT&T Performing Arts Center begins with a return visit from this Chinese dance and music troupe. The production that features nearly 100 artists, 400 costumes, and the only orchestra in the world featuring both classical Western and Chinese instruments brings 5,000 years of Chinese history to life. It plays at Winspear Opera House Thursday through Sunday.

AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! with Lenny Kravitz
The Dallas-Fort Worth area has seen more of Lenny Kravitz in Hunger Games movies than onstage lately, but the rocker makes his first local appearance in nearly three years as part of the College Football Playoff festivities. He headlines this concert at American Airlines Center, with Keri Hilson and Vintage Trouble as opening acts.

Scotty McCreery in concert
It hasn't exactly been a booming three years for Scotty McCreery since he won American Idol back in 2011, but he's carved out a nice career in the friendly world of country music. He plays a late-night show at Billy Bob's Texas in support of his 2013 album, See You Tonight.

Sunday, January 11

Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers watch party
The Dallas Cowboys are in the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2009 thanks to ~~the help of the refs~~ the stellar play of Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray and others. Now they head to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field to take on Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, and you can support them with a few hundred of your fellow fans at this free watch party at the Granada Theater.

AT&T Playoff Playlist Live! with Sting
If the smooth stylings of Sting are more your speed, you can catch the former Police frontman as the headliner of the second College Football Playoff concert at American Airlines Center, with Echosmith, known for their hit "Cool Kids," as the opening act. If you want to attend both concerts, you can buy a two-day pass right here.

Undermain Theatre presents the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick through January 31.

Photo courtesy of Undermain Theatre

Undermain Theatre presents the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick through January 31.

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Movie Review

Casting is a strong point in latest Marvel film Thunderbolts*

Photo by Chuck Zlotnick

Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, and Sebastian Stan in Thunderbolts*.

For the longest time, keeping up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe felt essential for movie lovers, even if not every movie lived up to expectations. But since the end of the MCU’s Phase 3 in 2019 and the ramping up of related TV shows on Disney+, the quality of the films and the disparate nature of the storytelling has vastly brought down how important each new movie felt.

That disposable nature is on full display in the new Thunderbolts*(the asterisk makes sense by the end), which tries to make hay with a bunch of characters who’ve only been seen briefly before. Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), and Ava Starr, aka Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) are each mercenaries who work for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Caught up in a scandal, de Fontaine attempts to have them eliminate each other, a scheme that results in them teaming up together.

Plans for revenge, which grow to include Yelena’s father Alexei, aka Red Guardian (David Harbour), and now-Congressman Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), are waylaid by the presence of Bob (Lewis Pullman), who shows up mysteriously during the main trio’s escape attempt. It’s the powers that Bob displays that become the main thrust of the film, with de Fontaine trying to harness them for her own good and the others joining forces to prevent him from doing too much harm.

Directed by Jake Schreier and written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, Thunderbolts* does what most recent MCU movies have done: intrigue for a while before devolving into a confusing mess of CGI and poor storytelling. The filmmakers try for a light tone, especially through the comedic character of Alexei, but they never seem to find the right wavelength. The film takes a dark turn in its final hour, an interesting development that never reaches its full potential and comes to an abrupt end.

The collection of characters is as random as they come, with Yelena and Alexei last seen together in 2021’s Black Widow, John Walker last seen in the 2021 TV show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Ghost last seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018. Bucky, aka The Winter Soldier, is seemingly meant to be the main connective tissue that casual fans will know and enjoy, but his storyline fails to make sense, especially when he shows up out of nowhere at a crucial point in the film.

Ultimately, the film never makes a case for audiences to care about anything that happens. They throw a bone toward relating it to Captain America: Brave New World, and, of course, hint at upcoming movies, but Phase 5 of the MCU (which started with 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) has been so disjointed that it feels like the majority of it will never be spoken of again. If it doesn’t matter to those making the films, why should the audience invest in anything the characters are doing?

Despite the subpar nature of the film, it’s cast very well. Pugh is a great actor who far outshines anything she’s asked to do. Harbour hams it up amiably, and Russell finds a way to make the most of his character. John-Kamen doesn’t get as much to do as others, but she has a nice presence to her. Pullman (who, weirdly, played another funnily-named Bob in Top Gun: Maverick) has a tricky role, but he makes it work. And Louis-Dreyfus understands how to toe the line between corrupt and wholly evil.

If the next phase of the MCU (which starts with the upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps) works, then the movies of the past few years will likely fade into oblivion. In the case of Thunderbolts*, it won’t be a big loss, as it showcases characters paired together for no discernible reason with forgettable results.

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Thunderbolts* opens in theaters on May 2.

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