Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

One month down, 11 to go. January was gone in a flash, and now February brings in a nice variety of events, including two themed for the month itself. In addition, there will be a visit from a legendary musician, a new show from a Texas original, comedy and stories from a renowned actress, a new version of a horrifying story, and more.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, February 1

Commemorative Air Force presents "Rise Above"
The Commemorative Air Force will bring its “Rise Above” Traveling Exhibit back to Dallas Executive Airport for a free Black History Month program. The “Rise Above” Traveling Exhibit is a mobile movie theater showing the original 30-minute film, Rise Above, which tells the inspirational story of the Tuskegee Airmen and their struggle for civil rights and equality. The exhibit will be in town through February 16.

Barry Manilow in concert
Neil Diamond has retired from touring and Elton John soon will, so it's important to take advantage of the opportunity to see living legends like Barry Manilow when you have the chance. Manilow will play at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in support of his new album, This is My Town: Songs of New York. He'll also perform some of his greatest hits like "Copacabana" and “Mandy.”

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Six Characters in Search of a Play
Sordid Lives creator Del Shores returns to Dallas for a limited engagement with his new one-man show, Six Characters in Search of a Play. For this hilarious and provocative piece, Shores riffs on Pirandello’s classic play to bring audiences six characters inspired by his real-life encounters that haven’t quite made it into one of Shores’ plays, films, or TV shows. The production will run at Trinity River Arts Center through Sunday.

Friday, February 2

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents The Labèque Sisters
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will be joined by the French piano duo, the Labèque Sisters. Under the direction of Maestro Jaap van Zweden, the Labèque Sisters will play selections like Philip Glass’ Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8. There will be two performances — one Friday and one Saturday — at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Vicki Lawrence & Mama
Though only 68 years old, Vicki Lawrence has been a celebrity for over 50 years, coming to fame in 1967 as part of the original cast of The Carol Burnett Show. It was on that show that she created the character of "Mama," which she has been performing in one form or another ever since. This show, at Arlington Music Hall, will feature a mix of stand-up comedy, music, and Lawrence's observations about real life.

Dallas Theater Center presents Frankenstein
Mary Shelley’s 200-year-old horror story, widely regarded as the original science fiction novel, continues to challenge the modern imagination. When Dr. Frankenstein’s experiment goes horribly awry, he resolves to destroy the terrifying creature he has unleashed upon the world. But can he kill his own creation without becoming a monster himself? Dallas Theater Center will present the production at Kalita Humphreys Center through March 4.

Uptown Players presents A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a celebration of those unsung heroes of American musical theater as it takes the audience through the final grueling audition for a new Broadway musical. The classic musical provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. Uptown Players will put on three performances at Moody Performance Hall through Sunday.

Dua Lipa in concert
English singer Dua Lipa is already making history with her self-titled debut album. She is up for five Brit Awards, including Best Female Artist and Best Album, marking the first time a female artist has received five Brit Awards nominations. She also got two nominations for her hit, "New Rules," which was inescapable on both sides of the pond. She'll play at South Side Ballroom.

Saturday, February 3

Bruce Wood Dance presents Love, Bruce: A Valentine Cabaret
Bruce Wood Dance will present a romantic Valentine cabaret featuring Broadway's Brent Barrett and Joseph Thalken with the Bruce Wood dancers performing classic moonstruck favorites in sophisticated supper-club style. This performance, at Granada Theater, will help fund Bruce Wood Dance's 2018 community and education outreach initiatives.

Sunday, February 4

Nasher Sculpture Center presents "Paper Into Sculpture" closing day
Sunday is the final day to see Nasher Sculpture Center's exhibit, "Paper Into Sculpture." The artists in the exhibit treat paper as a material with a palpable three-dimensional presence, using processes ranging from tearing, crumpling, and cutting to scattering, binding, and adhering to create sculptural works that take a variety of forms, with a diverse range of expressive and conceptual implications.

Barry Manilow will play at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving on February 1.

Barry Manilow/Facebook

Barry Manilow will play at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving on February 1.

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Movie Review

Film sequel Avatar: Fire and Ash is a technical and visual feast

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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