Weekend Event Planner

Art and film take center stage for best weekend events in Dallas-Fort Worth

In a fortuitous convergence for people who love big events, three huge festivals start their runs in Dallas-Fort Worth this weekend. One is full of local art and music, one is a showcase for art from around the world, and one is a chance for film lovers to see tons of great new movies.

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 9

2015 Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival
Hot on the heels of the Deep Ellum Arts Festival, Fort Worth gets its chance to shine with this gigantic event that takes over much of downtown. Spanning more than 27 blocks from the Tarrant County Courthouse to the Fort Worth Convention Center, the four-day fest features more than 200 artists, 100 musicians playing on three stages and much more.

2015 Dallas Art Fair
The annual Dallas Art Fair is arguably the place to see and be seen in Dallas this weekend. It includes not only the actual fair, which features exhibits from almost 100 prominent national and international art dealers and galleries, but also multiple ancillary events like the Preview Gala, MTV RE:DEFINE and Art Ball 50. The fair lasts through Sunday at Fashion Industry Gallery.

2015 Dallas International Film Festival
Over the next 10 days, nearly 170 feature films, documentaries and short films will be shown as part of the annual Dallas International Film Festival. There will be stars and filmmakers aplenty on hand, starting with Blythe Danner for the opening night film, I'll See You in My Dreams. Most screenings take place at Angelika Film Center Dallas, but other venues include Majestic Theatre, Texas Theatre, Klyde Warren Park, Annette Strauss Square, Perot Museum and Cinemark West Plano.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents The Illusionists
For its latest show, Dallas Summer Musicals welcomes a show that's not only not a musical, but also one that could barely even be called theater. And yet The Illusionists might be as entertaining as anything else you'd see on the Music Hall at Fair Park stage, as it features seven illusionists wowing the audience with dazzling magic. The show runs through April 19.

Friday, April 10

Dallas Opera presents Iolanta
For its final production of the 2014-2015 season, the Dallas Opera presents the rarely performed Tchaikovsky gem Iolanta. At its center is Iolanta, a young princess who's unaware of her own beauty and the power it holds on others because she was born blind. The opera puts on four performances at Winspear Opera House through April 18.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Cirque de la Symphonie
Some of the best classical music can make your heart soar, so just imagine how you'll feel when you're watching people soar above the stage while that music plays. For its Pops season finale, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra plays at Bass Performance Hall, while aerialists, acrobats, dancers, jugglers and contortionists show off their skills. The show goes through Sunday.

Saturday, April 11

2015 Atomic Music Festival
The newly reopened Bomb Factory made waves in its first weekend, and it aims to continue that trend with the first Atomic Music Festival. The day-long event features bands like Animals As Leaders, Tesseract, Entheos, The Red Chord, The Atlas Moth, In Search of Sight, Design of Destiny and Pardon Me, Devil.

Arts & Letters Live: Billy Collins and Aimee Mann — Poetry, Music and Conversation
The Dallas Museum of Art's Arts & Letters Live series occasionally necessitates a move to a bigger venue. Taking place at Winspear Opera House, former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins and acclaimed singer-songwriter Aimee Mann present a night of of poetry, music and conversation about their creative process.

Sunday, April 12

Bryan Adams in concert
The heyday for rocker Bryan Adams was in the 1980s, so even though he continues to put out the occasional new record, it's no surprise that his yesteryear hits are his bread and butter. In this special concert at Allen Event Center, he revisits his iconic 1984 Reckless album, which had hits like "Run to You," "Kids Wanna Rock," "Somebody," "Summer of '69," "One Night Love Affair" and "It's Only Love."

The Dallas Opera presents Iolanta at Winspear Opera House through April 18.

Photo by Maxine Helfman

The Dallas Opera presents Iolanta at Winspear Opera House through April 18.

unspecified

Movie Review

Chris Hemsworth tries to steal diamonds and hearts in Crime 101

Photo courtesy of Amazon Content Services

Chris Hemsworth in Crime 101.

The career of actor Chris Hemsworth is a curious one, as it feels like he’s a huge star (mostly from playing Thor in Marvel movies) and not at the same time, with most of the non-MCU movies featuring him in a lead role failing to become big successes. But he still has a certain presence about him, which is why he’s being given another chance to prove his star power in the new thriller, Crime 101.

Hemsworth plays Davis, a talented thief who knows how to get what he wants without resorting to violence. When a job early in the movie turns slightly sideways, it makes him think twice about working with his handler (Nick Nolte), who seems to prefer someone with a stronger touch, like the up-and-coming Ormon (Barry Keoghan).

Davis is the main character, but two others who come into his orbit get their own subplots. Lou (Mark Ruffalo) is a slightly schlubby LAPD detective who’s convinced he knows the pattern of an unknown thief that likes to hit places close to Highway 101. Sharon (Halle Berry) works for a high-end insurance agency known for working with ultra-wealthy clients, the types who might be a great target for a thief like Davis.

Written and directed by Bart Layton, the film has a decent propulsion to it that comes with most crime thrillers. Davis and Ormon represent the yin and the yang of criminal approaches, and and it’s interesting to see the juxtaposition between the two as their simmering rivalry heats up over the course of the film. When the film commits to actually showing its crimes, it has an excitement that’s worth watching.

Unfortunately, Layton displays a real lack of focus, taking the audience into subplots with each of the three main characters that prove unnecessarily distracting. Lou’s marriage problems may explain his disheveled appearance, but there’s no need to see him deal with them with wife Angie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Sharon’s troubles with her male-dominated company prove slightly pivotal, but still don’t merit the time put into exploring them.

The most baffling subplot is Davis pursuing a relationship with Maya (Monica Barbaro), a woman he randomly meets. At different points in the movie, including many of his interactions with Maya, Davis seems like the most uncomfortable, antisocial person in the world. And yet he somehow morphs into a suave smooth-talker who’s able to convince anyone to do what he wants at other key points, making it unclear exactly what kind of person he really is.

Hemsworth does relatively well in the lead role, but he’s still missing that certain something to make his character, and therefore the movie, truly compelling. The rest of the cast is fine, too, but each of them seem to be putting in just the minimal amount of effort to make the film watchable. Ruffalo and Barbaro come off the best, but with the talent in the cast (11 Oscar nominations and one win), they could have been used better.

Crime 101 has most of the ingredients to be another great entry in the genre, and it succeeds when it actually decides to deliver on its promise. But too much of the film is spent on things that have no real bearing on plot or character development, leaving the movie in the middle of the pack.

---

Crime 101 is now playing in the theaters.

movies film