Weekend Event Planner

Edgefest and USA Film Festival top best weekend events in Dallas-Fort Worth

It's the last weekend in April, which means that there are more movies to see at another film festival. There are also two huge music festivals, shopping for a cause, great theater, a hilarious comedian and more, so your choices are most certainly not lacking

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 23

Thrift Studio
The annual Thrift Studio is no ordinary thrift store. For one, it features a series of specially designed vignettes full of designer goods for sale. And the whole thing is for charity, with proceeds going to Dwell with Dignity, which helps families escape poverty and homelessness. Thursday's preview party is followed by the actual pop-up shop at Dallas Design Center, which is open through May 23.

USA Film Festival
April is the month that movie lovers in Dallas-Fort Worth always look forward to, as it contains not only the just-finished Dallas International Film Festival, but also the USA Film Festival. The 45th annual event, taking place at Angelika Film Center through Sunday, presents more than 20 feature films and short film programs, including sneak peeks at films like Mr. Holmes and Welcome to Me.

Dallas Theater Center presents Sense and Sensibility
The last show of the 2014-2015 Dallas Theater Center season has the company returning to its roots at Kalita Humphreys Theater once again. This time they take on an adaptation the classic Jane Austen novel, a romantic comedy about the marital hopes, unpredictable misadventures and sincere sisterly bonds of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. The play runs through May 24.

Friday, April 24

Earth Day Texas
Although the actual Earth Day was on April 22, Dallas extends the celebration a few days with this festival at Fair Park, taking place through Sunday. The annual event seeks to elevate environmental awareness and influence the way Texans think, live and work through exhibits, presentations, entertainment and more. And if you missed it, Texans could stand to be a lot more eco-friendly.

Denton Arts & Jazz Festival
The golden triangle of spring arts festivals is complete with the annual Denton Arts & Jazz Festival, taking place at Quakertown Park through Sunday. Featuring more than 2,000 professional and amateur performers in a variety of musical genres on six stages and artists of all types hawking their wares, it's an arts lover's paradise.

Saturday, April 25

2015 Prairie Fest
Getting out and enjoying the splendor of nature is part of what makes spring in Texas so fun, which is pretty much what the annual Prairie Fest at Tandy Hills Natural Area in Fort Worth is all about. The one-day event features music, storytelling and dancing on solar-powered stages, along with wildflower tours, arts and crafts, games, and more.

2015 Edgefest
The annual Edgefest from 102.1 KDGE, taking place once again at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, is a reliably entertaining affair that includes bands and singers both big and small. Among the headliners at this year's festival are The Offspring, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Hozier, Vance Joy and a special DJ set from Girl Talk.

DADA Spring Gallery Walk
More than 35 art spaces throughout Dallas and North Texas — including Arlington, Irving and Denton — open their doors from noon-8 pm for this all-day affair for art lovers. Presented by Dallas Art Dealers Association (DADA), the tour is a chance for ambitious enthusiasts to see the full spectrum of galleries and special exhibitions in one day — for free. You can download a complete guide with all the details.

Sunday, April 26

Toadies in concert
A month after helping to reopen the Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum, the Toadies introduce their new beer from Martin House Brewing Company with a special concert at the brewery. Everyone attending the event gets a souvenir pint glass, three beers and the first chance to try this year's Toadies beer, Bockslider.

Marc Maron in concert
It's taken comedian Marc Maron longer than some to get to the top of his profession, but he's enjoying the ride now. He has a top-rated podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, a sitcom called Maron on IFC and he continues to be an in-demand stand-up comic. He brings his Maronation tour to Dallas with this stop at the South Side Music Hall in the Gilley's complex.

Earth Day Texas, taking place at Fair Park April 24-26, encourages attendees to more eco-friendly.

Earth Day Dallas/Facebook

Earth Day Texas, taking place at Fair Park April 24-26, encourages attendees to more eco-friendly.

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Movie Review

Ana de Armas brings John Wick-level violence to spinoff Ballerina

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Ana de Armas in Ballerina.

The John Wickfranchise has been successful due to two things: The hyper-violence inflicted by its protagonist, and its star, Keanu Reeves, who has used a bare minimum of words to create a great antihero. Trying to capitalize on its popularity, Lionsgate - the studio behind the franchise - has made Ballerina, a spin-off focusing on a character inspired by another minor character from John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.

That convoluted set-up is the first of a variety of missteps for the film. An opening scene introduces the audience to a young Eve (Victoria Comte), who gets taken in by a criminal group known as the Ruska Roma after her father is killed. The bulk of the film takes place 12 years later when a now-adult Eve (Ana de Armas) is finishing her training as a ballerina/assassin-for-hire, led by The Director (Anjelica Huston).

Hungry to prove her worth, Eve starts going out on various jobs. One of those jobs puts her in the orbit of the group responsible for her father’s death, and she dedicates herself toward finding the leader known as The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) and exacting revenge. Oh, and for funsies, the film - set between John Wick 3 and 4 - also brings in Wick himself to juice the action.

Directed by Len Wiseman and written by Shay Hatten (who’s written the last two John Wick films), the film is at its best when the filmmakers are going all-in on the action. Like all films in the series, the actual body count soon becomes negligible, with the film more interested in how inventively Eve can slaughter everyone in her path. And there are some creative methods employed, including ice skates, hatchets, and - most memorably - a flamethrower.

What Wiseman and Hatten are not able to do, however, is make us care about Eve herself. The main John Wick films got increasingly complicated, but they were tolerable because of how compelling a character Wick was. There’s no such connection with Eve, and for all her personal tragedy, she might as well be a faceless person. A lack of explanation as to why Ruska Roma is training women as ballerinas - you know, the title of the movie - only underscores how little the filmmakers cared about creating a good story.

Consequently, despite plenty of gory kills, the film is actually quite boring to watch play out. The film goes through the paces of having Eve take on all-comers, but the end result is never in doubt and most of the action runs together. The inclusion of Wick into the story feels like the afterthought, whether it actually was or not. It also has the unfortunate effect of comparing a character fans know and love to one who hasn’t been given a chance to establish herself.

Although her character as a whole is lacking, De Armas shows that she can easily handle the physical aspects of the role. The 37-year-old actor is oddly asked to play a 24-year-old (or so), but she mixes it up with the best of them. Byrne makes for a so-so new villain, while Reeves, Huston, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick (making his final film appearance after passing away in 2023) all reprise their roles well.

Ballerina has the look and feel of the four previous John Wick films, but it fails to be as compelling of an action film as any of them. True, it has just as much violence as fans have come to expect from the series, but its lead character is one that never reaches the level of John Wick, and it doesn’t seem like the filmmakers even tried to accomplish that goal.

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Ballerina opens in theaters on June 6.

film john wick franchise movies