Weekend Event Planner

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

If you love history, this is a good weekend to experience it in Dallas, as several events have it at the forefront. Among the offerings are two shows from a big Dallas band from the '90s, stand-up from two comics who've been around a long time, a festival featuring vintage airplanes, a tour of classic Dallas homes, and more.

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, May 11

Tripping Daisy in concert with Pearl Earl
Tripping Daisy was one of the biggest Dallas bands of the 1990s, dominating locally before scoring some national fame thanks to their hit "I Got a Girl." They're reuniting for the first time in 17 years at Saturday's Homegrown Music & Arts Festival, and they'll warm up for their headlining gig with this special VIP concert at Club Dada. They are joined by opening act Pearl Earl.

Friday, May 12

Improv Addison presents Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold has been a TV and movie actor for so long that it's easy to forget that he started out like many comedians — on the stand-up circuit. He returns to his roots to poke fun at his Midwest past and marital follies, and share absurd Hollywood stories. Arnold is a ball of chaos and charisma on stage, which he shows off at Improv Addison in five sets through Sunday.

Joe Rogan in concert
A stand-up comedian for more than 20 years, Joe Rogan has a unique and intense comedic style. He's also a versatile entertainer, having appeared as an actor in a variety of TV shows and movies, hosting Fear Factor, serving as color commentator for UFC fights, and hosting The Joe Rogan Experience, a popular comedy podcast. He performs at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Saturday, May 13

Cavanaugh Flight Museum presents 2017 Warbirds Over Addison
North Texas aviation buffs have the chance to see, touch, and even fly in a variety of planes from Cavanaugh Flight Museum. During its biggest weekend of the year, the museum flies many of its treasured WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam-era airplanes, including the P‐51 Mustang, AD-5 Skyraider, FM2 Wildcat, and more. Guests can also enjoy aircraft on display, plus a Naval carrier aircraft operation demonstration and a Sherman tank demo. The event takes place on both Saturday and Sunday.

Swiss Avenue Historic District Mother's Day Home Tour
The 44th annual Swiss Avenue Historic District Mother’s Day Home Tour is a weekend-long tribute to Dallas’ historic past, featuring seven early 20th-century homes, an art fair, a vintage auto display, a children’s play area, live entertainment on the Avenue, free horse-drawn carriage rides, complimentary air-conditioned mini-coaches, food, drinks, and more. The tour takes place on both Saturday and Sunday.

Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce presents Home Depot Asian Festival
The family-friendly Asian Festival, taking place at Fair Park, showcases Asian food trucks and cuisines from countries such as Sri Lanka, Philippines, Korea, and China. It also includes cultural performances like martial arts, acrobats, and lion dances; arts and crafts; a children's zone; and a cultural pavilion area for visitors to explore and learn about each culture.

Homegrown Music & Arts Festival
The annual Homegrown Music & Arts Festival is a great showcase for bands both local and national, headlined this year by the reunited Tripping Daisy. They are joined at Main Street Garden by Mutemath, White Denim, Porches, Lower Dens, Still Corners, Motorcade, RC and the Gritz, El Gato, Cure for Paranoia, Lizzie Boredom, and Greg Schroeder.

TITAS presents Command Performance Gala
The Command Performance Gala features 12 artists from leading companies who will light up the stage at Winspear Opera House. Among the performers during the program are Boston Ballet’s principals Dusty Button and Lasha Khozashvilli; Momix; aerial dance company Bandaloop; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Matthew Rushing, with Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s Claude Alexander III; Beijing Dance Theater’s Linshu Feng and Jie Zheng; and SMU Division of Dance alumnus and Bruce Wood Dance Project’s Albert Drake.

Sunday, May 14

Texas Rangers present Triple Play Game Show Spectacular
The Texas Rangers are off to a rough start on the field this year, but this event is a fun way to get up close and personal with players while raising money for a good cause. The evening at the Hilton Anatole features players competing in a series of games, a live and silent auction, and more, all to support the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation's efforts to build the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy at Mercy Street Sports Complex in Dallas.

Tim DeLaughter, seen here with the Polyphonic Spree, fronts the reunited Tripping Daisy at two shows in Dallas on May 11 and 13.

Photo courtesy of Earth Day Texas

Tim DeLaughter, seen here with the Polyphonic Spree, fronts the reunited Tripping Daisy at two shows in Dallas on May 11 and 13.

event-planner

Movie Review

Reminders of Him blends trauma and romance in slight but effective story

Photo by Michelle Faye / Universal Pictures

Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers in Reminders of HIm.

Texas author Colleen Hoover has gone from being a popular writer to a full-on celebrity in the 2020s, with the new film Reminders of Him marking the third adaptation of her books in just 19 months (a fourth, Verity, is scheduled for release in October 2026). All of her books that have been adapted so far - most notably It Ends With Us - are female-led stories that feature elements of romance and trauma, catnip for studios looking to appeal to the underserved demographic of women.

Leading the way in this film is Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), who returns to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming after spending years in prison for killing her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow), in a car accident. That relationship resulted in a daughter, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), whom Kenna gave birth to while imprisoned and is now being raised by her grandparents, Patrick (Bradley Whitford) and Grace (Lauren Graham).

Yearning to be a part of Diem’s life, Kenna tries to reconnect with Patrick and Grace, only to be rebuffed by Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), a former NFL player who now owns a local bar. In running interference, Ledger starts to become closer to Kenna, discovering that her tragic mistake shouldn’t be the only thing that defines her.

Directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Lauren Levine, the film features mostly surface level examinations of its themes and average performances, yet it winds up being effective thanks to a willingness not to rush through its storytelling beats. The filmmakers take the slow and steady approach toward the coupling of Kenna and Ledger, setting up their bond through a series of heart-to-heart conversations that makes any romance feel earned.

The majority of the focus is on Kenna reclaiming her place in the world, and on Ledger coming to terms with the fact that the person who killed his best friend is not inherently a bad person. The film definitely could have gone deeper in its explorations of grief and anger, but the sheer amount of time it takes in addressing the characters’ doubts and fears turns out to be sufficient for a film that’s not aiming to be considered a dramatic masterpiece.

It also helps that Caswill and Levine do a solid job of establishing the variety of characters that inhabit the film. Kenna and Ledger don’t always feel like fully-formed people, but they become so through their interactions with each other and the other townspeople. Lady Diana (Monika Myers), a girl with Down syndrome who lives in Kenna’s apartment complex, and Roman (Nicholas Duvernay), Ledger’s co-worker at his bar, help to broaden the appeal of the two leads.

Monroe has, to this point, been best known for starring roles in horror films like It Follows and Longlegs. While she does somewhat well in this role, her delivery is often more flat than you’d expect for a character going through what she does. Withers thankfully doesn’t remind viewers of his recent bomb Him, demonstrating a crossover appeal that should serve him well in the future. Whitford and Graham don’t get to do much, but their combined experience gives their roles exactly what is needed.

It may sound like damning with faint praise, but Reminders of Him is a competently made film that knows how to serve its core audience without insulting anyone who may not automatically be all-in for such a story. The filmmakers don’t try to force any of the key moments down the audience’s throat, and that stands out in a genre that’s not always known for its subtlety.

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Reminders of Him opens in theaters on March 13.

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