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    Weekend Event Planner

    Jimmy Buffett and Oak Cliff Film Festival top best weekend events in Dallas

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 19, 2014 | 12:00 am

    It's another packed weekend in Dallas-Fort Worth, with a music icon performing two shows in vastly different locations, another stellar film festival on tap and two must-see games, one that's just for fun and one that'll have the whole nation riveted.

    Below are your 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, June 19

    Jimmy Buffett in concert
    Jimmy Buffett, after visiting Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, will be all over the place in Dallas-Fort Worth this weekend. First, he'll put in this show on Thursday at Coyote Drive-In in Fort Worth that will be simulcast to other drive-ins nationwide. But that's just a prelude to his regular tour stop at Toyota Stadium on Saturday with John Fogerty as opening act/co-headliner. If you're a Parrothead, you're guaranteed to be in nirvana.

    2014 Oak Cliff Film Festival
    The Oak Cliff Film Festival, now in its third year, doesn't quite have the clout of other area film festivals, but it's well on its way. Things open up Thursday at Texas Theatre with a secret-but-not-so-secret screening from Sailor Bear Productions and To Be Takei​, a documentary about actor George Takei, and the festival only gets better from there. Screenings and other events will take place at multiple locations, including Bishop Arts Theatre Center, The Kessler, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Oil and Cotton and Jefferson Tower, through Sunday.

    Michael McDonald in concert with Kenny Loggins, The Pointer Sisters and Nile Rodgers & Chic
    This concert is titled "Night of the Proms," and it's not hard to see why. It features a bevy of musicians whose heyday was in the ’80s, reminding people of a certain generation of their high school days. But it also blends together pop and classical music, with the headliners backed by classical group Il Novecento, Fine Fleur, a 24-person choir and British pop star John "Music" Miles. They'll all perform at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, the start of a busy weekend for that venue.

    Friday, June 20

    Dallas Arts District Summer Block Party
    It's the official start of summer, so the Dallas Arts District will celebrate with an all-out block party. The usual third Friday of the month events — Crow Collection After Dark, Late Nights at the DMA and Nasher Sculpture Center's 'til Midnight — will be combined with the closure of the streets around the museums for visitors to mix and mingle, grab some grub from food trucks and enjoy different fun activities.

    Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Star Wars & Beyond: A Laser Light Spectacular
    The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is in the midst of their annual Concerts in the Garden series at Fort Worth Botanic Garden, and their first offering this weekend is bound to be memorable. It combines the playing of popular soundtracks like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Star Trek with a laser light show. You'll never look at classical music the same.

    Saturday, June 21

    2014 Pegasus Music Festival
    The second big event of the weekend at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie will be the inaugural Pegasus Music Festival featuring "carefully selected" bands like Brand New, Cold War Kids, Circa Survive, Bad Books, PMToday, Dustin Kensrue of Thrice and Residual Kid. Even though the festival is indoors, there will also a beer garden and selection of food trucks to give it that extra atmosphere.

    Dirk Nowitzki’s 2014 Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game
    The annual Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco used to be the domain of Mike Modano, but Dirk Nowitzki has stepped in since Modano's retirement a few years ago. As always, the game will be filled with a variety of local sports stars like Monta Ellis, Devin Harris, Dez Bryant, Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Tyler Seguin and more.

    Blake Shelton in concert with The Band Perry, Neal McCoy and Dan + Shay
    Another theme of the weekend will be an invasion by those associated with The Voice. Now that mentor Blake Shelton has some time off from the show, he'll use it to entertain his fan base at Gexa Energy Pavilion. Shelton, still riding high on last year's Based on a True Story..., will be joined by The Band Perry, Neal McCoy and Dan + Shay.

    Sunday, June 22

    FC Dallas 2014 World Cup Tour: USA vs. Portugal
    Anybody who has even a passing interest in soccer was riveted by the United States' last minute win over Ghana in their first game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Now, with a win over Portugal, which was utterly dominated by Germany in its first game, the U.S. could move on to the knockout round. FC Dallas will host this free viewing party at Klyde Warren Park, hopefully giving Dallasites a chance to celebrate en masse.

    The Voice Tour 2014
    The Voice has supplanted American Idol as the most popular reality singing competition on TV, although they'll be hard-pressed to turn out the stars that Idol did at its height. This concert at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie will feature the best of the best, including Season 6 winner Josh Kaufman, runner-up Jake Worthington and third place finisher Christina Grimmie, as well as Season 5 winner Tessanne Chin and others.

    Jeff Tweedy in concert
    Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy is getting ready to release his first-ever solo album, and to get fans hyped up, he's previewing it on a tour that will come to the Majestic Theatre. Tweedy, backed by a band that includes his son Spencer, will play selections from the new album, as well as acoustic versions of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo songs.

    Dirk Nowitzki and other sports stars will attempt to show their "skills" at baseball in the annual Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco on June 21.

    Dirk Nowitzki's Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game
      
    Photo courtesy of Brandon Colston Photography
    Dirk Nowitzki and other sports stars will attempt to show their "skills" at baseball in the annual Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco on June 21.
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    Movie Review

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

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 5, 2025 | 2:38 pm
    Ana de Armas in 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.

    ---

    Ballerina opens in theaters on June 6.

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