Weekend Event Planner

Fall Out Boy and Kid Rock headline the best weekend events in Dallas

As July comes to a near close, there are a slew of fun and interesting events on tap in Dallas-Fort Worth. Among the offerings this weekend are concerts featuring both current and classic performers, a visit from the Bionic Woman, a film about history we should never forget 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, July 23

Dallas Holocaust Museum presents 9/11 documentary screening
Greatness can often be a combination of skill and luck. The Naudet brothers achieved it when they unwittingly found themselves capturing the events of 9/11 as they happened during a planned New York firefighter documentary. The result is heroic, gut-wrenching and unmissable. You can see this free screening at the Dallas Holocaust Museum.

Kid Rock in concert with Foreigner
A big-name concert being truly affordable is almost an impossibility these days, but somehow Kid Rock is making it happen. This date at Gexa Energy Pavilion, with classic rockers Foreigner as the opening act, guarantees that every ticket is $24 at most, with many being less. That's a deal that's hard to pass up, whether you're a fan or not.

Friday, July 24

More than a Bionic Woman: An Evening With Lindsay Wagner
Between a supporting role on The Six-Million Dollar Man and a starring role on The Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner only played her most iconic part for a total of 67 episodes. But it's one that's stuck with her for 40 years, an experience she'll recount along with many others from throughout her life and career at this special event at the Courtyard Theater in Plano.

Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire in concert
More than one fan base will be served during this concert at Gexa Energy Pavilion, as classic rockers Chicago team up with multi-genre group Earth, Wind & Fire for a throwback concert. Both bands refuse to rest on their laurels, as each has released a new album as recently as 2014, providing a treasure trove of musical material to make this event a memorable one.

Garden Gigs at the Dallas Arboretum
The Dallas Arboretum hosts weekly concerts during the spring and fall, but this will be its first full-blown music festival. Local musicians Salim Nourallah, John Lefler and Camille Cortinas, and Sudie will perform intimate sets at sundown in several gardens. A variety of food trucks will be on hand for the event, which is also BYOB.

Stephen Stills in concert
A year ago we welcomed in the full Crosby, Stills & Nash for a concert, and now Stephen Stills returns solo to deliver more classic rock. In addition to his time with Crosby, Nash and occasionally Neil Young, Stills was also a founding member of another classic band, Buffalo Springfield. He'll play selections from throughout his solo and group careers at the Majestic Theatre.

Saturday, July 25

Texas Musicians Museum BIG Opening
The history of music in Texas is long and rich, and now there's a museum in Irving to appreciate what Texas musicians have contributed to society. The Texas Musicians Museum, which feature items from artists and groups like Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Destiny’s Child, Willie Nelson, Janis Joplin and Waylon Jennings, will hold its grand opening with two sessions of live music, tours and more.

Fall Out Boy in concert with Wiz Khalifa
Rockers Fall Out Boy have been on a roll these past few years, scoring No. 1 albums with both 2013's Save Rock and Roll and 2015's American Beauty/American Psycho thanks to hits like "Centuries." They'll team up with rapper Wiz Khalifa, who's riding high on his No. 1 hit "See You Again," for this concert at Gexa Energy Pavilion.

Sunday, July 26

WaterTower Theatre presents Sweet Charity
The musical Sweet Charity had some high-powered talent behind it when it originally premiered, with Neil Simon writing the book and Bob Fosse directing and choreographing the show. WaterTower Theatre will attempt to do justice to that history with its 2014-2015 season-ending production, which will run at Addison Conference Centre through August 16.

WaterTower Theatre will present Sweet Charity at Addison Conference Centre through August 16.

Photo by Kelsey Leigh Ervi

WaterTower Theatre will present Sweet Charity at Addison Conference Centre through August 16.

unspecified

Movie Review

Glen Powell bumps off rich family in How to Make a Killing

Photo courtesy of A24

Glen Powell in How to Make a Killing.

Becoming a star in Hollywood and maintaining that stardom are two very difficult things to achieve, but Glen Powell has been adept at doing so over the past few years. A key supporting role in Top Gun: Maverick led to lead parts in films like Hit Man, Anyone But You, Twisters, and The Running Man. Powell is looking to keep his star power shining in the new dark comedy/thriller, How to Make a Killing.

He plays Beckett, an outcast member of the ultra-wealthy Redfellow clan. Struggling to get by in a menial job in New York City while still living in New Jersey, Beckett’s only smidgen of hope is that he remains an heir to the vast Redfellow fortune. The only trick? Every other remaining family member must die before he’ll see a dime of that money. When even that menial job goes away, Beckett indulges the fantasy of bumping off his familial competition.

Among those standing in his way are cousins Taylor (Raff Law), a finance bro, Noah (Zach Woods), a pretentious artist, and Steven (Topher Grace), a celebrity pastor; Uncle Warren (Bill Camp) and Aunt Cassandra (Bianca Amato); and grandfather Whitelaw (Ed Harris). Complicating matters, however, are an old childhood friend, Julia (Margaret Qualley), who starts asking more of Beckett than he can give; and new flame Ruth (Jessica Henwick), who happens to be dating Noah when he meets her.

Written and directed by John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal), the film is a tale of two halves. Narrated by Beckett in the form of telling his story to a prison chaplain, the story plays with audience expectations on multiple occasions. As Beckett ramps up to detailing exactly how he got started down the road toward being a serial killer, the film has a fun-if-macabre vibe.

Under normal circumstances Beckett would be someone to despise, but since he’s an underprivileged person who’s taking aim at people who (mostly) don’t seem to appreciate their good luck, it feels okay to cheer for him. This follows a recent trend in “eat the rich” films, one that’s been influenced by a turn against real-life billionaires. Ford plays heavily into the theme and it works for a good portion of the film.

However, things get a little murky in the second half of the movie. A few of the planned killings get less attention than others, making their - pardon the pun - execution less interesting/fun than the others. Also, Ford does a poor job of indicating just how much weight should be put on Beckett’s relationship with Julia, someone with whom he only has occasional interactions for the bulk of the film.

It’s difficult to know the exact right way to showcase Powell, but this film doesn’t seem to be the best fit. Whether it’s the odd hairstyle/wig he’s given, or the varying degrees of confidence his character shows, his performance is up and down. Qualley’s acting style is over-the-top, and she needed to dial it down in this particular role. Henwick and Camp are the grounding forces in the film, keeping the story somewhat tethered to reality while almost everyone else makes a meal of their scenes.

How to Make a Killing is serviceable entertainment that gives viewers a decent number of laughs and thrills. But Ford can’t find a way to make the story work all the way through, and a so-so performance by Powell keeps the film from rising above its mediocre station.

---

How to Make a Killing opens in theaters on February 20.

movies film