Weekend Event Planner

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

As is often the case, it's a music-heavy weekend here in Dallas. The fun thing about this grouping, though, is that you'll be able to experience said music in a variety of venues, most of them outside. Besides music, you can also catch the opening and closing of two separate art exhibits, play with LEGOs in Irving, or see some really short plays.

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, August 11

George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum presents The National Parks - Select Images
The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum celebrates the centennial of the National Park Service with a special exhibit featuring modern, iconic photographs by American photographer Mark Burns. The photographs were taken by Burns from 2011 through 2015 and include each of America’s 59 national parks. The exhibit is on display through August 30.

Bud Light Party Convention with Jason Derulo and Brett Eldredge
You can get down into the mire of real politics, or you can enjoy Bud Light's "campaign" with this special concert at Klyde Warren Park, featuring appearances by Jason Derulo and Brett Eldredge. The event is free with a catch: The only way to get tickets is to win them. Both KISS FM and Mix 102.9 are giving away tickets, or you can enter the digital sweepstakes.

AXS TV Concerts Hosted by Mark Cuban: The Monkees
The Monkees were named one of our best summer concerts, but that was for their concert on June 28 at Winspear Opera House. Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban has convinced them to come back to town to kick off his AXS TV concert series at the Bomb Factory, giving fans a chance to get more up close and personal with the iconic band.

Friday, August 12

Brick Dallas/Fort Worth
Prepare to build, play, and be entertained at Brick Dallas/Fort Worth at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas. Along with jaw-dropping creations will be live-action build demonstrations, workshops, contests, the official LEGO store, and exclusive Brick show merchandise. The convention takes place through Sunday.

DFW Restaurant Week Food and Wine Festival
We already told you about this two-day event at Main Street Garden in our food and drink events roundup, but that was for the eating and drinking aspect. On the entertainment side, there are going to be performances by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Friday and Magic! on Saturday, allowing you to dance off the calories you consume earlier in the evening.

Disturbed & Breaking Benjamin in concert with Alter Bridge & Saint Asonia
Living up to their name, Disturbed has gotten some notoriety recently for their somewhat disturbing cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence." That song appears on their 2015 album, Immortalized, which will be showcased during this co-headlining concert, alongside Breaking Benjamin, at Gexa Energy Pavilion.

Saturday, August 13

Gwen Stefani in concert with Eve
The fact that you can get in to see pop superstar Gwen Stefani, as well as her opening act, Eve, for as little as $10 (courtesy of a 4 for $40 lawn seating deal) has to be one of biggest steals in recent memory. Fresh off her stint on The Voice, Stefani is killing it with her most recent album, This is What the Truth Feels Like, which details her love for boyfriend, Blake Shelton.

Kitchen Dog Theater presents 3rd Annual One-Minute Play Festival
If you love theater but think plays take way too long, Kitchen Dog Theater's annual One-Minute Play Festival is for you. Taking place at Trinity River Arts Center through Monday, it features 60 brand-new One-Minute Plays by more than 30 playwrights, each of whom tries to get their vision across in just 60 seconds.

Sunday, August 14

Dallas Museum of Art presents Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty closing day
If you've been procrastinating on seeing the Dallas Museum of Art's latest showcase exhibit, Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty, this is your last chance, as the show closes on Sunday. The first retrospective of Penn’s work in nearly 20 years features over 140 photographs, including iconic images from his oeuvre, as well as previously unseen or never exhibited photographs.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy perform on August 12 as part of the DFW Restaurant Week Food and Wine Festival, taking place through August 13.

Photo by Don Miller

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy perform on August 12 as part of the DFW Restaurant Week Food and Wine Festival, taking place through August 13.

festivals concerts event-planner galleries music kids theater families

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.

---

Reminders of Him opens in theaters on March 13.

movies film