Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

A holiday weekend is often a time for event organizers to scale back on their plans, but not so this Labor Day weekend. The next five days are absolutely packed, headlined by four big events at a new major venue. You can also see a world premiere play, enjoy the music of one of the best movies of 2016 live, see two major college football powers square off, and more.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Monday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events. (Note: The Pavilion at the Music Factory in Irving was scheduled to open this weekend, but all events have either been moved or postponed due to construction delays.)

Thursday, August 31

UT Arlington presents Lou Diamond Phillips Film Festival
In advance of Lou Diamond Phillips appearing at UT Arlington on September 7 as part of its Maverick Speakers Series, the university will host screenings of some of Phillips' best known movies. 2012's Filly Brown will screen on Thursday, followed by La Bamba on September 5, and a double feature of Courage Under Fire and The 33 on September 6. All films are free and will take place at Mavericks Activities Center.

Dallas Theater Center presents Miller, Mississippi
The 2017-2018 season opener for Dallas Theater Center is the world premiere of Miller, Mississippi, which tells the story of one family that falls apart as the country attempts to come together during the Civil Rights movement. In the classic Southern Gothic tradition, the tragic new play will stun minds and break hearts, as the personal and political combine to bring about the Miller family’s undoing. The production will run at Wyly Theatre through October 1.

TITAS presents Momix: Opus Cactus
If Salvador Dali and Leonardo da Vinci were inspired by National Geographic, you’d get Opus Cactus, Moses Pendleton’s evening-length work about the desert world. With their signature dance illusion style, Momix explores the mysterious creatures and cacti of the desert. The season opening performance will take place at Winspear Opera House.

Friday, September 1

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents La La Land in Concert
The controversy over La La Land's non-win at the Academy Awards overshadowed the fact that it was one of the best movies of 2016. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will pay tribute to its musical greatness by screening the critically-acclaimed film while the full orchestra performs the score live. There will be two performances Friday and Saturday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

2017 Riverfront Jazz Festival
Dallas’ inaugural Riverfront Jazz Festival, presented and produced by The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, will host 35 national and international music artists on three stages over Labor Day Weekend. Taking place at Texas Horse Park, the festival will feature performances by honorary chairs Erykah Badu, Will Downing, and Najee, as well as Jon Secada, Ruben Studdard, and others. The festival will take place through Sunday.

Jimmy Herring and the Invisible Whip in concert
Jimmy Herring, best known as the lead guitarist for Widespread Panic, will bring his band, the Invisible Whip, to town to play new music and material from his last two records. Although Herring has been touring consistently with Widespread Panic over the past 10 years, it has been almost five years since he last toured with his own band. The concert will take place at Trees.

Saturday, September 2

Advocare Classic: Michigan vs. Florida
All the three local Division I college football teams - SMU, TCU, and UNT - open their seasons with home games on Saturday, but those who aren't fans of the Ponies, Frogs or Mean Green should head to this game at AT&T Stadium. The Michigan Wolverines and Florida Gators will meet for the first time in the regular season. Ticket-holders can enjoy a pregame Fan Fest with performances by Reckless Kelly and Judah & The Lion.

Dallas Dancefest
Dallas DanceFest, taking place at Moody Performance Hall on Saturday and Sunday, features works from 28 diverse dance companies from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and beyond. Performers will include Ballet Ensemble of Texas, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, NobleMotion Dance, Texas Ballet Theater, Bruce Wood Dance, imPULSE Dance Project, and more.

Sunday, September 3

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Visions of America: Three Centuries of Prints from the National Gallery of Art" closing day
Sunday is your final chance to see "Visions of America: Three Centuries of Prints from the National Gallery of Art," which surveys how America and its people have been represented in prints for the last 400 years. The exhibit features more than 150 outstanding prints from the colonial era to the present, including works by Paul Revere, James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jenny Holzer, and others.

Monday, September 4

Lifehouse and Switchfoot in concert
This co-headlining concert by Lifehouse and Switchfoot, two bands that appeal to the Christian music genre, was to have taken place at the Pavilion at the Irving Music Factory. Because of construction delays there, it has been moved to South Side Ballroom in Dallas. Lifehouse is touring in support of its 2015 album, Out of the Wasteland, while Switchfoot is promoting its 2016 album, Where the Light Shines Through.

Lifehouse will co-headline a concert at the Pavilion at the Music Factory with Switchfoot on September 4.

Photo courtesy of LIfehouse

Lifehouse will co-headline a concert at the Pavilion at the Music Factory with Switchfoot on September 4.

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Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer is an unappreciated mom in Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

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Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

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