Weekend Event Planner

These are the 6 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

While the majority of events around Dallas have either been postponed or canceled, there are a few that have popped up to offer the masses some entertainment while still adhering to the social distancing necessary during the coronavirus pandemic.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. While they're not all outside of the house, they all promise to provide a nice distraction from the everyday life.

Thursday, September 3

The Texas Tribune Festival
The annual Texas Tribune Festival, which normally takes place in Austin, will be almost entirely virtual this year, opening it up to people all over the world. It will feature a month of programming with more than 250 speakers, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Hillary Clinton, Andrew Yang, Joaquin Castro, Julián Castro, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Eric Holder, Jeb Bush, Cecile Richards, Chasten Buttigieg, Gloria Steinem, and more. The festival continues through September 30.

Friday, September 4

Brass, Organ & Percussion of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Sarah Hicks and the DSO musicians will present a patriotic return to Meyerson Symphony Center filled with brass-tastic arrangements of spirited anthems and marches. The concert, taking place through Sunday, will feature Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, selections from Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, as well as Bradley Welch playing the 4,500-pipe Lay Family Concert Organ. These concerts and other forthcoming concerts are currently available to subscribers only.

Southfork Ranch Fall Concert Series
The Southfork Ranch Fall Concert Series will present concerts featuring area tribute bands every two weeks through October 2, starting with Beatlemania '64, a tribute to The Beatles. Guests will be socially distanced in “viewing pods,” a 13-by-25-foot space marked off in the Southfork Ranch parking lot. Each pod holds up to six guests and tickets may be purchased as a group or individually. Masks must be worn when a guest leaves their pod to use the restroom or concession area.

Tupps Brewery presents Summer Drive-In Concert Series
Tupps Brewery in McKinney will host the final installment in their series of drive-in concerts, featuring a performance by Cody Canada and The Departed. Each vehicle will have a 20’ x 20’ block of space, and all guests are asked to remain in their assigned block for the duration of the concert. Portable chairs or a blanket on the ground inside a block are welcome. Face masks must be worn when leaving a block in order to visit the restrooms, brewery tent, or food truck.

Saturday, September 5

Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary presents Dinosaurs Live opening day
At Heard Natural Science Museum's 15th annual Dinosaurs Live exhibit, visitors can travel back in time along a half-mile nature trail with 10 life-size animatronic dinosaurs. The exhibit features the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex, a spitting Dilophosaurus, a Brachiosaurus, and more. There will be the opportunity to play on stationary baby dinosaurs, a photo-op Tyrannosaurus rex, and a photo op Pachyrhinosaurus. The exhibit will remain on display through February 25.

Sunday, September 6

Rulli Torres Fashion Design Studio presents Disturbance
Disturbance is a non-traditional gallery-style fashion show designed to keep everyone safe while following COVID-19 guidelines. Rulli Torres is a fashion designer who has produced numerous fashion shows benefiting nonprofits. The exhibition will be be a mock-up of pop culture as if one was going to a grocery store. Social distancing stickers will be placed throughout the exhibit, featuring around 15 installations in total. The event will be at Urban Arts Center in Dallas.

Southfork Ranch in Parker will kick off their Fall Concert Series on September 4 with a performance by Beatlemania '64.

Photo courtesy of Southfork

Southfork Ranch in Parker will kick off their Fall Concert Series on September 4 with a performance by Beatlemania '64.

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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.

movies film