Weekend Event Planner

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

It'll be another big weekend in and around Dallas as we move into October. A certain mega female pop star will play not one but two concerts at the area's biggest venue. She'll be joined by two other big concerts, and a festival-style event featuring both bands and politicians. There will also be two new local theater productions and a semi-annual arts festival.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, October 4

Angelika Film Center and Cafe presents Hitchcocktober
There's no better time to enjoy the creepy movies of Alfred Hitchcock than in October, which is why Angelika Film Center in Dallas and Plano will once again present Hitchcocktober. They will screen a different Hitchcock movie every Thursday of the month, starting with Rear Window. Other movies will include Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train, 39 Steps, and Psycho on Halloween.

Wingspan Theatre Company presents On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning
In On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning, three Victorian lady travelers — Mary, Fanny, and Alexandra — take it upon themselves to explore “the mystery of things” and set out for “Terra Incognita” and soon discover the future. These intrepid trekkers pass through a jungle bejeweled with artifacts of the yet to come, hack through history’s underbrush, sojourn with cannibals, bridge-guarding trolls, gas station attendants, and night club crooners. The production will run through October 20 at Bath House Cultural Center.

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Radiant Vermin
When a young couple is offered an ideal house by a mysterious stranger, it prompts the question: How far would any of us go to get our dream home? A fast-paced, pitch-black comedy, Radiant Vermin is a provocative satire about consumerism, gentrification, and inequality. The production will run through October 28 at Trinity River Arts Center.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Carmina Burana
Arguably one of the most popular orchestral pieces performed today, Orff's Carmina Burana features vocals from over 200 members of the Dallas Symphony Chorus. The concert, conducted by Brett Mitchell, will also include Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body and Elgar’s Cockaigne Overture. There will be four performances through Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Friday, October 5

Taylor Swift in concert with Camilla Cabello and Charli XCX
It's been almost three years since Dallas-Fort Worth fans have had a chance to see Taylor Swift perform in person, so she's doubling down and giving them two chances. Swift's latest album, Reputation, has not been quite the crowd-pleaser as her previous albums, but her level is so high that it dwarfs pretty much any other singer. She'll perform on both Friday at Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, with support from Camilla Cabello and Charli XCX.

Phoenix in concert with The Voidz
French indie pop band Phoenix has long been one of those bands that is the soundtrack to many people's lives without ever truly breaking through into the mainstream. Their biggest success was their 2009 album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, which yielded hit songs like "1901" and "Lisztomania." They'll play at South Side Ballroom in support of their 2017 album, Ti Amo, with The Voidz as opening act.

Saturday, October 6

Crow Museum of Asian Art Grand Opening Celebration
The Crow Collection of Asian Art completes its transformation into the Crow Museum of Asian Art with this grand opening event. They'll celebrate with wellness classes, performances, art making, and tours, including the Dallas premiere of "Jacob Hashimoto: Clouds and Chaos." Guests can also stop by the new Pearl Art Studio, watch Tibetan monks create a sand mandala, and visit the newly-designed museum gift shop.

Cottonwood Art Festival
Cottonwood Art Festival is a semi-annual event that features works from the nation's top visual artists. Approximately 1,400 artists submitted their work for consideration, and jurors select over 240 artists to exhibit their museum-quality work and compete in 14 separate categories. The festival, which also features local bands performing the best in rock, country, jazz, blues, swing, and folk, will be at Cottonwood Park in Richardson through Sunday.

David Byrne in concert
We've barely recovered from David Byrne's last visit to Dallas in April, and now we get another chance to enjoy his musical genius. The legendary former Talking Heads lead singer will play at The Theatre at Grand Prairie in support of his new album, American Utopia. He will perform songs from the new album, as well as classics from his solo career and his days with Talking Heads.

Sunday, October 7

The Buffalo Tree Festival
The name of this festival belies its purpose and the big names that will be there. It's a family-friendly music and political engagement festival that will feature musical acts like Spoon, The Polyphonic Spree, and Sarah Jaffe alongside Texas Democratic candidates like Beto O'Rourke, Colin Allred, and Lupe Valdez. It will be a day of entertainment, voter registration, and democracy in action.

David Byrne will play at The Theatre at Grand Prairie on October 6.

David Byrne/Facebook

David Byrne will play at The Theatre at Grand Prairie on October 6.

event-planner

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