Weekend Event Planner

These are the 13 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend is a busy one. In addition to the penultimate weekend of the State Fair of Texas, there will be the return of a beloved film festival, two big concerts, a packed slate for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, three new local theater productions, golf in a ballpark, a visit from a comedian-turned-senator-turned-comedian-again, and more.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend.

Thursday, October 7

Modest Mouse in concert with Future Islands
The career of Modest Mouse has been full of hits, best-selling albums, and long album titles. Best known for songs like "Float On," "Dashboard," and "Lampshades on Fire," the band has released such wordy albums as This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. They'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in support of their latest album, The Golden Casket.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg"
This concert will feature the world premiere of a new work by distinguished American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich paying homage to and remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the first anniversary of her passing in September 2020. Other selections for the concert, taking place at Meyerson Symphony Center, will include Mozart's Overture to Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), Jeffrey Biegel's Reflection of Justice: An Ode to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Wagner's Overture to Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman).

The Firehouse Theatre presents In the Heights
In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood, a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams, and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind. The Tony Award-winning musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes will take place outdoors at The Sound at Cypress Waters in Coppell through October 17.

Kitchen Dog Theater presents Good Latimer
Kitchen Dog Theater kicks off its 31st season with the world premiere of Good Latimer by Dallas native playwright Angela Hanks. Dallasites Ravinia and Good have reached a crossroad in their 35-year relationship. Ravinia has had a sudden epiphany: she is no longer in love with Good. And Good? Far from accepting his fate, he is determined to win her back, even if it means overcoming a sky that rains armadillos, a rare North Texas earthquake, and Dallas's maddeningly ever-evolving landscape. The production will run at Trinity River Arts Center through October 24.

Friday, October 8

Globe Life Field presents Stadiumlinks
Baseball season may be over for the Texas Rangers, but their home stadium will transition to another sport — golf — for Stadiumlinks, a a one-of-a-kind, nine-hole golf experience. Tee times will be offered on both Friday and Saturday in both early morning and evening sessions, ending with the ballpark lights illuminating the entire course under the night sky.

Dallas International Film Festival
The Dallas International Film Festival has returned for a shortened version that will include more than 30 feature and short films over three days. Notable films at the festival include Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch; Belfast, directed by Kenneth Branagh; The Humans, starring Richard Jenkins, Amy Schumer, Steven Yeun, and more; and Mike Mills' C'mon, C'mon, starring Joaquin Phoenix. The festival will take place at Alamo Drafthouse - Cedars through Sunday.

Chris Botti in Concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
For over two decades, Grammy Award-winning master trumpeter and composer Chris Botti has amassed a spectacular variety of honors, including multiple Gold and Platinum albums, to become the nation’s largest selling instrumental artist. He has performed with an array of legends, including Sting, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Yo-Yo Ma, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Andrea Bocelli. He'll perform with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerson Symphony Center through Sunday.

Al Franken: The Only Former U.S. Senator Currently on Tour Tour
As far as anyone knows, Al Franken is the only U.S. Senator who was also one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live. He’s the author of four No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, served Minnesota in the Senate from 2009-2018, and now hosts The Al Franken Podcast. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre on October 8.

Theatre Three presents Little Shop of Horrors
A deliciously devious Broadway and Hollywood sci-fi smash musical, Little Shop of Horrors has devoured the hearts of theatergoers for over 30 years. The meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new breed of plant they name "Audrey II" after their co-worker crush. As the plant grows, Seymour begins to realize how the plant that gave them everything desires to take everything (and everyone) in return. The production will be at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre through October 31.

Saturday, October 9

Turtle Creek Chorale presents "Broadway's Back, Baby!"
Turtle Creek Chorale will present "Broadway’s Back, Baby!," highlighting some of the best songs from Broadway’s rich musical history. The concert will feature two special guests: Major Attaway, known for his playing the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway; and Patty Breckenridge, known for her role as Donna in the WaterTower Theatre production of Mamma Mia! and more. There will be two performances, one Saturday and one Sunday, at McFarlin Auditorium.

Jackopierce in concert
Jackopierce — a folk rock duo made up of Jack O'Neill and Cary Pierce — is a Dallas original, releasing their first album in 1990. Since then, they've gone through the usual ups-and-downs of a rock band, including breaking up for around five years to explore solo options. But they've always gravitated back to each other, with their latest album being 2018's Feel This Good. They'll play at The Kessler.

Sunday, October 10

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Pursuit of Beauty: The May Family Collection" opening day
"Pursuit of Beauty: The May Family Collection" offers a look at the exemplary Dallas-based collection of American art that was built over nearly 60 years by Thomas and Eleanor May and their children Christopher, Sterling, Meredith, and Laura. The exhibition features 24 oil paintings, watercolors, and sculpture by influential artists, including Cecilia Beaux, William Merritt Chase, Winslow Homer, and John Singer Sargent. The exhibition will remain on display at the Dallas Museum of Art through January 9, 2022.

Feed the Streetz Tour: The Living Legends
The who's who of hip hop will come to Dallas as part of "Feed the Streetz" Tour. The night will feature performances by Rick Ross, Jeezy, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, Fabolous, Lil Kim, Boosie Badazz, DJ Drama, and other surprise guests. The concert will be at American Airlines Center.

The Turtle Creek Chorale will present "Broadway's Back, Baby!," starring Major Attaway, at McFarlin Auditorium on October 9 and 10.

Photo by Matthew Murphy

The Turtle Creek Chorale will present "Broadway's Back, Baby!," starring Major Attaway, at McFarlin Auditorium on October 9 and 10.

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Movie Review

Film sequel Avatar: Fire and Ash is a technical and visual feast

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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