Weekend Event Planner

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

Music once again rules the venues around Dallas this weekend, with no fewer than seven of the 10 top events featuring musical acts. The performers will range from favorite local acts to national music legends, with a nice mix of genres to please multiple palates. Also on tap are a new local theater production, a new art opening, and a visit from two comedy masters.

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

Thursday, October 12

Uptown Dallas, Inc. presents Uptown Block Party
The second annual Uptown Block Party will be a night full of music, beer, and food in the great outdoors. Taking place at Griggs Park, it will feature performances by Bob Schneider and The Gibbonses, free beer from Peroni, free sliders from the Katy Trail Ice House, and more.

Spoon in concert with Mondo Cozmo
Austin-based Spoon, which released its first album in 1996, took a while to get some national acclaim, but they've been going like gangbusters since 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga thanks to hits like "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb,""Don't You Evah," and "Got Nuffin." They'll play at House of Blues Dallas in support of their new album, Hot Thoughts. They'll be joined by opening act Mondo Cozmo, known for providing the theme song to the podcast Anna Faris is Unqualified.

Friday, October 13

Aaron Lewis and Blackberry Smoke in concert with Alex Williams
It's been quite the career transition for Aaron Lewis. Formerly the lead singer of the rock band Staind, Lewis moved into country music in 2012 and has stayed there throughout the band's extended hiatus. He'll co-headline this concert at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in support of his 2016 album, Sinner. Blackberry Smoke, playing in support of the 2016 album, Like An Arrow, will co-headline, with Alex Williams serving as opening act.

Herbie Hancock in concert
Now in the sixth decade of his professional life, Herbie Hancock remains where he has always been: at the forefront of world culture, technology, business, and music. In addition to being recognized as a legendary pianist and composer, Hancock has been an integral part of every popular music movement since the 1960s. He'll play a special concert at Annette Strauss Square.

WaterTower Theatre presents Pride and Prejudice
Following the runaway success of her adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, playwright Kate Hamill returns to the immortal English writer with a fresh take on Jane Austen’s most famous novel. As the story of the Bennet daughters and their formidable social-ladder climbing mother unfolds, strong-willed Lizzie charts an independent course as she negotiates mixed feelings about the aloof and seemingly snobbish Mr. Darcy. The production will run through November 5 at WaterTower Theatre in Addison.

Saturday, October 14

Nasher Sculpture Center presents "Paper Into Sculpture" opening day
The latest exhibit at Nasher Sculpture Center will pay tribute to an underappreciated artistic medium: paper. The artists in "Paper into Sculpture" — Noriko Ambe, Marco Maggi, Joshua Neustein, Nancy Rubins, and Franz West — play on tensions between commonly held understandings of sculpture and what paper can and cannot do, pushed to its physical limits. The exhibit opens on Saturday and will be on display through February 4, 2018. There will also be an artists panel on Saturday.

Dallas VideoFest presents 2017 Ernie Kovacs Award: Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald
Dallas VideoFest will honor Kids in the Hall co-founders Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald with the coveted Ernie Kovacs Award. Both Foley and McDonald will be in attendance at Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson to receive the award, and will participate in a panel discussion, a Q&A with fans, and a rare screening of the iconic Kids in the Hall film, Brain Candy.

Portugal. The Man in concert with Tank and the Bangas
It's amazing how one song can change a band's career. Up until this year, the oddly-punctuated Portugal. The Man had barely registered on a national scale, releasing seven albums without so much as a whiff of a hit. But their current single, "Feel It Still," is as inescapable a song as any in recent memory, raising their profile immeasurably. They'll play at the Bomb Factory alongside opening act Tank and the Bangas.

Sunday, October 15

KEGL Freaker's Ball featuring Mastodon, Halestorm, In This Moment, Beartooth, and Greta Van Fleet
Bad news for anyone who bought tickets to this event purely to see Marilyn Manson: The headliner canceled this and multiple other appearances after being injured during a recent concert. Mastodon, which was scheduled to be in Houston on Sunday, has ditched that concert to take Manson's place. They'll be joined by Halestorm, In this Moment, Beartooth, and Greta Van Fleet at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees featuring Joan Baez, Steve Earle, and Patty Griffin
Produced by Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, in partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees is raising awareness and money to support expanded educational opportunities for displaced people through JRS's Global Education Initiative. Funds raised from the tour help refugees to heal, learn, and thrive. This special concert at Majestic Theatre will feature performances by Joan Baez, Lila Downs, Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, and James McMurtry.

WaterTower Theatre presents Pride and Prejudice starting October 13 and running through November 5.

Photo by Evan Michael Woods

WaterTower Theatre presents Pride and Prejudice starting October 13 and running through November 5.

event-planner

Movie Review

Chris Hemsworth tries to steal diamonds and hearts in Crime 101

Photo courtesy of Amazon Content Services

Chris Hemsworth in Crime 101.

The career of actor Chris Hemsworth is a curious one, as it feels like he’s a huge star (mostly from playing Thor in Marvel movies) and not at the same time, with most of the non-MCU movies featuring him in a lead role failing to become big successes. But he still has a certain presence about him, which is why he’s being given another chance to prove his star power in the new thriller, Crime 101.

Hemsworth plays Davis, a talented thief who knows how to get what he wants without resorting to violence. When a job early in the movie turns slightly sideways, it makes him think twice about working with his handler (Nick Nolte), who seems to prefer someone with a stronger touch, like the up-and-coming Ormon (Barry Keoghan).

Davis is the main character, but two others who come into his orbit get their own subplots. Lou (Mark Ruffalo) is a slightly schlubby LAPD detective who’s convinced he knows the pattern of an unknown thief that likes to hit places close to Highway 101. Sharon (Halle Berry) works for a high-end insurance agency known for working with ultra-wealthy clients, the types who might be a great target for a thief like Davis.

Written and directed by Bart Layton, the film has a decent propulsion to it that comes with most crime thrillers. Davis and Ormon represent the yin and the yang of criminal approaches, and and it’s interesting to see the juxtaposition between the two as their simmering rivalry heats up over the course of the film. When the film commits to actually showing its crimes, it has an excitement that’s worth watching.

Unfortunately, Layton displays a real lack of focus, taking the audience into subplots with each of the three main characters that prove unnecessarily distracting. Lou’s marriage problems may explain his disheveled appearance, but there’s no need to see him deal with them with wife Angie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Sharon’s troubles with her male-dominated company prove slightly pivotal, but still don’t merit the time put into exploring them.

The most baffling subplot is Davis pursuing a relationship with Maya (Monica Barbaro), a woman he randomly meets. At different points in the movie, including many of his interactions with Maya, Davis seems like the most uncomfortable, antisocial person in the world. And yet he somehow morphs into a suave smooth-talker who’s able to convince anyone to do what he wants at other key points, making it unclear exactly what kind of person he really is.

Hemsworth does relatively well in the lead role, but he’s still missing that certain something to make his character, and therefore the movie, truly compelling. The rest of the cast is fine, too, but each of them seem to be putting in just the minimal amount of effort to make the film watchable. Ruffalo and Barbaro come off the best, but with the talent in the cast (11 Oscar nominations and one win), they could have been used better.

Crime 101 has most of the ingredients to be another great entry in the genre, and it succeeds when it actually decides to deliver on its promise. But too much of the film is spent on things that have no real bearing on plot or character development, leaving the movie in the middle of the pack.

---

Crime 101 is now playing in the theaters.

movies film