Weekend Event Planner

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

With Thanksgiving just a week away, holiday events are starting to ramp up in Dallas. Half of the offerings this weekend are holiday-themed in one way or another. If it's still too early for you to be celebrating the season, you can also see a famous newsman, sing along with a variety of big-name musicians, or spend time with arguably the most well-known political couple living today.

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, November 16

Chi Omega Christmas Market 40th Anniversary
The Chi Omega Christmas Market offers a unique, one-of-a-kind shopping experience with more than 180 merchants showcasing gifts for every age including holiday décor, women’s clothing/accessories, home accents, children’s clothing and toys, food items, and more. You can get a jump on your holiday shopping at this event, taking place through Saturday at Centennial Hall at Fair Park.

2017 DIFFA Holiday Wreath
Another holiday tradition is DIFFA/Dallas' annual Holiday Wreath Collection, which is celebrating its 22nd anniversary. Featuring one-of-a-kind wreaths, as well as works of art and curated accessories from designers around the world, the one-night-only event takes place at Fashion Industry Gallery in downtown Dallas.

Arts & Letters Live: Dan Rather
Dan Rather was one of the most respected evening news anchors for many years, and now he has evolved into a voice of wisdom in the Facebook age. At this event, Rather will discuss his new book, What Unites Us, a collection of original essays that celebrates shared values and what matters most in America. Krys Boyd, host and managing editor of Think on KERA, will moderate the conversation at First United Methodist Church of Dallas.

Tori Amos in concert
Even though she was never quite as successful as other singer/songwriters from the 1990s, Tori Amos still holds a draw for anyone who came of age during that time. Her fearlessness in tackling subjects that others wouldn't touch made her stand apart. She'll play at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in support of her new album, Native Invader.

Friday, November 17

People Generation presents Magical Winter Lights
Magical Winter Lights is unlike any other holiday lighting event in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The festival bases its designs from Chinese lanterns and transforms them into larger-than-life remakes of well-known landmarks like the Dallas County Courthouse, a giant cowboy, and Dallas’ iconic Pegasus. The festival, which has multiple different areas, will be open every day at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie through January 7.

An Evening with President Bill Clinton & the Honorable Hillary Clinton
It's likely only those of a certain political persuasion will be on hand at this event at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, featuring the most well-known power couple of the past 25 years, Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Clintons will participate in a conversation with Danny Eaton, chief operating officer at Live Nation Entertainment Dallas office, about their eponymous foundation, Hillary's new book about the 2016 election, and, without a doubt, President Trump.

Niall Horan in concert
The five former members of One Direction have all scattered to the wind to pursue solo careers, with each slowly but surely making their way back to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Following Harry Styles' appearance on October 10 and in advance of Liam Payne's appearance at Jingle Ball on November 28, Niall Horan will play at South Side Ballroom in support of his debut solo album, Flicker, featuring the hit songs "This Town" and "Slow Hands." Horan will also perform at Jingle Ball if you miss him this time around.

Saturday, November 18

The Trains at NorthPark
Benefiting Ronald McDonald House of Dallas, The Trains at NorthPark will mark its 30th year with more than 750 railcars on a 1,600-foot elaborate configuration of tracks and scenes. The annual holiday exhibit features cityscapes like Dallas, replete with the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge and Fair Park; New York with Times Square and Grand Central Terminal; Washington, D.C. with The White House; and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. The exhibit will be on display through January 7.

Moscow Ballet presents Great Russian Nutcracker
Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker is known for its award-winning dancers; lavish costumes in the style of the Victorian era; and Russian focus including life-sized matryoshka dolls and Russian folk legends Ded Moroz (Father Christmas) and Snegurochka (Snow Maiden). The memorable production will have three performances through Sunday at McFarlin Auditorium.

Sunday, November 19

Fantasia in concert
Former American Idol winner Fantasia has not been as hugely successful as fellow champions Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood, but she has firmly established herself in the R&B genre. Each of her five studio albums has reached the top 5 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop charts, and her just-released holiday album, Christmas After Midnight, has sold well, too. She'll perform at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Magical Winter Lights will be at Lone Star Park starting on November 17 and going through January 7.

Photo courtesy of Magical Winter Lights

Magical Winter Lights will be at Lone Star Park starting on November 17 and going through January 7.

event-planner

Movie Review

The End of Oak Street can't live up to its Spielberg inspirations

Photo by Daniel McFadden

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway in The End of Oak Street.

Steven Spielberg is the iconic director of the last 50 years, so it’s no surprise that many other filmmakers have borrowed from his classic films. But most of the time those come in the form of references or homages, not straight up theft, which is what it feels like watching The End of Oak Street play out in front of your eyes.

Set in the early 1980s in an idyllic suburban neighborhood of an unnamed city, Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are parents to two teenagers, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery). They’re also possibly heading toward divorce, as Audrey is secretly writing a novel with a thinly-veiled plot about their life, and Brian is cagey about having to earn extra money with a pizza delivery job.

That all gets put on the backburner when a mysterious event takes their entire neighborhood back to the time of dinosaurs. Armed with little more than a shotgun and sledgehammer, Audrey and Brian do their best to keep the family safe in their house. But the longer the ordeal goes on, circumstances force them out onto the streets and into the increasing danger that’s all around them.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the film tries immensely hard to be like the Spielberg movies its filmmaker clearly adores, but fails at almost every turn. It never earns the broken family in ‘80s suburbia vibes that were prevalent in E.T., going all in right away in the opening scene with a neighborhood block party that feels forced. Other elements like a bully who has it out for Brian, the family dog that disappears, and an angry neighbor come across as the tropes they are and not as organic parts of the plot.

When it finally gets to its dinosaur sequences, they pale in comparison to those found in Jurassic Park. The strange manner in which the dinosaurs appear is a big part of that, but the action involving them forgoes ominous moments that could build tension for those that play up gore in an unexpected way for a PG-13 movie. Many of the attacks have so little emotional meaning that they come off as comical, which is entertaining but in a hollow way.

As if those weren’t enough, Mitchell - perhaps at the behest of producer J.J. Abrams (who made his own Spielbergian film, Super 8) - tries to honor Spielberg in other ways. Just like in Jaws, he employs the use of a split diopter lens, which keeps characters in both the foreground and background in focus. But instead of using it judiciously, it’s brought out in three separate scenes, including a laughable one with the four family members where it turns into overkill.

Hathaway, coming off of a role in The Odyssey that could earn her an Oscar nomination, is the best part of this film. But even her evident skills are dragged down by the ridiculousness of the story, which requires hysterics that even she can’t sell. McGregor can normally be counted on for a good performance, but he gives several line readings with strange cadences that make his already-underwritten character come off worse. Stella and Convery are okay, but their roles are unmemorable overall.

Mitchell and his team can never settle on exactly what type of film they were trying to make, and so even though The End of Oak Street has a few moments that work, they’re surrounded by many others that don’t. In trying to emulate Spielberg - there’s even a blatant Back to the Future (produced by Spielberg) rip-off towards the end - all Mitchell has done is show how difficult it is to be the master.

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The End of Oak Street opens in theaters on August 14.