Weekend Event Planner

These are 8 best things to do in Dallas on Christmas weekend

While many events in and around Dallas have either been postponed or canceled during the coronavirus pandemic, some organizations have pivoted to virtual or socially-distanced events to continue offering the masses some entertainment while we need it the most.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time over Christmas weekend. While not every event is out of the house, they all promise to provide a nice distraction from the everyday life.

For the best restaurants to take holiday guests, click here. For the most spectacular Christmas light displays around town, click here.

Wednesday, December 23

Holiday events galore
There is no shortage of in-person, drive-thru, and virtual holiday events to see, and most of them will be available every day this weekend. Options include The Trains at NorthPark, SnowDay Dallas, Holiday at the Arboretum, Lone Star Christmas, Luminova Holidays, Radiance!, Prairie Lights, Candy Cane Lane, Dallas Zoo Lights, In the Bleak Midwinter, The Nutcracker, and more.

Dinosaur Drive-Thru
Taking place in the parking lot at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, Dinosaur Drive-Thru features over 60 animatronic dinosaurs. Throughout the 45-minute show, visitors will stay in their vehicles to see dinosaurs displayed in chronological order, which will go along with an interactive audio tour guide describing all of the interesting facts, and some jokes, about each dinosaur, in both English and Spanish. The show will take place on various days through January 10.

Veracruz Cafe presents Oak Cliff's Holiday Cocktail Stroll
The Oak Cliff Holiday Cocktail Stroll takes place at participating venues in Bishop Arts and Trinity Groves every Wednesday in December. Participants can enjoy one complimentary holiday cocktail at each restaurant and discounted food and drinks all night. Venues will include Veracruz Cafe (check-in point), Chimichurri, Avoeatery, and Holy Crust. There will be complimentary shuttle service from Bishop Arts to Trinity Groves every 30 minutes.

Uptown Players presents Helen Holy's Holiday Streaming Spectacular
Wednesday is the final day to stream Uptown Players' special holiday edition of Sister Helen Holy’s 701 club, starring Paul J. Williams as his most popular "altar" ego, Sister Helen Holy of the First Southern Fried Self-Satisfied ‎"Babatist" Church. The production is a mix of holiday music, news, scripture interpretation, special guest performances, and interviews. Once activated, the video must be viewed by December 24.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Cyrus Chestnut Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas
The holidays don't officially arrive until you hear Vince Guaraldi's classic score from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Virtuosic and playful, pianist Cyrus Chestnut infuses these classic charts with his soulful sound. The concert, taking place at Meyerson Symphony Center, will include favorites like "Linus and Lucy," "Christmas Time is Here," "O Tannenbaum," and more.

Theatre Three presents Twas the Night at Theatre Three
In hopes of sharing a little holiday cheer from afar, the Theatre Three team has arranged an evening full of festive illustrations, heartwarming musical performances by Cherish Robinson and Sammy Rat Rios, and a reading of a holiday classic by Emily Gray from the Theatre Three stage. Viewers should consider each viewing opportunity as a performance that begins at the published time; videos must be accessed within 30 minutes of the start times for each show. There will be performances on Wednesday and Thursday.

Sunday, December 27

Dallas Museum of Art presents "To Be Determined" closing day
After three months on display, "To Be Determined" will close at the Dallas Museum of Art. The exhibition explores individual and collective meanings through works of art, sacred objects, and design. Drawing from the museum’s encyclopedic collection, including 13 new acquisitions and three major paintings by Dallas-based artists, the exhibition juxtaposes works from across time, geography, and cultures, from the 13th century to the present day, to trace how the resonance of art can shift when presented in new contexts and as viewers imbue them with their own personal meanings.

Dallas Children's Theater presents Heroes for the Pages
Dallas Children’s Theater's three-week free virtual series, which provides families with a chance to learn more about three December holidays and the children’s book authors who have written about them, will come to a close with an event highlighting author Donna L. Washington’s book L’il Rabbit’s Kwanzaa. The show will include a singalong, author Q&A, and a feature on the hero’s culture.

December 23 will be the final day to stream Uptown Players' Helen Holy's Holiday Streaming Spectacular.

Sister Helen Holy/Facebook

December 23 will be the final day to stream Uptown Players' Helen Holy's Holiday Streaming Spectacular.

families event-planner holidays theater concerts

Movie review

Adam Scott gets creeped out exploring eerie Irish hotel in Hokum

Photo courtesy of Neon

Adam Scott in Hokum.

There are relatively few actors who can switch back and forth between comedy and drama easily, but Adam Scott is the rare exception. He’s equally as well known for starring in comedy projects like Parks & Recreation, Party Down, and Step Brothers as he is for dramas like Big Little Lies and Severance. He’s going the latter route again in the new horror film, Hokum.

Scott plays author Ohm Bauman, who’s trying to finish his latest book. In an effort to avoid distractions and also pay tribute to his parents, he retreats to an Irish hotel where his mom and dad spent their honeymoon. Bauman, who is about as stand-offish as you can get, and the staff of the hotel are at odds almost right away, although Bauman finds a kind of kinship with Jerry (David Wilmot), a seemingly-homeless man he meets in a nearby forest.

Bauman becomes intrigued with the story of the hotel’s closed-off honeymoon suite, which is said to be haunted. His curiosity, though, seems to trigger a variety of strange things, one of which ends with him in an extended stay at the hospital. He returns to the hotel determined more than ever to discover what’s really happening in the honeymoon suite, with things both normal and supernatural blocking his way at every turn.

Written and directed by Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy, the film’s approach to horror is both subtle and overt. On the good side is Bauman’s story, which gradually gets deeper as more is revealed about his past, especially the premature death of his mother. Bauman’s trauma over her loss influences his thinking and actions, and a possible connection between his current situation and his personal history broadens the scope of the plot.

There is plenty of creepiness to be found in the film, starting with the dark and decrepit nature of the hotel itself. Any building where a particular room is off-limits naturally inspires intrigue, and McCarthy does a solid job of building tension. That’s why it’s strange and disappointing that he gives in to the lamest of horror tropes - a sudden appearance by an odd-looking person accompanied by a big screeching noise - on multiple occasions.

The film is at its best when it features weird moments that are never or only slightly explained. A dead body in a rabbit suit is echoed by the unexplained broadcast from Bauman’s youth featuring a terrifying TV host with bulging eyes and rabbit ears. Bauman’s explorations take him into the hotel’s basement via a dumbwaiter, where he encounters all manner of strange things, including what seem to be witches. Because most of these things are left to the audience’s imagination, they hit harder in the moment.

Scott is known to be understated in his acting, and that skill works well in this particular role. Although he clearly plays Bauman as freaked out, he never indicates panic, and that level-headedness makes his character someone you want to follow no matter how dark the path might be. The mostly-Irish supporting cast is not well-known, but Wilmot and Florence Ordesh make the most of their short time on screen.

Hokum - a title that is also not explained - is a horror film that earns its bona fides through mood more than action. Even though not much of consequence happens throughout the film, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what will happen next.

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Hokum is now playing in theaters.

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