Weekend Event Planner

The absolute best events to party for New Year's weekend in Dallas

New Year's Eve falls on a Thursday this year, so most of the fun things worth doing around Dallas take place then or on New Year's Day. They include a number of big concerts, two new theater productions, one big football game, and a new family-oriented event at Fair Park.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, December 31

Lights All Night
This electronic dance music festival has become an annual New Year's tradition in Dallas, bringing in some of the best EDM acts around. The two-day festival moves to its third location in four years, this time taking over Dallas Market Hall. Among the performers are Hardwell, Kaskade, Thomas Jack, Yellow Claw, and Porter Robinson.

New Year's Evil with Hellyeah, Nothing More, and Sevendust
If you prefer your New Year's Eve celebration a little more hardcore, then this concert at the Bomb Factory is for you. Headbanging and mosh pits are the orders of the day at this night-long event, featuring performances from headliners Hellyeah and Nothing More, with support from Sevendust, Red Sun Rising, Islander, and Even the Dead Love a Parade.

Cotton Bowl Classic: Alabama vs. Michigan State
Last year AT&T Stadium played host to the first-ever College Football Playoff championship game. This isn't the ultimate game, but it's still very important, as the winner of the semi-final game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Michigan State Spartans will advance to the championship game in Arizona on January 11 to face either Clemson or Oklahoma.

Pegasus Theatre presents Death Is a Bad Habit
If you've never seen one of Pegasus Theatre's patented Living Black & White productions, you owe it to yourself to go. Using trade-secret makeup, special lighting, meticulous costuming, and set creation, combined with stylized acting, the company creates the illusion that the audience is watching not just a play, but a 1930s-'40s black-and-white movie brought to life onstage. The play runs at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson through January 24.

Backdoor Comedy's New Year's Eve Bash
2015 has had its fair share of depressing events, so why not end the year with some laughs? Backdoor Comedy Club hosts two shows featuring comedians Paul Varghese, Linda Stogner, and other Backdoor favorites. If you go to the second show, you get a ticket to a future show, party favors, a champagne toast at midnight, and dancing after the show.

Theatre Three presents I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!
Now back for the 16th time, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change! has become a tradition at Theatre Three. This time, the celebration and exploration of the mating game features two actual married couples, Kim and Max Swarner and Amy Mills and Doug Jackson. The hilarious revue that pays tribute to those who have loved and lost and lived to try again runs through, naturally, February 14.

KXT's New Year's Eve Bash with Jonathan Tyler, Somebody's Darling, and Dovetail
This New Year's Eve concert at the Granada Theater eschews national acts for local ones. Put on by independent music radio station KXT, the concert features performances by Jonathan Tyler, possibly without his band the Northern Lights; Somebody's Darling, returning from their new home in Nashville; and Dovetail.

W Dallas Victory presents Stop the Clock New Year's Eve Party
If all you want to do is dance, drink, and have fun on New Year's Eve, you could do a lot worse than this party at the W Dallas Victory. Taking place in Altitude on the hotel's 33rd floor, you can dance to music from DJ Lucio all night long and get a complimentary champagne toast at midnight. Most tickets are sold out, but some are still available if you book a room.

Friday, January 1

Day 1 Dallas
Day 1 Dallas is a brand-new family fair specifically designed for children and families to celebrate New Year’s Day together at Fair Park. The celebration features interactive activities; performances by Collins Key, Cody Lovaas, and Debby Ryan at the Music Hall at Fair Park; carnival food; and a spectacular fireworks show to end the day.

Shen Yun 2016
The return of the Chinese dance group Shen Yun has become another New Year's tradition in Dallas, as they've returned to perform at Winspear Opera House around the same time for the past three years. The troupe honors the Chinese past through both dance and music, showing off a stunning visual and emotional experience you won’t find anywhere else. Performances take place through January 10.

Pegasus Theatre presents Death is a Bad Habit at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts through January 24.

Photo by James Nelms

Pegasus Theatre presents Death is a Bad Habit at Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts through January 24.

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Movie Review

Iranian film It Was Just an Accident is a thriller with deep meaning

Photo courtesy of Neon

Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Majid Panahi, and Hadis Pakbaten in It Was Just an Accident.

American filmmakers, for the most part, enjoy luxury and freedoms when making movies in the United States that filmmakers in other countries could only dream of. Not only does Iranian writer/director Jafar Panahi not have millions of dollars with which to make his films, he also has to deal with a government that has previously arrested him for being critical of their policies.

And yet he persists, returning to the screen with the taut It Was Just An Accident. The film begins with a kind of misdirect, showing Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi) and his family driving home at night, during which they strike and kill a dog. That accident sends Eghbal into the orbit of Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), who works at a business that helps repair Eghbal’s car.

Recognizing the distinctive sound of Eghbal’s prosthetic leg, Vahid believes him to be the same man who kidnapped and tortured him and others in a recent government arrest spree. Desperate to confirm his suspicions, Vahid kidnaps Eghbal and takes him to a series of people who were also imprisoned under the man they named “Peg Leg,” including Shiva (Mariam Afshari), a wedding photographer; Golrokh (Hadis Pakbaten), the bride being photographed; and more.

Most filmmakers have the ability to use sets and take as much time as they need - within reason - to get the shot they need. Panahi employs a type of guerrilla filmmaking rarely seen these days, stealing shots in broad daylight while trying not to gain the notice of Iranian authorities. The daring nature of the making of the movie infuses the story with an extra tension that elevates what is otherwise a relatively simple story.

The film puts the audience directly in the shoes of the various characters as each of them wrestles with the complicated feelings arising from their actions. As they were all blindfolded while imprisoned, they can’t be 100 percent sure they have the right man, and debates/arguments between the characters keep viewers guessing as to who he is and what they will do with him. Even if he is who they think he is, will enacting some kind of revenge on him soothe their consciences?

Through it all, the idea that a former political prisoner is making a film about former political prisoners who are engaging in conduct that could get them arrested again - just as Panahi is doing with his film - makes this meta filmmaking on another level. The simplicity of the story belies the complexity underscoring the entire film, and it delivers one of the most impactful endings of any recent movie.

While a few of the actors have acted before, including in previous Panahi films, most of them are making their first appearance in a movie. Despite this lack of experience, each of them does well, especially Mobasseri and Afshari, who share a number of heated scenes that bring out the best in both of them.

It Was Just an Accident is the type of film that constantly keeps the audience on their collective toes, never knowing where it will head next. And that’s even if you didn’t know the details of how and why it was made; once that is discovered, it becomes something much deeper and more important than most other movies that will be released in 2025.

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It Was Just an Accident is now playing in select theaters.

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