Weekend Event Planner

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

Comedy will be top of mind in and around Dallas this weekend, as three big-name comedians will be performing. You can also choose a virtual film festival, a new local theater production, the Beatles gone classical, a show honoring a legendary pop singer, art exhibit openings and closings, and an opera recital.

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

Thursday, January 27

Denton Black Film Festival
The Denton Black Film Festival Institute returns with its 8th annual edition. Previously a hybrid festival, the event has transitioned completely online to ensure public health safety. Viewers can enjoy films highlighting the Black diaspora, music, spoken word, educational seminars for filmmakers and creators, and a technology expo. The festival will take place through February 6.

Dallas Theater Center presents Our Town
One of the most beloved American plays ever written, Our Town follows the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually die. Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, Our Town depicts the fictional small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, through three acts. The production will run at Kalita Humphreys Theater through February 20. The performances from February 4-6 will feature live simultaneous Spanish translations.

Friday, January 28

Ronny Chieng: "I Hope You Get Rich" Tour
Ronny Chieng is a Chinese stand-up comedian and actor who is currently a senior correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Comedy Central. Chieng has appeared in Crazy Rich Asians, Godzilla vs. Kong, and the Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He'll perform at House of Blues Dallas.

Improv Arlington presents D.L. Hughley
One of the most popular and highly recognized stand-up comedians on the road today has also made quite an impression in the television and radio arena. D.L. Hughley is known for his sitcom, The Hughleys; as host of his own late night talk show on CNN, D.L. Hughley Breaks the News; and as one of the Original Kings of Comedy. Hughley will perform five times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Revolution: the Music of The Beatles – A Symphonic Experience"
Revolution, the symphonic tribute to the Fab Four, features the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and top vocalists performing arrangements transcribed from the original master recordings at Abbey Road. Accompanied by hundreds of rare and unseen photos from the historic archives of The Beatles’ official fan magazine, along with rare video and animation, Revolution takes audiences on a multimedia journey of The Beatles, including top hits like “Ticket to Ride,” “Penny Lane,” “All You Need is Love,” “Get Back,” “Hey, Jude,” and more. The concert will be performed three times through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Saturday, January 29

Nasher Sculpture Center exhibition openings
Nasher Sculpture Center will open two new exhibitions on Saturday. Harry Bertoia: "Sculpting Mid-Century Modern Life," the first large-scale museum examination of the artist’s career in the United States, brings together close to 100 works from all facets of Bertoia’s extensive and diverse artistic practice. Olivia Block: "Sightings" is a complement to the Harry Bertoia retrospective, featuring a sound installation that is comprised from recordings of Bertoia’s sounding sculptures, which are part the exhibition. Both exhibitions will be on display through April 24.

Tom Segura: I'm Coming Everywhere
Comedian, actor, and writer Tom Segura is best known for his four Netflix specials, Completely Normal (2014), Mostly Stories (2016), Disgraceful (2018), and Ball Hog (2020). He also co-hosts the podcast Your Mom’s House with his wife, comedian Christina Pazsitzky. He'll perform twice at Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie.

The Life and Music of George Michael
The Life and Music of George Michael is a brand new immersive concert-style show that chronicles the journey George Michael had with music and his fans. The show captures the performance and sound of Michael with staging and lighting while telling his story through early music hits from Wham! and his illustrious solo career. The show, taking place at Majestic Theatre, will feature hits like "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go," "Freedom," "Faith," "Careless Whisper," "Father Figure," and more.

Sunday, January 30

Crow Museum of Asian Art presents Ho Tzu Nyen: "The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia" closing day
The Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas will close the U.S. premiere of "The Critical Dictionary of Southeast Asia" by internationally renowned artist Ho Tzu Nyen on Sunday. At the heart of the exhibition is an always-changing video and LED light installation in which an algorithm weaves together a rich tapestry of texts, music, and found footage pertaining to an alphabetized list of concepts, generating different permutations with every loop.

Dallas Opera presents Titus Family Recital: Benjamin Appl
The Dallas Opera will present German baritone Benjamin Appl, continuing their tradition of bringing Texas audiences today’s most important song recitalists. Appl was mentored by the legendary Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and named Gramophone Young Artist of the Year in 2016. The recital will take place at Moody Performance Hall.

Dallas Theater Center will present Our Town at Kalita Humphreys Theater through February 20.

Photo by Jordan Fraker

Dallas Theater Center will present Our Town at Kalita Humphreys Theater through February 20.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig searches for elusive new bond in audacious film Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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