Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend in Dallas will be a bit unusual, in that most of the events on our list will take place only once. There are four repeating events, including a film festival and three local theater productions, but for everything else, it's one and done. Choices include celebrity dancers, a legendary band, two big-time comedians, a Chinese New Year celebration, a former secretary of state, and more.

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

Thursday, February 7

Dallas VideoFest presents Alternative Fiction Fest
Dallas VideoFest presents Alternative Fiction Fest, the final series of films in its 31st season. AltFiction features dozens of narrative features, TV-focused episodes, and short films. The narratives that make up the majority of AltFiction Fest explore this moment in time at the intersection between media and how cinema artists can create original work in this new world. The festival will take place at Angelika Film Center in Dallas through Sunday.

Undermain Theatre presents An Iliad
Undermain Theatre is establishing a repertory series to honor the gems of its production history, starting with a reboot of An Iliad, which had a landmark production in 2012. An Iliad is a modern-day retelling of Homer's classic with a lone figure onstage as a storyteller, possibly Homer, possibly one of the many bards who followed in his footsteps. The production will run through March 3.

Dancing with the Stars: Live!
Dancing with the Stars: Live! will feature fan favorite professional and troupe dancers in a brand-new production showcasing every type of dance style as seen on ABC’s hit show, Dancing with the Stars. Performers will include Jenna Johnson, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Emma Slater, Sasha Farber, and more. The performance will take place at The Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Fleetwood Mac in concert
The legendary, Grammy Award-winning Fleetwood Mac comes back to Dallas as part of their new North American tour. After an acrimonious breakup with Lindsey Buckingham, the tour will feature the new line-up of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie, along with newcomers Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. The concert will take place at American Airlines Center.

Bishop Arts Theatre Center presents La Llorona: A Love Story
Tradition, superstition, and love collide in this story of an American executive, Jeffrey, and his pregnant wife, who find themselves in Mexico City, moving into the home of Carlos and Irma who have been forced to rent it in order to support themselves. Jeffrey loves his wife and is willing to do anything to make her happy. Irma loves her husband so she ignores the warnings of La Llorona, who cautions of dire consequences for her family. The production will play at Bishop Arts Theatre Center through February 24.

Friday, February 8

TITAS presents Beijing Dance Theater
Founded in 2008, Beijing Dance Theater is led by its choreographer Wang Yuanyuan, who prides herself on being rooted in Chinese traditions, while at the same time producing innovative, authentic, and thought-provoking contemporary dance works for the world stage. This one-night-only performance will take place at Winspear Opera House.

Echo Theatre presents High Dive
Playwright Leslie Ayvazian's heart-warming comedy, High Dive, is a one-woman show co-starring the audience. An American woman finds herself poolside in Greece celebrating her 50th birthday with her family. While terrified of heights, she accepts her daughter's dare to jump off the high dive, and it is there she finds herself somewhat paralyzed in contemplation of all that has been and what might be. The production, playing through February 23 at Bath House Cultural Center, invites the audience to jump in and play various characters in the show from their "poolside" seats.

Jim Jefferies: The Night Talker Tour
Jim Jefferies entertains audiences with his controversial, belief-challenging, and thought-provoking comedy. A new voice in late night, The Jim Jefferies Show is a weekly Comedy Central series, coming back in March, that features Jefferies traveling across the globe to tackle the week’s top stories and the controversial issues of the day. He'll perform at Majestic Theatre.

Saturday, February 9

Crow Museum of Asian Art presents Chinese New Year Festival
Celebrate the Year of the Pig as the Crow Museum of Asian Art presents its 20th annual free Chinese New Year Festival, taking place for the second straight year at NorthPark Center. The signature event offers a wealth of family-friendly activities, including dragon and lion dances, musical and martial-arts demos, art making and calligraphy, specialty booths, wellness activities, must-see entertainment, and cultural performances, plus giveaways throughout the mall.

Lightwire Theater presents Dino Light
Lightwire Theater enthralls audiences with their unique combination of skill and grace as told through the technological innovations of moving light characters. Dino Light tells the story of a famous scientist with magic powers that brings a friendly dinosaur to life. When the dinosaur wanders away from home, he discovers a wonderful world full of creatures that light up the darkness and help him find the true meaning of love. The performance will take place at Winspear Opera House.

Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias: Beyond The Fluffy
One of America's most successful stand-up comedians, Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias comes to Dallas as part of his Beyond the Fluffy Tour. Iglesias is one of the most watched comedians on YouTube with over 300 million views. His new comedy special, One Show Fits All, was recently released on Netflix, and he will appear as a voice in the upcoming animated film, UglyDolls. He'll perform at American Airlines Center.

Sunday, February 10

DMA Arts & Letters Live: Madeleine Albright
Madeleine K. Albright is a professor, diplomat, bestselling author, and businesswoman who served as the 64th secretary of state of the United States, the first woman to serve in that role. In 2012 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. She will appear in conversation with Jim Falk, President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, to talk about her book, Fascism: A Warning. The event will take place at Temple Emanu-el.

Fleetwood Mac will play at American Airlines Center on February 7.

Fleetwood Mac at The Frank Erwin Center in Austin Texas March 2015

Photo by David Brendan Hall

Fleetwood Mac will play at American Airlines Center on February 7.

event-planner

Movie Review

Horrific filmmaking makes DC villain Clayface less appealing

Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh

Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie in Clayface.

The history of DC Comics in movies has been hit-and-miss, especially when it comes to anything not directly involving Batman or Superman. Over the years, films have been headlined by heroes like Catwoman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Shazam, the Flash, and more, and while some succeeded, none left a lasting mark on moviegoers’ imaginations.

Much like they did with Joker, the powers-that-be behind DC Studios productions are trying to entice viewers with a no-holds-barred story in Clayface. Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) is an A-list movie actor with both critical and commercial appeal. Unfortunately, a night of celebration for his recent Oscar nomination leads to him sleeping with Theresa (Ruby Sear), the girlfriend of Markos Szabo (David Dencik), a prominent mobster in Gotham City. Markos then enacts revenge by taking a razor to Matt’s face.

Desperate to find a way to look like his old self again, Matt seeks out Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), who’s conducting cutting-edge nanotechnology research that can heal any kind of damage. While the solution works on Matt, it also has the side effect of his body doing unintended things, even morphing into those with whom he comes into contact. After initially struggling with his new body, Matt decides to use his powers to enact revenge on those who’ve done him wrong.

Directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil) and written by Mike Flanagan (The Life of Chuck) and Hossein Amini, the film is only intermittently entertaining as it tries to sell its ridiculous premise. Right from the start, it seems like the filmmakers have been given a limited budget, as everything from the sets to the CGI to the stilted dialogue feels cheap. For a film coming from a major studio, the whole thing comes off as schlocky and undercooked.

Watkins and his team try to make up for that shoddiness by delivering R-rated thrills like nudity and body horror, but those elements can only distract for so long. Much of the film is spent dealing with Matt’s trauma, and the downbeat nature of his body issues combined with very little action makes the movie not very fun to watch. The film also tries to make hay with more than a doctor-patient bond between Caitlyn — who has a boyfriend on the police force — and Matt, but like the most of the film, it never connects.

It’s not until the final third of the movie that the filmmakers land on the tone they should have been using the whole time. Matt’s ability to transform himself, while illogical and confounding, provides multiple over-the-top, funny moments and some legitimately creative kills. Instead of taking forever to set up Matt/Clayface’s origin story, Watkins and his team should have just cut to the chase and let him loose to see what the character could truly do.

This is the first big role for Welsh actor Harries, and while he’s not exactly magnetic, he proves himself worthy of the lead role. Ackie is also fine, but after several years of trying to advance up the Hollywood ladder, she may be running out of time to show she’s a star. The supporting cast has a couple of familiar faces, but it’s mostly lesser-known actors who do nothing to indicate they deserve bigger showcases.

It’s difficult to imagine any non-DC Comics fans having a strong attachment to the character of Clayface, and the film fails to make the case that he should be a continuing character. The poor quality of almost everything that appears on screen is indicative of the kind of effort and money that was put into the film, and sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

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Clayface opens in theaters on October 23.

movies film clayface

Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Fleetwood Mac will play at American Airlines Center on February 7.

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Horrific filmmaking makes DC villain Clayface less appealing

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