Fireworks Galore

The official list of top 4th of July events around Dallas-Fort Worth

No matter where you go in Dallas-Fort Worth over the Fourth of July weekend, you'll find fireworks galore.

Photo courtesy of Town of Addison

Celebrating the Fourth of July around Dallas-Fort Worth is easy, as the wealth of celebrations big and small leads to an embarrassment of riches when it comes to event choices. We've rounded up the biggest and best ones for your oohing — er, viewing — pleasure.

Saturday, July 2

Concerts in the Garden: Old-Fashioned Family Fireworks Picnic
The combination of fireworks and patriotic live music played by an orchestra is one that can't be beat, and that's what you get at the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's annual Old-Fashioned Family Fireworks Picnic at Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Luckily, you get not one, not two, but three chances to experience the thrill, as the event takes place each night through July 4.

Sunday, July 3

Kaboom Town
Addison’s most explosive party of the year, Kaboom Town! features dazzling fireworks choreographed to music, plus food, Cavanaugh Flight Museum’s historic warbird flyovers, bands, and more. The celebration is city-wide, with a party in Addison Circle Park and watch parties at many of Addison’s 180-plus restaurants and 22 hotels. The 30-minute-long fireworks show is among the best in the nation, and is simulcast on 100.3 JACK-FM. Afterwards, while area traffic calms, attendees are invited to remain in Addison Circle Park for a concert by the Party Machine.

Lone Star Park presents Lone Stars & Stripes Fireworks Celebration
The annual Lone Stars & Stripes Fireworks Celebration at Lone Star Park features two nights of spectacular fireworks, on July 3 and 4. Kids can enjoy the Family Fun Park featuring pony rides, a petting zoo, obstacle course, zip line, bounce houses, face painters, tattoo artists, and much more. Music lovers can enjoy live music by Vegas Stars between the races. Following the last race each night is a spectacular, 20-minute firework display choreographed to music.

Monday, July 4

Fair Park Fourth
Celebrate America with a day of family fun in Fair Park at the City of Dallas' official Independence Day celebration. The event features free fireworks sponsored by Oncor, with the best seating in the Cotton Bowl, although the show is visible from around Fair Park. The Midway is going to be open, and Dallas Winds is performing a free concert.

Firewheel Town Center Star Spangled Spectacular
Firewheel Town Center, in conjunction with the City of Garland, celebrates our nation’s independence with a full afternoon of family fun during Star Spangled Spectacular. Families enjoy face-painting, bounce houses, games, and Food Truck Alley. Additionally, 92.1 Hank FM Party Patrol will be onsite with games, live music, and even more fun. The event culminates with a patriotic fireworks display at 9:15 pm.

Fort Worth's Fourth
Fort Worth’s Fourth is a free family event at Panther Island Pavilion that includes activities such as zip lines, bounce houses, water slides, and more. There's also live music, tubing, and the biggest fireworks show in North Texas. Aquafly flyboard shows feature riders performing tricks on what can only be described as water-fueled jetpacks. These high-flying daredevils are guaranteed to make the audience’s hearts stop with stunts only seen in the movies.

Denton Kiwanis Club Fireworks Show
Viewing fireworks from inside a stadium is always a bonus, because it comes with built-in seats. Dentonites don't have to travel to the Cotton Bowl for that privilege, as the Denton Kiwanis Club once again is putting on a great, free display at UNT's Apogee Stadium, preceded by a performance by Raised Right Men.

July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza at Lake Grapevine
With lake levels back to normal, you can go back to enjoying the fireworks show at Lake Grapevine at any of the lakeside parks. The event officially takes place at Oak Grove Park, and the 26-minute show is set to patriotic music that can be downloaded at www.GrapevineTexasUSA.com/Summer.

Plano's All-American Fourth Fireworks Show
At Plano's annual Fourth of July celebration at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve, you can grab a bite to eat at food trucks stationed at the nearby Collin College and enjoy music pumped out by a DJ before settling down to take in a fireworks display that rivals any of the others around the area. Make sure to bring a blanket or lawn chair to be comfortable on the grass, and then tune in to 97.5 KLAK for a simulcast of music to which the show is choreographed.

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Movie Review

Jodie Foster brings depth and wit to French thriller A Private Life

Photo by Georges Lechaptois

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Jodie Foster has been a member of the Hollywood community for almost 60 years, first as a child actor on TV, and then branching out into movies. She earned an Oscar nomination at the tender age of 14 for her role in Taxi Driver, and she’s gone on to be nominated five times, winning twice. Now, at age 63, she’s showing she’s still capable of surprises by fluently speaking another language in the French film, A Private Life.

Foster plays Lilian Steiner, a psychiatrist who sees patients out of her Parisian apartment. When she learns of the death of one of her patients, Paula (Virginie Efira), she’s sad but otherwise unaffected until a few suspicious things start happening. This includes the robbery of her apartment, in which a recording of Paula’s last session with Lilian goes missing.

With the help of her ex-husband, Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil), Lilian becomes an amateur private detective, tracking the movements of Paula’s husband, Simon (Mathieu Amalric), whom she increasingly suspects of murder. At the same time, Lilian must navigate a tense relationship with her son, Julien (Vincent Lacoste), along with an unexpected rekindling of romance with Gabriel.

Written and directed by Rebecca Zlotowski, and co-written by Anne Berest, it is a psychological thriller that at times feels like an Inspector Clouseau movie. With little to go on but her own perhaps misguided suspicions, Lilian digs herself deeper into a situation of her own making. And she further clouds her mind by indulging in a tryst with Gabriel, who’s all too eager to help Lilian pursue her criminal theories. While the film is not a comedy, there are elements of humor that pop in to keep the story light.

Zlotowski plays with the competing tones of the story well, keeping viewers on Lilian’s side even as she indulges in things that might not be the healthiest for her. Lilian’s various eccentricities - an adherence to recording on old-fashioned mini discs instead of fully digital, keeping an emotional distance from her son and grandson - make her a fascinating character whose vacillating motivations keep viewers guessing as to what she’ll do next.

In a lot of ways, the film is a study of how Lilian needs to try to find ways to heal herself. The possibility of Paula being murdered wakes Lilian up to the idea that she has not been as attentive a doctor as she should be. The sessions with different patients that Zlotowski shows give the impression that there’s a general level of dissatisfaction with her, with one patient outright breaking up with her.

Foster is no less compelling speaking mostly in French than she is in English language movies. Her fluency is never in doubt, and she fits in seamlessly with the actual French actors in the film. Auteuil is a fun counterpart for Foster, showing an unexpected chemistry with her that keeps their scenes crackling with energy. Amalric, a Wes Anderson favorite, has a relatively small role but still stands out when he gets a chance.

A Private Life is not the type of thriller that American audiences might be used to, but its slow, methodical storytelling and subtle humor make it an interesting watch from beginning to end. The film is not up for any awards, but Foster’s performance shows she remains a top-tier actor.

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A Private Life is now playing in select theaters.

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