The 411: More than 6,000 fans showed up to picnic and dance the night away as top Dallas DJs spun tunes, celebrating the start of this year's Decks in the Park.
The free music festival series regularly draws thousands of people to Klyde Warren Park during the summer and fall months, along with a variety of pop-up events at select venues around town.
With the lights of downtown Dallas as the backdrop, DJs Carlyle, Titan, Danny West, Souljah, Sno White, Jonathan Will, Jay Clipp, and Decks co-founder Jeff Mitchell performed for an all-ages crowd. Afterward, those 21-and-up moved the party to Candleroom, where they kept dancing through the night.
Those at the kick-off party got a taste of the diverse musical talent that has made Decks In the Park grow so rapidly since its 2013 inception. Music genres span electronic, house, drum and base, soul, indie dance, funk, hip hop, pop, and even classics on vinyl, giving everyone a taste of what they love.
Title sponsor Visit Dallas and Decks co-founders Mitchell, Marty Martinez, Julio Rivera, Ryan Kimura, and Events Moderne produce each event from start to finish. Keep an eye out for a special spooky Halloween version of Decks In the Park on October 31, which promises to be a wicked celebration.
Decks In the Park regularly draws 7,000-10,000 people.
Photo by DTX Street
Decks In the Park regularly draws 7,000-10,000 people.
Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.
That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.
Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.
Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.
The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.
The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.
Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.
Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.
