Weekend Event Planner

Nicki Minaj and Imagine Dragons top the best weekend events in Dallas

As we get into the dog days of summer, we find some outside-of-the-box events in Dallas-Fort Worth. In addition to the usual mix of concerts, theater and comedy, this weekend will have a visit from movie stars, an event celebrating space travel and one dedicated to the sneaker industry.

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, July 16

Paper Towns Get Lost Get Found Tour
In advance of the July 24 release of the new movie Paper Towns, actors Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Halston Sage and author John Green (who also wrote The Fault in Our Stars) will come to town for a special free red carpet event and live Q&A session at the Bomb Factory. Saint Motel, which is featured on the soundtrack, will perform a few songs.

Second Thought Theatre presents Othello
For its 2015 season finale, Second Thought Theatre is returning to the classics by adapting William Shakespeare's Othello. Playing in Bryant Hall at Kalita Humphreys Theater, the company, led by director Joel Ferrell, will use creative staging and dynamic acting to bring new life to one of the great tragic plays. The production will run through August 8.

Friday, July 17

Nicki Minaj in concert with Meek Mill, Rae Sremmurd, Tinashe and Dej Loaf
Not only will this concert at Gexa Energy Pavilion be a showcase for Nicki Minaj and her 2014 album, The Pinkprint, but it'll also be the first chance Dallas fans have to see Minaj with her fiancé Meek Mill, the rapper who just released his second album, Dreams Worth More Than Money. Also on the bill are Rae Sremmurd, Tinashe and Dej Loaf.

Imagine Dragons in concert with Metric and Halsey
For a band that's only put out two albums, including 2015's Smoke + Mirrors, Imagine Dragons has gone through quite the trajectory. Hits like "Radioactive" and "Demons" off their first album made them stars, and just when they hit a lull, a re-release of "Radioactive" with Kendrick Lamar put them back on top. You can check them out for yourself at American Airlines Center, with Metric and Halsey as opening acts.

Saturday, July 18

Frontiers of Flight Museum presents Moon Day 2015
In advance of July 20, the 46th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, the Frontiers of Flight Museum will present a day full of space-themed activities, including a chance to talk live with a member of the Expedition 43 Crew on the International Space Station. You can also build your own rocket, create space art, meet a real space traveler and more.

Kixpo 2015
Sneakerheads will be out in full force at the Bomb Factory for Kixpo 2015. The event will feature displays of some of the best sneaker collections in the world, pop-up shops and the ability to buy, sell or trade sneakers of your own. There will also be musical performances, a sneaker customization contest, Mortal Kombat X tournament and much more.

Carmen Esposito in concert
It's not often you get to see a comedy show at the Granada Theater, and what makes this show even better is that it features one of the hottest up-and-coming comedians out there. Carmen Esposito made a big impression with her appearance on The Late Late Show, and has continued to make waves with the video series "Ask a Lesbian" and first comedy album, Same Sex Symbol.

Sunday, July 19

Steely Dan in concert with Elvis Costello & The Imposters
To say that Steely Dan is an acquired taste is putting it mildly. The duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen took the hard road to fame, as they fused jazz and rock for a style that was at odds with most other groups during their heyday in the '70s. They'll revisit their classic material in this concert with another eccentric, Elvis Costello, at Gexa Energy Pavilion.

Nicki Minaj will play at Gexa Energy Pavilion with fiance Meek Mill, Rae Sremmurd, Tinashe and Dej Loaf on July 17.

Nicki Minaj/Facebook

Nicki Minaj will play at Gexa Energy Pavilion with fiance Meek Mill, Rae Sremmurd, Tinashe and Dej Loaf on July 17.

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Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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