Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Music fans will be in heaven this weekend, as four separate events will highlight songs from the past and bring back plenty of retro good feelings. They include a musical based on a '90s movie and three concerts headlined by big-name singers or bands. Also on tap is a big boat sale, a celebration of a new way to date, late-night art events, a huge soccer tournament, and a chance to be part of a world record.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Monday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, July 20

2017 DFW Summer Boat Expo
Summer has long been underway, but it's never too late to find a boat at the DFW Summer Boat Expo, the largest boating event in North Texas. This show, taking place through Sunday at Dallas Market Hall, features more than 450 boat and watercraft models from over 20 North Texas boat dealers. Attendees can find their next boat or the accessories needed to better enjoy the on-water lifestyle.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents The Bodyguard
Based on the smash hit film, the award-winning musical The Bodyguard stars Grammy Award nominee and R&B star Deborah Cox. The musical, playing at the Music Hall at Fair Park through July 30, features a host of irresistible Whitney Houston classics, including “So Emotional," “Saving All My Love," “I Have Nothing," “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” and, of course, “I Will Always Love You.”

Friday, July 21

Bracket Dating App Launch Party
Bracket is a recently launched dating app that matches 16 users in tournament-based brackets based on profile preferences and a user-generated rating scale. To celebrate its launch, Bracket is hosting an exclusive launch party at Community Beer Company, featuring an open craft-beer bar, tasty bites from Abe’s Flavor Flave food truck, a DJ spinning jams all night, photo booth, swag, giveaways, and more. Use the code “CultureMap” for a $10 ticket discount.

Late Nights at the DMA / Nasher Sculpture Center presents 'til Midnight
Both the Dallas Museum of Art and Nasher Sculpture Center are offering some late night fun on Friday. The DMA's event is themed around its "Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion" exhibit, with visitors encouraged to dress up like Lady Gaga to get in for half price. The Nasher has concerts by Bryce and Sudie, followed by a screening of the great 2016 movie, Sing Street.

Saturday, July 22

2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Semifinals
All has gone as the home fans had hoped, and the U.S men's soccer team, following a 2-0 win over El Salvador, will be in the Gold Cup semifinals taking place at AT&T Stadium, facing off against Costa Rica. The winner of the match on Saturday will then go on to the Gold Cup final, taking place on July 26 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

2017 World's Largest Super Soaker Battle
The 2nd Annual Super Soaker Battle at Maverick Stadium in Arlington is going for a world record. The current record held in the Guinness Book of World Records for “largest water pistol fight” is 3,875 participants. The goal for this event, which includes food, fun, games, giveaways, and more," is to get over 4,000 participants, but the actual number could be much larger. A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to Hope for the Warriors.

The Righteous Brothers in concert
With a string of No. 1 classics, including the most-played song in radio history, "You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’," the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield topped the charts for four decades. Although Hatfield died in 2003, Medley has kept The Righteous Brothers alive with new member Bucky Heard. The two will sing The Righteous Brothers' biggest hits at Arlington Music Hall.

Don Henley in concert
Legendary singer Don Henley is doing a special concert at American Airlines Center in celebration of his 70th birthday. The once-in-a-lifetime event will feature songs spanning Henley's entire career, from the Eagles and his vast solo catalog. Henley will be joined by several very special guests throughout the night.

Sunday, July 23

Earth, Wind & Fire in concert with CHIC ft. Nile Rodgers
Two of the most successful and critically acclaimed bands — Earth, Wind & Fire and CHIC ft. Nile Rodgers — will co-headline 2054 The Tour at American Airlines Center. 2054 The Tour features a guest DJ and a specialized seating configuration toward the front of the stage, where seats will have additional space between them to encourage audiences to dance the night away.

Deborah Cox stars in The Bodyguard at Music Hall at Fair Park through July 30.

Deborah Cox as Rachel Marron and Company in The Bodyguard

Photo by Joan Marcus

Deborah Cox stars in The Bodyguard at Music Hall at Fair Park through July 30.

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Movie Review

Horror comedy film Y2K goes for nostalgia but maybe too soon

Photo courtesy of A24

Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, and Julian Dennison in Y2K.

Movies that rely on nostalgia can be successful if they’re timed right. Generally, 25-30 years seems about the right amount of time to try to take advantage of people’s fond feelings for a certain era, which is why movies/TV shows about the ‘80s have been prevalent for much of the 21st century, and ‘90s-set films started to pop up in the last 10 years.

Y2K, a horror comedy that plays on the fears of technological mayhem many people thought would happen at the turn of the century, is right on the cusp of that rule, taking place 24 years after its timeline. It centers on two teenage boys, Eli (Jaeden Martell) and Danny (Julian Dennison), who are opposite in demeanor but have an unshakeable bond. Eli likes a popular girl, Laura (Rachel Zegler), and Danny convinces him to crash a New Year’s Eve party where she’ll be.

As the clock strikes midnight and the year moves from 1999 to 2000, everything that uses an electrical current goes haywire, with many of them combining forces to attack the humans around them. Eli and Danny find themselves on the run with Laura, as well as two stoners, Ash (Lachlan Watson) and CJ (Daniel Zolghadri), with each of them trying to use their unique skillset to help defeat a growing robot army.

Directed by Kyle Mooney and written by Mooney and Evan Winter, the film lands some solid jokes about the era in its opening 20 minutes or so, whether it’s the extreme slowness of dial-up internet, the goofy user names from AOL Messenger, or the various high school cliques of the time. However, many of them seem to echo ones told in 1999’s American Pie, a weird kind of art-imitating-art moment instead of commenting on real life.

The jolt of the machines attacking partygoers seems to promise a fun-if-bloody romp, but Mooney and Winter don’t seem to know where to take the story. They establish the computer bona fides of Eli and Laura early on, but when it comes time for them to put their talents in action, it feels like two actors going through the motions instead of real people who know what they’re doing. Almost none of the characters are believable or entertaining, and the few that rise above are dispatched way too early.

And because the filmmakers don’t make you care about the main group, nothing they face is that interesting, either. The villainous robots are made up of a bunch of disparate parts, which would seem to offer the opportunity for funny sight gags. Mooney and his team fumble most of their chances, though, leaving that side of the story stuck in limbo where it’s not absurd enough to be hilarious or scary enough to really count as horror.

Martell, Dennison, and Zegler are each rising stars who have their individual charms, but only Dennison is able to make much of an impact. Zegler, who starred in West Side Story and will soon be Snow White, is especially misused. They try to shoehorn in a cameo by Limp Biskit lead singer Fred Durst, but his appearance makes little sense and adds almost nothing to the story.

Filmmakers who want to mine nostalgia, especially in a comedy, need to really commit to the bit instead of throwing in a few references and needle drops. Mooney, who’s making his directorial debut, demonstrates little feel for timing, and so most of the film is like a car spinning its wheels, going nowhere.

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Y2K opens in theaters on December 6.

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