Coronavirus News

Restaurants and theaters around Dallas throw down coronavirus deals

Nachos and margs from the O.T.B.

Photo courtesy of On the Border

Finding a silver lining in the coronavirus is next to impossible, but some Dallas restaurants and businesses are doing their best by serving up special offers to make it sting a little less.

Here's some deals to check out:

Big Yellow Box
Dickey's Barbecue Pit has launched a new catering innovation called the Big Yellow Box, designed to feed small gatherings. There are five new self-contained pick-up options that serve up to 12 people:

Pulled Pork Party Pack ($85) – 4 lbs. of pulled pork, slaw, barbecue beans, potato salad, rolls, pickles, onions, rolls, sauce
Sandwich Party Pack ($99) – 12 sandwiches, Caesar salad, potato salad, pickles, onions, sauce
Original Party Pack ($110) – 2 lbs. of brisket, 2 lbs. of pulled pork, slaw, potato salad, beans, pickles, onions, sauce
Wings and Ribs Party Pack ($115) – 18 ribs, 24 wings, mac & cheese, slaw, rolls, sauce
Brisket Party Pack ($155) – 4 lbs. of brisket, choice of three sides, rolls, pickles, onions, sauce

Margs to go
Uncle Julio's has launched new frozen margaritas to-go for curbside pick-up at all DFW locations. They're doing both frozen and swirl margaritas in three sizes: 16-ounce pouch for $10, half-gallon for $30, and gallon for $50. You let the margarita sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes until it achieves that perfect slushy consistency.

Wine deals
Avanti Restaurant in Uptown Dallas is offering wine specials every Tuesday. Two of their favorite wines — such as Alias 2018 Cabernet for $35 or Jean-Luc Colombo 2018 Rose for $29 — will be featured for in-house sipping or bottle to go.

Happy hour specials
On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina has new Happy Hour specials on appetizers and drinks. It's an elevated Happy Hour menu Monday-Friday 3-6 pm, with $5 appetizers and an all-new appetizer: Queso Sampler. They're also discounting Dos Equis beers. These items are available only during happy hour and include:

Queso Sampler – Border-style queso, signature queso, and smoky queso
Mini cheese quesadillas
5 Mini Crispy Tacos with chicken or beef
4 Firecracker Stuffed Jalapeños with chicken and cheese, and a side of queso
3 Mini Burritos with choice of chicken or beef, and a side of queso
Cantina Nachos with refried beans, ground beef or chicken tinga, queso, pico de gallo, lime crema, and guacamole

Movie nights
Ida Claire in Addison has begun hosting movie nights on the patio every Thursday, when guests can enjoy a free nostalgic or classic movie, starting at 9 pm. During the showings, they'll offer special movie night bites and beverages, including $5 Ranch Waters and $5 Crawfish Corn Beignets. This week's movie is Dirty Dancing, and they'll have a $5 Dirty Martini as the special movie night drink.

Future movies include:

July 30 - Zoolander
August 6 - Footloose
August 13 - Three Amigos
August 20 - Clueless
August 27 - Office Space
September 3 - The Sandlot
October 3 - Mean Girls (it's "National Mean Girls Day," who knew)

For reservations, call 214-377-8227 or visit www.ida-claire.com.

Rent a theater
Studio Movie Grill is offering customizable private auditoriums for $200. The rental includes the entire auditorium, luxury recliners in most locations, a choice from 100+ classic movies or guests can bring their own content. Food from the SMG restaurant and full-service bar is available to add-on, and can be ordered safely from a server or through the App or Kiosk.

There are auditoriums in a variety of sizes, and will allow up to 50 people, per the current occupancy mandate.

SMG has more than 100 classic titles in rotation such as A Star is Born, Pokemon Detective Pikachu, and the Harry Potter series, as well as a robust lineup of exciting, high-quality new releases from smaller independent studios.

They're also increasing operating hours in several locations, offering showtimes Monday-Thursday 3-9 pm and expanding Friday-Sunday hours from 12-10 pm. This allows private bookings during lunchtime and in the afternoon.

hotels

Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

---

The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

movies film