Weekend Event Planner

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

The two themes of the week for events in Dallas are fictional characters and Dos Equis Pavilion. You can enjoy different ways of experiencing characters from two monster movie franchises, while the aforementioned outdoor venue will host three completely different types of concerts. There's also an anticipated grand opening, one-minute plays, and a free screening of a classic animated film.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, August 9

Texas Live! Grand Opening Celebration
The opening of the new Texas Rangers stadium, Globe Life Field, is still almost two years away, but the grand opening for the adjoining Texas Live! complex is happening this weekend. The $250 million dining, entertainment, and hospitality district will debut a variety of restaurants and its outdoor event pavilion, Arlington Backyard. Performers during the celebration, taking place through Sunday, will include Toadies, Eleven Hundred Springs, Bleachers, Joywave, and Kip Moore.

Marvel Universe Live!: Age of Heroes
Marvel Universe Live!: Age of Heroes brings together the Avengers, Spider-Man, and new fan favorites, the Guardians of the Galaxy, to stop Loki in his quest to rule the universe. The live, action-packed arena performance features cutting-edge special effects, pyrotechnics, aerial stunts, martial arts, motorcycles, and more. The show will run at American Airlines Center through Sunday before making its way to Fort Worth next weekend.

Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience
The Olivier Award-nominated Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience takes on the ultimate challenge of condensing all seven Harry Potter books (and a real life game of Quidditch) into 70 hilarious minutes. Even if you don’t know the difference between a horcrux and a Hufflepuff, Potted Potter will make you roar with laughter. The production will play at Wyly Theatre through Sunday.

Friday, August 10

2018 Leaky Con
Speaking of Harry Potter, fans from around the world will gather in Dallas for a celebration of “The Boy Who Lived” and the extraordinary impact his story has had on both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. The convention, taking place through Sunday at Hyatt Regency Dallas, features celebrity appearances, autograph and photo sessions, panels, programs, discussions, and performances.

G-Eazy in concert with Lil Uzi Vert, Ybn Nahmir, P-Lo, and Murda Beatz
Thanks to the art of collaboration, rapper G-Eazy has become a bigger and bigger name in the hip hop world over the past decade. He's found success recording songs with Bexha ("Me, Myself & I"), ASAP Rocky and Cardi B ("No Limit"), and Halsey ("Him & I"). He'll perform at Dos Equis Pavilion in support of his 2017 album, The Beautiful & Damned. The concert will also feature Lil Uzi Vert, Ybn Nahmir, P-Lo, and Murda Beatz.

Saturday, August 11

Miranda Lambert in concert with Little Big Town, The Steel Woods, and Tenille Townes
Country singer Miranda Lambert has had quite the public life, and her singing career is only the half of it. She's had four No. 1 songs, five top 10 albums, and one very high-profile marriage to another country star, Blake Shelton, that ended in divorce. That split led to her acclaimed 2016 double album, The Weight of These Wings, in support of which she'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion alongside Little Big Town, The Steel Woods, and Tenille Townes.

Kitchen Dog Theater presents One-Minute Play Festival
Kitchen Dog Theater will present the 5th annual One-Minute Play Festival, featuring 84 original one-minute plays by 42 local playwrights, 12 directors, 60 actors, and one insanely wild night of theater. The festival, which has iterations in multiple cities across the country, will take place in the Bob Hope Theater on the SMU campus every night through Monday.

Sunday, August 12

Alamo Drafthouse presents Pix on the Plaza
The final week of Pix on the Plaza, a free summer outdoor screening series taking place outside of Alamo Drafthouse Las Colinas, will feature a screening of Pixar's Up. There will be pre-show activities themed to the movie like bounce houses, music, face painters, games, tasty treats, themed non-alcoholic beverages, and other fun surprises.

Godsmack and Shinedown in concert
The genre of hard rock/metal is one that continues to thrive despite not getting nearly the amount of attention as pop or hip hop. Godsmack and Shinedown, who are co-headlining this concert at Dos Equis Pavilion, are two big examples of that. Each has had a string of top 10 albums even though they have one top 10 single between them. Godsmack is touring in support of their new album, When Legends Rise, while Shinedown is touring in support of their new album, Attention Attention.

Marvel Universe Live!: Age of Heroes will be at American Airlines Center through August 12.

Photo courtesy of Feld Entertainment

Marvel Universe Live!: Age of Heroes will be at American Airlines Center through August 12.

event-planner

Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep gets PG-spooky in new movie for the Halloween season

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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