Weekend Event Planner

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

For anyone who's missed big concerts in Dallas, this is your weekend as there will be two huge ones at one of the area's best venues. Another venue will host a well-known comedian and two big R&B artists, while another will bring in some high-quality basketball/comedy. There will also be a unique dance performance, comedy from a man with a more-famous brother, a concert from a hometown band that everyone knows, and more.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend.

Thursday, August 12

Bombshell Dance Project presents The Great 30
Inspired by the experimental nature of the Elevator Project, Bombshell Dance Project's The Great 30 is an interactive, site-specific dance performance taking place at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Using the entirety of the campus as a stage, Bombshell Dance Project will lead audiences on an active tour of the Center, including its outdoor spaces, during which they not only change locations with the performers, but also move with them. The performances, taking place through Sunday, will start in Sammons Park outside Winspear Opera House.

Improv Arlington presents Tony Rock
Being the brother of an established entertainer, Tony Rock was able to successfully elude the shadows of his older sibling, Chris, and step into his own limelight. After decades of experience, Tony has proven himself as a skillful comedian, actor, and executive producer. He'll perform six times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Friday, August 13

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians in concert
It's always great when hometown bands stay true to where they came from, and Edie Brickell & New Bohemians will do just that with two concerts at The Kessler in support of their new album, Hunter and the Dog Star. The band, which is best known for their 1988 debut album, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, has been seemingly rejuvenated in recent years, releasing two albums since 2018.

Alanis Morissette in concert
After a year's delay due to the pandemic, Alanis Morissette will finally come back to Dallas to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her iconic 1995 album, Jagged Little Pill. Although that album will be rightfully saluted, Morissette also released a new album in 2020, Such Pretty Forks in the Road. She'll be joined at this concert at Dos Equis Pavilion by fellow '90s musicians, Garbage and Liz Phair.

Andrew Schulz: The Infamous Tour
Even though he's 37 years old, comedian Andrew Schulz could still be considered an up-and-comer in the industry. He didn't start to get real success until 2017 when he released his debut comedy special, 4:4:1, which was followed the next year by his debut comedy album, 5:5:1. He's gone on to co-host two podcasts, and had a four-part Netflix special, Schulz Saves America, come out in December 2020. He'll perform at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Saturday, August 14

Angelika Film Center presents Studio Ghibli Festival
The Angelika Film Centers in both Dallas and Plano are currently presenting some of the greatest animated films of all time from the celebrated Studio Ghibli. Praised for their originality, stunning animation, and ambitious storytelling, each film is a beloved part of Japanese culture and critically acclaimed around the world. Saturday shows are dubbed in English, followed by shows on Mondays are presented in Japanese with English subtitles. Princess Mononoke will show this weekend, followed by Kiki’s Delivery Service on August 21 and 23 and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on August 28 and 30.

The Harlem Globetrotters Spread Game Tour
The World-Famous Harlem Globetrotters are bringing their newly reimagined Spread Game tour to Dallas. Ankle-breaking moves, jaw-dropping swag, and rim-rattling dunks are only some of the thrill that can be expected from this fully modernized show. Part streetball from the players who defined it, part interactive family entertainment, the new tour will show off the best of the Globetrotters in a dazzling exhibition of talent and game. There will be two performances on Saturday at American Airlines Center.

Kem in concert with Babyface
It'll be paradise for lovers of R&B music at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving when Kem and Babyface co-headline this special concert. Kem has been churning out hit albums for almost 20 years, notching three top 2 albums on Billboard's R&B charts. His latest, Love Always Wins, came out in 2020. Babyface is almost better known as a producer than as a singer, but his 10 studio albums have consistently reached the top 10 on the Billboard R&B charts, most recently 2016's Tender Lover.

Brad Paisley in concert
There have been few country artists as reliable as Brad Paisley over the past 20+ years. He delivers a new album every couple of years, and his quality has remained so high that each of his past nine albums has gone to No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts, including 2017's Love and War. He'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion with special guests Jimmie Allen and Kameron Marlowe.

Alanis Morissette will play at Dos Equis Pavilion on August 13.

Photo courtesy of Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette will play at Dos Equis Pavilion on August 13.

event-planner concerts movies sports

Movie Review

Daniel Craig searches for elusive new bond in audacious film Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

---

Queer is now playing in theaters.

movies film