Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Music will be the order of the weekend in and around Dallas. There will be five great concerts to attend, ranging from country music royalty new and old to a rising blues/rock star. You can also see two fantastic comedians, shop for a good cause, partake in food and wine in a classical music venue, or get one final glimpse at a unique art exhibition.

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

Thursday, August 26

Marty Stuart in concert
Country music legend Marty Stuart has been releasing albums for over 40 years, but it wasn't until the late 1980s and early '90s that he hit his heights thanks to hits like "Hillbilly Rock," "Little Things," "Tempted," "Burn Me Down," and "This One's Gonna Hurt You." He hasn't been as prolific in the 2000s, but he just released his first new album in nine years, Songs I Sing in the Dark. He'll play at The Kessler on both Thursday and Friday.

Improv Arlington presents Mark Normand
Through his relentlessly punchy writing and expert delivery, Mark Normand is quickly becoming one of the most talked about comedians on the scene. He most recently self-released a one-hour special, Out To Lunch, on YouTube. A veteran of the late night shows, Normand also has his own podcast, Tuesdays with Stories. He'll perform five times through Saturday at Improv Arlington.

Dwell with Dignity presents Thrift Studio
Dallas-based nonprofit Dwell with Dignity will present its annual fundraiser and month-long pop-up store, Thrift Studio. Thrift Studio, taking place through September 25, features donated, high-end furniture, housewares, and accessories sold at significant discounts, with 100 percent of sales benefitting DwD’s mission. Shoppers will find vignettes created by leading designers, showrooms, and retailers, showcasing donated home decor items.

Friday, August 27

The Dallas Symphony Wine & Food Festival
Instead of classical music, the Dallas Symphony will serve up its inaugural Wine & Food Festival this weekend. The event, taking place through Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center, will feature wines from around the world, champagnes, craft brews, locally distilled spirits, plus some favorite tastes and small plates from celebrated Dallas chefs and restaurants. For the exact listing of activities, visit the event website.

Jim Gaffigan: The Fun Tour
Comedian Jim Gaffigan is as relatable a celebrity as you'll ever find. His popularity has stemmed from bits involving his struggles as the father of five kids, marriage in general, and his love/hate relationship with Hot Pockets. His latest special, The Pale Tourist, premiered on Amazon Prime Video in December 2020. He'll bring his stand-up tour to The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Saturday, August 28

Luke Bryan in concert
The only thing that could keep country singer Luke Bryan away from the Dallas-Fort Worth area was the pandemic. Bryan is as consistent a performer as they come, appearing somewhere in the area every year — except last year — since at least 2012. He'll be back at Dos Equis Pavilion to play in support of his 2020 album, Born Here Live Here Die Here. He'll be joined by opening acts Dylan Scott and Runaway June.

Jonathan Tyler in concert with Jeremy Pinnell
Jonathan Tyler is a Dallas-based musician who has received national attention, opening for major acts like Erykah Badu, Leon Russell, Deep Purple, The Black Crowes, Kool and the Gang, and more. Tyler and his band, the Northern Lights, have released three studio albums in their career, including 2015's Holy Smokes. He'll perform at The Kessler, with Jeremy Pinnell as the opening act.

Sunday, August 29

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Curbed Vanity: A Contemporary Foil by Chris Schanck" closing day
Sunday will be the final day to view "Curbed Vanity: A Contemporary Foil by Chris Schanck" at the Dallas Museum of Art, the Dallas native's first museum commission and solo museum presentation. Schanck created a contemporary work inspired by the late-19th century Martelé dressing table in the DMA’s collection. Made of found objects from the immediate neighborhood of the artist’s Detroit studio, Schanck’s dressing table is coated in resin and aluminum foil, a reference to the Dallas aluminum factory where, along with his father, Schanck worked when he was young. The two dressing tables are presented together to form a conversation about craftsmanship, material, and the vanity that drives them.

Turtle Creek Chorale presents Songs of Strength and Survival
The healing power of live music, and especially choral music, is something that was absent as we made our way through the trials of a global pandemic over this last year. Turtle Creek Chorale will present a small ensemble concert at Cathedral of Hope Dallas designed to remind the audience how powerful, intimate, and up close choral music can be. It will include a selection of songs designed to inspire and spark a flame of strength in all of us.

Gary Clark Jr. in concert
If it weren't for that pesky pandemic, Austin native Gary Clark Jr., who's known for blending blues, rock and soul music with hip hop, would have had a lot to celebrate this past year. His third album, 2019's This Land, was his most successful one yet, earning him four Grammy nominations and three wins for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Best Rock Performance, and Best Rock Song. He'll play nightly through Tuesday, now at House of Blues Dallas after a venue change from The HiFi Dallas.

Marty Stuart will play at The Kessler on August 26 and 27.

Photo by David McClister

Marty Stuart will play at The Kessler on August 26 and 27.

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Movie review

Adam Scott gets creeped out exploring eerie Irish hotel in Hokum

Photo courtesy of Neon

Adam Scott in Hokum.

There are relatively few actors who can switch back and forth between comedy and drama easily, but Adam Scott is the rare exception. He’s equally as well known for starring in comedy projects like Parks & Recreation, Party Down, and Step Brothers as he is for dramas like Big Little Lies and Severance. He’s going the latter route again in the new horror film, Hokum.

Scott plays author Ohm Bauman, who’s trying to finish his latest book. In an effort to avoid distractions and also pay tribute to his parents, he retreats to an Irish hotel where his mom and dad spent their honeymoon. Bauman, who is about as stand-offish as you can get, and the staff of the hotel are at odds almost right away, although Bauman finds a kind of kinship with Jerry (David Wilmot), a seemingly-homeless man he meets in a nearby forest.

Bauman becomes intrigued with the story of the hotel’s closed-off honeymoon suite, which is said to be haunted. His curiosity, though, seems to trigger a variety of strange things, one of which ends with him in an extended stay at the hospital. He returns to the hotel determined more than ever to discover what’s really happening in the honeymoon suite, with things both normal and supernatural blocking his way at every turn.

Written and directed by Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy, the film’s approach to horror is both subtle and overt. On the good side is Bauman’s story, which gradually gets deeper as more is revealed about his past, especially the premature death of his mother. Bauman’s trauma over her loss influences his thinking and actions, and a possible connection between his current situation and his personal history broadens the scope of the plot.

There is plenty of creepiness to be found in the film, starting with the dark and decrepit nature of the hotel itself. Any building where a particular room is off-limits naturally inspires intrigue, and McCarthy does a solid job of building tension. That’s why it’s strange and disappointing that he gives in to the lamest of horror tropes - a sudden appearance by an odd-looking person accompanied by a big screeching noise - on multiple occasions.

The film is at its best when it features weird moments that are never or only slightly explained. A dead body in a rabbit suit is echoed by the unexplained broadcast from Bauman’s youth featuring a terrifying TV host with bulging eyes and rabbit ears. Bauman’s explorations take him into the hotel’s basement via a dumbwaiter, where he encounters all manner of strange things, including what seem to be witches. Because most of these things are left to the audience’s imagination, they hit harder in the moment.

Scott is known to be understated in his acting, and that skill works well in this particular role. Although he clearly plays Bauman as freaked out, he never indicates panic, and that level-headedness makes his character someone you want to follow no matter how dark the path might be. The mostly-Irish supporting cast is not well-known, but Wilmot and Florence Ordesh make the most of their short time on screen.

Hokum - a title that is also not explained - is a horror film that earns its bona fides through mood more than action. Even though not much of consequence happens throughout the film, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what will happen next.

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Hokum is now playing in theaters.

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