Weekend Event Planner

These are the 7 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

While the majority of events around Dallas have either been postponed or canceled, there are a few that have popped up to offer the masses some entertainment while still adhering to the social distancing necessary during the coronavirus pandemic.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. While they're not all outside of the house, they all promise to provide a nice distraction from the everyday life.

Thursday, August 27

Rooftop Cinema Club: The Drive-In at The Central
Dallas is getting another drive-in movie option this week thanks to Rooftop Cinema Club. Taking place at The Central in East Dallas, the drive-in will project movies onto a 52-foot screen with skyline views as the backdrop, with audio broadcast through the FM transmitter radio in cars. Moviegoers are welcome to bring their own food, but food and beverage are also being offered through a contactless system. Opening weekend movies include Selena, Dazed and Confused, Dirty Dancing, Friday, Jurassic Park, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Little Mermaid, and Pulp Fiction.

Friday, August 28

Twilight at the Tin Star
Twilight at the Tin Star, taking place at Tin Star Theater in Trinity Groves, is an immersive art event that guests can experience from the safety of their vehicle in an in-the-round, drive-in theater setting. The performance features music by Danny Goldman and MAKE trio, and percussionist Austin Allen. Bruce Wood Dance will perform a site-specific work created by choreographer Gregory Dolbashian under the canopy of TETRA, an illuminated structural art piece by Colin Hendee.

Improv Arlington presents Lavell Crawford
Audiences are becoming increasingly familiar with Lavell Crawford’s giant-sized talent from his numerous television appearances. Crawford gained national exposure on NBC’s hit reality series Last Comic Standing, leading to his own half-hour standup special on Comedy Central. Crawford is best known for his recurring role on AMC’s Emmy Award-winning Breaking Bad. He'll perform five times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Improv Addison presents Terry Fator
Terry Fator is perhaps the first entertainer to combine the art of ventriloquism with singing celebrity impressions. His puppets, including Cowboy Walter, Emma Taylor, and Winston the Impersonating Turtle, effortlessly perform the singing styles of an eclectic group of stars, including Tony Bennett, Elvis, Maroon 5, Garth Brooks, Nat King and Natalie Cole, Roy Orbison, Etta James, and more. He'll perform five times through Sunday at Improv Addison.

Saturday, August 29

Legacy Hall presents End of Summer Luau
Legacy Hall in Plano will present a safe and socially distant tropical getaway with an End of Summer Luau. The festive evening will feature a traditional Hawaiian pig roast, hula dancers, a fire performer, tiki cocktails, a limbo competition, and a performance by Summer of ’69, a Bryan Adams tribute band. Food is not included in the overall ticket cost; the pig roast is $18 when pre-purchased with an event ticket, or $22 at the door.

CarBaret: Pee Wee's Big Adventure + Mr. Rid + Lily Taylor
CarBaret, the pop-up drive-in theater/performance space at Brizo in Richardson will present a 35th anniversary screening of Tim Burton's cult classic, Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Prior to the screening, DJ Mr. Rid will present music and selected short films, and Lily Taylor featuring Black Taffy will play live music. Guests can order food from a drive-in menu that will be delivered to cars or chairs, featuring beer bratwurst, grilled kebabs, veggie tacos, and more. Guests can stay in their cars, on top of their cars, or in folding chairs near their cars.

Sunday, August 30

Dallas Museum of Art exhibition openings
The Dallas Museum of Art will open two new exhibitions on Sunday: Love is the Message, The Message is Death, Arthur Jafa’s renowned film that juxtaposes representations of Black artists, scholars, athletes, and politicians with depictions of events ranging from faith-based transcendence to police brutality; and "Contemporary Art + Design," which presents recently acquired paintings, installations, jewelry, furnishings, and design objects made by artists from 11 countries that show new directions for the growth of the DMA's collection. Both exhibitions will remain on display through March 7.

Rooftop Cinema Club: The Drive-In at The Central will show a variety of classic movies.

Photo courtesy of Rooftop Cinema Club

Rooftop Cinema Club: The Drive-In at The Central will show a variety of classic movies.

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Movie Review

Michael Jackson can do no wrong in fawning biopic Michael

Photo by Glen Wilson

Jaafar Jackson in Michael

Among the complicated figures in pop culture history, Michael Jackson has to be at or near the top. On one hand, he’s responsible for some of the most enduring music of all time, thrilling generations with his voice and dance moves. But his later years were marred by accusations of child sexual abuse and erratic behavior, including his premature death at the age of 50.

So the new biopic Michael is a tough one to judge from a critical standpoint, not least because director Antoine Fuqua and writer John Logan have elided - perhaps temporarily - the thornier parts of Michael’s history. Instead, this film focuses on the 20-year period in which Michael (played as an adult by Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson) goes from the prepubescent lead singer of the Jackson 5 to one of the biggest music superstars of all time.

That choice puts an overly sympathetic tint to Michael’s story, as he spends most of that time under the thumb of his domineering father, Joseph (Colman Domingo). Joseph has a vision for Michael and his brothers, and he pushes them hard in a quest to become rich and famous. Even when they achieve that goal, though, Joseph refuses to let up, holding onto Michael even when it’s clear he should go out on his own.

As a reminder of the enormous impact Michael Jackson had on the music industry and world at large, the film is successful. Fuqua and Logan include plenty of music, naturally, but they seem to be most interested in depicting Michael as a human being. They lay it on thick, whether it’s showing him spending time among his family members away from the stage, hanging out with bodyguard Bill Bray (KeiLyn Durrel Jones), or visiting sick kids in hospitals. The message that Michael is a harmless, good person couldn’t be clearer.

The film hints at but doesn’t really explore Michael’s oddities. His obsession with kids literature and movies, especially Peter Pan, are seen as inoffensive quirks, as is his menagerie of animals, including a creepy CGI version of Bubbles the chimp. His arrested development seems to be partially blamed on his parents treating him like a child well into his adulthood, and the resulting fallout is not (yet) addressed.

Many viewers will be most interested in the music sequences, and - save for some repetitive shots of fans fainting at the mere presence of Michael - they are handled well. Whether it’s at home, in the studio, on the set of the “Thriller” video, or at live performances, the film manages to fully get across just what a phenomenon Michael was at his peak. The staging and editing of each scene is dynamic, complementing Michael’s other-worldly abilities well.

If there is one reason to see the film, it is the performance of Jaafar Jackson. Whether he’s capable of doing any other kind of role is undetermined, but his portrayal of his uncle is compelling, as he demonstrates singing, dancing, and acting skills in equal measure. He’s aided by an equally great performance by Domingo, who - with the help of facial prosthetics - overcomes the trope of the bad father. Nia Long and Larenz Tate are also good in smaller roles, but Miles Teller is an odd presence as Michael’s manager.

There are reports that legal complications prevented the filmmakers from using previously-shot scenes delving into accusations against Michael, and there are rumors that a second film will be made about the last 20 years of his life. But that speculation can’t absolve Michael of showing all the positive aspects of Michael Jackson’s life and not even touching any of the negative ones.

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Michael opens in theaters on April 24.

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Weekend Event Planner

These are the 7 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Rooftop Cinema Club: The Drive-In at The Central will show a variety of classic movies.

Movie Review

Michael Jackson can do no wrong in fawning biopic Michael

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