Weekend Event Planner

These are the 8 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Event organizers must figure that a lot of people are heading out of town for Labor Day weekend, as this slate of new events is one of the lightest of the year. But there are still fun things to do, including three concerts with big-name bands, a mash-up of classical music and video games, and one huge way to open up the college football season.

Below are the best options for your precious free time Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, September 1

Theatre Three presents The Sum of Us
Taking place in Theatre Three's Theatre Too space, The Sum of Us explores the volatile relationship between an aging widower and his gay son. The two of them not seeing eye-to-eye threatens to derail not only their own relationship, but promising new ones each of them has recently started. The play runs through September 25.

AXS TV Concerts Hosted by Mark Cuban: KC and the Sunshine Band
Virtually no band has been responsible for starting more parties in the past 40 years than KC and the Sunshine Band. Even if you weren't of age during their heyday in the 1970s, you have no doubt attended some celebration where songs like "Get Down Tonight," "That's the Way (I Like It)," or "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" got people up and dancing. They're playing — for free! — at the Bomb Factory.

Friday, September 2

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy
Video game music doesn't get as much respect as it deserves, but it will be on full display at Meyerson Symphony Center when the Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy. The concerts, taking place on Friday and Saturday, feature original video from the Final Fantasy universe of games, with performances by vocalist Susan Calloway and the University of Texas at Arlington A Cappella Choir.

Dance Council of North Texas presents Dallas DanceFest 2016
Now in its third year, Dallas DanceFest showcases excellence in dance and celebrates the contributions of distinguished leaders in the field. The festival is putting on two showcases at Dallas City Performance Hall on Friday and Saturday, featuring groups like Bruce Wood Dance Project, Contemporary Ballet Dallas, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, NobleMotion, Texas Ballet Theater, and more.

Saturday, September 3

Advocare Classic: USC vs. Alabama
Even though TCU has been a threat to make the National Championship game for many years, the first big local college football game of the season is between the defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide and perennial power USC Trojans. Both teams are ranked in the preseason top 20, so prepare for a gridiron battle at AT&T Stadium.

Flashback Fest II featuring Teddy Riley, Bobby Brown, Blackstreet, and more
Anyone who came of age in the late 1980s or early '90s will be in heaven at this concert at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie. Flashback Fest II features a slew of performers best known for their music from that era, including Teddy Riley, Blackstreet with Dave Hollister, Kool Moe Dee, Wreckx‐N‐Effect, Big Bub, Bobby Brown, SWV, and Al B Sure.

Sunday, September 4

Texas Rangers Labor Day Weekend Race
The Texas Rangers are in first place in the American League West, and you can bask in their feel-good season by participating in the Texas Rangers Labor Day Weekend Race. The 5K takes a scenic route through Arlington's entertainment district and finishes on the field at Globe Life Park. There's also a family-friendly 1K for anyone looking for a shorter run. As a bonus, all participants get a ticket and parking for the Rangers/Astros game later that day.

Fifth Harmony in concert with Victoria Monet and JoJo
There wasn't much good that came out of the U.S. version of The X Factor, but Fifth Harmony is the exception. The pop/R&B girl group has carved out their own niche in the crowded music field, hitting it big with songs like "Worth It" and "Work from Home." They'll play at Gexa Energy Pavilion with help from opening acts Victoria Monet and JoJo.

Teddy Riley performs alongside Blackstreet, Bobby Brown, and others at Flashback Fest II on September 3 at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Photo courtesy of Teddy Riley

Teddy Riley performs alongside Blackstreet, Bobby Brown, and others at Flashback Fest II on September 3 at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

sports concerts event-planner races music dance theater

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

---

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

movies film