Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend offers events both big and small. On the larger side are an Oktoberfest celebration, a fandom convention, several big concerts, and a well-known comedian. You can go more intimate with several local theater productions, a symphony performance, and a dance production. Also, fall will be on full display at one of the area's best nature venues.

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

Thursday, September 16

Addison Oktoberfest
Addison Oktoberfest features four days of family-oriented entertainment, including German entertainers in authentic costumes performing traditional Bavarian folk dances, schuhplatten, oompah music, sing-a-longs, yodels and more. A special “Oktoberfest” Paulaner Bier is served along with several types of German sausage, sauerkraut, strudel, giant pretzels and more. There are carnival rides, midway games, and children’s entertainment. The event takes place through Sunday at Addison Circle Park. (For more local Oktoberfests, go here.)

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Copland & Brahms"
Featuring resident organist Bradley Hunter Welch under the direction of Fabio Luisi, this concert will feature selections including Frederick Converse's The Mystic Trumpeter, Aaron Copland's Organ Symphony, and Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 1. The concert will take place at the Meyerson Symphony Center through Sunday.

Undermain Theatre presents Stronger Than Arms
Undermain Theatre will present the newest work by the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, Stronger Than Arms, a new adaptation of the classic Greek play Seven Against Thebes by Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear. The production will dive into the spiritual and political burdens placed on the chorus of Theban citizens, and the story points to the power of humanity’s worst enemy, unconquerable fear, and reveals that there could be something stronger — the willingness to change. Following the live performances of the show, running through October 2, the production will be available to stream at any time, October 3-17.

Flexible Grey Theatre Company presents Bridges: Sisters of Salem
Bridges: Sisters of Salem is the third iteration of Flexible Grey’s interview play series, Bridges. Sisters of Salem will focus on women in power and how opinions could sometimes lead to being burned at the stake, sharing stories from modern day women in power and comparing their stories to past women who were persecuted for using their own voice. This production, part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project, will run through Saturday at Sammons Park.

Friday, September 17

Fan Expo Dallas
The largest comic, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming event in Texas continues their tradition of bringing some of Hollywood’s biggest names to the Lone Star State at the 19th Annual Fan Expo Dallas. Celebrity guests will include Zachary Quinto, Zachary Levi, William Shatner, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Carl Weathers, Ray Fisher, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Ron Perlman, and more. The convention takes place through Sunday at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Counting Crows in concert
Some bands take time to build up their fan base, and some get shot out of a cannon. Counting Crows belongs in the latter category, blasting off with their first two albums in 1993 and 1996, which featured such hits as "Mr. Jones," "Round Here," and "A Long December." It's been seven years since they've released new music, but they'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in support of their new EP, Butter Miracle, Suite One.

Kings of Leon in concert with Cold War Kids
Tennessee rockers Kings of Leon are the opposite of Counting Crows, barely making a dent with their first three albums before shooting up to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 charts with 2008's Only by the Night. Strangely, despite their popularity, it took them another three albums to reach No. 1 with 2016's Walls. They'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion in support of their new album, When You See Yourself, joined by opening act Cold War Kids.

Echo Theatre presents It's My Party!
Based on real historical figures, It's My Party! delves into the turbulent backstory of the fight to pass the 19th Amendment. Facing an uphill battle in Washington, young suffragists employed increasingly radical tactics to make their voices heard, leading to bitter rivalries and a generational split that threatened to tear the suffragists’ movement apart from the inside. The production runs through October 9 at Bath House Cultural Center.

TITAS/Dance Unbound presents Momix: Alice
In timely fashion, TITAS/Dance Unbound will start their season walking through the Looking Glass. MOMIX, celebrating their 40th Anniversary, brings their fantastical Alice to Dallas. MOMIX director Moses Pendleton’s latest work takes the audience on a fun adventure with Lewis Carroll’s most beloved character, Alice. The production will play on Friday and Saturday at Winspear Opera House.

Saturday, September 18

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden presents Autumn at the Arboretum
The 16th annual Autumn at the Arboretum returns with more than 90,000 pumpkins, gourds, and squash throughout the garden. New this year is the location of the nationally acclaimed Pumpkin Village, behind the Jonsson Color Garden, transformed into the theme "Bugtopia." The signature display comes alive with larger-than-life insect topiaries, bugged-out pumpkin houses, and a maze for younger visitors. The event will take place through October 31.

Whiskey Myers in concert
Texas band Whiskey Myers is five albums deep into their career and just starting to hit their stride. Each of their successive albums has made it higher on Billboard Country charts than the last, culminating with 2019's self-titled album, which went all the way to No. 1. The southern rock/country band will play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, with support from Bones Owens and Kolby Cooper.

Iliza Shlesinger: The Back in Action Tour
Iliza Shlesinger, a Dallas-raised comedian, is the only female and youngest person to hold the title of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. Shlesinger has five Netflix specials to her credit, including 2019's Unveiled. In recent years she's been in demand as an actress, starring in such films as Instant Family, Pieces of a Woman, and Good on Paper. She'll perform at Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Autumn at the Arboretum runs September 18-October 31 at the Dallas Arboretum.

Photo by Dallas Arboretum

Autumn at the Arboretum runs September 18-October 31 at the Dallas Arboretum.

event-planner concerts celebrities nature theater

Movie Review

Film sequel Avatar: Fire and Ash is a technical and visual feast

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

---

Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

movies film