Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It's a festival kind of weekend in and around Dallas, with one film festival, two music festivals, and a dance festival offering up great entertainment. You can also see new Halloween events, two legendary music acts, a fantastic comedian, a homegrown singer made big, and more.

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

Thursday, September 30

Dallas VideoFest presents Docufest+
Docufest+ will serve as the final event ever for Dallas VideoFest, the longest running independent film festival in Dallas. The festival, running through Sunday at Angelika Film Center in Dallas, will feature a lineup of independent documentaries from Texas filmmakers and beyond, including On the Divide, a portrait of three key players in the abortion battle in McAllen, Texas, and Socks on Fire, poet Bo McGuire’s cinematic love letter to his grandmother.

More Halloween events
Last weekend was the start of most Halloween events in the Dallas area, but two more will join in on the fun this weekend. Starting Thursday is Frights 'n Lights at Riders Field in Frisco, an adventure trail lined with thousands of shining jack-o-lanterns, intricately carved in the shape of different fictional and real-life people. It will be open on weekends through November 6. The Parker House in Denton is another haunted attraction, featuring two different houses to scare the wits out of visitors. It will be open through October 31.

Crystal Gayle in concert
Country singer Crystal Gayle has been a big name in the country genre for over 40 years, scoring 16 No. 1 hits over the years, most notably 1977's iconic "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue." Even though her heyday ended in the late 1980s, she's maintained a presence thanks to those great songs and the occasional new release, including 2019's You Don't Know Me: Classic Country. She'll perform at Arlington Music Hall.

America in concert
The year 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of perennial classic rock band, America. Founding members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (along with former bandmate Dan Peek) met in high school in London in the late 1960s and quickly harmonized their way to the top of the charts on the strength of their signature song, "A Horse With No Name." They'll play this special concert at Annette Strauss Square.

Friday, October 1

Denton Arts & Jazz Festival
The annual Denton Arts & Jazz Festival will return after a one-year break, featuring performers on six outdoor stages and one indoor stage, as well as roving musicians. The festival, taking place through Sunday at Quakertown Park in Denton, will also include arts, a children’s art area, various activities, and food.

Ramblin' Roads Music Festival
The Ramblin' Roads Music Festival will take over the city of Arlington, taking place just about everywhere there's a stage in the city, including Levitt Pavilion, Arlington Music Hall, Texas Live, and more than 15 other venues. Performers will include Chromeo, William Clark Green, Mike Ryan, Bobby Pulido, Jamestown Revival, Monica Saldivar, Gene Watson, Tatiana Mayfield, and more. The festival takes place through Sunday.

Brian Regan in concert
Setting a comedic standard of excellence that others continually try to follow, Brian Regan is a unique comedian who is relatable to generations of fans and revered by comedians as the best in the business. Known as a "clean" yet hilarious comedian, his comedy can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages. He'll perform at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents 16th Annual DanceAfrica
Dallas Black Dance Theatre celebrates the rich heritage and ancestry of Africa with the 16th Annual DanceAfrica performances at Moody Performance Hall on Friday and Saturday, featuring guest artists Bandan Koro African Drum and Dance Ensemble and the DeSoto High School A Cappella Choir. The event also includes the free Saturday daytime DanceAfrica Festival & Marketplace, which fills Klyde Warren Park with performances, food, fun, and vendors.

Saturday, October 2

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Philharmonia Fantastique
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will present Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra, an animated film that flies through the instruments of the orchestra to explore the age-old connection of creativity and technology. Guided by a magical sprite, the audience will see violin strings vibrate, brass valves slice air, and drum heads resonate. The kid-friendly event will take place at Meyerson Symphony Center.

St. Vincent in concert
Dallas can claim musician and songwriter Annie Clark — aka St. Vincent — as its own, as she spent her formative years here and was once a member of The Polyphonic Spree. One of the most distinctive artistic voices and original guitarists of her generation, she's collaborated with such big names as David Byrne, Taylor Swift, and The Chicks. She'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in support of her latest album, Daddy's Home.

Sunday, October 3

TLC in concert with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
It's been almost 20 years since Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes died in a car crash, and surviving bandmates Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas have kept the TLC name going in a variety of ways, including the 2017 release of their self-titled album. At this concert, they'll celebrate their 1994 breakout album, CrazySexyCool, performing selections from that album and additional hits. They'll be joined by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

St. Vincent will perform at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving on October 2.

Photo by Zackery Michael

St. Vincent will perform at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving on October 2.

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Movie Review

Ryan Gosling tries to save the universe in Project Hail Mary

Photo by Jonathan Olley

Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary

The reasons behind the success of 2015’s The Martian, which earned over $630 million worldwide and got nominated for seven Oscars, had as much to do with the novel written by Andy Weir as it did with star Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott. Weir’s commitment to making an entertaining story that was also scientifically accurate proved to be easy to translate into a blockbuster movie.

The same is true for Weir’s 2021 novel, Project Hail Mary, now a film starring Ryan Gosling. Gosling plays Dr. Ryland Grace, who opens the film waking up from an induced coma, alone on an interstellar spaceship named the Hail Mary. As his foggy mind clears, he - and the audience - learn that he was recruited to help an initiative to save the world after it’s discovered that a mysterious phenomenon is causing the sun to cool down, threatening all life on Earth.

The film toggles back and forth between Grace’s time on the ship and his whirlwind journey of scientific discovery on Earth, with revelations coming on both sides. On Earth, he mostly deals with Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), the unflappable and unstoppable leader of the international coalition dedicated to solving the problem. And in space, orbiting the far-off star known as Tau Ceti, he encounters another being he names Rocky, a five-limbed creature that looks like a boulder which teams up with him to try to save both of their worlds.

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and written by Drew Goddard (who also wrote The Martian), the film melds multiple genres into an astonishingly great whole. It starts off as a mystery, morphs into science fiction, transitions into actual science, becomes a thriller, adds in plenty of drama, and - for good measure - features plenty of comedy along the way. Shifting tones like this film does is tricky for many filmmakers, but Lord and Miller prove to be masterful at knowing just how much of each to include before it becomes too much.

One of the biggest keys to the story is the fact that Grace is not a hero in the movie sense of the word. He’s very smart, but he’s also an everyman, teaching middle school science after being shunned from academia. The circumstances of how he ended up on the Hail Mary are doled out in pieces over the course of the film, but it’s clear from the start that Grace’s talents are not the ones found in your typical astronaut. Ironically, it’s him being forced to do heroic stuff that imbues him with an atypical type of bravery.

The relationship between Grace and Rocky is unique, and Rocky ends up being as endearing an alien that’s been featured in movies despite the fact that he has no face and speaks only in musical tones. The film does a very effective job of putting the audience in Grace’s shoes, having to figure out ways to communicate with Rocky at the same time as he’s trying to figure out how to complete a mission he wasn’t trained to do.

Gosling is the ideal actor to portray a man like Grace. Essentially alone for much of the film, his innate charm and humorous delivery keep the film from feeling like an extended monologue. The flashback scenes to his time on Earth feature solid performances from people like Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Lionel Boyce (The Bear), and more, who fill in the pieces of the story without feeling out of place.

Project Hail Mary is a crowd-pleaser in all the right ways, delivering plenty of thrilling action and funny moments while also digging deep into science nerd elements. With a movie star like Gosling in the lead and successful filmmakers like Lord, Miller, and Goddard behind the scenes, the film makes an early case for being one of best of the year.

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Project Hail Mary opens in theaters on March 20.

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