Weekend Event Planner

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

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

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, October 8

Festival of Independent Theatres
The 22nd Festival of Independent Theatres has switched to a virtual format for 2020. Six performing arts groups will offer audiences something for everyone, and for the first time ever, viewing on demand and from the comfort of home. This year's lineup features original works, dance, comedy, drama, and more. All performances will be available for viewing anytime through October 31.

Undermain Theatre presents St. Nicholas
In St. Nicholas by Conor McPherson, a cynical and jaded drama critic falls for a beautiful young actress. On a drunken bender one weekend, he pursues her to London, where he falls in with a coven of modern-day vampires. Is it a drunken fairy tale or his own vision of a higher truth? This haunting solo story performed by Undermain artistic director Bruce DuBose will be available for viewing anytime through October 25.

Shakespeare Dallas presents Movies in the Park
Shakespeare Dallas continues its month of outdoor Movies in the Park at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre. On Thursdays they’ll screen Shakespeare-inspired movies, Fridays will feature a classic selection, and on Saturdays they'll show family-friendly films. Selections this weekend include Ophelia, Casablanca, and Ghostbusters. Advance purchase is required for all ticketholders. The series will continue every weekend through October 24.

Friday, October 9

State Fair-themed events
We can't go to the State Fair of Texas this year, but two separate events this weekend will offer a little fair flair. Legacy Hall's Fair Fest will feature their annual Texas vs. Oklahoma Red River Watch Party on October 10, as well as fried foods, football, corn dog ale, live music, and more all weekend long. At Reunion Tower's Fair in the Air, Corndog With No Name will be serving fair food favorites like corn dogs, funnel cakes, corn, fried Oreos, and more.

DFW China Town Drive-In Night Market presents The Karate Kid
Carbaret will take their act to a different part of Richardson when they present a screening of the 1984 classic The Karate Kid. DFW China Town's first-ever night market will also feature various China Town vendors and restaurants, including Jeng Chi, Canton Chinese, Java Land Coffee Haus, Sichaun King, and more. The event is limited to 70 cars. There will be a limited number of individual outdoor and socially distanced seating. Food tickets must be pre-ordered, and are good for all of the participating restaurants and vendors at the market.

UT Arlington Department of Theatre Arts presents Heal the Divide On and Off Campus
Heal the Divide On and Off Campus, presented by The University of Texas at Arlington’s Department of Theatre Arts, is comprised of original one-act plays written and performed by students from the Department of Theatre Arts. The pieces focus on topics that directly concern and impact the millennial and Gen Z generations, such as diversity in politics, colorism, racism, and the LGBTQ+ community, among others. The production will be available to stream anytime between October 9 and 11.

The Dallas Opera presents Carmen
The Dallas Opera will make the company’s 2018 hit production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen available for free for home viewing for a limited time. The video stream will premiere online on the evening of October 9, the originally scheduled date for the opening of the 2020/2021 season. Those interested in viewing must register online in order to access the program. Following the October 9 stream, the program can be viewed by registrants for 30 days until November 8.

Saturday, October 10

Laughter League and Shakespeare Dallas present Circo Metropolis
Circo Metropolis is an outdoor pop-up circus experience where families can enjoy an afternoon of zaniness from the dynamic clown duo Slappy and Monday and their endearing circus friends. The cast will also feature speed juggler Dario Vasquez, circus skills phenoms Kelli and Julio Ramazini, Magic Mike Williams, aerialists Circus2Wins, slack wire artist Chet Monday, and songbird Lily Monday. There will be two performances a day on Saturdays and Sundays at Samuell-Grand Amphitheatre through October 18.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents DanceAfrica
Dallas Black Dance Theatre celebrates the 15th Anniversary of DanceAfrica with a virtual cultural tradition. Step Afrika! will demonstrate the African American art of stepping, and Dallas’ Bandan Koro African Drum and Dance Ensemble will be featured as guest artists alongside DBDT, DBDT: Encore!, and DBDT academy ensembles. The dozens of dancers will be joined virtually by the award-winning DeSoto High School A Cappella Choir singing melodic and inspiring songs that capture the spirit of the African tradition.

Hyena's Comedy Nightclub Dallas presents Pauly Shore
Pauly Shore tasted stardom in the 1990s thanks to his MTV show Totally Pauly, as well as starring roles in films like Jury Duty, In the Army Now, Bio-Dome, Encino Man, Son In Law, and A Goofy Movie. Apart from actively touring the country with his stand-up comedy, Shore is working on a documentary of his life that spans the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. He'll perform two shows at Hyena's Dallas.

The Dallas Opera will stream their 2018 production of Carmen starting on October 9.

Photo courtesy of the Dallas Opera

The Dallas Opera will stream their 2018 production of Carmen starting on October 9.

event-planner

Movie Review

The Dink aces pickleball with funny, star-filled comedy

Photo courtesy of Apple TV+

Mary Steenburgen and Jake Johnson in The Dink.

While the sport of pickleball was invented way back in the 1960s, it has exploded in popularity in the 2020s. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out a way to make a movie about the craze, and a comedy like the new Apple TV film The Dink provides the best way to honor and make fun of the divisive sport at the same time.

Dusty Boyd (Jake Johnson), aka The Hammer, is a former tennis phenom who’s now working as an instructor at a club owned by his dad, Chuck (Ed Harris). While the two don’t always see eye-to-eye, they have a mutual hatred for pickleball, which they have begrudgingly allowed on the property by giving it the worst court.

Dusty is hoping to stop all future pickleball expansion by winning a one-on-one grudge match, but when he injures his wrist, he’s given a prescription of pickleball as a form of rehab. Older women like Candace (Mary Steenburgen) are the only people he can find to play with, and despite his disdain for the sport, he soon falls prey to its low-key charms.

Directed by Josh Greenbaum (Will & Harper) and written by Sean Clements, the film is probably the best advertisement pickleball will ever have. Dusty’s introduction to the sport serves as a lighthearted tutorial for the uninitiated while still getting in some nice digs at its expense. The other players - Candace, Gail (Cleo King), and Judy (Lynn Marie Stewart) - are equally welcoming and critical of Dusty, who initially has trouble adjusting to the game’s different rules.

The film’s approach to the story is silly but never stupid. Dusty is a blowhard, but he’s also able to admit when he’s wrong, especially when Candace introduces him to multiple things he had never considered before. A long-standing feud between Dusty and Andy Roddick provides more than just a goofy cameo for the real-life tennis star. The film also pushes right to the edge of being over-the-top before pulling back, allowing it to keep a semblance of reality to it.

Clements’ story follows a tried-and-true formula, making the film very predictable but enjoyably so. Where it earns its comedy credentials is in its finer details, like Dusty’s love for his 1999 Buick LeSabre with under 200,000 miles on it, his trunk full of old VHS tapes, or his interactions with his assistant PJ (Aaron Chen), who manages to be the comic relief in an already funny film.

Johnson, probably best known for starring in the sitcom New Girl in the 2010s, has the right amount of smarm and niceness to pull off the role, letting viewers laugh at and root for him at the same time. The film is full of comedy all-stars in small roles like Oswalt, Chris Parnell, and Ben Stiller, but Harris steals everyone’s thunder. The line readings by the four-time Oscar nominee give an extra punch to his character’s jokes, especially one that hints at the sordid history of the tennis club.

It’s a shame that The Dink is only playing on a streaming service as there’s a dearth of good comedies like this in movie theaters. With a solid joke-telling approach, a respect for its subject matter, and a cast who all play off each other well, this is a film that deserves to be seen by more than just those with an Apple TV subscription.

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The Dink is now streaming on Apple TV.

movies sports pickleball film