Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Mid-October brings a music-heavy weekend to the Dallas area, including the symphony, a comedian/singer, two country music icons, a Latin superstar, and one of the hottest rappers around. As if that's not enough, you can also get up close and personal with movie and TV celebrities.

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, October 13

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Tchaikovsky 4"
For their latest concert, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is playing to audiences both inside and outside. For the Thursday, Friday, and Sunday performances, they are performing a full concert at Meyerson Symphony Center, with guest violinist August Hadelich. On Saturday, they are performing a free condensed concert (only Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4) in the CenterPark Garden at NorthPark Center.

Bridget Everett in concert
Hot off the heels of her Comedy Central special Gynecological Wonder, her recurring appearances on Inside Amy Schumer, and a jaw-dropping appearance in the blockbuster film Trainwreck, comedian and singer Bridget Everett hits the stage at House of Blues Dallas armed with a bottle (or two) of Chardonnay, as well as the songs and stories from her unique brand of comedy cabaret.

Friday, October 14

Dallas Comic Con Fan Days
As little as three months ago, the idea that a 12-year-old British girl would be the big star at Dallas Comic Con Fan Days would have been laughable. But then Stranger Things premiered on Netflix, and Millie Bobby Brown became the toast of Hollywood. She, along with the likes of Karl Urban, Christian Slater, Ian Ziering, Adam West, and Burt Ward, are appearing at the pop culture convention, taking place at the Irving Convention Center in Las Colinas through Sunday.

Improv Addison presents Nikki Glaser
Nikki Glaser is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after young comedians, as she is the creator, executive producer, and star of the Comedy Central series Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, where some of comedy’s funniest voices — including Bridgett Everett — joke, learn, and share their personal stories about sex, relationships, and other taboo topics. Glaser brings that energy to Improv Addison for four sets through Saturday.

Keith Urban in concert with Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris
Now that American Idol has taken its final bow, country superstar Keith Urban can focus full-time on his own music career. He's coming back to Dallas for the first time in three years in support of his new album, Ripcord. He's joined at American Airlines Center by opening act Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris.

Kris Kristofferson in concert
In the latest example of appreciating music legends while you can, Texas' own Kris Kristofferson is playing a concert at Annette Strauss Square in support of his new album, Cedar Creek Sessions. The 80-year-old singer has been active in the industry for 50 years, becoming one of the most-respected and awarded musicians in the industry along the way.

Saturday, October 15

The Shops at Park Lane present Parktoberfest
The Park, a landscaped lawn located in the heart of the Shops at Park Lane, is being transformed into a tasting garden where revelers can enjoy multiple beer tents featuring some of Texas’ best craft breweries, along with multiple food options. There's also continuous live local music, fun games, giveaways, a photo booth, and more throughout the day.

Marc Anthony in concert
Singer Marc Anthony has gone through multiple waves in his 25-year career. He hit big highs with 1999's Marc Anthony and 2002's Mended, but his laudable effort to stay true to his roots with Spanish-only albums, while still popular, have not been met with the same level of enthusiasm. He's playing at American Airlines Center as part of his 2016 U.S. tour, Marc Anthony Live!

Sunday, October 16

Chance the Rapper in concert with Francis & the Lights
Aside from superstars like Kanye West or Jay-Z, Chance the Rapper may be the most popular hip-hop artist on the planet right now. He's collaborated with people across the musical and entertainment spectrum, from West to Stephen Colbert, despite having only released a series of mixtapes, including 2016's Coloring Book. He's performing a sold-out show at the Bomb Factory with Francis & the Lights, although you can still find tickets on the secondary market.

Keith Urban is playing at American Airlines Center on October 14.

Photo by Michelle Watson/CatchlightGroup.com

Keith Urban is playing at American Airlines Center on October 14.

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Movie review

Over-the-top The Bride! makes other Frankenstein movies seem subtle

Photo by Niko Tavernise

Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in The Bride!.

The story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is now over 200 years old, with Mary Shelley’s book having been adapted or referenced in close to 500 films. Less common is the character of The Bride of Frankenstein, which existed in the original text but has more often than not been excised in adaptations. Writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal has tried to rectify that by giving the character a big showcase in her new film, The Bride!.

Gyllenhaal has reimagined the story as one in which a woman named Ida (Jessie Buckley) becomes possessed by the spirit of Shelley (also Buckley). At the same time, the already-existing Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) approaches Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening), who specializes in reanimation, with the request to make him a wife. When Ida falls to her death in an “accident” involving her boyfriend (John Magaro), the ideal corpse becomes available.

After Ida’s resurrection, she and the monster become restless being studied by Dr. Euphronius and decide to break out to experience the world. The world, naturally, is not exactly welcoming to them, and soon the couple are on the run for causing mayhem, including a few murders. In hot pursuit are detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his assistant, Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz), as well as other authorities.

It’s clear that Gyllenhaal wanted to merge the Frankenstein story with Bonnie & Clyde, especially since she sets the film in the mid-1930s. And that wouldn’t have been a bad idea if having the monster and The Bride going on a crime spree was truly the focus of the movie. But most of the time there’s less intentionality in their misdeeds and more confusion, leading to a muddled plot with no clear direction or end goal in mind.

One of the biggest problems is that Gyllenhaal starts the energy of the film at an 11, giving her and everyone else nowhere to go but down. She dabbles in multiple different tones, at times going the straight drama route and other times making what seems like full-on camp. At one point, she even has the monster and the Bride in a dance sequence set to “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” which would be hilarious as an homage to Young Frankenstein if the film weren’t so disjointed.

Most baffling of all is what Gyllenhaal wants from The Bride character. She morphs multiple times over the course of the film, from close to unintelligible at the beginning to rough-and-tumble at the end. There are hints at the lack of control she has over her autonomy, including Shelley’s possession of her and the monster lying to her about her past, but any commentary that Gyllenhaal might be trying to make gets lost amid the oddity of the film as a whole.

Both Buckley and Bale are all-in for their performances, which definitely fall in the “love it or hate it” dichotomy. Each scene is pitched so high that there’s little nuance to either of them, and neither is on par with their previous Oscar-caliber roles. The high-powered supporting cast of Bening, Sarsgaard, Cruz, and Jake Gyllenhaal is watchable based on previous roles, but none of them elevate this particular movie.

Whatever intentions Maggie Gyllenhaal had in making The Bride! are only halfway legible in a film that can never find its tonal footing. There has rarely been subtlety in movies featuring Frankenstein’s monster and related characters, but this one makes all the others seem like stuffy dramas in comparison.

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The Bride! is now playing in theaters.

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