Weekend Event Planner

Taylor Swift and Amy Schumer power the best weekend events in Dallas

If you have procrastinated on going out to the State Fair of Texas, you'd better get a move on; it ends on Sunday. Otherwise, this weekend offers a wide range of fun and interesting events, including several big concerts, a great comedy festival, and a chance to meet some of your movie and TV idols in person.

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 15

CultureMap Stylemaker Awards Reveal Party
After weeks of gathering your votes, it's officially time to reveal the winners of the annual Stylemaker Awards. The six finalists are showing off their skills by putting together two looks from The Plaza at Preston Center retailers to debut at the Stylemaker Awards Reveal Party. Guest emcee Ron Corning will help us reveal the readers' and editors' choice winners at Tootsies.

Dallas VideoFest 28
After a few other special events earlier in the week, Dallas VideoFest 28 kicks into high gear at Angelika Film Center Dallas on Thursday. The festival, running through Sunday, will include Anomalisa, a stop-motion film from writer/director Charlie Kaufman, a rare screening of the 1972 Rolling Stones documentary Cocksucker Blues, and the presentation of the annual Kovacs Award to Chris Elliott and his father, Bob.

Don Henley in concert
Texas native Don Henley hasn't been a stranger to Dallas in recent years, playing two shows over the course of five months with the Eagles in 2013 and 2014. But this will be a solo show at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie, as Henley is touring in support of his first solo album in 15 years, Cass County, which happens to be the Texas county where Henley was raised.

Friday, October 16

Dallas Comic Con Fan Days
This bi-annual event at Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas shouldn't be confused with the actual Dallas Comic Con, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its fair share of celebrities on hand. Among the stars who will be talking and signing autographs during the three-day event will be Lucy Lawless, Jason Momoa, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, and William Zabka.

Aurora: All Together Now
For second time in three years, the Dallas Arts District will be turned into a panoply of light as it hosts Aurora, an expansive outdoor light-based art event featuring light, video, sound, and performance. This being the third Friday of the month, the district will also be alive with special events at Nasher Sculpture Center and the Dallas Museum of Art, which will have its own special Aurora installation.

Saturday, October 17

The D.O.C. in concert with Erykah Badu and Scarface
Perhaps spurred on by the depiction of himself in the unexpected summer hit Straight Outta Compton, Dallas rapper The D.O.C. will come to the Bomb Factory to put on his first performance in 20 years. He'll be joined by another Dallas legend, Erykah Badu, as her alter ego DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown, and Houston rapper Scarface.

Taylor Swift in concert with Vance Joy and Shawn Mendes
The coverage of Taylor Swift's 2015 world tour, which has been going on since May, has been so overreaching that most fans could tell you every minute detail you're likely to see Saturday at AT&T Stadium, her ~~lone~~ second Texas stop. The only question left to ponder is which local celebrity or fellow singer Swift will bring on stage for a "surprise" appearance. Swift will be joined by opening acts Vance Joy and Shawn Mendes.

Sunday, October 18

Ultimate Cowboys Fan Fest
As part of Klyde Warren Park's weekend-long third birthday celebration, it will host the Ultimate Cowboys Fan Fest. Along with appearances from the Cowboys cheerleaders, drumline, and mascot Rowdy, there will be a slew of fun activities and a performance from country singer Trace Adkins. Former Cowboy Darren Woodson will serve as emcee for the event.

Funny or Die presents Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival 2015
If you're a fan of stand-up comedy in the slightest, you'll want to be at Gexa Energy Pavilion on Sunday for Funny or Die's annual Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival. Amy Schumer and Aziz Ansari are the headliners for the final stop on the tour, but it will also feature comedians Anthony Jeselnik, Ashley Barnhill, Bridget Everett, Jeff Ross, Nick Thune, T.J. Miller, and Steve Rannazzisi.

Amy Schumer will headline the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival at Gexa Energy Pavilion on October 18.

Amy Schumer/Facebook

Amy Schumer will headline the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival at Gexa Energy Pavilion on October 18.

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Movie Review

Lust eclipses romance in new adaptation of 'Wuthering Heights'

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights.

Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights is one of those classic books assigned in high school English classes, and it has received a number of film adaptations over the years, each of which differ in numerous ways from the source material. Purists won’t receive any reprieve from Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaptation, with a title that is stylized as "Wuthering Heights” for good reason.

Cathy (played as an adult by Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) have known each other their entire lives, with Cathy’s alcoholic and inveterate gambler father (Martin Clunes) taking in Heathcliff on a whim when he was a boy. The two bond as they grow up together, although Cathy always seems to have an eye on moving up in society from their relatively impoverished lifestyle.

Cathy finally gets her wish when the rich Linton familyled by Edgar (Shazad Latif), moves in down the road, Despite discovering she has feelings for the now grown-up Heathcliff, Cathy sees Edgar as her way out and agrees to marry him. A scorned Heathcliff flees, returning years later as mysteriously wealthy. His reappearance ignites something in Cathy’s soul, and the two engage in a perhaps unwise affair.

Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) infuses the dusty material with an energy that’s not typically present in stories set in this particular time and place. Aside from the occasional Charli XCX song (the singer created a whole concept album for the film), the film looks and feels like a period piece, albeit one that doesn’t get bogged down in the drudgery that can sometimes come from films set in the distant past.

Much of that has to do with the lust the filmmaker puts into the story. Even if you’re not familiar with Brontë’s book, you can rest assured that Fennell has strayed far from the text, giving Cathy and Heathcliff thoughts and actions unthinkable in the 19th century. Fennell plays with expectations by opening the film with audio featuring creaking noises and a man grunting, conjuring up a situation far different than what is actually happening, and she also makes liberal use of rain, sweat, and tears to make the actors enticing.

What she can’t do, however, is make the two lead characters compelling. Cathy is a striver who never seems to know what she wants out of life, and Heathcliff goes from a bore to a brute over the course of the film, with no clear indication that he likes anybody, much less Cathy. Anyone expecting some kind of grand romance will be disappointed as Fennell is much more interested in making the film weird, like having the walls of Cathy’s room look like her skin, complete with freckles.

Robbie and Elordi do well enough with the material, and it’s clear that both of them are committed to bringing Fennell’s vision to life. Their styles tend to balance each other out, and if the story had been committed to their characters’ relationship, they might be lauded for their chemistry. In the end, though, the supporting actors feel more interesting, including ones played by Hong Chau, Alison Miller, and Clunes.

This version of Wuthering Heights should never be construed as an alternative to reading the book for any high schoolers out there. While Fennell makes the film interesting with her technical filmmaking choices, the story never finds its footing as it fails to sell the one thing that it seems to promise.

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Wuthering Heights opens in theaters on February 13.

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