Weekend Event Planner

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

It's Halloween weekend, but that doesn't mean you have to be constrained by spooky events. There are plenty of other things going on, including several big-name concerts, a new air show, a new opera production, one of the last outdoor festivals of the year, and more. By the way, if you are looking for the best Halloween weekend events around Dallas-Fort Worth, you can check them out here.

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 27

Decks in the Park - Halloween Edition
Costumes are highly encouraged at Decks in the Park's annual Halloween Bash. In addition to music from more than seven DJs, guests get a sneak preview of the Red Bull Flying Bach show coming to the Majestic Theatre in January. There's also an after-party at the Foundation Room for those who want to keep the party going.

Celtic Thunder in concert
The new show from international megastars Celtic Thunder, Legacy, celebrates the influence of Irish and Celtic music around the world. It features a mix of lively, fast-paced, and upbeat songs, including “A Place in The Choir,” “Galway Girl,” and “Raggle Taggle Gypsy,” and slower classic ballads like “Danny Boy” and “Noreen." The concert takes place at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Friday, October 28

Commemorative Air Force presents 2016 Wings Over Dallas WWII Airshow
The inaugural Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas WWII Airshow commemorates the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and features Tora! Tora! Tora!, an award-winning re-creation of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Dozens of other WWII-era aircraft are being exhibited on the ramp and in the air throughout the event. The show takes place at Dallas Executive Airport through Sunday.

Dallas Symphony Pops Series: Disney's Fantasia Live in concert
If you've never seen Disney’s classic movie, Fantasia (or even if you've seen it a 100 times), seeing it with live symphony accompaniment makes it feel completely different. The Fantasia concerts, presented four times through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center, include works from the original 1940 film as well as selections from Fantasia 2000.

Dallas Opera presents Eugene Onegin
Set in late 19th century Russia, innocence and passion collide in the Dallas Opera's latest, Eugene Onegin. After the aristocratic and arrogant Onegin rejects a country girl's advances, the roles are reversed many years later when the two meet again at a royal ball. The opera plays four times at Winspear Opera House through November 5.

Evanescence in concert
For a band that has only released three official albums, Evanescence have had an outsized impact on the music world. The band, led by Amy Lee, has sold nearly 25 million albums since their 2003 debut, Fallen, featuring the hit, “Bring Me To Life.” They are playing at South Side Ballroom in support of their soon-to-be-released box set.

Saturday, October 29

Frontiers of Flight Museum presents Star Wars Day
Spend the day at Frontiers of Flight Museum on the “dark side” with the 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion “good guys.” The day includes special Star Wars-themed activities, including a red carpet costume contest. Guests get to meet characters from all sci-fi genres, as the Star Wars universe joins forces with the USS Joshua Sci-Fi fan club and the DFW Ghostbusters fan group.

2016 Trinity River Wind Festival
The fifth annual Trinity River Wind Festival, postponed from June, is a day of high-flying outdoor adventure and fun. The event, taking place at the Commerce Street Viaduct, includes the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center and stage show, homing pigeons from Trinity River Audubon Center, Texas Discovery Gardens butterfly display and crafts, performances by kite teams and the Alma y Corazon Tejano Ballet Folklorico, a kid’s fun zone, and more.

The Fray in concert with American Authors
The Fray achieved national success with their 2005 debut album, featuring the hit singles "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life," which went double-platinum. Anybody who buys a ticket for this concert at House of Blues Dallas receives a digital download of The Fray's new Greatest Hits Through the Years. They're joined by American Authors.

Sunday, October 30

Stevie Nicks in concert with The Pretenders
If you weren't lucky enough to catch the reunited Fleetwood Mac when they came to town in 2014, you can now see one of their most prominent members, Stevie Nicks, as she revisits her long and storied career. As if that weren't enough, the opening act for the concert at American Airlines Center is another legendary band, The Pretenders, making this the ultimate two-for-one night.

Stevie Nicks plays at American Airlines Center with The Pretenders on October 30.

Photo courtesy of LiveNation

Stevie Nicks plays at American Airlines Center with The Pretenders on October 30.

music event-planner opera concerts festivals families kids symphony

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