Weekend Event Planner

Lone Star Film Festival and Jay Leno top best weekend events in Dallas-Fort Worth

It's a rare win for those living in the west end of Dallas-Fort Worth this weekend, as fully half of this weekend's best events will take place in Tarrant County. The slate is also heavy with movies, as it features two film festivals, a groundbreaking of another Alamo Drafthouse and music from classic Hitchcock films.

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, November 6

2014 Lone Star Film Festival
The 2014 edition of the Lone Star Film Festival kicked off on Wednesday, but there are plenty of other great movies to see before it ends on Sunday. They include a conversation with Julian Schnabel and screening of Before Night Falls, Wild starring Reese Witherspoon and Life Partners with Gillian Jacobs and Leighton Meester. Films will screen at both AMC Palace 9 and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Stars & Stripes Film Festival
You won't find any new films at the Stars & Stripes Film Festival, but it'll be worth attending to show your patriotism on Veteran's Day weekend. Thirteen military-themed movies, like Tora! Tora! Tora!, Saving Private Ryan and Platoon, will screen over four days at Angelika Film Center Dallas. You'll also be able to hear real accounts from Medal of Honor veterans who fought in the battles. Proceeds from the festival will benefit Sons of the Flag.

Jay Leno in concert
Love him or hate him, Jay Leno is still one of the most famous comedians on the planet, having served as host of The Tonight Show for 22 years. In advance of his first appearance on The Tonight Show since handing it over to Jimmy Fallon on Friday night, Leno will entertain the crowd at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth to benefit the UNT Health Science Center Foundation.

Friday, November 7

Eli Young Band's 2014 House Party
The Eli Young Band is one of the most successful country groups to come out of the area, forming at UNT in 2000 and going on to have two No. 1 songs and a recent No. 1 album, 2014's 10,000 Towns. For the second straight year, they'll take over Globe Life Park in Arlington for a country festival that will also feature Gary Allan, Pat Green, Cody Johnson and Maddie and Tae.

Fashion X Dallas
It'll be a fashion-filled weekend at Fashion Industry Gallery in downtown Dallas when Fashion X Dallas comes to town. For three consecutive nights, visitors can take in runway shows from a juried selection of emerging designers and nationally recognized contemporary brands, and shop at various pop-up shops.

Saturday, November 8

Alamo Drafthouse presents Dallas groundbreaking and Ferris Bueller's Day Off screening
It was a bolt of exciting and unexpected news when Alamo Drafthouse announced they were building a second location in the Cedars neighborhood just south of downtown Dallas. They'll celebrate an unofficial groundbreaking of the new theater with a party at The Cedars Social, along with an outdoor screening of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Milan Gallery presents The Art of Dr. Seuss Collection
Dr. Seuss is beloved for his extensive collection of children's books, but few know that he took his unique artistic eye off of the printed page and applied it to paintings and sculptures, as well. Milan Gallery in Fort Worth will host an exhibit of his works through November 24, with special receptions being held on November 8 and 9.

Bastille in concert
British rockers Bastille broke out in 2013 thanks to hits like "Pompeii" and "Of the Night." This will be their second visit to the area in 2014, as they were also part of the Edgefest lineup back in April. They'll headline this time around at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie, with Ella Eyre serving as opening act.

Sunday, November 9

2014 Dallas Sample Sale
It's never too early to start your Christmas shopping, and the annual Dallas Sample Sale will help you do so in style. The sale, taking place at Dallas Market Hall, has a little something for everyone, including gifts, apparel, jewelry, toys, children’s clothing, holiday decorations, home accessories and furniture. The event starts Thursday and goes through Sunday.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Hitchcock
The films of Alfred Hitchcock will likely never go out of style, and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will be the latest local group to honor his work with a weekend full of concerts featuring scores from some of his most iconic works. Selections from To Catch A Thief, Vertigo and North By Northwest will be accompanied by scenes from each film played on the big screen at Bass Performance Hall. The series starts Friday and goes through Sunday.

North by Northwest will be one of three Hitchcock films honored at a concert by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, playing November 7-9 at Bass Performance Hall.

Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

North by Northwest will be one of three Hitchcock films honored at a concert by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, playing November 7-9 at Bass Performance Hall.

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Movie Review

Michael Jackson can do no wrong in fawning biopic Michael

Photo by Glen Wilson

Jaafar Jackson in Michael

Among the complicated figures in pop culture history, Michael Jackson has to be at or near the top. On one hand, he’s responsible for some of the most enduring music of all time, thrilling generations with his voice and dance moves. But his later years were marred by accusations of child sexual abuse and erratic behavior, including his premature death at the age of 50.

So the new biopic Michael is a tough one to judge from a critical standpoint, not least because director Antoine Fuqua and writer John Logan have elided - perhaps temporarily - the thornier parts of Michael’s history. Instead, this film focuses on the 20-year period in which Michael (played as an adult by Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson) goes from the prepubescent lead singer of the Jackson 5 to one of the biggest music superstars of all time.

That choice puts an overly sympathetic tint to Michael’s story, as he spends most of that time under the thumb of his domineering father, Joseph (Colman Domingo). Joseph has a vision for Michael and his brothers, and he pushes them hard in a quest to become rich and famous. Even when they achieve that goal, though, Joseph refuses to let up, holding onto Michael even when it’s clear he should go out on his own.

As a reminder of the enormous impact Michael Jackson had on the music industry and world at large, the film is successful. Fuqua and Logan include plenty of music, naturally, but they seem to be most interested in depicting Michael as a human being. They lay it on thick, whether it’s showing him spending time among his family members away from the stage, hanging out with bodyguard Bill Bray (KeiLyn Durrel Jones), or visiting sick kids in hospitals. The message that Michael is a harmless, good person couldn’t be clearer.

The film hints at but doesn’t really explore Michael’s oddities. His obsession with kids literature and movies, especially Peter Pan, are seen as inoffensive quirks, as is his menagerie of animals, including a creepy CGI version of Bubbles the chimp. His arrested development seems to be partially blamed on his parents treating him like a child well into his adulthood, and the resulting fallout is not (yet) addressed.

Many viewers will be most interested in the music sequences, and - save for some repetitive shots of fans fainting at the mere presence of Michael - they are handled well. Whether it’s at home, in the studio, on the set of the “Thriller” video, or at live performances, the film manages to fully get across just what a phenomenon Michael was at his peak. The staging and editing of each scene is dynamic, complementing Michael’s other-worldly abilities well.

If there is one reason to see the film, it is the performance of Jaafar Jackson. Whether he’s capable of doing any other kind of role is undetermined, but his portrayal of his uncle is compelling, as he demonstrates singing, dancing, and acting skills in equal measure. He’s aided by an equally great performance by Domingo, who - with the help of facial prosthetics - overcomes the trope of the bad father. Nia Long and Larenz Tate are also good in smaller roles, but Miles Teller is an odd presence as Michael’s manager.

There are reports that legal complications prevented the filmmakers from using previously-shot scenes delving into accusations against Michael, and there are rumors that a second film will be made about the last 20 years of his life. But that speculation can’t absolve Michael of showing all the positive aspects of Michael Jackson’s life and not even touching any of the negative ones.

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Michael opens in theaters on April 24.

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