Weekend Event Planner

These are the 8 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

This weekend will bring a little bit of almost every conceivable entertainment option to the Dallas area. Among your choices will be a new local theater production, a military-themed film festival, two big-name comedians, big band jazz performed by an orchestra, a music and beer festival, a live version of a hugely popular podcast, and the final days of a major art exhibit.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time Thursday through Monday. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, November 9

Undermain Theatre presents John
In John, it's the week after Thanksgiving in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where a young couple are welcomed to an eerie bed and breakfast by an eccentric inn keeper. The play is a haunting and haunted meditation by Annie Baker, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick. The production will run at Undermain Theatre through December 3.

Sons of the Flag presents Stars & Stripes Film Festival
Timed to coincide with Veterans Day weekend, the Stars & Stripes Film Festival will feature five military-themed and critically acclaimed films that highlight the bravery of men and women in uniform. Among the screenings will be 13 Hours, Green Berets, The Hunt for Red October, The Patriot, and The Dirty Dozen. All screenings, most of which are free, will take place at Highland Park Village Theatre.

Chris Rock: Total Blackout
Despite having been in the business for 30 years, Chris Rock is still one of the strongest comedic voices working today. The Grammy and Emmy Award-winning comedian is revered by fans and fellow comics alike for his insightful and daring sense of humor. Rock will bring his all-new Total Blackout tour, his first in over nine years, to the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory for one night only.

Friday, November 10

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Pops Series: Harlem Renaissance
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will present Harlem Renaissance. The Cotton Club, Harlem’s legendary jazz nightclub, comes alive again with an evening of great jazz, soulful tapping, and showmanship. The concert, being performed three times at the Meyerson Symphony Center through Sunday, will feature trumpeter/singer Byron Stripling, singer Miche Braden, tap dancer Red Louis Levy, and drummer Robert Breithaupt.

Saturday, November 11

Index Fest
Formerly known as Untapped Festival, Index Fest will celebrate beer, music, food, and arts at Fair Park. The same focus on craft beer and music will remain, but Index Fest now tries to incorporate high-quality food and arts. Performers will include Big Boi, J Roddy Walston & The Business, Cherub, Langhorne Slim & The Law, Tone Loc, and Michael Lee and the Wartime Limousine.

Trevor Noah in concert
Like other late night talk show hosts, Trevor Noah has made hay since Donald Trump was elected president. The Daily Show's inherent political bent has allowed him to go even further than other hosts, making his takeover for Jon Stewart all the more natural. Noah will take a break from his duties on Comedy Central to get back to his roots as a stand-up comic at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory.

My Favorite Murder Live
Diving deep into the details of murders committed by infamous serial killers wouldn't normally be entertaining, but in the hands of Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, it's that and much more. The two have turned their podcast, My Favorite Murder, into one of the most popular on the Internet thanks to their unique ability to talk about horrific things in a light yet respectful way. They'll record three live shows — two on Saturday and one on Sunday — at Majestic Theatre.

Sunday, November 12

Dallas Museum of Art presents "Shaken, Stirred, Styled: The Art of the Cocktail" closing day
Sunday is the final day to take in this cocktail-centric exhibit. Featuring nearly 50 works predominantly from the DMA’s extensive design holdings, "Shaken, Stirred, Styled: The Art of the Cocktail" explores the culture of cocktails and the wares in which they were prepared and served. The exhibition follows the development of the modern cocktail from the late 19th century to the present day, tracing the stylistic reflections of the rituals of the cocktail’s concoction, presentation, and consumption through metalware, glassware, and ceramics.

Chris Rock will perform at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory on November 9.

Chris Rock/Facebook

Chris Rock will perform at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory on November 9.

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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