Weekend Event Planner

The Black Keys and Wanda Sykes top best weekend events in Dallas

With just two weeks to go before Thanksgiving, you're going to start to notice holiday decorations taking over Dallas-Fort Worth. Two holiday-themed events make this week's list, along with two great comedy options, pretty homes, great art and a performance from one of the more popular rock bands in the country.

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 13

DIFFA/Dallas 2014 Holiday Wreath Collection
DIFFA/Dallas presents its 19th annual Holiday Wreath Collection. Taking place at Galleria Dallas, DIFFA/Dallas patrons mingle among one-of-a-kind wreaths created by local and national designers. In addition to finding the perfect holiday wreath, patrons get first dibs on tables at next year's House of DIFFA.

Encore for Advocacy: Patty Griffin and Mavis Staples
Encore for Advocacy is the annual concert series benefiting the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center and celebrating the healing power of music therapy. This year's show features the rare opportunity to see Grammy Award winner Patty Griffin and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mavis Staples playing together at the Majestic Theatre.

Off Broadway on Flora Series: The Second City 55th Anniversary Tour
Chicago's famed Second City is making its second appearance in Dallas in three years after being part of Dallas Theater Center's 2012-2013 season. This show, playing at Dallas City Performance Hall Thursday through Saturday, is a two-act review of Second City’s celebrated brand of topical sketch comedy, hilarious songs and on-the-spot improvisation that changes with every performance.

Friday, November 14

Wanda Sykes in concert
You have to love comedians who have a unique style, something Wanda Sykes has shown for a long time. But since she announced that she was a lesbian back in 2008, she's been even more on the cutting edge than ever, and it's come through in performances on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, The New Adventures of Old Christine and more. She brings her stand-up act to the Majestic Theatre.

DGDG: The Danielle Georgiou Dance Group presents NICE
When AT&T Performing Arts Center announced the Elevator Project, which gives local arts groups a more prominent space to showcase their works, it was nice to see more than just theater companies on the list. DGDG: The Danielle Georgious Dance Group is be the first dance company to perform as part of the project, showing off their skills at Wyly Theatre through November 23.

Saturday, November 15

2014 Lakewood Home Festival
People look forward all year long to Lakewood's annual home festival to get a peek at some of the most distinctive houses in Dallas. Although the home tours on Saturday and Sunday are self-guided and can be done in any order, Lakewood Elementary serves as a home base for the festival, featuring a holiday market and cafe, kids activities and more.

2014 Dallas Whiskey & Fine Spirits Festival
Most of us don't need an excuse to go out drinking, but the annual Dallas Whiskey & Fine Spirits Festival is a chance to do so in style. Taking place at Centennial Hall in Fair Park, it's a speakeasy-themed event featuring samples of liquor, bites of great food, and music from Cassie Holt and the Lost Souls.

Art Con X
The annual Art Con from Art Conspiracy is always a fun time, with artists creating new works on the spot, and the 10th anniversary of the event promises to be bigger and better than ever. More than 150 artists contributed works for the live auction, and performances from DJs, bands and dance groups keep the proceedings at 500 Singleton Blvd. in West Dallas lively.

Sunday, November 16

Dallas Arboretum presents the 12 Days of Christmas
The Dallas Arboretum has brought in lots of wonderful exhibits over the years, but the latest may just be the most impressive. The 12 Days of Christmas takes its inspiration from the classic Christmas song, showcasing 12 different displays featuring moving animatronics, snow and more. You also have the choice of seeing it during the light of day or lit up at night on certain days. The exhibit starts on Sunday and runs through January 4, 2015.

The Black Keys in concert with Jake Bugg
You don't see many popular rock groups like The Black Keys, who feature Dan Auerbach on guitar and Patrick Carney on drums and that's about it. But the duo's distinctive sound has led to big success over the course of its last three albums, culminating with the first No. 1 hit with 2014's Turn Blue. They play at American Airlines Center, with Jake Bugg as opening act.

The Black Keys play at American Airlines Center on November 16, with Jake Bugg as opening act.

The Black Keys/Facebook

The Black Keys play at American Airlines Center on November 16, with Jake Bugg as opening act.

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Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep gets PG-spooky in new movie for the Halloween season

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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