The Dixie Chicks will play Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas on August 5.
Photo by Nadine Ljewere
The Dixie Chicks have announced a 41 city North American tour in 2016, their first tour in 10 years and one that will include stops in three different Texas cities.
The tour, which will first go to 13 European cities, will kick off on June 1 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Chicks will make their way to Texas in the heat of August, visiting Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas on August 5 before going to Houston on August 6 and Austin on August 7.
The one-time massively popular country music trio, which started in Dallas in 1989, was virtually abandoned by country radio after lead singer Natalie Maines said the group was "ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas" in 2003. The Dixie Chicks went on to release a highly acclaimed album, Taking the Long Way, that won five Grammy Awards, including three for the defiant single, "Not Ready to Make Nice."
In the 10 years since the Chicks last toured, sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison released two albums as the duo Courtyard Hounds, while Maines released the solo album Mother in 2013. There's no word yet if the 2016 tour will be accompanied by a new album, although the group has been hinting at the possibility.
Tickets for all stops on the tour will be available in a presale on November 17. The public on-sale date for the Dallas stop is November 21, while Houston and Austin go on sale to the public on November 20.
Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.
Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.
Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).
After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.
Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.
The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.
Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.
Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.
The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.
