Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

As we inch closer to Christmas, the holiday events just keep on coming. This weekend sees five more of them, including a new-to-the-area musical extravaganza. On the non-holiday front are a new local theater production, a nationally known comedian, a country music festival, and a concert from a superstar tenor.

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, December 8

Texas Rangers present Anxiously Awaiting Santa Tours
Baseball season may be over, but you can still get your Texas Rangers fix with their Anxiously Awaiting Santa Tours, the annual holiday-themed ballpark tours. Fans can see behind the scenes as Globe Life Park decks the halls for Santa’s arrival, and kids have the opportunity to participate in a special story time and write a letter to Santa to mail from the Texas Rangers “North Pole” mailbox. Tours take place Tuesdays through Saturdays through December 17.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Broadway Christmas Wonderland
The second holiday production of the year from Dallas Summer Musicals features glittering costumes, a dazzling cast, and the highest kicking Chorus Girls this side of the North Pole. Santa and his merry helpers take you on a nostalgic Christmas journey at the Music Hall at Fair Park, with songs like “White Christmas,” “Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas,” “Jingle Bells,” “Silent Night,” and many more. The production runs through December 18.

Turtle Creek Chorale presents "A Not So Silent Night"
Celebrate the 2016 holiday season with Turtle Creek Chorale’s "A Not So Silent Night," as they embrace the chaotic beauty of the holidays with a menagerie of new compositions, updated arrangements of familiar favorites, and yuletide classics. TCC will be joined by members of the Lone Star Wind Orchestra at Dallas City Performance Hall through Sunday.

Dallas Theater Center presents Gloria
While Dallas Theater Center presents their annual production of A Christmas Carol on the main stage at Wyly Theatre, they're going the smaller, non-holiday route upstairs with Gloria. This hilariously dark and timely play follows a group of upwardly mobile editorial assistants at an infamous Manhattan magazine. When an average workday suddenly takes a shocking and unexpected turn, survival takes on a whole new meaning. The play runs through January 22.

Mike Birbiglia: "Thank God for Jokes"
He may not be as well known as some comedians, but Mike Birbiglia is quietly having a big year thanks to his film Don't Think Twice and this tour, which comes to Winspear Opera House. In the all-new show, Birbiglia tiptoes hilariously through the minefield that is modern-day joke-telling, learning that the same jokes that elicit laughter have the power to produce tears, rage, and a whole lot of getting yelled at.

Friday, December 9

KSCS Country Fest '16 featuring the Band Perry
96.3 KSCS' annual Country Fest, taking place at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, is as big as ever, featuring performances by the Band Perry, Chase Rice, Michael Ray, and Trent Harmon. Following a split with their label, the Band Perry is still waiting to release their anticipated third album, but the layoff hasn't hurt their popularity, as they're once again up for Favorite Country Group at the People's Choice Awards.

Saturday, December 10

Dallas Heritage Village presents Candlelight: 45 Years of Memories
Dallas Heritage Village is creating new memories as it reminisces about past Candlelight celebrations. Take a trip down memory lane at a photo exhibit of 45 years of Candlelight, then create some new memories as you sing along with strolling carolers, tell St. Nicholas your holiday wishes, and make holiday crafts. The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday.

The Polyphonic Spree 14th Annual Holiday Extravaganza
The Polyphonic Spree's 14th Annual Holiday Extravaganza, taking place at Majestic Theatre, is an all-ages, family-friendly event featuring face painting and balloon animals for the kids, photos with the reindeer, Santa's sleigh, and Mr. & Mrs. Claus, and, of course, a performance by one of Dallas' most interesting bands.

Andrea Bocelli in concert with Katherine McPhee and Ana Maria Martinez
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli brings a new production to American Airlines Center based on his latest album, Cinema, which includes epic theme songs from films such as Scent of a Woman, The Godfather, Love Story, Life is Beautiful, and many more. This special performance includes former American Idol runner-up Katherine McPhee and soprano Ana Maria Martinez.

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Broadway Christmas Wonderland through December 18 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

Photo by Ruby King

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Broadway Christmas Wonderland through December 18 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

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Movie Review

Faces of Death returns with modern twist on cult horror film

Photo courtesy of of IFC Films

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death.

True horror fans will likely be familiar with the 1978 cult film Faces of Death, which purported to be a documentary showing real-life killings in gory detail. It didn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop rumors from continuing to spread for decades. Now, almost 50 years and multiple sequels later, comes a new version of Faces of Death, an actual movie that pays homage to the original in interesting ways.

Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works at a YouTube-like company called Kino as a content moderator, flagging videos that violate the company’s policies. This means her job often involves seeing some truly despicable things from all manner of depraved people. One day, though, she comes across a video that seems a little too real, and after seeing more similar videos, she starts to believe they’re genuine murders.

Going against her company NDA, she starts to investigate the videos on her own, which puts her on the radar of Arthur (Dacre Montgomery), who is actually kidnapping people and killing them on camera through methods seen in the original Faces of Death film. It’s not long before Arthur tracks her down, with a plan to make her one of his next victims.

Written and directed by Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) and co-written by Isa Mazzei, the film is not so much scary as it is creepy, with the occasional gross-out sequence. The idea of having someone emulate the killings in the cult film is a good idea, and pairing it with the modern-day attention economy - in which content creators go to increasing lengths for clicks - is a clever twist on a concept that other films have done.

The film as a whole is a commentary on how social media and video sharing sites have often decided to prioritize profits over the well-being of their users. Margot is shown allowing videos involving violence and sexual assault to stay on the site while nixing ones depicting how to use Narcan or demonstrating putting on a condom on a banana. Josh (Jermaine Fowler), Margot’s boss, is even explicit in the company mandate that outrageous videos drive views.

While Arthur has the makings of a good villain, there are few attempts to make him seem truly diabolical. His kidnappings often seem more spur-of-the-moment than calculated, and even though he has a well thought-out dungeon at home, the house’s location in the suburbs seems to make him vulnerable to easy discovery. Goldhaber and Mazzei leave more than a few unanswered questions along the way that take away from the intensity of the story.

Ferreira is yet another actor from Euphoria who’s capitalizing on her exposure from that show. She plays Margot’s increasing anxiety well, and when the action ratchets up in the final act, she meets the moment in a satisfying way. Montgomery returns to the vibe he had while playing the evil Billy on Stranger Things, and even though his character doesn’t fully live up to his potential, Montgomery sells his evil for all it’s worth.

The new Faces of Death may not be what some are expecting given the reputation of the previous films, but it’s a solid horror/thriller that uses the brand as a launching pad into something different. It doesn’t make much of a dent in the scare department, but it does give its violence and gore a degree of relevance in today’s often desensitized world.

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Faces of Death is now playing in theaters.

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