Weekend Event Planner

Fleetwood Mac and Mythbusters top best weekend events in Dallas

Christmas is just two weeks away, but believe it or not, the slate of events in Dallas-Fort Worth this weekend is not as holiday heavy as you'd expect. Among the offerings are a popular science TV program's road show, art by a rocker and a visit from that rocker's classic band.

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 11

Mizzen + Main presents Gift Your Guy Girls Night
Mizzen + Main specializes in men's shirts, but behind every good man is an even better woman, a demographic at which this event is aimed. Female attendees can induldge in Fluff Pop, champagne and flowers while they shop for the perfect Christmas gift for their husband or boyfriend at the brand's Design District showroom. Gift-wrapping is complimentary.

Andrea Bocelli in concert
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli has been wowing audiences for going on 20 years, becoming one of the rare classical music artists to transcend his genre and appeal to the mainstream. Bocelli comes to American Airlines Center without a new album to support, meaning his fans can expect a mixture of favorite songs and holiday tunes.

Friday, December 12

Galleria Dallas presents 2014 Dallas CityScape
It's amazing what some people can create out of Lego bricks, and starting this weekend, you can ooh and ahh over the annual Dallas CityScape exhibit at Galleria Dallas. Featuring a slew of Dallas landmarks made entirely out of Legos, the exhibition is on display through January 4, with proceeds benefiting Education Opens Doors.

Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant in concert with the Dallas POPs
Christian music fans will be in heaven when genre superstars Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant team up for this special holiday concert at American Airlines Center. The two collaborated on Smith's recently released Christmas album, The Spirit of Christmas, which is sure to be heavily featured. Dallas POPs joins the duo for a memorable night.

Saturday, December 13

Samuel Lynne Galleries presents Mick Fleetwood: Reflections
In advance of Fleetwood Mac's concert on Sunday night, drummer Mick Fleetwood shows off his other passion — photography — at Samuel Lynne Galleries. The "Reflections" exhibit has works for sale December 11-13, and anybody who makes a purchase can attend this private reception with Fleetwood on Saturday.

Old 97's in concert with Matt Hillyer
Dallas originals the Old 97's complete a Texas-only mini-tour with this stop at the Majestic Theatre. Even though the band is enjoying the biggest success of their career with 2014's Most Messed Up, this concert is a blast from the past, as they play their debut album, Hitchhike to Rhome, in its entirety, along with a variety of their other hits. Matt Hillyer is the opening act.

Mythbusters: Behind the Myths Tour
Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman from the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters have been combining science and entertainment since 2003, proving or disproving theories, legends and Internet rumors. This show at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie features onstage experiments, audience participation and behind-the-scenes stories.

The Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Rocks Extravaganza!
Brian Setzer has had one heck of a career, putting out multiple records with the Stray Cats, the Brian Setzer Orchestra and as a solo artist. All of those elements and more are in play for this concert at the Winspear Opera House, as Setzer performs some of his biggest hits along with a variety of reimagined and acclaimed holiday classics.

Sunday, December 14

Demetri Martin: The Persistence of Jokes
Demetri Martin is one of those "that guy" comedians who has been fame-adjacent for many years without ever becoming truly famous himself. He's had roles in a number of movies as well as his own short-lived Comedy Central show. He is also slated to have his writing and directing film debut next year, but he has yet to really break out. He persistently tells some jokes at the House of Blues Dallas.

Fleetwood Mac in concert
Purist fans of Fleetwood Mac are rejoicing, as Christine McKie has rejoined the group for the first time in 16 years. That means this concert at American Airlines Center is an opportunity to hear the classic band's songs as they were meant to be heard. If you couldn't get tickets for this date, don't fret: The band recently announced that they'll return to Dallas again on March 4, 2015.

Post-weekend bonus

Dave Chappelle in concert
A week ago, the idea of Dave Chappelle's coming to Dallas wasn't even a possibility. Now fans are blessed with four chances to see the elusive comedian, because he's performing two separate sets at the House of Blues Dallas on both Monday and Tuesday. We don't know what he has planned, but we can't wait to find out.

Fleetwood Mac plays at American Airlines Center on December 14, while drummer Mick Fleetwood shows off his photography at Samuel Lynne Galleries on December 13.

Fleetwood Mac Facebook

Fleetwood Mac plays at American Airlines Center on December 14, while drummer Mick Fleetwood shows off his photography at Samuel Lynne Galleries on December 13.

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Movie Review

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma gives horror a surreal twist

Photo courtesy of MUBI

Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson in Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

The horror genre really ramped up in the 1970s and ‘80s, bringing with it a new subgenre - the slasher - that gave audiences new visuals of gore, but also a reliance on sexism and homophobia that would come to define the era. The new film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma wrestles with that legacy in ways that are funny, thought-provoking, and downright strange.

Kris (Hannah Einbinder) is a queer filmmaker who has been hired to reboot the moldy IP that is the Camp Miasma franchise, one that was fresh in the 1970s but which numerous shlocky sequels have rendered irrelevant. In an attempt to get to know the property better, Kris has scored a meeting with the reclusive Billy (Gillian Anderson), the star of the original film who has shunned the public eye for decades.

Turns out that Billy lives deep in the woods at Camp Rivoli, which served as the location for the first film. As Kris tries to get to know Billy and convince her to be a part of the new film, she starts to fall under Billy’s spell and the lore of the franchise as a whole. That includes believing that the movie’s villain, Little Death - a transgender person who has an air conditioning vent as a head/mask - may not just be a character created for the movies.

Written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow), the film at first feels like it’s going to go the straight-up comedy route, with comic explosions of blood, a strange fascination with candy brands, and a production design that does nothing to hide that the two main actors are on a movie set with painted backdrops. This is backed up by Kris’ phone conversations with her girlfriend, Mari (Jasmine Savoy Brown) and her agent (Sarah Sherman), as well as numerous other details.

But the film starts to go down the surreal route the longer Kris stays at the camp with Billy, especially when they sit down to watch the original Camp Miasma. An extended sequence shows a good amount of that film-within-the-film, demonstrating why Kris and Billy have a love/hate relationship with the property. For Kris, though, the lines between the film and the real world start to blur, and Schoenbrun uses a variety of out-there elements to drive the point home.

The final act of the film can barely be described as Kris goes deeper down the rabbit hole, with Schoenbrun using her film to comment on the horror genre as a whole, its treatment of women and LGBT people, the movie industry, and more. All the while the “camp” of Camp Miasma maintains a presence, with candy wrappers showing up everywhere and the tongue-in-cheek references to Little Death (the French term La petite mort, which means “the little death,” is a euphemism for orgasm).

Einbinder, an Emmy winner for Hacks, is the perfect person to inhabit her role. Her established real-life and fictional personas color everything she does in the film, with her enthusiasm and curiosity shining through. Anderson leans heavily into another reference - Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard - to create a character that is as mysterious as she is alluring. Supporting actors like Brown, Sherman, Patrick Fischler, Dylan Baker, and Eva Victor keep the movie at the right pitch all the way through.

While other films have made fun of horror movie tropes before, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma finds a wholly unique way of doing so. It’s a funny and daring trip into the psyches of two women who may be victims of their own obsessions, and of the movies that made them that way.

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Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma is now playing in select theaters

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