A dinosaur attraction you can enjoy from your car has arrived in Arlington, courtesy of Dinosaur Drive-Thru, taking place in the parking lot of Six Flags Hurricane Harbor from December 17 to January 10.
The second such exhibit to come to the area this year, following Jurassic Quest at Fair Park in June and July, Dinosaur Drive-Thru features over 60 animatronic dinosaurs. Throughout the 45-minute show, visitors will stay in their vehicles to see dinosaurs displayed in chronological order. A coordinating, interactive audio tour guide will describe all of the interesting facts, and some jokes, about each dinosaur, in both English and Spanish.
There will also be a free trivia game with a scorecard that keeps visitors engaged with the tour. The person in the car with the most correct answers at the end of the show will win a free official Dino Guru certificate.
"We really wanted our visitors to safely experience the excitement of what it would be like to go on a prehistoric safari. Instead of lions and tigers, we’re featuring T-Rexes and Raptors,” said owner Troy Diskin in a statement.
The show will be open Wednesdays through Sundays for varying hours, except for closures on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Visitors will chose a two-hour time slot, and can show up at any time during those two hours.
Tickets, which are $55 per vehicle with a maximum of eight people, are available at dinosaurdrivethru.com.
Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.
That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.
Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.
Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.
The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.
The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.
Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.
Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.
