Party Planner

The 11 best ways to party on New Year's Eve in Dallas-Fort Worth

There are plenty of opportunities to celebrate the start of 2019 in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Photo courtesy of Reunion Tower

New Year's Eve always includes some fantastic events around Dallas-Fort Worth at which revelers can dance, count down until midnight, and take in some spectacular fireworks. Presented below, in alphabetical order, are some of your best options to bring in 2019 in style.

Still looking for dinner reservations? Check out our list of restaurants that will open their doors for New Year's Eve dining, too.

Reunion Tower Over the Top NYE presented by Southwest Airlines
Reunion Tower will put on another fantastic fireworks show, and even though you're not allowed to watch them close to the tower itself, locations around Dallas will host watch parties for revelers. You can either take in one of the official watch parties, including Vetted Well's '90s New Year's Eve Party, or scout out vantage points on the west side of the Trinity River, along the levees, and Trinity Overlook Park. A radio simulcast of celebratory music will play on ALT 103.7 FM. If you're stuck at home, you can also watch on NBC 5 or online.

Dallas Nightlife presents Gatsby’s Penthouse New Year’s 2019
This event will give guests the rare opportunity to ring in the New Year in the historic penthouse of the Stoneleigh Hotel. Paying tribute to the hotel’s origin in 1923 and rich 95-year history, the 11th and 12th floors of the Penthouse Suite will be the backdrop for an evening featuring tunes from three DJs, premium drinks, a countdown and champagne toast, and more surprises.

Dallas NYE Ball
The annual Dallas NYE Ball, taking place at Crowne Plaza in downtown Dallas, will once again feature three party floors, with different experiences on each floor. The top floor will have '90s, '80s, and "Throwback" music, as well as multiple bars and party games. The middle floor hosts the Las Vegas-inspired Illume Nightclub, featuring two separate rooms connected by a round bar room. The bottom floor is the grand ballroom turned to a nightclub, featuring a massive dance floor, VIP booths and tables, multiple bars, and beer pong.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents New Year’s Eve
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will present an evening of Viennese elegance as they perform cherished Strauss waltzes and toast the New Year with champagne at intermission. The concert at Meyerson Symphony Center will be conducted by Case Scaglione. For the first time ever, guests will have the chance to celebrate at an after party included with their NYE ticket. Extended revelries will include a live band and dance floor, cash bar and desserts, photo ops, and more.

Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark presents Slide into the New Year
Sure, you could do the typical dancing, drinking, and fireworks watching, but why not bring a splash to your New Year's Eve celebrating? Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark in Grand Prairie will present Slide into the New Year, featuring DJ music, a New Year’s Eve ball drop, duck races, and other in-park programming. Ball drops will occur at 3 pm, 9 pm, and midnight.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents New Year's Eve: My Sinatra
Ring in the New Year with a stirring tribute to Frank Sinatra. Vocalist Cary Hoffman brings the live concert version of his hit NYC off-Broadway show to Bass Performance Hall for a swinging celebration. Enjoy more than 20 classic Sinatra songs, authentically performed by Hoffman and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. The concert will be conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

Four Day Weekend New Year's Eve Party
It used to be that only those in Fort Worth could enjoy the comic stylings of Four Day Weekend, but since the group opened a venue in Dallas earlier this year, people on both sides of Dallas-Fort Worth can enjoy their end-of-the-year show. Both the Dallas and Fort Worth events will feature the hilarious interactive comedy show, a cocktail-style dinner, a ticket to a future Four Day Weekend performance, a copy of Four Day Weekend’s best-selling book, Happy Accidents, a champagne toast, party favors, and a DJ with dancing after the show.

Hotel ZaZa Dallas NYE Celebration: PartyZaza
Hotel ZaZa's New Year's Eve party will feature a DJ and dancing, premium drinks, multiple courses of passed hors d’oeuvres, activations, experiences, and entertainment, interactive photo booth, midnight countdown and champagne toast, and complimentary party favors for all guests. If you don't feel like driving, you can purchase the NYE Room Package, which includes overnight accommodations, two NYE Party tickets, festive bubbly turndown, and a $40 breakfast credit.

The Revolution in concert
They're going to party like it's 20 years after 1999. The Revolution were the group that backed Prince during his rise to fame on his greatest work, including 1984’s world-conquering film and chart-topping soundtrack, Purple Rain, as well as appearing on 1999, Around The World In A Day, Parade, and Sign O’The Times. They'll ring in the new year with this special concert at House of Blues Dallas.

The Statler presents New Year’s Eve Black & White Party
The historic, 15,000-square-foot Statler Ballroom will transform into a modern-day Black and White Party re-creation of Truman Capote’s legendary 1966 “Party Of The Century.” Guests will experience live entertainment from In10City Band and surprise celebrity guest DJ emcee along with open bar, late night cuisine, party flare, and more.

Texas Live presents NYE Live!
One of the newest venues in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas Live in Arlington, will hold its first New Year's Eve party. Guests will experience VIP seating, live music and all-star DJs, speciality drink packages, NYE-themed party favors, cash cannon blasts, a champagne toast with the midnight countdown, and many more surprises. Whatever you do, resist the urge to sneak inside Globe Life Field, which is under construction right next door.

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Movie Review

Bob Odenkirk is back as the everyman-turned-hero in new movie 'Normal'

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Bob Odenkirk in Normal.

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the first three John Wick movies, has essentially had a blank check to do what he wants in the movie landscape since 2014. In recent years that has meant writing the action series Nobody for Bob Odenkirk, who has turned from a comedian into an unlikely action star in his sixties. Kolstad and Odenkirk are teaming up again in Normal.

A film that tries to evoke Fargo in multiple ways, Normal finds Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) serving as a temporary sheriff for the small town of Normal, Minnesota after the previous sheriff died. Knowing he’s just a steward until a new sheriff is elected, Ulysses takes a live-and-let-live approach to the job, letting the deputies (Ryan Allen and Billy MacLellan) do the grunt work and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, including Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler).

A bank robbery attempt by two non-citizens upsets his best-laid plans in more ways than he can imagine. Not only is he forced to confront a crime not often seen in a town like Normal, but the robbery uncovers secrets that turn the film into an all-out bloodbath. Soon, almost everyone in town becomes involved in what comes to resemble a war, along with — you guessed it — Yakuza henchmen from Japan.

Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Kolstad, the film is a slight twist on the everyman-turned-hero character Odenkirk played in the two Nobody films. While Ulysses is in law enforcement, he prefers to use words instead of weapons, and it’s only when he’s pushed to the brink that he crosses that line. Naturally, his skills are beyond what anyone would expect of him, allowing him to match up well with people half his age.

The film is not a comedy in the traditional sense, but instead aims for laughs by catching the audience off-guard with its ultraviolence. Some characters are dispatched in shockingly unexpected ways, with one of the only natural reactions to the jarring nature of their deaths being laughter. That’s not necessarily the case for other killings, which range from blasé to sadistic, and the only reason they count as entertainment is because the filmmakers have primed the audience to accept them as such.

After a relatively solid setup, where Wheatley and Kolstad seem to take their time getting to know the main characters, the second half of the film is pure action that dispenses with good storytelling. Like many action movies, there are double crosses, surprise revelations, and more, but the filmmakers don’t seem to care about making sense of any character arcs. All they care about is delivering mayhem, and they succeed on that front.

Odenkirk has perfected the mild-yet-intimidating nature of his action characters, and it is satisfying to see him get the better of those who have done him wrong. He doesn’t run or jump like fellow 63-year-old Tom Cruise, but — with the help of fast-paced editing — he still makes for a credible action hero. The only other actors of any note in the film are Winkler, who’s a nice presence with his sardonic personality, and Lena Headey, whose small role doesn't match up with her experience.

You have to have a certain mindset to enjoy a film like Normal, but if you can abide its over-the-top bloodiness, it’s a serviceable action film. Few would have expected Odenkirk to take on these kinds of roles at this late stage of his career, but he’s making the most of his opportunities.

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Normal opens in theaters on April 17.

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