NYE Event Planner

The procrastinator's guide to the best New Year's Eve parties in Dallas-Fort Worth

Big D NYE is one of the big parties you'll still be able to attend if you've procrastinated on making New Year's Eve plans.

Big D NYE/Facebook

Many people love to spend New Year's Eve out on the town, but with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, actually planning to go to an event can slip by us.

Although many of the best parties have already sold out, there are still plenty of great options for ringing in the new year with your friends and hundreds — if not thousands — of strangers. Below are your best remaining options for welcoming 2015 in style.

Big D NYE and Sundance Square New Year Eve’s Celebration
The easiest parties to get into are the ones that don't cost a thing. Of course, you'll still want to try to get to the event sites — Victory Park in Dallas and Sundance Square in Fort Worth — as early as possible to get the best spot you can among the hordes.

Big D NYE claims to be the biggest New Year's celebration in the central time zone, and it features two stages with multiple bands and a DJ to keep the party hopping all night long. The Sundance Square celebration features former Voice contestants Luke Wade and Dawn and Hawkes, as well as the ability to buy champagne in the plaza.

New Year's Eve at W Dallas
If you don't want to be down in the fray but still want to get the feel of the huge crowd, going to the party at the W Dallas-Victory is the next best thing. Taking place in the Altitude lounge 33 floors up, you can dance all night long and get a bird's-eye view of the fireworks at midnight. This one is sold out online but claims to offer a limited number of tickets at the door. If you can't get in, you can still head to Victory Park next door.

NYE on Cloud Nine
While those in Times Square in New York City will watch a ball drop, you can celebrate the beginning of 2015 inside a ball. Cloud Nine Cafe, Five Sixty's private event space atop Reunion Tower, will host this party that will include food from Five Sixty's executive chef, all-inclusive cocktails, dancing and a champagne toast at midnight. Tickets are $200 apiece.

Masquerade NYE 2015
Winstons Supperclub is known for its outrageous parties throughout the year, so you can only imagine what's on the agenda for New Year's Eve. It's a masquerade-themed event featuring fire-breathers, girls in giant champagne bubbles and a huge chariot delivering oversized champagne bottles, among other things. Tickets start at $30 for singles and $50 for couples.

A Fashionable New Year's Eve
You wouldn't expect Fashion Industry Gallery to host anything but the most stylish party in town, would you? Don't try to come in jeans or sneakers to this event, or you might be told to hit the road. Starting at $80 for women and $100 for men, you get free drinks all night, free hors d'oeuvre 'til 11 pm and great music by DJ Humble.

106.1 KISS FM's NYE Bash
The Gaylord Texan is an opulent resort in Grapevine, and the Glass Cactus Nightclub hosts a party thrown by 106.1 KISS FM. It features entertainment by DJ Junior and live music from Party Machine. The $75 cost of admission only gets you one drink and one glass of champagne, plus party favors, so it is a bit on the pricey side, but it should still be a great time regardless.

Texas Theatre presents New Year's Noir
Texas Theatre has a ton planned for its celebration, including live music from Nervous Curtains, a human "ball drop" at midnight from silks aerialist Bethany Summersizzle, burlesque performances, music from DJs Trigger Mortis and Wild in the Streets, and Mikey Dino's singing the songs of Dean Martin. For only $25 or $45 for VIP, that's a heck of a deal.

Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights New Year's Eve Bash
Sure, you could listen to a DJ spin music at most parties, but there's nothing quite like a live band or three to really make you feel like dancing. Dallas' Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights once again headlines the NYE concert at the Granada Theater, with support from Nashville's Nikki Lane and Dallas' J. Charles & the Trainrobbers. Tickets are $20 a pop.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance

Photo courtesy of Teorema

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in Dreams.

The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.

It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.

Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).

Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.

But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.

Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.

Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.

Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.

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Dreams is now playing in select theaters.

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Movie Review

Jessica Chastain drama Dreams stumbles through steamy romance