Holiday News

Essential tips for 2019 New Year's Eve fireworks in downtown Dallas

Reunion Tower will be home to an over-the-top fireworks show.

Photo courtesy of Reunion Tower

Downtown Dallas is going to be celebrating New Year's Eve with two special events and preparations are already underway.

These events are expected to increase traffic in the Central Business District — particularly around Reunion Tower and Dallas City Hall.

The festivities are two-pronged:

7 pm-12:30 am: Dallas New Year's Eve City Hall Party on the Plaza, where a countdown begins leading up to the stroke of midnight.
11:59 pm: Reunion Tower launches its Over the Top Fireworks Show, described as "the only 360-degree, panoramic fireworks spectacular in the Central time zone."

Isn't that such a prototypical Dallas claim? It can't just be great fireworks — it's the only spectacular in the Central time zone.

So to clarify: We are not trying to compete with the big kahuna in New York's Times Square, and whatever is taking place on the West Coast. But we're kings of the CST. Our fireworks can beat Chicago, Nashville, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Kansas City. They'll be better than San Salvador, Guatemala City, and the entire Yucatan. Better than New Orleans.

Skyline action
Beginning at 11:30 pm, some downtown buildings are joining forces to enhance the fireworks with preliminary sky action. CST, Reunion Tower, Hunt Realty Investments, and Downtown Dallas, Inc. have partnered to bring vibrant hues of pink and teal to the skyline.

Just before the clock strikes midnight, participating buildings including AT&T Headquarters, the Omni Dallas Hotel, Bank of America Plaza, and Thanksgiving Tower will go dark for one minute, as a prelude to the 10-minute show, which will feature more than 4,000 pyrotechnic special effects.

Pets
Is this a good time to bring up that fireworks are terrifying to animals and wildlife, and result in many pets in Texas getting loose, with some hit by cars and others ending up in the shelter? And that cities in Texas should choose the humane route by using silent fireworks which are visually exciting but mostly noiseless?

In any case, pet owners are advised to keep their animals inside on New Year's Eve.

Shut-ins
If you're not headed downtown, you can listen to the musical score via a simulcast on ALT 103.7 FM; watch it on NBC 5; or watch a live stream on Reunion Tower's YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram accounts.

Street closures
If you are headed downtown, be advised that there will be street closures, as follows:

Young Street between Griffin and Ervay 6 pm-12:30 am
South Akard Street between Wood and Canton 6 pm-12:30 am
South Ervay Street between Young and Canton 6 pm-12:30 am
Marilla Street between Wood and Evergreen 6 pm-12:30 am
Browder Street between Young and Canton 8 am-12:30 am
Hotel Street between Reunion Blvd East and Memorial Drive 8 pm-12:45 am
Sports Street between North Drive and Memorial Drive 8 pm-12:45 am

Police will be on hand to direct traffic in and around those closures, including the worst part: the post-midnight eastbound traffic on Commerce Street and Young Street.

DART is also giving free rides from 6 pm until the end of service on December 31 on DART buses, light rail, Paratransit Services, and the Trinity Railway Express (TRE rides from EBJ Union Station to CentrePort/DFW Airport Station only).

For other New Year festivities, check out this list of New Year's Eve parties, and this list of places to eat on New Year's Eve, and this list of places to get brunch on New Year's Day.

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Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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