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

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising