Hottest headlines of 2021

Christmas lights shine bright in 10 most popular Dallas entertainment stories of 2021

Editor's note: As we look back at the most-read entertainment stories of 2021, one thing is clear: Dallas was searching for shiny things this year. Specifically, Christmas lights. Not one, not two, but three different stories about the biggest and brightest holiday lights made it into the list. (If you hurry, you can still see some on display.) There was also a sad obituary, another sad bookstore closure, and the not-so-sad cancellation of The Real Housewives of Dallas.

1. Frisco family charged up for $50,000 battle on ABC's Great Christmas Light Fight. A Frisco family well-known locally for their "extreme," 70,000-light holiday displays got to shine in the national spotlight on December 2 as competitors on the hit ABC reality series The Great Christmas Light Fight. While the Burkman family didn't win the $50,000 grand prize, they won hearts with their charitable efforts. The lights switched on for the public to enjoy through Christmas.

2. Gas Monkey Bar & Grill in Dallas rebrands, farewell Richard Rawlings. The restaurant and live music spot formerly known as Gas Monkey Bar & Grill in Northwest Dallas announced in September it was rebranding. New name: Amplified, and former co-founder Richard Rawlings is no longer involved. Rawlings then announced he was back with Gas Monkey round two: He's partnered with Refined Hospitality Concepts to reopen Gas Monkey Dallas, at the Mercer Boardwalk development on LBJ Freeway near Luna Road.

3. Where to see the most spectacular Christmas lights dazzling Dallas in 2021. The magic is back. After a dimmer holiday celebration in 2020, the Dallas area has lit up, merry and bright, for the Christmas season once again — from towering trees that twinkle and shine to dazzling drive-thru displays and immersive walk-thru experiences. Here's our 2021 guide to the biggest, brightest, most spectacular Christmas light displays in the area — most of which will stay on through New Year's.

4. Dallas suburb nabs new Ferris wheel that rivals Fair Park's famed Texas Star. The Grandscape in The Colony debuted the Grandscape Wheel, a nearly 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel that rivals the Texas Star, a State Fair of Texas mainstay. Opened September 10, the Grandscape Wheel features 42 climate-controlled gondolas with music for riders to enjoy views of The Colony, nearby Frisco, and the North Texas skyline.

5. Final chapter for Barnes & Noble store at North Dallas shopping center. A North Dallas bookstore closed after 15 years: The Barnes & Noble located at Preston Royal Village closed for good, due to an inability to come to terms with the landlord. The store's final day was Sunday, June 13.

6. Best Dallas-area homes and neighborhoods for Christmas lights in 2021. Big Christmas light events are fun. But sometimes you just want to pour your own thermos of hot chocolate and hop in the car for a drive around the neighborhood. These residential neighborhoods and individual homes have been lighting up with choreographed shows, music, and over-the-top displays that would make Clark Griswold proud; many are still illuminated.

7. 3 fun weekend events in Dallas-Fort Worth call it quits due to COVID-19. As COVID-19 rushed back for its great summer encore in Dallas-Fort Worth, it brought with it the dreaded cancellation of fun things, which fans of fun things suffered through in 2020. In late July, three big DFW weekend events suddenly canceled or postponed just days ahead of their presentations, all citing rising coronavirus numbers as a cause.

8. Longtime Dallas radio DJ Russ Martin found dead at Frisco home. Longtime Dallas DJ Russ Martin was found dead at his home in Frisco on February 27; he was 60. According to a police report, Frisco police responded to a call at Martin's residence in the 6300 block of Douglas Avenue in Frisco, after a friend found him unresponsive. Martin, who was born Russell Dale Martin on October 4, 1960 and grew up in Pleasant Grove, was a Dallas radio personality for more than 30 years.

9. July 4th fireworks in Dallas canceled for 2021 – how about for good? The Dallas-Fort Worth area had no shortage of events from which to choose on the Fourth of July. Interestingly, the city of Dallas was not represented on our event list, as neither Fair Park Fourth nor Red White & Boom on the Bridge were scheduled to take place this year — here's why that could've been a good thing.

10. Bravo cuts off Real Housewives of Dallas' 'Jesus juice' after 5 overserved seasons. The Real Housewives of Dallas are cordially uninvited back to the party. In August, Bravo switched off the show after five seasons. By the final season — filmed and aired amid the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, racial reckonings, and deeply divided political landscape — the show had gone off the rails in ways it couldn’t really recover from.

The Burkman Holiday Home of Frisco competed on ABC's The Great Christmas Light Fight.

Photo courtesy of Burkman family

The Burkman Holiday Home of Frisco competed on ABC's The Great Christmas Light Fight.

hot-headlines holidays deaths closings tv

Movie Review

The life of an actor is far from rosy in dramedy Misty Green

Photo courtesy of A24

Rosalind Eleazar in Misty Green.

For every well-known/successful actor in Hollywood, there are thousands of others whose lives are more tenuous as they struggle to find work. The new film Misty Green is about one such actor who, after a period in the limelight, now finds herself on the outskirts of the industry, just hoping to find her way back in.

Misty (Rosalind Eleazar) won an Emmy for a 2000s-era TV show that still gets her recognition, but not much work. Still living in the apartment of a recently-deceased man with whom she was having an affair, Misty spends her days sleeping in and her nights getting blitzed on alcohol and drugs. She seems to be heading nowhere fast until a few things coincide to break up her routine.

The man’s wife (Amy Landecker) shows up and tells her she has seven days to vacate the apartment; Misty’s brother, Jay (Daniel Kaluuya) — who is bipolar — arrives after being kicked out of his facility for non-payment; and Jordan (Chris Rock), a former colleague with whom she had a falling-out, reappears in her life, offering a possible chance to rehabilitate her image.

Written and directed by Rock (his first feature since 2014’s Top Five), the film is a funny and excruciating look at how the entertainment industry might actually work. Misty is her own worst enemy thanks to late nights fraternizing with unsavory characters like Zach (Adam Driver), who deals in drugs and women in equal measure, but her frustration proves warranted when her agent, Randy (Topher Grace), and casting directors like Rhonda (Tracie Thoms) hardly give her the time of day.

Misty tries her best to stay positive, but when jobs like singing in a bar are the best she can do, the mountain seems insurmountable. Rock does an effective job of demonstrating the elements that are within and without Misty’s control that affect her ability to regain her position in the industry. The chip on her shoulder is almost as big as the bias some have against her, and other negative circumstances don’t help matters much.

There are many small touches that Rock and his crew put in the film to give it an air of authenticity. Filming in Los Angeles (a rarity these days), Rock uses both subtle and overt shots of homeless people in the city, suggesting that the line between the haves and have-nots is a fine one, especially with Misty on the verge of not having a place to live. He also has cameos from a few of his funny friends, including a bit of meta-casting of Anthony Anderson (who has faded a bit after starring in Black-ish) in a bit part as a cop.

Eleazar, a British actor best known for appearing on the Apple TV show Slow Horses, is a magnetic presence as Misty. The character herself is somewhat cringey in her decision-making, and Eleazar sells every bit of her righteous indignation and self-defeating actions. The supporting cast is great across the board, including Rock, Driver, Kaluuya, Thoms, Grace, Anna Kendrick, and Rich Sommer.

Misty Green makes you rage against the Hollywood machine, laugh at the various ways different people deal with its maddening quirks, and hide behind your fingers as Misty chooses options that don’t help, either voluntarily or because her back is against the wall. It’s a powerhouse of acting that gives a unique angle on the inner workings of Hollywood, one that ironically might be competing for awards at year’s end.

---

Misty Green is now playing in theaters.

movies film