Event planner

Melissa Etheridge, TX-OU and Othello: The best events in Dallas this weekend

Melissa Etheridge comes to the Majestic October 13.
Courtesy of melissaetheridge.com
Art in the Park in Frisco benefits North Texas Food Bank.
The Legend of Zelda comes alive at Annette Strauss Square October 12.
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Fort Worth Museum of Art and Historyopens this weekend.

In Dallas, a breadth of venues means that no matter what your interests, you can find something exciting to do any day of the week. On the weekend, this is doubly true. So, if you can't find anything to do, you're just not trying.

Below are some of your best options for Thursday through Sunday. Don't like what you see? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, October 11

Art in the Park 2012
With the weather hitting that sweet spot, it would be remiss of us not to recommend an outdoor event or two. You may have to travel into the the northern hinterlands, a.k.a. Frisco, to get to Art in the Park, but rest assured it's for a good cause. Benefiting the North Texas Food Bank, the event at Hall Office Park includes a concert by Emerald City, food trucks and a kids area sponsored by the Dallas Stars.

TeCo Theatrical Productions presents Ain't This Some S**t!
With a name like that, how could you not be interested? It even has the subtitle, A Conservative Right-wing Guide to Over-simplifying the Complexities of the Female Body and Extolling the Virtues of Jesus' Favorite Southern Fried Treat, which makes it all the more intriguing. The opener to TeCo Theatrical Productions' 2012-2013 season at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center runs through Sunday, and it gives you a new look at nuns, reality shows and chicken sandwiches.

Friday, October 12

Jeff Garlin — Built for Comfort
Garlin is arguably most well-known for his supporting role on the inimitable HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm. Because that series contains a high degree of improvisation, you know that Garlin has a keen comic instinct. He brings his great sense of humor to the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts in Richardson with a stand-up show.

The Legend of Zelda — Symphony of the Goddesses
The Legend of Zelda is one of the top video game series of all time and remains close to the heart of many a gamer, especially concert producer Jason Michael Paul, who combines video games and classical music. The Dallas POPS Orchestra performs the four-movement symphony that pays tribute to 25 years of Zelda, complete with a synchronization to game footage from the series' 18 games (and counting), in Annette Strauss Square.

Saturday, October 13

Texas-Oklahoma Party on the Plaza
With the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners only separated by a few slots in the rankings, this year's Red River Rivalry is shaping up to be another doozy. If you aren't one of the 92,000 or so lucky enough to snag a ticket to the big game but still want to watch it among the rabid masses, head to Victory Plaza just outside American Airlines Center and watch the rivalry on the big screen. With concessions for sale, it feels a lot like the Cotton Bowl. Well, almost.

Melissa Etheridge in concert
Granted, Etheridge is a long way from her heyday of songs like "Come to My Window" and "I'm the Only One," but her signature raspy voice and tell-it-like-it-is songwriting never goes out of style. Etheridge has just started her tour in support of her latest album 4th Street Feeling. The intimate setting of the Majestic Theatre in Dallas allows the crowd to get up close and personal with the rocker who always wears her emotions on her sleeve.

Sunday, October 14

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
It's been more than 100 years since one of the greatest ocean disasters of all time, and the RMS Titanic still fascinates. As James Cameron's movie can attest, people go gaga trying to keep tabs on luggage, jewelry and other things recovered from the wreckage. There are no fewer than eight exhibitions displayed throughout the country, and we get our chance to peruse pieces of history as the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History hosts Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition now through March 24, 2013.

The Complete Works of Shakespeare — Othello
You want culture, you say? How does seeing every single work Shakespeare ever wrote — or was credited for, if you're a conspiracy theorist — strike you? That's the ambitious gauntlet Shakespeare Dallas and the AT&T Performing Arts Center threw down starting last month, and it continues on Sunday and Monday with Othello. The staged reading takes the classic play out of its usual setting and puts it in the world of motorcycle gangs, which just gives you one more reason to head to Winspear Opera House for a taste of the Bard.

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Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer is an unappreciated mom in Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

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Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

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