Event planner

Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year top the best events in Dallas this weekend

It's Valentine's Day weekend, which means there are plenty of romantic options out there for those of us lucky to be in love. But if you're kicking it single-style this year, don't fret: Most of this week's events don't require a partner.

Below are the best options for your precious free time 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, February 14

Lexus Broadway Series presents Anything Goes!
The Cole Porter musical dates back to 1934, but it's as timeless as any song-and-dance production that's hit the Great White Way, as evidenced by its recent Tony Award-winning revival. That revival is currently on a national tour, and it makes a stop at Winspear Opera House through February 24. They even have a special Valentine's Day matinee for anyone looking to surprise a loved one.

Klyde Warren Park presents Valentine's Day at the Park
The first Valentine's Day in Klyde Warren Park's short existence promises to be an ultra-romantic one, as there will be champagne, desserts and sultry music all night long. Whether you hit up the park on the way to dinner or make it the main attraction, KWP is the place to be this Valentine's Day.

Patti Labelle in concert with Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant
If the soul/R&B lineup at American Airlines Center, appropriately labeled the Love Train tour, doesn't get you in the mood for love, then nothing will. It features three former members of New Edition —Brown, Gill and Tresvant — and the concert is headlined by one of the queens of R&B, Patti Labelle. At least five other singers are on the bill, so one thing the night won't be lacking is entertainment.

Friday, February 15

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Romeo and Juliet
The story of Romeo and Juliet is, of course, one of the most tragic love stories of all time, so there isn't any more appropriate time for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to present Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Suite than Valentine's Day weekend. The concert, which also features works by Debussy and Rodrigo, runs through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Crow Collection of Asian Art presents 2013 Chinese New Year Celebration
Yes, technically the Chinese New Year began last Sunday, but who wants to have a nighttime street fair on a Sunday? The Crow Collection of Asian Art takes over Flora Street with a parade, a variety of art-making activities, and food trucks like Nammi and Ssahm BBQ. As a bonus, visitors can get a sneak peek at the Crow's new collection, China Through the Lens of John Thomson 1868-1872, which doesn't officially open until Saturday.

Saturday, February 16

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Catch Me If You Can
Don't let the name fool you: Dallas Summer Musicals presents shows at the Music Hall at Fair Park year-round. The 2013 season kicks off with a crowd-pleaser, Catch Me If You Can, the musical based on the Steven Spielberg movie that was based on the book of the real life of con man Frank Abagnale. The show, which started Tuesday, runs through February 24.

2013 Monster Energy AMA Supercross
The confines of Cowboys Stadium are so large that it could likely fit two normal-sized stadiums inside, so when AMA Supercross is looking for a local spot to stage one of its competitions, Jerry World is the only logical choice. The best of the best from the Supercross tour will jump, skid and hopefully not crash on the dirt course set up right where the Cowboys crashed and burned.

Sunday, February 17

The Complete Works of Shakespeare - Henry VI, Part 1
With the fifth entry in the five-year quest to present staged readings of every single Shakespearean work, Shakespeare Dallas is finally going back to the beginning of the Bard's career with the presentation of Henry VI, Part 1. It is the first play in the War of the Roses tetralogy, which will be presented in order at Winspear Opera House over the next four months. This reading happens in Hamon Hall on Sunday and Monday.

500X Gallery presents EXPO 2013
If you're interested in seeing what's new and great in Texas art, you'd do well to stop by 500X Gallery the next few weekends. The annual EXPO, a showcase of works created by artists from around the Lone Star State, is now on display. The competition, judged by Iris Bechtol, runs through March 3.

Patti Labelle headlines the Love Train concert at American Airlines Center on Valentine's Day.

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Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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