The best place to be in Dallas on a hot summer night is inside an air-conditioned building — bonus points when that building is full of dinosaur fossils.
Thursdays on Tap, Dallas’ favorite Thursday night hangout, is back in full swing at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science now through October 26.
Photo courtesy of Perot Museum
Grab a bite from the food trucks outside.
Whether you’re looking for a fun date night or a unique place to meet up with friends or coworkers, Thursdays on Tap is the place to be for the 21-and-up crowd each Thursday from 6-10 pm.
It gives you the unique opportunity to explore the Perot Museum’s premier exhibit halls without the daytime crowds or kids — and with a drink in hand. In addition to full museum access, guests can also enjoy:
Live music from local artists
Delicious snacks and meals from food trucks parked outside
Craft beers, courtesy of Community Beer Co.
Cocktail and wine options, which now include Sonoma Time Frosé
For more information and to purchase tickets — you'll want to do that in advance, these adults-only gatherings do tend to sell out — visit here.
If you do want to bring the kids to explore the Perot Museum's five levels of discovery and adventure, there’s no shortage of fun to be found during the day.
Marvel at everything from towering dinosaurs to space exploration to diamonds. Take part in hands-on STEM activities, race a T. rex, catch a 3-D film, and so much more.
The career of actor Chris Hemsworth is a curious one, as it feels like he’s a huge star (mostly from playing Thor in Marvel movies) and not at the same time, with most of the non-MCU movies featuring him in a lead role failing to become big successes. But he still has a certain presence about him, which is why he’s being given another chance to prove his star power in the new thriller, Crime 101.
Hemsworth plays Davis, a talented thief who knows how to get what he wants without resorting to violence. When a job early in the movie turns slightly sideways, it makes him think twice about working with his handler (Nick Nolte), who seems to prefer someone with a stronger touch, like the up-and-coming Ormon (Barry Keoghan).
Davis is the main character, but two others who come into his orbit get their own subplots. Lou (Mark Ruffalo) is a slightly schlubby LAPD detective who’s convinced he knows the pattern of an unknown thief that likes to hit places close to Highway 101. Sharon (Halle Berry) works for a high-end insurance agency known for working with ultra-wealthy clients, the types who might be a great target for a thief like Davis.
Written and directed by Bart Layton, the film has a decent propulsion to it that comes with most crime thrillers. Davis and Ormon represent the yin and the yang of criminal approaches, and and it’s interesting to see the juxtaposition between the two as their simmering rivalry heats up over the course of the film. When the film commits to actually showing its crimes, it has an excitement that’s worth watching.
Unfortunately, Layton displays a real lack of focus, taking the audience into subplots with each of the three main characters that prove unnecessarily distracting. Lou’s marriage problems may explain his disheveled appearance, but there’s no need to see him deal with them with wife Angie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Sharon’s troubles with her male-dominated company prove slightly pivotal, but still don’t merit the time put into exploring them.
The most baffling subplot is Davis pursuing a relationship with Maya (Monica Barbaro), a woman he randomly meets. At different points in the movie, including many of his interactions with Maya, Davis seems like the most uncomfortable, antisocial person in the world. And yet he somehow morphs into a suave smooth-talker who’s able to convince anyone to do what he wants at other key points, making it unclear exactly what kind of person he really is.
Hemsworth does relatively well in the lead role, but he’s still missing that certain something to make his character, and therefore the movie, truly compelling. The rest of the cast is fine, too, but each of them seem to be putting in just the minimal amount of effort to make the film watchable. Ruffalo and Barbaro come off the best, but with the talent in the cast (11 Oscar nominations and one win), they could have been used better.
Crime 101 has most of the ingredients to be another great entry in the genre, and it succeeds when it actually decides to deliver on its promise. But too much of the film is spent on things that have no real bearing on plot or character development, leaving the movie in the middle of the pack.
