One of Dallas' most unique and enjoyable programs is ordering another round. Thursdays on Tap at the Perot Museum of Nature & Science starts up again on April 6 and runs through the end of October (cue rejoicing from the 21-and-up crowd who loves booze and dinosaurs).
This is your chance to tour the entire museum without the daytime crowds or children getting underfoot. You can also purchase drinks from the outdoor bars for only $3-$10 (last call is at 9:45 pm, FYI).
Then purchase tasty treats and delicious bites from the many rotating food trucks and vendors parked outside from 6-10 pm.
The drool-worthy vendors you can expect to see on Thursday nights in April include:
Mi Cocina (April 6 and 20)
Cuates Kitchen (April 6)
Easy Slider (April 6)
Community Beer Co. (April 6, 13, and 20)
Sushi Dojo (April 13)
Cousins Maine Lobster (April 13)
Magdalena's (April 13)
Egg Stand (April 20)
Ruthie's Rolling Cafe (April 20)
Don't forget to play one of the outside games while enjoying live music by local artists. Tauvy Thompson will perform at the first event on April 6, Alex Cantrell on April 13, and Alejandro De La Puente is scheduled for April 20.
Until Labor Day, the museum’s latest traveling exhibition “The Science Behind Pixar,” presented locally by NexPoint, is included in the price of admission.
Though taking public transportation, carpooling, or using a rideshare service is recommended due to the nature of the event, all guests can park for $10 per car (credit card only) in the main parking lot under Woodall Rodgers Freeway on Broom Street, right across from the museum.
Thursdays on Tap is $25 for non-members, and only $5 for members. The program begins April 6 and runs weekly until October 26. More information can be found on the Perot Museum's website.
Photo courtesy of Perot Museum
Thursdays on Tap returns April 6 and runs through October.
The opening scenes of the new drama Dreams are bracing, fictional sequences that call to mind real-life scenarios. In them, a young Mexican man named Fernando (Isaac Hernández) goes through a somewhat harrowing journey from the back of a semi truck in South Texas all the way to San Francisco. It’s a familiar immigrant story that seems to set the stage for a film with something interesting to say.
It turns out, however, that Fernando has not made the long and arduous trek for a job. Instead, it’s to be with Jennifer McCarthy (Jessica Chastain), a rich woman who helps lead a foundation dedicated to multiple things, including funding dance academies. Fernando, a talented dancer, and Jennifer have been in an off-and-on affair for years, with Jennifer wanting to keep their relationship a secret.
Although both are drawn to each other in an inexplicable, lustful way, their bond is tenuous, with each of them dissatisfied for different reasons. Fernando clearly sacrifices much more of himself than Jennifer, who wants for nothing except maybe more affection from her father, Michael (Marshall Bell), and brother, Jake (Rupert Friend).
Writer/director Michel Franco seems to try to inject tension into Fernando and Jennifer’s relationship from the start, an attempt that is only halfway successful. It’s clear from the way they greet each other - not to mention a steamy sex scene shortly thereafter - that they have known each other for a good length of time. Franco is able to get across this familiarity with an economy of scenes, and the intensity of their bond holds for a while.
But as the film progresses and both of them grow disenchanted with their arrangement, Franco starts taking the story in some odd directions. The biggest issue is that it’s never clear at what point in time the story is taking place. Fernando ends up making multiple trips back and forth across the border, with Jennifer doing the same at one point, and Franco’s use of flashbacks muddies the waters, wrong-footing the audience when he should be trying to draw them further into Fernando and Jennifer’s complications.
Revelations in the final act make the story even more confusing, as both main characters start saying and doing harsh things that seem to come out of nowhere. That would be all well and good if Franco actually committed to their changes of heart, but he keeps things wishy-washy for most of the final 15 minutes, resulting in an ending that makes little sense for either character.
Despite the story issues, both Chastain and Hernández give compelling performances. Chastain has been a little under the radar since winning an Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but she keeps this character interesting longer than it should have been. Hernández has limited credits and appears to have been cast for his dancing ability, but he goes toe-to-toe with Chastain on more than one occasion and acquits himself well.
Dreams had all of the ideas to explore a more in-depth story about the complicated immigration policies between Mexico and the U.S., or how wealthy people take advantage of those less fortunate. But Franco never finds the right footing, settling instead for a titillating and somewhat mystifying relationship story that feels half-baked.
