Weekend Event Planner

These are the 8 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

The events around Fort Worth are figuratively and literally all over the place, giving you plenty of different options. Choices include some high quality golf, two concerts, an acclaimed new film, a dramatic new play, kid-friendly ballet, the arrival of an anticipated movie theater, and another visit from America's favorite Tupperware lady.

Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, May 23

Charles Schwab Challenge
What sounds like some kind of financial contest is actually the latest name for the PGA Tour's annual stop at Colonial Country Club. Taking place through Sunday, the field will feature such top golfers as Dallas-Fort Worth's own Jordan Spieth, coming off a solid third place finish at the PGA Championship, defending champion Justin Rose, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, and more.

John Oates and The Good Road Band in concert
John Oates, one half of the best-selling duo of all time, Hall & Oates, is also an accomplished solo artist. With Hall & Oates all but done recording new music, Oates has released five solo albums over the past 17 years, including 2018's Arkansas. He'll play at The Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts in Arlington with his band, The Good Road Band.

Friday, May 24

Magnolia at the Modern: The White Crow
Directed by Ralph Fiennes, The White Crow was inspired by the book Rudolf Nureyev: The Life by Julie Kavanagh. This drama charts the iconic dancer's (played by Oleg Ivenko) famed defection from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961, despite KGB efforts to stop him. The film will screen seven times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Jubilee Theatre presents Split Second
Split Second is a stimulating drama that explores the story of a respected African-American police officer who arrests a white man on suspicion of attempted car theft. The suspect taunts the officer with racist insults and verbal attacks until, in the grip of uncontrollable rage, the officer loses his cool and guns down his handcuffed antagonist. There are no witnesses; the cop can probably get away with it. Does he turn himself in or does he cover himself? The play will run at Jubilee Theatre through June 23.

Texas Ballet Theater presents Pinocchio
The final production in Texas Ballet Theater's 2018-2019 season features the mischievous Pinocchio, a puppet that embarks on a whirlwind quest to become a real boy. Featuring phenomenal costuming and innovative choreography, the production, after playing in Dallas the previous weekend, will play at Bass Performance Hall through Sunday.

Saturday, May 25

Alamo Drafthouse North Richland Hills presents Aladdin-themed Street Bazaar
Alamo Drafthouse North Richland Hills will celebrate a whole new world of movies in Tarrant County with their grand opening event, an Aladdin-themed Agrabah-inspired bazaar that coincides with the release of the anticipated live-action Disney film. The event will include bounce houses & inflatable obstacle courses, live animals like a camel, parrot, and monkey, a themed dance performance, Disney karaoke, and more.

Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis in concert
There are lots of husband-and-wife duos who exemplify #CouplesGoals, but Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis belong near the top of any list. They have been married for 22 years, raised four children together, and supported each other's careers, which has included four collaborative albums, including the forthcoming Beautiful Lie, set for release on June 10. They'll play at The Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts.

Q Cinema presents Dixie Longate Has No Instructions
Life was easier when things came with instructions. Now, as the world gets smaller and life gets bigger, there seems to be no guidebook for how to get through. Dixie Longate, America's favorite Tupperware lady, will try to make sense out of it all. From the bedroom to the honky tonk, the church pew to the liquor store, she's doing her best to get through life by making it all up as she goes along. The one-night-only performance will take place at W.E. Scott Theatre.

Texas Ballet Theater will present Pinocchio at Bass Performance Hall, May 24-26.

Photo by Aleksandar Antonijevic

Texas Ballet Theater will present Pinocchio at Bass Performance Hall, May 24-26.

dance sports concerts movies event-planner

Movie Review

New thriller A Different Man: a lesson in be careful what you wish for

Photo by Matt Infante/courtesy of A24

Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan in A Different Man.

Movies that deal with physical or psychological differences in humans tend to be earnest affairs, with the affected person either rising above the odds or teaching people around them a lesson in compassion. Nothing of the sort is featured in A Different Man, where the only lesson learned is one of humility by the main character with the physical difference.

Edward (Sebastian Stan), whose face and head are enlarged from an unspecified condition, is an actor who makes a meager living starring in workplace education videos. He lives in a drab, rundown apartment, and seems generally depressed, just trying to get through each day without suffering some kind of humiliation.

His outlook starts to change when Ingrid (Renate Reinsve) moves in next door and treats him with kindness. Whether to attract her attention or to get out of his malaise, Edward agrees to an experimental treatment that promises to get rid of his condition. It’s no big spoiler to say that it works, but what happens after is a surprise, especially when Oswald (Adam Pearson), a man with a similar condition but a much sunnier disposition, comes into his life.

Written and directed by Aaron Schimberg, the film is nowhere near as straightforward as that synopsis makes it sound. Schimberg inserts all kinds of weird details, including a never-ending leak in Edward’s apartment and odd time jumps, that keep the audience on their heels. And while it would be wrong to say that Edward’s condition is ignored by others in the film, as he gets more than a few stares, few people actively comment on it.

In fact, Schimberg seems much more interested in Edward’s mental health than his physical state. His personality stands in stark contrast to that of Oswald, who seems to approach every situation with positivity and confidence, as if his condition didn’t even exist. The film has a lot going on after the two meet, but the push and pull between how each man approaches the world provides the central conflict.

Consequently, the film often plays out more as a comedy than as a drama. Edward’s post-transformation world is even stranger than the one he inhabited before, and every interaction he has is laced with an undercurrent of artifice, with no one acting in a normal manner. Edward finds himself in increasingly absurd situations that test his mental wellness, and the oddness of them elicit laughs more than anything else.

Stan is a chameleon of an actor who’s played everything from a Marvel superhero to an upcoming turn as a young Donald Trump. He plays both sides of Edward well, giving off a sad-sack energy no matter his physical state. But it’s Pearson who steals the movie, as he projects a spiritedness that turns Oswald from someone who might be pitied into someone who’s a force of nature. Reinsve makes for an able foil for both characters.

A Different Man is a film that’s in conversation with the recent The Substance, as they both deal with people who seek to change their appearance, albeit for very different reasons. In both cases, it falls under a “be careful what you wish for” scenario, with the solution not necessarily delivering the result the person wanted.

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A Different Man is now playing in theaters.

movies film

Weekend Event Planner

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Movie Review

New thriller A Different Man: a lesson in be careful what you wish for