Weekend Event Planner

These are the 11 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

With Christmas weekend just a week away, holiday events will once again be prominent in this week's roundup. Three local theater companies will put on holiday parties and the Nutcracker will go nutty for one night. There will also be a trio of bands playing concerts, an anniversary celebration for an iconic museum, Star Wars backed by a symphony, and more.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events. Looking for the best Christmas lights around town? That list is here.

Thursday, December 15

Stolen Shakespeare Guild Holiday Party
Stolen Shakespeare Guild's Holiday Party is a special fundraising event for the theater company. Taking place at the Ball-Eddleman-McFarland-House, it will feature a reading of their Christmas Carol radio show, some singing of carols, drinks, and hors d’oeuvres.

Amphibian Stage presents A Winter's Cabaret
Amphibian Stage's A Winter's Cabaret will be a night of holiday classics, Broadway favorites, and a boozy sing-a-long. Performers will include Broadway’s Tari Kelly and Dallas-Fort Worth favorite Lauren Urso. There will also be a champagne station and passed hors d'oeuvres by Tasha Monticure at South Main Bodega. The event takes place at Amphibian Stage.

Blue October in concert
Houston rock band Blue October has been at it for almost 25 years now, chugging along with their core group of fans despite never achieving true breakthrough success. Their biggest songs, "Hate Me" and "Into the Ocean," came off their 2006 album, Foiled, although their five subsequent albums charted higher. They'll play on both Friday and Saturday at Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall in support of their new album, Spinning the Truth Around.

Friday, December 16

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents Ando Building's 20th Anniversary
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Modern’s building, visitors can explore the museum for free through Sunday. Tadao Ando’s “arbor for art” has become a beloved destination for Fort Worthians and people around the world since opening on December 14, 2002. Visitors can experience the tranquil, light-filled spaces and restful pond that reflect Ando’s genius. The highlighted exhibition on display is "Modern Masters: A Tribute to Anne Windfohr Marion," and The Modern trees will be illuminated with an array of festive lights in celebration of the holiday season.

Magnolia at the Modern: Memories of My Father
Memories of My Father tells the story of Héctor Abad Gómez, a doctor and a human rights activist concerned with both his own children and the children of the underprivileged classes in the violent 1970s in Medellin, Colombia. Driven by sadness and rage when a terrible cancer takes the life of one of his daughters, Héctor devotes himself to the social and political causes of the time, without regard to his personal safety. The film, in Spanish with English subtitles, will screen six times through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Upright Theatre Co. presents Holly Jolly Holiday Party
The talented performers at Upright Theatre Co. will present an evening of holiday fun. Visitors will enjoy food, holiday games, and live entertainment, all while raising money for a great cause. Two dollars from every ticket sold will go towards the Euless Police Benevolent Organization, a nonprofit organization formed to provide college scholarships for police department employees’ dependent children, honor retiring employees, and more.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Star Wars: A New Hope
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will take audiences on a journey as young farm boy Luke Skywalker is thrust into a galaxy of adventure when he intercepts a distress call from the captive Princess Leia. The event launches him on a daring mission to rescue her from the clutches of Darth Vader and the evil Empire. The orchestra will play John Williams’ beloved score live while the film is played on a big screen. There will be three performances through Sunday at Will Rogers Auditorium.

Texas Ballet Theater presents The Nutty Nutcracker
Back for one night only - and for possibly the last time - The Nutty Nutcracker is a nutty take on the holiday classic. From current events and pop culture, hilarious new characters join Clara to turn the traditional tale on its head. You never know who will make an appearance, so get ready for a magical evening of side-splitting laughs. The performance will be at Bass Performance Hall.

Flatland Cavalry in concert
Flatland Cavalry, a country/Americana band from Lubbock that has released an EP and three studio albums, has experienced a modicum of national success, with their first album, 2016's Humble Folks, peaking at No. 38 on the Billboard Country charts. They'll play on both Friday and Saturday at Billy Bob's Texas in support of their new EP, Songs to Keep You Warm.

Sunday, December 18

Jared's Epic Blaster Battle Holiday Edition
Jared's Epic Blaster Battle, hosted by YouTuber Jared Guynes, will present their first ever holiday edition event for what they promise will be the largest and most incredible foam blaster battle of all time. The event, taking place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, will feature appearances by other popular YouTube and TikTok creators.

Charlie Robison in concert
Anyone who knows Texas country music knows the name of Charlie Robison, as he's the brother of singer/songwriter Bruce Robison and the ex-husband of Emily Strayer of The Chicks. His last album was 2013's High Life, and in 2018 he retired after complications from surgery left him unable to sing at the time. Things have clearly improved in the four years since, and fans can see the result when he plays at Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall.

Texas Ballet Theater presents The Nutty Nutcracker

Photo courtesy of Texas Ballet Theater

Texas Ballet Theater will present The Nutty Nutcracker at Bass Performance Hall on December 16.

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Movie Review

Video game film sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 3 seems sure to please fans

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) in Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The first Sonic the Hedgehog movie in 2020 was one of the few video game adaptations that managed to appeal to both fans of the Sega game and those who just want to watch a fun movie. As the series moved into a second and now third film, though, it’s become increasingly reliant on giving the video game fans what they want, with not as much attention paid toward simply telling a good story.

In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) continues to live with human friends Tom (James Marsden) and Maddie (Tika Sumpter), as well as Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba), who stuck around after the events of the second film. Dispensing with any kind of narrative coherence, the trio is called away by an undefined military force to help with the escape of Shadow (Keanu Reeves), another alien hedgehog who has been locked away off the coast of Japan for many years.

Suffice it to say that the trio does not initially fare well against the powerful Shadow, forcing Sonic to do the unthinkable: Ask his nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Jim Carrey), for help. What Sonic doesn’t anticipate is that Shadow has a history that left him with a grudge against most of human society, and he’s intent on using his powers - with a little help from his former mentor, Gerald Robotnik (also Carrey) - to exact his plans for revenge.

Made by the same team of director Jeff Fowler and writers Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the film is a combination of manic action, jokey sequences, and a dash of heart. The addition of Shadow ups the mayhem considerably, and the filmmakers rarely slow things down (although, oddly, the super-speed of Sonic and company feels lessened this time around).

The initial casting of Carrey gave the comic actor permission to indulge in whatever wackiness he could imagine, and giving him two roles in this film means double the nonsense. Ivo and Gerald (who’s Ivo’s grandfather, for the record) face off in a number of silly scenes, none more absurd than a dance sequence aboard a space station threatening to explode Earth (yeah, this movie is a lot).

Does the plot make a lick of sense? Absolutely not, but the filmmakers seem to acknowledge that fact, throwing anything and everything at the screen to try to entertain kids and/or fans of the video game series. It should come as no surprise that the end credits tease yet more characters from the video games joining the franchise, making it abundantly clear who is expected to get the most enjoyment out of the series going forward.

In addition to Carrey, the voice actors continue to make the characters fun. Schwartz and O’Shaughnessey provide the cartoon-style acting, while Elba and now Reeves give a nice counterbalance with their deep and serious voices. Marsden and Sumpter aren’t given much to do this time around, and Krysten Ritter shows up as Director Rockwell, a character who’s mostly there to move what little plot there is further along.

A four-quadrant movie is one that appeals to all ages and genders; Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is a one or maybe two-quadrant movie at most. But it’s more fun than the other family-friendly offering this Christmas season, and fans of the video game will likely love the depiction of their favorite characters on screen, so it’s doing something right.

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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now playing in theaters.

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