Weekend Event Planner

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

Fort Worth's biggest venue will play host to a second week of college basketball this weekend, but there's more than just sports going on. Other choices include screenings of an acclaimed film, two comedians, a notable symphony performance, two country concerts, a shopping extravaganza, a Holi celebration, a roots music festival, and a special dance production.

Below are more 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 local spring break ideas? That list is here.

Thursday, March 14

The American Men’s Basketball Championships
The American Athletic Conference's Basketball Championships will continue its two-week stay at Dickies Arena with the men's tournament. Local teams SMU and North Texas are middle of the pack in the conference in the regular season, but anything can happen during March Madness. The tournament takes place through Sunday.

Friday, March 15

Magnolia at the Modern: The Peasants
The Peasants tells the story of Jagna, a young woman determined to forge her own path within the confines of a late-19th century Polish village - a hotbed of gossip and ongoing feuds - held together, rich and poor, by pride in their land, adherence to colorful traditions, and a deep-rooted patriarchy. The movie features a unique look, with live action overlaid by animation that makes it look like living paintings. The film, which is in Polish with English subtitles, will have seven screenings through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Improv Arlington presents Bubba Dub
Bubba Dub - original name Jerry Morgan - is known for his ‘Snitching on Rogers’ skits & other story lines on YouTube. His style of comedy consists of some foul language and highly adult subject matters, influenced by his East Texas upbringing and social media comics. He'll perform five times through Sunday at The Arlington Improv.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents "Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto and the Fifth Symphony"
Star pianist Joyce Yang’s take on Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto, once thought to be unplayable, comes to Bass Performance Hall. Dutch conductor Edo de Waart joins the orchestra for an all-Tchaikovsky program that pairs the concerto with Symphony No. 5 and its famous opening “fate” motif. There will be three performances through Sunday.

Hyena's presents Matt McCusker
Matt McCusker is a comedian, writer, and co-host of Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast. He has also written two books, most notably his novel Overlook: A Story About Drugs, Disappointment, and the American Dream. He was also supposed to be on a local TV news show once, but they scrapped the segment. He'll perform four times through Saturday at Hyena's Comedy Club.

Dylan Wheeler in concert
A native of the East Texas town of Edgewood, Dylan Wheeler has made a name for himself on the Texas country music scene. The success of his debut EP, Tell Me I'm Wrong, in 2018 convinced him to quit his job in the oil & gas industry and pursue music full-time. He released his debut album, Times Are Changing, in 2022, and now he returns for a second concert at Billy Bob's Texas.

Saturday, March 16

16th Annual Funky Finds Spring Fling
At Funky Finds' 16th Annual Spring Fling, visitors can shop from a curated array of handmade and vintage items. There will also be adoptable pets, a charitable raffle, and a chance to win handcrafted goods donated by each vendor. All charity proceeds benefit Saving Hope Animal Rescue and CASA of Tarrant County. The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday at Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Mystic Mandala presents Fort Worth Festival of Colors
The Fort Worth Festival of Colors is North Texas’ largest celebration of Holi, the Hindu festival of colors that is recognized worldwide as a major celebration of spring. Featuring food, music, and more, the celebratory event will take place at Panther Island Pavilion.

Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival
The Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival, the only major-city festival of its kind, will feature performances by headliners Lizzie No and Jerron Paxton, as well as Corey Harris, Piedmont Acoustic Bluz Duo, Crys Matthews, Jontavious Willis, Joy Clark, Spice Cake Blues, Lilli Lewis, EJ Mathews, and Stephanie Anne Johnson. The festival takes place at Southside Preservation Hall and Rose Chapel.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents Dancing Beyond Borders
DBDT: Encore! transcends borders and boundaries in a display of contemporary modern dance. Audiences will embark on a journey that explores the intersection of grace, athleticism, and artistry. The production will be in W. E. Scott Theatre at Arts Fort Worth.

Josh Turner in concert
Country singer Josh Turner came out of the gates running on his debut in 2003, scoring a top 3 album with Long Black Train, and he hasn't slowed down since. All but one of his next seven albums made the top 3 on the Billboard Country charts thanks to a string of hit songs, including "Your Man," "Would You Go With Me?," "Why Don't We Just Dance?," and "Hometown Girl." He'll play at Billy Bob's Texas.

Photo courtesy of The Cliburn

Pianist Joyce Yang will play with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at Bass Performance Hall, March 15-17.

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Movie Review

Music and Lady Gaga make for unusual Joker: Folie à Deux film sequel

Photo by Niko Tavernise

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie à Deux.

For a movie that was more about one man’s mental health condition than anything related to comic books, 2019’s Joker was shockingly successful, making over $1 billion worldwide and nabbing a Best Actor Oscar for Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix and writer/director Todd Phillips are back with Joker: Folie à Deux(literally meaning "a madness of two"), a film that has some of the same themes but a story that could not feel more different.

After his murder spree in the first film, Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) now calls Arkham Asylum home, where he is alternately tortured and favored by the guards, and revered by his fellow patients. Arthur plays nice for the most part, which leads one of the guards, Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson), to allow him to attend a music class in the minimum security ward of the facility, where he meets Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga).

The immediate connection between Arthur and Lee allows Arthur to indulge in more than a few fantasies, ones that manifest themselves in the film as musical sequences involving the two of them. As his fortunes change and he is forced to stand trial for his crimes, Arthur returns to the fantasies repeatedly, with Lee giving him a sense of hope and security that has been missing from his life.

The film, co-written by Scott Silver, features songs so often that the boundary between reality and fiction within the story is completely blurred. Some of the songs show Arthur, Lee, or both singing at Arkham, while others emulate old musicals by creating numbers on a set meant to look like the Murray Franklin talk show from the first film. It’s fair to wonder how much, if any, of it is real or just things that Arthur has conjured to comfort himself.

Most of the songs - “Good Morning,” “Get Happy,” and “That’s Entertainment,” among others - are cribbed from the classic movie musical era of the 1930s-1960s. Their titles and lyrics have surface-level relevance to the story being told, but it’s hard to say their meaning goes deeper than that. They are also so chopped up and delivered so often that it’s difficult to tell what kind of importance Phillips was trying to put on any one individual song.

While the music is the obvious big change, the more significant one is the film’s almost total lack of action. The focus on Arthur and Lee’s possible relationship and Arthur spending most of the film at Arkham leads to very few scenes of mayhem. In fact, hardly anything of substance happens until the film’s final act, and what does happen is less impactful than what fans of the first film may want.

Phoenix, just as he did in Joker, commits fully to the role, appearing to become gaunt once again and making sure the character is sufficiently disturbing. The arc makes him quieter and less annoying this time around, which may or may not disappoint some viewers. Lady Gaga is fine as the character otherwise known as Harley Quinn, although it’s interesting that she was likely hired for her singing ability and the film rarely lets her truly let loose.

If the nihilistic tones of Joker made it a surprise billion-dollar movie, it would be even more of a shocker if Joker: Folie à Deux made anywhere near that type of money. The Joker character has been approached in many different ways, but this is one of the oddest yet.

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Joker: Folie à Deux opens in theaters on October 4.

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