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Screen Scene: The Vampire Diaries Official Convention returns to town

Much like vampires, the Vampire Diaries Official Convention is pretty hard to kill.

The con makes its way back to Dallas , no matter that star Nina Dobrev has said farewell (for now?) to the WB series heading into its seventh season.

The show must go on, and smoldering stars Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, who anchor it as the dashing Salvatore brothers, will appear on Aug. 15. With a cast of characters rotating as fast as any big wheel, the convention can make up for missing stars (Candice Accola, Kat Graham, any woman) with quantity. Michael Trevino, Daniel Gillies and Matthew Davis are among the actors scheduled to swoon, er, swoop into town.

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Micah Parker, who played Adrian, will host the convention all three days and a karaoke party on Aug. 14. Music will inform the gathering just as it does the fictional Mystic Falls; Chase Coleman (Oliver on The Originals) will be the lead singer for the house band and Chris Brochu (Luke of TVD) will perform his original music.

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Organizers were smart in gathering heavy hitters from The Vampire Diaries and its spinoff, The Originals. Viewers would be smart to keep an eye on this con.

The convention runs Aug. 14-16 at the Westin Park Central Hotel, 12720 Merit Drive, Dallas. Gold and Silver weekend passes are sold out. Admission is $20-$150. Autograph tickets are separate and range from $20-$60. Find the most up-to-date schedule info at creationent.com.

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"LOOK AT ME, I'M SANDRA DEE!" Grease (1978, PG-13, 120 mins.) will play Aug. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Palace Theatre, 300 Main St., Grapevine. $6; free small popcorn with a same-day dinner receipt from a Grapevine restaurant. 817-410-3100. Palace-Theatre.com.

SUNSET SCREENINGS The rain this spring disrupted the lineup for the series from the AT&T Performing Arts Center and the Dallas Film Society, so much so that it moved indoors with its look at "Definitive Directors from the '40s." Watch John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941, not rated, 100 mins.) on Aug. 16 at 3 p.m. at Dallas City Performance Hall, 2520 Flora St., Dallas. Free. Reserve a spot at attpac.org/sunset.

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OZ-SPLOITATION WEEKEND Things get trippy as The Dark Side of the Rainbow, the mashup of The Wizard of Oz visualsand Pink Floyd's music from Dark Side of the Moon, plays Aug. 15 at 9 p.m. at the Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. in Oak Cliff, Dallas. $10. There will be a free 35mm screening of Return to Oz (1985, PG, 113 mins.) on Aug. 16 at 3 p.m. and a 4K DCP screening of The Wizard of Oz (1939, G, 102 mins.) at 5:30. $10. thetexastheatre.com.

THE CINEMARK CLASSIC SERIES It's two series for the price of one. Grease Sing-a-Long(1978, PG-13, 120 mins.) will screen as part of the theater chain's series and as part of TCM Presents on Aug. 16 and 19 at 2 and 7 p.m. at select theaters including Cinemark West Plano and XD, 3800 Dallas Parkway, Plano. $6.15-$14.65; $25 for the five-movie series; see the schedule at cinemark.com/cinemark-classic-series. You can also buy tickets and find more information at fathomevents.com. (And if you don't feel like singing, check out Item No. 1. on this list.)

DVD LOOKOUT Week of Aug. 17 — The Seventh Dwarf, a toe-tapping rendition of Sleeping Beauty's story, leads the fairy tale pack. Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection includes Frozen Fever, available on DVD for the first time. The mean queens highlight Once Upon a Time: The Complete Fourth Season. And the recent Descendants finds children of the villains learning good lessons. Other releases include Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem; The Blacklist: The Complete Second Season; Grey's Anatomy: Complete Eleventh Season; Strangerland; and Teen Titans Go: Season 2, Part 2 House Pests.

Please send submissions for listings at least two weeks in advance to The Dallas Morning News, Film Events, 508 Young St., Dallas, Texas 75202 or dburkes@dallasnews.com.