Weekend events planner

Here are the top 9 things to do in Houston this weekend

The weekend is almost here, and we’re ready to hit the town. From Mardi Gras celebrations, to big headline concerts, to Super Bowl Sunday gatherings, and more, we’ve put together a list of can’t-miss events. Read on for the nine best things to do in Houston this weekend. For more options, check out the full CultureMap Events Calendar.

Society event
Thursday, February 1-Sunday, February 18
In collaboration with the Dallas Theater Center, Alley Theatre brings iconic statesman President Lyndon Baines Johnson to a Houston stage. The Great Society, a play by Texas playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan, follows the former president as he struggles to fight a war on poverty — even as his war in Vietnam spins out of control. (tickets: $39-$83 per person)
615 Texas St.; 713-220-5700

Rock the house
Thursday, February 1-Sunday, February 4
Inspired by the hit movie starring Jack Black, School of Rock tells the story of Dewey Finn, a wannabe rock star doing time as a substitute teacher who transforms his straight-A students into an amazing rock band. The show features 14 new songs from Broadway legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as all the original tunes from the movie. Don't miss our interview with Phoenix Schuman, one of the show's 12 young performers. (various times; tickets: $35-$140 per person)
800 Bagby St.; 713-315-2525

Let the good times roll
Friday, February 2-Wednesday, February 13
Mardi Gras! Galveston, the third-largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, is spread over 12 days and includes parades, music, food, family-friendly activities, 5K fun run, and galas including the Tremont House Mardi Gras Ball and the San Luis Salute. (various times and prices; for more information click here)
Galveston, Texas

The future of food
Friday, February 2-Saturday, February 3
Gulf Coast Food Project and Foodways Texas present The Houston Eats! Conference, a two-day conference devoted to exploring the origins of Texas Gulf Coast's culinary diversity, how it impacts the way Houston eats now, and what it means for the region’s future. Presenters include academics, local food writers, and chefs, including Sylvia Casares (Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen), and Kaiser Lashkari (Himalaya). (various times; free with advance registration)
4800 Calhoun Rd.; 832-488-4645

Very Barry
Friday, February 2
Music icon Barry Manilow, whose career has spanned more than 50 years, hits the stage at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land to showcase songs from his latest album, This is My Town: Songs of New York. You can also expect to hear some of Manilow's greatest hits such as "Copacabana" and “Mandy.” (8 pm; tickets: $19.95 - $249.95 per person)
18111 Lexington Blvd., Sugar Land; 281-207-6278

One cool Katt
Friday, February 2 and Saturday, February 3
Comedian Katt Williams comes to Houston's NRG Arena for a two night stint of his insightful, often polarizing material. The stand-up comedian, actor, and rapper's new Netflix special, Katt Williams: Great America, debuted January 18. (8 pm; tickets: $52-$125)
1 NRG Park; 713-629-3700

Kid around
Saturday, February 3
Kid Rock heads to Toyota Center as part of his Greatest Show on Earth Tour. Songs on his new album, Sweet Southern Sugar, include "Po-Dunk," "Greatest Show on Earth," and "Tennessee Mountain Top." (8 pm; tickets: $37 per person for upper level - $772 per person for floor seats)
1510 Polk St.; 713-758-7200

Blue Sunday
Sunday, February 4
Shop for organic groceries, pick up creative gifts, find unique art, and enjoy live music at the Blue Field Market. You can also take advantage of free yoga classes, and participate in friendly yard game competitions. (10 am-3 pm; tickets: free admission)
2619 Polk St.

The Big Game
Sunday, February 4
Watch the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots face-off at Super Bowl LII at these six bars and restaurants, with offerings from a barbecue pop-up to Saint Arnold brews galore.

Watch the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots face-off at Super Bowl LII at local bars and restaurants with stellar food and drink options,

Courtesy of Super Bowl 2018/Facebook

Watch the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots face-off at Super Bowl LII at local bars and restaurants with stellar food and drink options,

event-planner

Movie Review

Offbeat drama Pillion features command performance by Alexander Skarsgård

Photo courtesy of A24

Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling in Pillion.

Describing the new movie Pillion is almost an act of futility. It contains a variety of seemingly disparate parts that coalesce into a whole to make it utterly fascinating. Few other recent films have been able to walk the line between filthy and wholesome in quite the way this one does, and that’s only because few other filmmakers would actually dare to try.

It centers on Colin (Harry Melling), a meek man in his mid-thirties who still lives at home with his parents, Pete (Douglas Hodge) and Peggy (Lesley Sharp), while working a dead-end job giving out parking tickets. While performing in a barbershop quartet at his local pub, Colin catches the eye of biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), who summons him for a clandestine hook-up the following day (which just so happens to be Christmas Day).

With barely a word exchanged between them, Ray establishes a dominance over Colin that quickly leads to them starting a relationship in which Colin does anything Ray asks. And that means more than just sex: Colin, whether desperate for any kind of affection or unlocking a side of himself he hadn’t known, readily agrees to cook, clean, shop, and basically do whatever else Ray wants him to do.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Harry Lighton, the film is astonishing in the way it’s able to mine humor from Colin and Ray’s atypical bond. To call Ray “unfeeling” might not be totally accurate, but the way he treats Colin borders on cruel. However, the way Lighton structures the film, it’s easy to understand why someone like Colin would be willing to go along with the situation. It’s both hilarious and heartbreaking to see Colin debase himself in a variety of ways.

On the flip side is Colin’s heartfelt arc with his parents. It’s established right away that Peggy, who is sick with cancer, is a bit too involved with Colin’s love life, with the opening scene featuring her setting him up on a blind date. But their easy acceptance of his queerness and desire to see him find love is as heartwarming as it gets. The juxtaposition between the wholesomeness of their family and Colin’s new life is also the source of a good amount of comedy.

Lighton does not shy away from the sexual side of Colin and Ray’s relationship, and the scenes he depicts are as graphic as you are likely to see in an R-rated film. Some go up to and a little past what might be expected in a mainstream movie (including the use of a certain fake appendage). Other times they play out in a comical way to illustrate just how far Colin has progressed from the person he was when the film started.

Skarsgård, who stole the show in the Charli XCX movie The Moment, is the attraction in more ways than one in this film. The part calls for someone who’s not only impossibly handsome, but also a person who can stop dissent with just a glance, and he lives up to both qualities equally well. Melling, best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter movies, also embodies his role perfectly. He plays Colin as weak enough to be run roughshod over by Ray, but not so hopeless as to not be worth rooting for.

Pillion (which is the name of the secondary seat on a motorcycle on which Colin rides multiple times in the film) operates at a storytelling level that is difficult to achieve. Many people will not fully understand the film’s central relationship, but the way it is showcased by Lighton makes it compelling, gut-wrenching, and sexy.

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Pillion is now playing in theaters.

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