• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    The Review Is In

    Green Day brings its protest to a welcoming Houston crowd in triumphant performance

    Johnston Farrow
    Johnston Farrow
    Mar 6, 2017 | 9:21 am

    A rain deluge outside couldn’t prevent a full Toyota Center from witnessing a triumphant performance by recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Green Day on Sunday night.

    The California three-piece of Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar/vocals), Mike Dirnt (bassist) and Tre Cool (drummer) ran through 25 years of hits as part of its tour to promote their latest album, Revolution Radio. The spectacle included fireworks, pyrotechnics and plenty of sing-alongs throughout the two hours-plus set list. The well-received production showcased exactly how far the scrappy band of punks have come since modest underground band beginnings.

    Judging from the energy of the crowd, Green Day is in the midst of another resurgence, a remarkable feat for a group that boasts several generation-defining albums. The band is always at its best when there is something to protest, going back to the suburban lethargy of 1994’s Dookie, and anti-George W. Bush era masterpiece American Idiot from 2004. The recent release of Revolution Radio, a call-to-arms against today’s current political and social climate proves it a great time to be a Green Day fan.

    It’s a welcome return for a group whose future was up in the air only a few years ago. The band went on hiatus following a grueling string of tours and the release of unfocused trilogy Uno! Dos! Tre! that saw Armstrong breaking down during a Las Vegas appearance, followed by a stint in rehab. They returned reinvigorated with a killer performance at their Rock and Rock Hall of Fame induction in 2015, which led to their best effort in over a decade in Revolution Radio.

    Following a searing set by Florida four-piece, Against Me!, Armstrong and company — beefed up by three additional musicians —opened with singles “Know Your Enemy,” and “Bang Bang.” The opener set the tone for the night which included a lot of interaction between the band and crowd, with Armstrong bringing a young boy on stage aptly wearing what looked like a Jeff Sessions mask to sing-along. It would be the first of three times Armstrong pulled audience members onstage to either sing or play guitar.

    As a band that has been so vocal about resisting the current President and his administration, it was no surprise Green Day relied heavily on protest tracks from American Idiot and their latest record. At times, the performance veered from rally to religious revival to Las Vegas revue with a positive message of inclusiveness throughout. Armstrong launched into near sermons during several songs, imploring folks to fight against bullies, ignore the negativity of the media and embrace our differences.

    “We are here together,” he said during “Letterbomb.” “It doesn’t matter what religion you practice or if you’re atheist, straight or gay. What matters is we’re here together.”

    And while the overall stage production couldn’t hide a workman-like level of professionalism that only comes with years in the business, the goofy playfulness that defined Green Day’s early years came out from time to time. A melody of the Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” The Rolling Stones’ ”Satisfaction,” and The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” was performed in costumes and, at one point, with the entire band lying down on stage.

    Perhaps most endearing is how the band’s impact has crossed generations. There were many parents in attendance with their teenagers and pre-pubescent children, many of who were actual Green Day fans and not merely chaperones, who cheered quite vocally for older material, such as the still great Dookie cuts “Basket Case,” “She” and “When I Come Around.” But it was quite obvious that many of the younger audience members became aware of Green Day through American Idiot and its subsequent Broadway hit show with the biggest singalongs coming on tracks such as “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and the mini-suite of the night’s encore, “Jesus of Suburbia.”

    “I’ve loved them for over 20 years,” said Corwin Moczygemba, a middle aged father alongside his son, Ian, both in matching Green Day T-shirts. “I remember watching them at Woodstock in ’94. Holy s***, I’m old.”

    If there were any criticism to be had, it was that Armstrong and company tried a bit too hard to keep the energy levels high throughout the evening. Certain gimmicks worked— a water spray hose to the front of the pit and a T-shirt gun were charming — but too many call and responses grew somewhat tiresome. And if we didn’t know which city we lived in, we do now after Armstrong reminded us that we were indeed in “Houston, Texas!” a dozen times throughout the show.

    Overall, it was a fantastic rush through the catalogue of one of the most dynamic and fun bands of the last 25 years, one whose lasting appeal is only renewed by the current state of the nation, one that needs more champions for the outcasts and misfits. Following a few years in the wilderness, Green Day is back in full attack mode and we should all be thankful.

    As a band that has been so vocal about resisting the current President and his administration, it was no surprise Green Day relied heavily on protest tracks from American Idiot and their latest record.

    Green Day in concert at Toyota Center
      
    Photo by Johnston Farrow
    As a band that has been so vocal about resisting the current President and his administration, it was no surprise Green Day relied heavily on protest tracks from American Idiot and their latest record.
    concerts
    news/entertainment
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Houston intel delivered daily.

    Movie Review

    Live action Lilo & Stitch remake offers up frenzied fun and nostalgia

    Alex Bentley
    May 23, 2025 | 2:30 pm
    Lilo & Stitch
    Courtesy of Disney
    Lilo & Stitch returns to theaters this weekend.

    The project to turn every single Disney animated movie into a “live action” film has rarely seemed like anything but a money grab by the movie studio. Most of the films have failed to update the original in any meaningful way, and in many of the cases, they’re almost shot-for-shot remakes, making the reason for the new film’s existence even more confusing.

    Having almost exhausted the supply of their 20th century movies, Disney has now remade 2002’s Lilo & Stitch. The film follows an alien experiment, originally known as 626 (voiced by Chris Sanders), created by Jumba ( Zach Galifianakis) for the benefit of an alien race led by the Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham). Unfortunately, 626 is too uncontrollable for them, and is banished to the faraway planet known as Earth.

    Landing in Hawaii, the creature soon to be known as Stitch gloms on to a young girl named Lilo (Maia Kealoha), who mistakes it for a dog while looking for companionship following the death of her parents. Tracked by Jumba and fellow alien Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), now in human form, Stitch leaves a trail of destruction wherever he goes, much to the chagrin of Lilo’s older sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong).

    Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp and written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, the film will surely be a blast of nostalgia for anyone who was a kid when the original came out. The now-3D Stitch is just as chaotic as ever, and they even included cast members from the first film like Tia Carrere (now playing a social worker for the orphaned sisters) and Amy Hill as a kindly neighbor.

    But for all of the frenzied fun that Stitch offers, there’s very little else that holds the story together. For one, the Lilo character as a real person doesn’t work as well as she does in animated form, as there’s something fluid that happens in animation that feels stilted when it’s an actual little girl. Perhaps sensing this fault, the film is loaded to the hilt with bite-sized moments that try to make the audience laugh, but do little to give the story any meaning.

    The difference between animation and live action is never more evident than with Jumba, Pleakley, and CIA agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance). Characters that are goofy and enjoyable in animated form come off as weird and off-putting in human form. They’re supposed to bring a sense of fun and even suspense to the film, but instead they feel like characters who are getting in the way of a better story.

    Kealoha, making her professional debut, is definitely cute and offers up some interesting moments opposite Stitch and Nani, but her lack of experience shows. Agudong turns in the best performance, giving a bit of emotional weight to a film that needed more. Galifianakis and Magnussen would have been better served as voice-only roles; neither comes off well when their characters turn into humans. Hill is like a warm hug every time she comes on screen, and the story could have used more of her.

    The new Lilo & Stitch is not an abomination, but like most of the Disney live action remakes before it, it fails to stand on its own merits. Never given a chance to be its own thing and featuring storytelling too disjointed to be effective, the film is another so-so effort from a studio that knows how to make much better movies.

    ---

    Lilo & Stitch is now playing in theaters.

    moviesfilm
    news/entertainment

    most read posts

    Ben Berg's New York-inspired, fancy burger joint will soon shutter

    New owner of Texas Renaissance Festival revealed in our top 5 stories

    Winner of Ren Fest lawsuit plans to keep the event mostly unchanged

    Loading...