weekend event planner

Here are the top 8 things to do in Houston this weekend

It's Easter Weekend, and while some will be celebrating the season by hunting down colored eggs, brunching, or devouring a giant Easter bun with processed Tastee Cheese, there are some fun events worth checking out:

Thursday, March 29

Avenida Houston’s “Party on the Plaza” kickoff
Avenida Houston’s free concert series known as Party on the Plaza has an amazing lineup of performers for its 2018 spring lineup: Fishbone, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, and The Waxaholics. So, it’s quite interesting that the first artist out the gate is YouTube personality-turned-pop diva Poppy. All we can say about this lady is, um, interesting. It’s best if you just go on YouTube and watch some of her out-there videos if you want a sense of what you’ll be getting. She’ll be at Discovery Green at 6:45 pm.

The Urbane Society's swanky launch party
The Urbane Society is a members-only network geared for all the upscale, plugged-in foodies who like going to sophisticated restaurants and getting their grub on with friends. (Their logo is a dapper-looking gent — with the head of an old-school pepper mill — holding what appears to be a laptop.) The Society is hosting a swanky, pre-launch party at B&B Butchers and Restaurant, where people can learn more about their new app, enjoy light bites, dance to music, and get tipsy at the open bar. It starts at 7:30 pm.

Friday, March 30

All things anime at the George R. Brown
Just when you thought the release of Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One was going to be the geekiest thing to happen this weekend, there is also an insane anime convention going on at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Known as Anime Matsuri, this four-day event will actually mark the 12th year the festival has brought in people looking to partake in Japanese animation, games, fashion, cosplay, and so much more. Expect some 300 exhibitors, vendors and artists, as well as more than 800 hours of programming. The event starts at 11 am.

Saturday, March 31

The Houston Food Truck Block Party
You gotta love food trucks. Whether they’re parked outside a sporting event, a public gathering or a nightclub after closing time, these automotive eateries are always around, ready to cook up some delights for hungry, on-the-go folk. Some 20 trucks will be lined up for the Houston Food Truck Block Party, happening on 5610 Richmond Ave. We’re talking Mama Neats Snoballs, Boogies Chicago Style BBQ, Planet Churros, Muddy Water Crawfish, Iced Cupcakery —just oh-so-much damn food to choose from. Things get rolling at noon.

Sing-along to Beauty and the Beast on the Green
It’s that time of year when more outdoor movie screenings on popping up, inviting couples and families to pull out the blankets and lawn chairs and watch a movie under the stars. Bank of America and Taquerias Arandas are presenting a free film series at Discovery Green called Screen on the Green. This weekend’s feature presentation is last year’s global box-office smash Beauty and the Beast. But, this time, it will be an all-new, sing-along version, so everybody can follow the bouncing ball and sing with Bella and them. It starts at 8 pm.

ARKA ART’s The Meet Up art market/disco party
Periodically, Midtown art/event space ARKA ART brings in local vendors who sell clothing, artwork, knickknacks, and more for an evening of art, music and fashion known as The Meet Up. For the latest open-market gathering, there is a theme, and that theme is “A Psychedelic DISCO.” People are welcome to show up wearing vintage threads and shop while DJ crew The Foundation plays funky, retro grooves, and Chris Cisneros of Labels Vintage Streetwear provides some far-out lights and effects. Beverages will also be hand to help you get loosey-goosey. The boogey starts at 6 pm.

Sunday, April 1

The World’s Largest Showcase of Homes
Are you the sort of person that gets all hot and bothered when you look at a fine, scintillating piece of real estate? If you answered yes, David Weekley Homes will be hosting the third-annual, World’s Largest Showcase of Homes in cities across the country, including Houston. All through April, people can visit any model or showcase home and enter for a chance to win prizes, like a smart watch or an electronics package. And Ronald McDonald House Houston will receive a $5 donation for each visitor who registers with a sales consultant.

My First Music Lesson at Discovery Green
If you’re one of those parents who wants your children to get in touch with their musical side — or you just want your kids to be preoccupied with something so they can leave you alone for a damn day — you can take your offspring to My First Music Lesson at Discovery Green. This free, hands-on class is led by professional musicians from talent agency Divisi Strings, whom will teach kids how to play instruments. Children grades 1 through 8 are welcome, and the parents can join in on the fun — or go somewhere and get a beer (we suggest the latter). Events starts at 2 pm.

Enjoy the outdoors and sing along to Beauty and the Beast.

Photo by Morris Malakoff

Enjoy the outdoors and sing along to Beauty and the Beast.

event-planner

Movie Review

New horror movie Sinners sings the blues with twin turn from Michael B. Jordan

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Michael B. Jordan and Miles Caton in Sinners.

Writer/director Ryan Coogler has become so well-known for his blockbuster films — Creed, Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — that it’s easy to forget that he made his debut with the small-but-powerful 2013 film, Fruitvale Station. After more than a decade, he’s finally returning to original material with his latest film, Sinners.

Each of Coogler’s films has either starred or featured Michael B. Jordan, and this one gives moviegoers a double dose, as Jordan plays twins who go by the nicknames of Smoke and Stack. Set in 1932, the two hustlers have recently returned from mysterious (and possibly criminal) work in Chicago to their hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi to open a juke joint.

They call upon a number of friends and family to help them with the venture, including cousin and guitar player Sammie Moore (Miles Caton), Smoke’s old girlfriend Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), piano player Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo), bouncer Cornbread (Omar Miller), and Chinese couple Bo and Grace Chow (Yao and Li Jun Li). Trouble is never far from the brothers, though, whether it’s Stack’s old girlfriend Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), the Ku Klux Klan leader who sold them the property for the juke joint, or something even more sinister.

Coogler began his feature film career by confronting the issue of unjustified shootings of Black people by police. How Black people are perceived by society has been a part of everything he’s done since. By placing this film firmly in the middle of the Jim Crow era, he infuses the story with all manner of subtext, including the injustice of sharecropping and prevalent segregation in the South.

Music, specifically Blues, plays a big part in the film as well. It’s championed through the emerging talent of Sammie and the veteran presence of Delta Slim, but it’s also a driving force for other parts of the plot. Sammie is decried by his pastor father for playing “the devil’s music,” while strange newcomer Remmick (Jack O’Connell) seems to appreciate it a little too much. A fantastically surreal scene at the juke joint turns into an entertaining and educational lesson on the history of Black music.

It’s Remmick’s obsession that’s at the center of the final hour or so of the film, one in which all hell breaks loose. The manner of that hell is probably better enjoyed if it’s not spoiled here, but suffice it to say that Remmick has an evil to him that threatens to destroy Smoke and Stack’s venture before it even gets started. The horror aspect of the film is fine, but it winds up being the least interesting part of the story.

Jordan can occasionally go over-the-top with his performances, and with him playing twins the threat of doing so was doubled. But he remains relatively restrained for most of the film, giving each twin their own unique spin. Caton, a rising R&B singer, makes his acting debut in the film and winds up stealing every scene he’s in. The rest of the cast complements each other well, with Mosaku and Steinfeld being standouts.

Coogler has proven himself to be a savvy filmmaker in each of his previous four films, and with Sinners he combines the personal with crowd-pleasing elements to great effect. It features great music, an insightful story, and even some gory action for an experience you’re not likely to find anywhere else.

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Sinners opens in theaters on April 18.

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