Weekend event planner

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

If you're used to a hectic work week, the weekend is your time to squeeze in some fun. From a bake sale with mind-blowingly good pastries and kolaches to a luncheon with special guest, Andrew Zimmern of the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods, here are the top nine things to do in Houston this weekend.

For more options, check out the full CultureMap Events Calendar.

Music at MATCH
Thursday, April 27-Saturday, April 29
Look no further than Da Camera’s latest concert series for an innovative mix of jazz, classical, and contemporary sounds. Artists, including the James Francies Trio, Bach in Brooklyn, and Red Baraat Dance Party, headline different nights of the event, held at Midtown venue, MATCH. (Various times; tickets: Start at $20 per person for a single concert and go up to $120 per person for an all access pass)
3400 Main St.; 713-521-4533

Latin nights
Thursday, April 27-Sunday, April 30
The 12th edition of Latin Wave: New Films from Latin America at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents 10 films reflecting the vibrant Latin America cinema scene. Special guests are Yanillys Pérez, director of Jeffrey, Iván Gaona, writer and director of Guilty Men, and Carlos Lechuga, writer and director of Santa & Andrés. (Various times; tickets: $8 per person for museum members, $10 per person for non-members)
1001 Bissonnet St.; 713-639-7300

Shop for a cause
Friday, April 28-Sunday, May 7
Purchase a Shop With Heart Card and score a 20 percent discount, good over a 10-day period, at 450 participating merchants including retailers like Kuhl-Linscomb and The Container Store. You also get a complimentary appetizer or dessert with purchase of an entrée at restaurants from upscale Greenway Plaza-area eatery Tony’s to casual hotspot Bowl & Barrel at CityCentre. All proceeds benefit the American Heart Association, an organization whose mission is to promote healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. (Cost: minimum $50 donation)

Bizarre Foods for charity luncheon
Friday, April 28
Nonprofit, The Council on Recovery welcomes keynote speaker Andrew Zimmern, award-winning chef and host of Travel Channel series Bizarre Foods, to its 34th annual spring luncheon at the Hilton Americas – Houston. Presented by the Wayne Duddlesten Foundation, the fundraiser traditionally showcases guest speakers who share their personal stories related to alcoholism, addiction, recovery, health, and wellness. (11:15 am-1:30 pm; tickets: $150-$500 per person. Tables start at $1,500)
1600 Lamar St.; 281-200-9336

Hook ‘em fun run
Saturday, April 29
Fun for the whole family, the Texas Exes Houston chapter hosts its 39th annual Lone Star stampede, featuring 10K and 5K runs for adults, and a 1K children’s fun run. Presented by University Co-op and Memorial City, the event benefits the Texas Exes Houston Scholarship Fund, which raises money to provide college scholarships to Houston area high school seniors. (8 am; tickets: $17-$40 per person)
303 Memorial City; 469-233-8681

It’s good to be king
Saturday, April 29
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers play at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion as part of their 40th Anniversary tour, touted by many as their last. The band was on the forefront of the heartland rock movement, alongside artists from Bruce Springsteen to Bob Seger, which arose in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. The rocker’s hit singles include, "American Girl," "Breakdown," "The Waiting," "Learning to Fly," "Refugee," and "Mary Jane's Last Dance." Singer-songwriter Joe Walsh of Eagles band fame will also perform. (7:30 pm; tickets: platinum seats remain, including in the pit area directly in front of the stage, priced at $750 per person)
2005 Lake Robbins Dr., The Woodlands; 281-363-3300

Sunday sweets
Sunday, April 30
Don’t miss the "sweet liberty" brunch sale at Oxheart restaurant, where you can get delicious pastries and kolaches by baker Karen Man (Oxheart) and pastry chefs Jillian Bartolome (Common Bond) and Kelly Helgesen (Chicago’s Lula Cafe). All proceeds go to the Partnership for the Advancement and Immersion of Refugees. (11 am-3 pm or until they run out; tickets: free to enter)
1302 Nance St.; 832-830-8592

Crawfish and beer
Sunday, April 30
Expect mudbug heaven and beer nirvana, and tunes by hip hop artist Mannie Fresh, psychedelic rock band The Bright Light Social Hour, and more, at 8th Wonder Brewery’s 4th annual crawfish and brews event. (12-6 pm; tickets: $15-$40 per person)
2202 Dallas St.; 713-229-0868

The block is hot
Sunday, April 30
As part of his Kloser 2 U tour, Lil Wayne takes to the stage at downtown’s Revention Music Center. Hit songs by the hip hop recording artist include "Go D.J.," "Fireman," "Stuntin' Like My Daddy,” and “Lollipop.” (8 pm; tickets: $65 per person)
520 Texas Ave.; 713-230-1600

Expect mudbug heaven and beer nirvana at 8th Wonder Brewery’s 4th annual Crawfish and Brews event.

Eighth 8th Wonder Brewery glass of beer with skyline in background

8th Wonder Brewery/Facebook

Expect mudbug heaven and beer nirvana at 8th Wonder Brewery’s 4th annual Crawfish and Brews event.

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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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