Beyoncé's Big Night

Beyoncé's big night: Superstar singer returns home and feels the love at high-energy show

There are a lot of bleary-eye Beyoncé fans this morning. The superstar singer brought The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour to her hometown Monday night and just about blew the roof off the Toyota Center with a high-energy, thrill-packed, two-hour show that lasted until almost midnight and left the sold-out crowd exhausted from a nearly non-stop sing-along dance marathon.

"I'm home," she said to deafening applause just before launching into her third song of the evening, "Flaws and All." "Houston means so much to me. No matter where I go, it's who I am. I hope I make you guys proud."

"I'm home," she said to deafening applause. "Houston means so much to me. No matter where I go, it's who I am. I hope I make you guys proud."

The singer has been on tour nearly non-stop since April, having already appeared in 47 European and U.S. cities on an extended jaunt that will last through December. Yet she made it seem like she was performing the show for the first time with an undisguised glee to be in front of a hometown crowd and a near-pathological desire to entertain.

Backed by an 11-piece female band, three back-up singers known as The Mamas, several female dancers and two male dancers called Les Twins, Beyoncé whipped through 24 songs — a mix of hip hop-tinged hits, female empowerment anthems and irresistible dance tunes (how can you not shake to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)?") — and eight costume changes. She and the dancers almost never stopped moving (she should patent a workout program of knee bends and hair flips) and while some of the numbers were a little cheesy — as she sang "Diva," the dancers twirled around her with feather fans like a Busby Berkeley musical —they were almost always riveting.

The set-up of the show played to her strengths. The entire floor of the Toyota Center was general admission standing room only, so fans packed close to the main stage at one end and a secondary stage at the other end. Nothing kills a show faster than older people who have paid a lot for floor seats and never stand up (Eric Clapton's spring show was a prime example); that certainly wasn't a problem here as the enthusiasm of the crowd, mostly under 35 and a mosaic of Houston's diversity, provided an electric spark that seemed to energize the singer.

Toward the end of the show, she flew above the crowd like Peter Pan to the other stage even closer to the audience, where she sang three of her biggest hits, "Irreplaceable," Love on Top," and the Destiny's Child hit, "Survivor," and declared, "I love this part of the show because I'm close to you guys."

As a gift to her Houston audience, she threw in “Bow Down,” a chopped and screwed ode to her present success and her childhood in H-Town. It's the first time she has performed the song in concert.

She also positioned ecstatic fans near the stage for the closer, the hit "Halo," and waded among her admirers as she hit all the high notes.

While other singers might be loathe to play other performers' dance hits before they take to the stage, Beyoncé had no such worries. The audience grooved to songs by Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake and the whole side of the arena stood up and danced The Wobble as they waited for the singer to take the stage around 9:40 p.m. By the time she launched into her first song, "Run the World (Girls)," with all-out dance choreography, the audience was primed and ready to party.

And she didn't stop. Whether it was writhing atop a piano in a sequined blue catsuit and matching heels to the sensual song "1 + 1," channeling her Sasha Fiercest in a green leopard mini and shimmying like Tina Turner to "Why Don't You Love Me?" or adding a military cadence to a mashup of "If I Were a Boy" with The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony," Beyoncé commanded the crowd's attention.

By the time she got to "Halo," preceded by a Whitney Houston-worthy version of "I Will Always Love You," her voice was almost spent. But she wouldn't stop and closed the concert with a powerhouse vocal performance.

Earlier in the evening, she told the audience that she was so lucky to have their support. "I will never take it for granted," she vowed.

We believe her.

The fireworks came out when Beyonce hit the Toyota Center.

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Movie Review

Football drama Him throws a Hail Mary of horror and spectacle

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers in Him.

One of the wildest opening scenes in a movie ever happened in the 1991 film The Last Boy Scout, in which a star running back shoots multiple opposing players in the midst of a touchdown run. That film co-starred Damon Wayans, and now over 30 years later his brother Marlon is starring in an even more insane football-themed movie, Him.

The film centers on Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), a rising star quarterback looking to make it in professional football. His idol is Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), who’s won a string of championships with San Antonio Saviors in the film’s fictional football league. To see if the team really wants Cade to be White’s heir apparent, they set up a week of pre-draft training for Cade at White’s sprawling desert house.

What at first appears to be an intense-if-ethically-murky immersion into White’s way of staying physically and mentally fit starts to devolve into a psychological quagmire. Cade, who recently suffered a head injury, is desperate to impress White in order to prove he’s the next GOAT. The main thrust of the film is how far Cade will go in that pursuit, and if White’s tactics will succeed in corrupting Cade fully.

Written and directed by Justin Tipping, and co-written by Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, the film tries to say a lot of things but ultimately can’t make a case for any of them. Scenes involving big collisions and questionable behind-the-scenes tactics comment on the danger of the game of football and the win-at-all-costs mentality. But the film also brings in a supernatural element that muddles anything it might have had to say about the game itself.

There’s actually way less football in the film than you might think. Any actual games are viewed either through a screen or clip montages that don’t give a feel for how talented either Cade or White is. The practice sessions at White’s house aren’t great showcases, either, with the mind games White uses on Cade taking priority. There’s plenty of macho one-upsmanship, but neither main character has the charisma to sell it properly.

The trailer for the film hints at the bloody craziness the third act contains, but Tipping and his team do a poor job at setting it up. While Cade is slightly unnerved at the things he witnesses, he seems to mostly accept everything asked of him. But the character’s mindset changes in a matter of seconds later in the film, almost as if the filmmakers had left 15-20 minutes of footage on the cutting room floor that would have explained the sudden shift in tone.

Wayans, best known for his comedy work with his family, does a decent job in portraying a player who will do whatever it takes to stay on top (the fact that the 54-year-old can credibly play someone much younger helps). Withers has the physique to look like a top-level quarterback, but - as seen in the recent I Know What You Did Last Summer remake - his acting could stand to be refined. It’s actually comedians Tim Heidecker and Jim Jeffries who come off the best in supporting parts.

A football-themed movie like Him coming out just as the football season is ramping up would seem to be perfect timing, but the story doesn’t succeed as either a commentary on the sport or a type of horror film. Football may be a brutal game to play, but sitting through this film might hurt your brain even more.

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Him is now playing in theaters.

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