weekend event planner

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

Even though the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing is already behind us, there are some spots that are still in a spacey, celebratory mood.

Discovery Green’s The Grove has $5 artisanal moon pies and $10 Moonwalk cocktails that will be available through July 27. The luxe moon pies are available in classic and chocolate, and the Moonwalk is made with grapefruit juice, orange liqueur, rose water, and champagne.

As always, here are some events that will add a blast to your weekend.

Thursday, July 25

Klearly Kristen Resort 2020 Fashion Show at Social Graces Social Club
Local jewelry designer Kristen Fenrick will show off some brand-new bling as she hosts her Resort 2020 Fashion Show this weekend. She’ll debut Klearly Kristen Inc., an offshoot of her jewelry brand, designed to assist women by empowering them to create their own financial realities. Fenrick says no woman should ever feel the hopelessness that comes from loss of financial means. Fashion influencer Chris Lavish will make a special appearance. 7-10 pm.

The Catastrophic Theatre’s Speeding Motorcycle at MATCH
For those not in the know, there is a rock opera based on the songs of legendary outsider musician and artist Daniel Johnston. This revival of the 2006 production, directed by Catastrophic’s associate artistic director Tamarie Cooper, reunites much of the original creative team along with an updated script by artistic director Jason Nodler. For the next two weekends, this show promises to take audiences deep into the astounding, hilarious, and heartbreaking world of one of America’s most compelling cult musicians. 7:30 pm (8 pm Friday and Saturday; 2:30 pm Sunday).

Friday, July 26

J.B. Smoove at House of Blues Houston
J.B. Smoove is, quite simply, a damn fool. He's like one of those family members who says and does the most, um, ignant things that'll leave you in a constant state of stitches. He's been doing it for years as Leon, the houseguest who simply refuses to leave Larry David's property, on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He can currently be seen on the big screen, acting as ridiculous as he possibly can in Spider-Man: Far From Home. You can also see him doing stand-up this weekend. 7 pm.

Iyanla Vanzant at Jones Hall
Many of you may know Iyanla Vanzant as one of Oprah Winfrey's longtime homies and the host of Iyanla: Fix My Life on OWN, while some of may know her from this ever-resourceful meme. The celebrity life coach will be making a stop on her Acts of Faith Remix tour. This inspirational and interactive event celebrates the updated 25th anniversary edition of this internationally acclaimed bestseller. 8 pm.

Saturday, July 27

Rock It Baby Rock It Festival Preview at Cactus Music
On Friday and Saturday at the Continental Club, the Rock It Baby Rock It Festival will bring in bands and fans from across Texas and beyond for two nights of contemporary and legendary rockabilly, psychobilly, and old school country music. For those who prefer a daytime taste of this zoot-suit riot of hot rods, hair grease, sharp threads, and vintage tunes, Cactus will have an in-store preview, featuring music from DJ Black Slacks and Tomcat y el Rock N Roll Combo. 1-2:30 pm.

Robby Bennett at the Grand 1894 Opera House
Saturday night is going to be one magical night. Of course, we got Houston’s own Ben Jackson, doing his regular thing at the Four Seasons. But, also, visiting illusionist Robby Bennett will be over in Galveston, performing his spellbinding routines with gripping stories and hilarious anecdotes as narration. Bennett will even take someone from the audience and turn them into a genuine magician in a matter of minutes. This unique blend of fantasy and comedy makes this the kind of performance modern audiences have been waiting for. 7:30 pm.

Sunday, July 28

Matisyahu at White Oak Music Hall
Remember back in the day when Matisyahu was a rising reggae singer/rapper on the scene and he looked like a rabbinical student? These days, dude's out here resembling a beach-bum David Strathairn. Well, he's still around, as he and his band record music, do shows, and keep things respectably irie. He's currently on tour, as part of Slightly Stoopid's How I Spent My Summer Vacation 2019 Tour, along with Tribal Seeds and Hirie. 4:30 pm.

Tarnation and Angel at Rice Cinema
The 23rd annual QFest, better known as Houston's international LGBTQ+ film festival, is currently underway, running through this Wednesday. The fest has many special screenings going on around the city, including two at Rice Cinema on Sunday. First, there's Tarnation, the 2004 award-winning, coming-of-age documentary by Houstonian Jonathan Caouette (who will be in attendance). Next, things get a little sleazy with a screening of the 1984 exploitation flick Angel. 5 pm.

Oprah regular Iyanla Vanzant will save your soul.

Oprah.com

Oprah regular Iyanla Vanzant will save your soul.

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Movie Review

Avatar: Fire and Ash returns to Pandora with big action and bold visuals

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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