Weekend events planner

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

UPDATED: The weekend is almost here, and we’re ready to hit the town. Music to our ears, the lineup this week includes five amazing concerts. There’s also a fun-filled theater district kick-off, festive gelato celebration, can’t-miss market, and an epic fighting match. Read on for the nine best things to do in Houston this weekend.

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

Chill out
Thursday, August 24
Amorino at River Oaks District celebrates its first year of business with a special on its eye-catching Italian gelatos. Small-sized orders ($5.05) get upgraded to classic (medium), and classics ($6.25) get upgraded to large. The festivities also include a photo booth, tote bags, drawings for gift cards, and free balloons for the little ones. (4-10 pm; tickets: free entry)
4444 Westheimer Rd.; 346-319-2194

Cowboy man
Thursday, August 24
Grammy Award winner and Houston hometown favorite Lyle Lovett takes over the stage at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, along with His Big Band. Coupled with a gift for storytelling, Lovett fuses elements of Americana, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues into his music. (8 pm; tickets: $42-$93 per person)
800 Bagby St.; 713-315-2525

Rock on
Thursday, August 24
Austin-based alt-rock band Culture Wars performs songs from their new EP at White Oak Music Hall. Houston's Deep Cuts band and Austin’s DJ Charles Mxxn will also perform. (8 pm; tickets:$10 per person)
2915 N Main St.; 713-237-0370

Magic — UPDATE: This event has been postponed due to expected severe weather.
Friday, August 25
Coldplay returns to Houston for a performance at NRG Stadium. Songs from the British band's seventh album, A Head Full of Dreams, include "Adventure of a Lifetime," "Hymn for the Weekend," and "Up & Up." (7 pm; tickets: $67.50-$688 per person)
8400 Kirby Dr.; 713-629-3700

Glow up — UPDATE: This event has been postponed due to expected severe weather.
Friday, August 25
Mary J. Blige brings her Strength of a Woman Tour to Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land. Opening act Lalah Hathaway shares the bill. (8 pm; tickets: $40.50-$333 per person)
18111 Lexington Blvd., Sugar Land; 281-207-6278

Shop ‘til you drop — UPDATE: This event has been cancelled due to expected severe weather.
Saturday, August 26
Shop it up at the Presidio Market in the Heights. The roster of vendors rotates, but previous vendors include Houston Gardening Market, tin Cup Farms, and Anvil Cards. (9 am-1 pm; tickets: free entry)
911 W 11th St.; 832-740-4574

Knockout
Saturday, August 26
Don’t miss the super-fight between undefeated world champion Floyd Mayweather and UFC superstar Conor McGregor. The epic match airs on the big screen at three area movie theaters: Houston Marq*E Stadium 23, Memorial City Mall, and Willowbrook 24. (8 pm; tickets: $40-$45 per person)
Multiple locations.

Need you now — UPDATE: This event has been postponed due to expected severe weather.
Sunday, August 27
Lady Antebellum performs at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, with Kelsea Ballerini and Brett Young. Songs from Lady Antebellum’s 2017 album, Heart Break, include "You Look Good,”Somebody Else's Heart,” and the title track. (7:30 pm; tickets: $30.75-$178 per person)
2005 Lake Robbins Dr., The Woodlands; 281-363-3300

Raise the curtain — UPDATE: This event has been cancelled due to expected severe weather.
Sunday, August 27
Experience live performances, meet performers, and go backstage at several downtown performing arts spaces at the Theater District Open House. The annual event marks the kick-off of the fall performing arts season in Houston. (Noon-5 pm; tickets: free entry)
912 Prairie St.; 713-658-8938

Don’t miss the super-fight between undefeated world champion Floyd Mayweather and UFC superstar Conor McGregor.

Houston, Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, August 2017

Courtesy of bleacherreport.com

Don’t miss the super-fight between undefeated world champion Floyd Mayweather and UFC superstar Conor McGregor.

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.

movies film sinners movie