Live Music Now

These are the 5 best concerts in Houston this week

Before our shows of the week, let's give some love to homegrown electro-pop act, Space Kiddettes.

Founded by duo Trent Lira and Devin Will after spending late nights together at the University of Houston radio station, the queer-friendly Space Kiddettes are a mainstay in the local music scene. They just took a big step forward in their sonic evolution with the just released Deadspace. Recalling British Hi-NRG and new wave acts like Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Bronski Beat, the production work is solid and exciting. The highlight comes via "Shine a Light," featuring The Suffers' frontwoman Kam Franklin, a dancefloor banger straight from 1985 London. Highly recommended.

You can catch them at their Abundantly Queer Christmas show at Pearl Bar on December 15.

Other recommended shows are on tap this week. CultureMap's best, biggest, and most notable shows are as follows:

Fantasia at Smart Financial Centre
Let's face it: American Idol doesn't have a great track record of producing stars. Sure, there's the pop chart dominance of Kelly Clarkson (Season 1 winner), the inescapable country hits of Carrie Underwood (Season 4 winner), and Adam Lambert (Season 8 runner up) secured a pretty sweet day job as the frontman of Queen. But otherwise, there have been way more misses than hits.

Just below those successes stands Fantasia, the winner of Idol Season 3, who has gone on to sell three million albums, not too shabby considering people don't really buy albums anymore. She's also picked up a Grammy award for her R&B work and continues to record and tour on the strength of her talents the reality TV show showcased. The North Carolina native is on the road behind her latest album, this year's Sketchbook, and will be joined by The Masked Singer judge Robin Thicke, who has bounced back after a nasty divorce, drug addiction, and the controversy around "Blurred Lines."

Fantasia performs at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, located at 18111 Lexington Blvd. in Sugar Land on Wednesday, November 27. She is joined by Robin Thicke, Tank and the Bonfyre. Tickets start at $40 plus fees. The show starts at 8 pm.

Pat Green at Sam Houston Race Park
San Antonio-raised Texas country troubadour Pat Green takes a break from building a music venue-restaurant empire to make a post-Thanksgiving appearance at Sam Houston Race Park. A prolific songwriter with a catalog over 20 years old, Green has been a staple on the regional country circuit and favorite among those who like a little grit on their cowboy boots. He hasn't released an album since 2015's Home, but you have to forgive him since he's been busy bringing his concept, The Rustic, to multiple Texas cities. Not coincidentally, The Rustic has quickly become home for up-and-coming Texas country acts.

Pat Green is at Sam Houston Race Park, located at 7575 North Sam Houston Pkwy W., on Friday, November 29. Kyle Park opens. Tickets start at $19 plus fees. Event starts at 6 p.m.

CultureMap recommends: Sailor Poon at Satellite Bar
We have the perfect remedy for those who sat through a boring, straight-laced Thanksgiving dinner in the suburbs. Raunchy, feminist, garage punk act Sailor Poon is coming to kick butt and take names. The last time the Austin band — fronted by the charismatic singer/saxophonist/percussionist Billie Buck — played Houston, they thrilled the audience at the Legendary Art Car Ball with bluesy, infectious barnstormers. The group kicks off their Hot Dog Highway tour in the Bayou City and it's not to be missed.

Sailor Poon is at Satellite Bar, located at 6922 Harrisburg Blvd., on Friday, November 29. Daisy Chain opens. Tickets available at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Musiq Soulchild at Arena Theatre
Inspired by D’Angelo and Lauryn Hill, Philadelphia-raised Musiq Soulchild has been a mainstay on R&B charts with a vast catalog that recalls the best the east coast city has to offer. Born Taalib Johnson, Musiq has produced platinum works and earned 11 Grammy Awards. He’ll bring his romantically smooth style to H-town behind his latest, the 2017 release Feel the Real.

Musiq Soulchild plays Arena Theatre, located at 7326 Southwest Fwy, on Saturday, November 30. Marsha Ambrosius opens. Tickets start at $39.50 plus fees. Show starts at 8:30 p.m.

CultureMap show of the week: Bad Bunny
Massive Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny takes over the home of the Rockets, which is an apt symbol for the Latin artist's rise to fame. A true Millennial success tale, Bunny hopped up the U.S. charts without even releasing an album, guest starring on the Cardi B No. 1 single, "I Like It" in addition to Latin hit single "Soy Peor," which racked up 650 million video views, as well as the J. Balvin and Prince Royce collab, "Sensualidad." His latest album, Oasis, topped the Latin charts and is nominated for a Grammy in the Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album category. Expect this show to get close to a sell-out.

Bad Bunny is at Toyota Center, located at 1510 Polk St., on Sunday, December 1. Tyla Yaweh and Swae Lee open. Tickets start at $51 plus service fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Pat Green performs at Sam Houston Race Park on Friday, November 29.

Photo by Manny Pandya

Pat Green performs at Sam Houston Race Park on Friday, November 29.

column concerts nightlife music

Movie Review

Meta-comedy remake Anaconda coils itself into an unfunny mess

Photo by Matt Grace

Jack Black and Paul Rudd in Anaconda.

In Hollywood’s never-ending quest to take advantage of existing intellectual property, seemingly no older movie is off limits, even if the original was not well-regarded. That’s certainly the case with 1997’s Anaconda, which is best known for being a lesser entry on the filmography of Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez, as well as some horrendous accent work by Jon Voight.

The idea behind the new meta-sequel Anaconda is arguably a good one. Four friends — Doug (Jack Black), Griff (Paul Rudd), Claire (Thandiwe Newton), and Kenny (Steve Zahn) — who made homemade movies when they were teenagers decide to remake Anaconda on a shoestring budget. Egged on by Griff, an actor who can’t catch a break, the four of them pull together enough money to fly down to Brazil, hire a boat, and film a script written by Doug.

Naturally, almost nothing goes as planned in the Amazon, including losing their trained snake and running headlong into a criminal enterprise. Soon enough, everything else takes second place to the presence of a giant anaconda that is stalking them and anyone else who crosses its path.

Written and directed by Tom Gormican, with help from co-writer Kevin Etten, the film is designed to be an outrageous comedy peppered with laugh-out-loud moments that cover up the fact that there’s really no story. That would be all well and good … if anything the film had to offer was truly funny. Only a few scenes elicit any honest laughter, and so instead the audience is fed half-baked jokes, a story with no focus, and actors who ham it up to get any kind of reaction.

The biggest problem is that the meta-ness of the film goes too far. None of the core four characters possess any interesting traits, and their blandness is transferred over to the actors playing them. And so even as they face some harrowing situations or ones that could be funny, it’s difficult to care about anything they do since the filmmakers never make the basic effort of making the audience care about them.

It’s weird to say in a movie called Anaconda, but it becomes much too focused on the snake in the second half of the film. If the goal is to be a straight-up comedy, then everything up to and including the snake attacks should be serving that objective. But most of the time the attacks are either random or moments when the characters are already scared, and so any humor that could be mined all but disappears.

Black and Rudd are comedy all-stars who can typically be counted on to elevate even subpar material. That’s not the case here, as each only scores on a few occasions, with Black’s physicality being the funniest thing in the movie. Newton is not a good fit with this type of movie, and she isn’t done any favors by some seriously bad wigs. Zahn used to be the go-to guy for funny sidekicks, but he brings little to the table in this role.

Any attempt at rebooting/remaking an old piece of IP should make a concerted effort to differentiate itself from the original, and in that way, the new Anaconda succeeds. Unfortunately, that’s its only success, as the filmmakers can never find the right balance to turn it into the bawdy comedy they seemed to want.

---

Anaconda is now playing in theaters.

movies film