Weekend Event Planner

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

Comedy shows, holiday markets, and concerts are just some of the fun events that will be going on around Houston this weekend. Plus, there's the opportunity to get the first glimpse of the new $84 million Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land and enjoy a holiday show at the same time.

This weekend roundup highlights events for everyone in the family to enjoy and offers a great look at the city's creative culture.

We've put together a curated list of nine of the best happenings in the city, but you can check out more events on the CultureMap Events Calendar.

Thursday, December 15

Slow Food Houston presents A Glean Taste

Prepare to "Eat & Drink to Reduce Food Waste" with Slow Food Houston, a group that celebrates and champions the foods and food traditions that are important to our region. This unique dining experience will feature such local chefs as Chandler Rothbard, Soren Pedersen, Pat Greer, Gina Lopez, Ara Malekian, and Jill Bartholome creating six dishes and drinks from items that would typically be considered throw-away food.

Chris D'Elia at Houston Improv

Fans of Chris D'Elia may be familiar with his role on the NBC sitcom Undateable and his other previous standup work. The comedian will bring his standup show to the Houston Improv for three shows this weekend, likely featuring work from his latest Netflix special Incorrigable.

Weird Sh*t New Works Festival

If you've ever had the desire to be a playwright, now's your opportunity. Rec Room is providing the platform for aspiring writers to submit plays (either a 10 minute or one-act) for a $10 fee; selected plays will then be read aloud at various times Thursday through Saturday.

Friday, December 16

Day for Night 2016

Travis Scott, Bjork, Odesza, and many other amazing musical acts are headlining the second annual Day for Night Festival. In addition to great music, mind-blowing art installations create an immersive and interactive experience for festival goers.

EaDo Playhouse presents A New Brain

Houston's newest arts venue and theater company debuts with the Off Broadway brainchild of theater masterminds William Finn and James Lapine, A New Brain. Examining an artist in crisis, the deeply moving, yet hilarious musical reminds us of the healing powers of art and the importance of appreciating every breath. The company's first production continues through Sunday.

Saturday, December 17

Holiday Market at The Four Seasons

Sip on Mexican hot chocolate and mulled wine while the kids build a gingerbread house at the Four Seasons Hotel Holiday Market. You'll likely be delighted by the build-your-own crepe station and the festive holiday decor that adorns the hotel. Since this is the "Season of Giving," guests can bring an unwrapped toy to be donated to Casa de Esperanza in exchange for a surprise gift from the Four Seasons.

Ruthie Foster in concert

Grammy-nominated blues singer Ruthie Foster has a soulful voice that has been known to emotionally move audiences, and is definitely a voice you'll remember. Also appearing at the concert at the newly renovated Heights Theater is Charlie Belle, an up-and-coming American indie pop duo from Austin.

Sunday, December 18

Taste of the NFL Brunch-Off Preview Party

It's a battle royale as Cafe Annie owner and chef Robert del Grande takes on chef Michael McKinney from Restaurant Orsay in Jacksonville in the Taste of the NFL-Brunch Off. It's a preview of the 26th annual Taste of the NFL party during Super Bowl week at the University of Houston on Feb. 4, 2017, when chefs from all 32 NFL cities will compete. Guests at the preview party are encouraged to wear their favorite team's jersey — we're betting there will be a lot of Texans fans — as they watch TVs showing the Texans-Jacksonville face-off at NRG Stadium.

Cirque Musica Holiday Spectacular at Smart Financial Centre

This family-friendly happening will be the first event held at the new Smart Financial Center in Sugar Land in what officials are calling a "soft opening" of the new $84 million arena. The Cirque Musica Holiday Spectacular features high flying acrobatics, breathtaking visuals, and holiday songs performed by the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra.

With so many amazing events going on this weekend, we're sure that you'll have a great time checking them out. Be sure to share your experience with us on social media.

Take in the 2nd Annual Day for Night Fest with immersive performances.

Day for Night 2016-United Visual Artists

Day for Night Courtesy Photo

Take in the 2nd Annual Day for Night Fest with immersive performances.

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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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Weekend Event Planner

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