weekend event planner

Here are the top 14 things to do in Houston this weekend

Say cheers to the beloved Betty White this weekend.

This weekend sees a diverse array of events for your pleasure. Look for some Harry Potter-themed fun, a Betty White-themed party — and ye-yeah! — Lil' John in town. Speaking of visiting celebs, Jake and Logan Paul are coming to town.

For family fun, don't miss the Fort Bend home show, an MLK Day party, and a cake sale and chili cookoff. Here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, January 13

Dave's Hot Chicken Grand Opening
The scrappy, late-night pop-up-turned-hot chicken sensation will open its latest restaurant in Missouri City this weekend. The location features more than 75 indoor and outdoor seats, a drive-thru, and custom artwork throughout the restaurant. The fast-casual concept specializes in Halal-certified, hot chicken tenders and sliders, along with sides of house-made kale slaw, creamy mac n’ cheese and crispy french fries. 11 am.

Asia Society Texas Center presents 'You Can't Be Serious': A Conversation With Kal Penn
Known best as the star of the Harold and Kumar franchise, House, and Designated Survivor, Kal Penn’s life has taken him on a surprising journey. In his recent memoir, You Can’t Be Serious, Penn shares a series of funny, consequential, awkward, and ridiculous stories from his colorful life, including growing up with immigrant parents and how he rejected doing “something practical” to become an actor, confronting racism in Hollywood, meeting his future husband, and working in the Obama administration as a White House aide. 6:30 pm.

4th Wall Theatre Company presents The Lifespan of a Fact
This recent Broadway hit, inspired by John D'Agata's and Jim Fingal's debate-style book of the same name, brings to life the arguments of its original authors. Fingal is a fresh-out-of-Harvard fact checker for a New York magazine. D'Agata is a writer with a transcendent essay, about the suicide of a teenage boy, that could save the magazine from collapse. When Fingal is assigned to fact-check D'Agata's essay, the two come head-to-head in a hysterical yet gripping ethical dispute over facts versus truth. Through Saturday, February 5. 7:30 pm (3 pm Sunday).

Friday, January 14

Houston Symphony presents Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in Concert
If that Harry Potter reunion show on HBO Max has gotten you all nostalgic for some Hogwarts-related stuff, the Houston Symphony has got you covered. The Harry Potter Film Concert Series returns with the sixth film in the Harry Potter series. Constantine Kitsopoulos conducts the Symphony in performing Nicholas Hooper’s score live, while the entire film plays in high-definition on a 40-foot screen. 2:30 pm (7:30 pm Saturday and Sunday).

The Riot Comedy Show presents Caitlin Peluffo
Originally hailing from San Francisco, Caitlin Peluffo is a comedian currently living in Brooklyn. After a six-year stint in art school where she studied performative video art, she has expanded her talents to the stage. She's opened for comedians like Maria Bamford, Gilbert Gottfried, Gary Gulman, Colin Quinn, and the late Kevin Meaney. She’s also done clubs nationwide, talking about how she came to be such a lovable loose cannon. 7:30 pm (10 pm Sunday).

Cheers to Betty White!
Join Eureka Heights Brew Co. to celebrate the ambassador of animals, the most golden of The Golden Girls and everyone's favorite game-show panelist, who filled our years with laughter, spunk, and grace. They will be toasting with two Betty IPAs, a commemorative gold-rimmed glass, a plethora of Betty White raffle prizes, and rose cupcakes. Your best Golden Girls or Betty White-themed attire is only appropriate to honor her remarkable self. 3 pm.

Lil Jon at Sekai Night & Day
Okay, so Lil Jon, who has been dropping crunk-rap hits (full of his trademark "Yeah!" and "Okaaaay!" ad-libs) since the early aughts, will be coming to town to celebrate his "first annual 35th birthday." Even if you remember when Dave Chappelle used to make fun of the hard-partying rapper/producer on Chappelle's Show — way back in 2004! — and know the dude is getting up there in age, this still might be an interesting event to check out. 10:30 pm.

Saturday, January 15

26th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration
Children’s Museum Houston and the Houston Defender newspaper have joined forces to honor civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Museum’s 26th annual MLK celebration. Brought to you by State Rep. the Honorable Garnet Coleman, the event commemorates Dr. King’s legacy and his powerful call for equality, justice, and the end of racism in America during the civil rights movement. The event will also commemorate the Defender’s 90-years of service. 11 am.

Small Business Saturday with The Plant Project Houston & Athleta
The Plant Project Houston and Athleta are teaming up for a special Small Business Saturday designed to start your new year off right. Plant Project founder Bree Clarke will be hosting a pop-up at Athleta featuring mood-boosting houseplants, instruction and care, to help brighten up your home and provide some excellent, physical and mental-health benefits to chase away the post-holiday and winter blues. 11 am.

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft presents Limitless Virtual Tour
HCCC Curatorial Fellow Cydney Pickens and exhibiting artists will be part of this virtual tour. As the exhibition’s curator, Pickens will lead a tour of the works on view, followed by a conversation with featured recipients of ClayHouston’s inaugural Award for Texas BIPOC Ceramic Artists. This award provides funding for ceramic artists in Texas who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color, as part of an ongoing effort to cultivate greater diversity in and access to the field of ceramics. 3 pm.

KING OF THE RING! Cle’ Bottle Wars
Jake Paul, rising boxer and your teenage babysitter's favorite social-media star, will join his brother Logan Paul to host this first-ever, themed event at Cle' — the Midtown hotspot. Patrons will compete with one another to see who will purchase the most bottles throughout the night and claim the "King of the Ring" title. Rumor has it that Cle’ has a custom title belt going to the winner. 10 pm.

Sunday, January 16

Fort Bend Home & Garden Show
This Saturday and Sunday, the Fort Bend County Home & Garden Show will feature everything dedicated to home improvement, decorating and interior design, landscapes, and outdoor entertainment. It will also feature a Winter Gift Market, beer and wine sampling, plus an entire building filled with food samples. The Gift Market will feature a wide range of specialty gifts and décor including farmhouse décor, clothing, jewelry, monogram children accessories, handmade local crafts including hand-blown glass, and much more. 11 am.

Cake Life Co. Bubonic Bake Sale and Art Market
Sunday will be the last chance to check out this wacky, sweet-as-hell event, located at this downtown "cakery." (Is that what we're supposed to call them now?) From Friday through Saturday, the establishment will host this combination bake sale/art market, complete with delicious desserts, delicious works of art and live music from Navers. And the first 20 customers will get $8 off their next purchase. Noon.

Hop Topic World's Annual Chili Cook-Off
Hop Topic's annual chili cook-off — hosted by Holler Brewing Co. — is back! If you think you can make some chili, you are in serious demand. Make a team, earn your bragging rights and get some swag if you win best chili. However, if you're a connoisseur who just wants to sample some chili, you're also welcome to the party. Come through, taste all the good chili and, of course, some delicious craft beer. Noon.

event-planner

Movie Review

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya face pre-marriage jitters in The Drama

Photo courtesy of A24

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in The Drama.

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya will be seen together a lot at the movies in 2026, with mega-films like The Odyssey and Dune: Part Three coming out later in the year. But fans can get a much more intimate look at the two stars in a film that offers a unique take on relationship struggles, The Drama.

Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Pattinson) are a New York couple who are engaged to be married. After a quick-but-effective montage of their courtship, the story joins them as they are just days away from their wedding. As they get all the details like music, flowers, and food finalized, a visit to the caterer with married friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie) proves fateful.

A few too many drinks leads to each member of the group deciding to divulge the worst thing they’ve ever done. While each story is slightly shocking, Emma’s takes the cake, so much so that Charlie starts to question their relationship. As they get closer to the wedding date, Charlie finds it increasingly difficult to get beyond Emma’s revelation, with each real or imagined conversation threatening to derail their previously tight bond.

Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the film is provocative, funny, and cringey as it tries to get to the center of human dynamics. Charlie, Rachel, and Mike have starkly different reactions to Emma’s story, and the way those play out over the course of the film provides, well, the drama. The harder Charlie tries to justify Emma’s past, the more his underlying feelings start to eat at him, causing friction not just between him and Emma, but in other parts of his life, as well.

Strangely, especially for a character played by Zendaya, Emma recedes more than expected. Her explanations for her previous actions are timid at best, and she mostly seems to be waiting for Charlie to forgive her instead of questioning why she needs forgiveness. Borgli favors the male side of the equation, and in so doing he doesn’t dig as deep into the root of the issue as he could have.

Still, the downward spiral at the center of the story has a propulsive nature to it, and each successive step proves to be both hard to watch and impossible to turn away from. It also helps that Borgli manages the tone well, keeping interactions between characters relatively light so that the film doesn’t turn into one like Marriage Story.

Pattinson, who gets to use his own British accent for once, put on an interesting performance that is much better than his last two roles in Mickey 17 and Die My Love. He has good chemistry with Zendaya, who manages to shine despite being laden with a role that doesn’t play entirely to her strengths. Haim and Athie do good work in small roles, while Hailey Grace and Hannah Gross make an impact in brief appearances.

The situation in which Emma and Charlie find themselves in The Drama is not one to be wished on anyone, but it’s presented well by Borgli, keeping tensions high for the bulk of the film. Despite the two main characters not given completely equal footing, the story finds a way to get to a satisfactory ending.

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The Drama opens in theaters on April 3.

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