weekend event planner

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

A new gallery exhibition celebrates the bayou.

Courtesy photo

It's Martin Luther King Day Weekend, and you can honor the great civil rights leader's legacy by checking out a couple of virtual events: the 25th Annual Foley & Lardner MLK Jr. Oratory Competition, where fourth and fifth-grade students at HISD elementary schools will compete for the winning title; and the Virtual 43rd Annual “Original” Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade, hosted by the Black Heritage Society and the City of Houston.

Meanwhile, as the weather warms (a bit), other events vie for your attention. Here are you best best for the weekend.

Thursday, January 14

Mildred’s Umbrella Theater presents The Drowning Girls
Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company continues their digital 2020-21 season with the video release of this production. Originally produced for the stage in 2015, it's a moody, experimental piece that combines poetry and stagecraft to revisit the true horror story of the "Brides in the Bath Murders" from early 20th-century England, allowing the victims — Alice Burnham, Margaret Lofty, and Bessie Mundy — to speak once again. This will be available to stream through Saturday, February 6. 7 pm.

Bruce Bruce at Improv Houston
Bruce Bruce will be playing the Improv all four nights this weekend. Anybody who grew up watching BET's Comic View probably knows a Bruce Bruce joke or two. The portly-yet-dapper comedian was a regular (and, for a couple of seasons, the host) on the stand-up showcase. Even in this messed-up pandemic, Bruce continues to tour, hitting audiences with his patented arsenal of side-splitting jokes. 7:30 pm (7:30 and 9:45 pm Friday; 7 and 9:30 pm Saturday; 6 pm Sunday).

Friday, January 15

Donnie Houston x OST Liquor Double Cup Cocktail Collab
Hip-hop producer/podcaster/historian/DJ Donnie Houston has a busy weekend ahead of him. First, he'll be over at OST Liquor debuting his new beverage, which is called Donnie "MFing" Houston, serving up cocktails to whoever wants a little taste. Then, on Sunday afternoon, he'll be back there recording an episode of his popular Donnie Houston Podcast, where he interviews Houston hip-hop stars past and present. We're sure that'll be tipsy episode right there. 4 pm.

Virtual Movie Night with NAMC: Presents '76!
The Nigerian-American Multicultural Council was supposed to have a drive-in movie night this weekend. Now, it's been changed to a virtual movie night. They still will be showing this award-winning, Nigerian historical drama, about the military/authoritarian rule that dominated the first four decades of Nigeria as a republic. This is a must for those who want to know more about the bloody coups and assassinations of public figures that are all over Nigerian history. 6 pm.

Saturday, January 16

Redbud Gallery presents "On The Bayou" - Texas Sculpture Group Exhibition opening reception
Redbud Gallery will present this new exhibition, which will feature the diverse works of 80 artists from the Texas Sculpture Group. This crew of regional Texas sculptors represents a vast repertoire of styles, mediums, and forms for the viewer to contemplate, experience, or simply enjoy. Inside attendance will be limited to 50 people at a time and no alcoholic beverages will be served. This will remain on view through Tuesday, February 23. Noon.

Archaeology Now presents Parties, Pirates, Punch - and Rum!
This weekend, local nonprofit Archaeology Now will be taking folks to the Caribbean for a generous pour of history and a virtual cocktail party. The party festivities start with a virtual tour of the Grateful Dane, Houston’s only legal rum distillery. Dr. Frederick Smith — archaeologist and rum historian — will serve as a guide and mixologist as he takes participants on an excursion through the history of rum, while he makes a delicious punch using a recipe from the 1600s. 5:30 pm.

Sunday, January 17

MATCH Family Fun Day
This year, Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston — or, MATCH — will be presenting its annual Family Fun Day celebration online, with performances and activities for the entire family to safely enjoy from home. We're talking video dance performances from Open Dance Project of both The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and their new educational series ENGINuity; puzzles and activities about popular children’s books; hip-hop dance lessons, and so on. All material will be available through Sunday, January 24. 9 am.

The Singing Trees at CityCentre Houston
Just because the holidays are over doesn't mean you can't partake in this cute bit of fluorescent fun, right in the middle of CityCentre Houston. Head over to the courtyard between Fellini Cafe and Paper Source to see the trees dazzle in reaction to sound. Watch the night sky sparkle as you clap, sing, and spread very colorful cheer. This will run through Sunday, February 28. 6 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

Dakota Fanning-led The Sun Never Sets needs more direction

Photo courtesy of Independent Film Company

Dakota Fanning in The Sun Never Sets.

The movies of writer/director Joe Swanberg have always been an acquired taste, as he prefers to give his actors a loose framework of a story and let them improvise most of their lines to give the films a more natural feel. Sometimes that approach can yield great results, and sometimes — as in The Sun Never Sets — it can result in addled and maddening storytelling.

Wendy (Dakota Fanning) is in her early 30s and at a crossroads in her life. When a friend announces she’s pregnant, she starts to re-evaluate what she wants, including her two-year relationship with the older Jack (Jake Johnson). Although they love each other, their disagreements on having more children and extracurricular activities call their long-term viability into question.

Jack, not wanting Wendy to settle, encourages her to explore her options where they live — Anchorage, Alaska — telling her he’ll be waiting should she strike out. What he doesn’t expect is that Wendy’s ex-boyfriend, Chuck (Cory Michael Smith), has returned to the city, giving her an attractive alternative. The three engage in a love triangle that proves frustrating and confusing for both the participants and the viewers.

What works best about the film is its location in Alaska, which rarely gets showcased in movies, and even more rarely in the way it is here. The story takes place in warmer months, and Swanberg gives his characters multiple opportunities to be outside, showing off Anchorage’s harbor, surrounding mountains, and seemingly vibrant city life. The subtle but effective way Swanberg frames various scenes makes the landscape enormously appealing.

It’s too bad, then, that the story never measures up to its surroundings. Too often Fanning, Johnson, Smith, and others seem to be grasping for their next line, unsure of what they want their character to do or say next. That lets their scenes mimic real conversations, but you might not realize how much you want scripted dialogue until you see actors trying to come up with their own in the moment.

The larger issue is that there’s no consistency from scene to scene about where the plot is heading. The characters of Wendy, Jack, and Chuck are extremely wishy-washy about their desires, with each of them vacillating back-and-forth in just how much they want to be with each other. Depending on your experience, this may or may not be true to life, but watching it is excruciating and not enjoyable or romantic in the slightest.

As actors, Fanning, Johnson, and Smith are talented and interesting, with each capable of connecting with viewers in different ways. But working in improvisation is a different beast, and only Johnson — who has worked with Swanberg multiple times — seems truly at home. A few others, like Debby Ryan and Anna Konkle, do well in the format and maybe deserved bigger parts.

Swanberg has proven in the past that his method of filmmaking can be insightful and entertaining, but that is not the case here. In The Sun Never Sets, his hands-off approach is a detriment to the flow of the film and the story as a whole, resulting in an experience that is far from what most viewers will want to go through.

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The Sun Never Sets is now playing in select theaters.

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