weekend event planner

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

Quixote Nuevo, a modern retelling of the Don Quixote saga, continues at the Alley Theatre.

Photo courtesy of Alley Theatre

Super Bowl Sunday is this Sunday and, for those who prefer not to watch grown men do violent things to each other on the football field, you can always spend some time squeezing off a few rounds while eating some bagels.

That is what will be happening at the Glocks and Bagels Schmooze and Shoot event, also on Sunday. Whether you bring your own guns and ammo or you want to rent some steel, this gathering is for men and women who enjoy popping caps and wolfing down bagels and cream cheese.

For a way less violent time, there is also Quixote Nuevo, a modern retelling of the Don Quixote saga, playing at the Alley Theatre through February 9.

Of course, here are some other intriguing things popping off this weekend:

Thursday, January 30

Extra! Extra! Print on Film at The Printing Museum
Starting this weekend, The Printing Museum will start a weekly film series that is a creative way to appreciate print media and showcase the importance of news distribution and journalism. In the coming weeks, the series will screen Orson Welles' Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent. Things kick off with a twofer: the documentary Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the World at 3 and, later on at 7, Howard Hawks' classic The Front Page remake His Girl Friday. Runs through February 6. 3 pm.

Pepperland at Wortham Theater Center
A few years ago, the Mark Morris Dance Group came up with an energetic salute to The Beatles's 1967 masterpiece Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This two-night event features an original score by Ethan Iverson that blends arrangements of songs from the groundbreaking album with new Pepper-inspired pieces. Along with paying tribute to one of the best rock albums of all time, this resounds with all the ingenuity, musicality, wit, and humanity for which the company is known. 8 pm.

Friday, January 31

Sticky Fingers Sticker Art Show at Insomnia Gallery
After a one-year hiatus, the fifth installment of this unique art show is back. This free gallery show will feature some classed-up slaps which also celebrates some of Houston's best and biggest street artists, alongside other local artists who may be new to the scene or trying their hand in the art of the slap. There will be plenty of individual stickers to buy, plus a giveaway or two. All ages are welcome, and, as always, Eureka Heights will come with the brew. 7-11 pm.

'80s Comedy Series at City Acre Brewing Co.
City Acre Brewing Co. will be taking it back to those days of leg warmers, moonwalking, and New Coke with a monthly movie series devoted to comedies from the '80s. In the coming months, the beer spot will give audiences such rewatchable favorites as Trading Places, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Back to the Future. This weekend, things will kick off with a screening of the beloved, Billy Crystal-Meg Ryan romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... Runs through June 26. 8 pm.

Saturday, February 1

Wepa Party! at The Dive
According to the folks who run this party, this isn't your regular Latin night. It is about pushing the culture forward and exposing everyone to new sounds and some classic tracks as well. Expect to hear Latin sounds from Mexico to Brazil and everything in between. Expect everything from Bad Bunny vibes to original cumbia remixes. Legacy and MLE Music will serve as the DJs, while Lilly Aviana will serve up the vegan elote. 9 pm-3 am.

Bounce and Turn Presents: Best of the East Coast at Options Trading Company
The Bounce and Turn rap party crew is bringing back its Best of the East Coast shindig, for all those who want to hear some serious, East Coast hip-hop this weekend. DJs Kay Illah, Yisel, Angiesliste, and DJ Candlestick will be spinning the deep cuts and hit tracks from the 1980s until now. So, expect to hear some J Dilla, MF DOOM, Eric B. and Rakim, Pete Rock, Jay-Z, etc. And Pabst Blue Ribbon will sponsor the $5 online (BYOBottles) and open bar. 10 pm-2 am.

Sunday, February 2

Touch the Sky at The Montrose Center
The Houston General Defense Committee - IWW will host a screening of this video collage, which reflects on the raw moments of the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, after resident Michael Brown was slain by a police officer. Although there have already been some blunt, brutal films made on that particular point in time (may we suggest tracking down the 2017 documentary Whose Streets?), this one goes out to the wild ones, the anarchists and the dreamers. 3-6 pm.

Match Girl and Blackbird at MATCH
Aperio, Music of the Americas presents a multimedia program featuring recent and world premiere works for voice, piano, and percussion by composers David Lang and Shawn Crouch. Things will kick off with Lang’s 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning oratorio, The Little Match Girl Passion. This is followed by the world premiere of Shawn Crouch’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, which acts as a musical and dramatic counterweight to the ethereal sound world of Lang’s oratorio. 6 pm.

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Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer visits Houston in new Christmas movie Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

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Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

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