weekend event planner

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

Round up the crew and spread the love at the Jameson's Love Thy Neighborhood Block Party.

Photo courtesy of Jameson's

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is officially underway, which means many people and places around Houston will be getting into the rodeo spirit. One of those spots is B.B. Lemon, which is having a rodeo-themed party on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, where it will be launching its all-new brunch menu. (There will also be a raffle for someone to win four tickets to the George Strait show on March 17.)

Aside from the rodeo, look for fun events, including a former first lady and a big, wild whiskey bash.

Thursday, February 28

Goethe Pop Up Houston presents Pop Up Kino: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Thanks to Goethe Pop Up Houston, MATCH has been doing a monthly, German-movie night simply known as Pop Up Kino. The classic piece of German cinema that'll be screening this month is Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. Fassbinder's masterful homage to Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows follows a lonely widow who falls in love with a much-younger Arab worker and everyone and everything begins to turn against them. 6:30 pm.

Friday, March 1

The Rink Opening Party at Discovery Green
The Rink, Houston's first outdoor roller rink, returns for a third season at Discovery Green, open daily through Sunday, April 21. Among the weekly events scheduled at the rink: Time Warp Tuesdays (skate to songs from past decades), Let the Good Times Roll Date Night (bring your date and request a special song via Twitter or Instagram), and Superhero Saturdays (roller-skate with some of your favorite superheroes and storybook characters). The party is free, but skating fees apply. 6-10 pm.

Tommy Wiseau at Landmark River Oaks
It's gonna get crazy at Landmark River Oaks this weekend. Not only will the theater screen the so-bad-it's-magnificent cult oddity The Room as its midnight movie on Friday and Saturday night, but star-writer-director Tommy Wiseau will actually be in attendance. The man whom James Franco captured flawlessly in The Disaster Artist (aka the making of The Room) will be in town to take questions and, most likely, act very, very weird. 11:59 pm.

Saturday, March 2

Spring Fest at City Acre Brewing Co.
Apart from being the only craft-beer company/hall ran by the managing editor of Fangoria Magazine, City Acre Brewing has many fun events happening on their premises. One such event is their answer to Oktoberfest, called Spring Fest. This free garden party will be held at City Acre's robust garden, where guests are encouraged to feast on festive food (boudin balls, deviled eggs) and toss back exclusive beer debuts, including Holiday Hund cranberry kolsch, Ghost Prost Peaflower Pils, and Cedarbraish cedar-aged barleywine. 11 am-5 pm.

Karina Nistal Album Release Party at The Pub Galleria
For the past couple of decades, Karina Nistal has been literally singing and dancing her way in and around the Houston nightlife scene. She has dropped a couple of full-length releases in the past, albums that have shown off her aspirations as a dance-music diva. After trying to make a name for herself in Los Angeles, she's back in H-Town for the release party of her latest, crowd-funded album Je Ne Sais Quoi. Metanoia and DJs Joe B and BBC will also be on hand to provide some music. 8 pm-2 am.

Michelle Obama at Toyota Center
With the exception of Oprah and Beyonce, is there a more powerful, African-American woman currently rolling around than Michelle Obama? Witness the rapturous round of applause she received at this year's Grammys. Expect some more wild cheers from the crowd when she appear in Houston this weekend, having an intimate conversation with former NPR host Michele Norris, as part of the U.S. book tour for her memoir, Becoming. 8 pm.

Sunday, March 3

8th Annual Houston Kosher Chili Cookoff
Known as the largest kosher food event in Houston, the Houston Kosher Chili Cookoff celebrates the fellowship of the Jewish community with a day of food, live entertainment, contests and family-friendly activities, while raising funds for nonprofit organizations in the Houston Jewish community. Cookoff attendees have the opportunity to sample an unlimited amount of Houston’s best kosher chili and enjoy live music, a moonwalk, climbing walls, balloon artists, a jalapeño eating contest and more. Noon-4 pm.

Crawfish Season at The Rustic
Crawfish season is here, which means everyone and their momma will be having crawfish throwdowns all over Houston. Every Sunday in March, The rustic (Pat Green's popular restaurant/music venue) will be serving up crawdads in four different ways: crawfish with corn and potatoes (2 pounds), crawfish etouffee, fried crawfish tails, and the good ol' crawfish po' boy. 3 pm.

Jameson Love Thy Neighbor Block Party at 8th Wonder Brewery
Jameson's Irish Whiskey and 8th Wonder Brewery have joined forces for the Jameson's Love Thy Neighborhood Block Party this weekend. They have a once-off collaboration brew aged in ex-Jameson whiskey barrels called the "White Tuxedo." This imperial Dunkelweizen, brewed with Texas honey and champagne yeast, was inspired by Robert Ellis’ new album Texas Piano Man, which nods to a true-to-Texas, “approachable fancy” lifestyle that encourages “champagne everyday." Jameson's throws these bashes nationwide, so be prepared for one raucous block party. 3-7 pm.

event-planner

Movie review

New movie Eddington confronts the chaos of early pandemic life

Photo courtesy of A24

Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal in Eddington.

The coronavirus pandemic had a profound impact on the entire world, one that has been shown in various ways by movies and TV shows. However, even though a number of productions have attempted to show what life was like during the early days of the pandemic, few have tried to truly reckon with the way lockdowns and restrictions changed people.

Filmmaker provocateur Ari Aster does just that in Eddington, set in a fictional small town in New Mexico in early 2020 that proves to be a microcosm of the debates taking place worldwide at that time. Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) is not a fan of mask mandates or other restrictions imposed by the government, while mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) tries to lead by example in an effort to keep his community safe.

The men butt heads not just on how to deal with the pandemic, but also over a personal history involving Joe’s wife, Louise (Emma Stone). When news of the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota makes its way to town, it starts a slow simmer among the town’s youth population, putting even more stress on Joe and his small department. Conspiracy theories, white guilt, partisan politics, cults, and more combine to make the community into a powder keg that threatens to explode at the slightest provocation.

Aster (Midsommar, Beau is Afraid) takes aim at all sides in a film that’s part satire and part thriller. No matter how each viewer reacted to the pandemic, the film offers at least a character or two that will come close to representing their viewpoint. Although opinions may differ, it seems clear that Aster is not portraying one side as “right” or more righteous than the other. What he is doing is demonstrating just how much was happening in a short period of time, and how those things could negatively affect anyone.

On the flip side, the film also challenges viewers with viewpoints that may not match their own, which can make for an uncomfortable experience at times. The reactions various characters have to certain events range from rational to wholly unexpected, and Aster seems to delight in keeping the audience on their toes the entire time. This is especially true when violence rears its ugly head, resulting in some intense and upsetting scenes.

Not everything in the film lands, though. A subplot involving Louise and Vernon (Austin Butler), a cult leader who preys on her fears, feels tacked on, with no relation to the film as a whole. In fact, the character of Louise is a misfire in general, one whose purpose makes little sense. Aster also lets (asks?) some actors speak in almost inaudible tones at various points in the film, a frustrating experience in a film as dialogue-heavy as this one.

Phoenix loves to dig into off-kilter characters, and this one ranks high on that scale. Even if you don’t enjoy what his character does, it’s hard to fault the performance that brings him to life. Most of Pascal’s scenes are with Phoenix, and while he matches Phoenix’s energy, the lower key nature of his character leaves him overshadowed. The nature of the film means few others make an impact, although Deidre O’Connell as Joe’s passive-aggressive mother-in-law and William Belleau as Officer Jiminiz Butterfly stand out in their scenes.

Few of us would volunteer to go back to the baffling days of early 2020, but Eddington does a great job of examining what was happening at the time and how events united some and divided others. It’s not a feel-good film, but it is one that will make viewers re-examine their reactions at the time and how those influenced the current reality.

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Eddington is now playing in theaters.

coronavirus pandemic film movies