weekend event planner

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

Jeremy Piven hits the Houston Improv this weekend. (No word on a subsequent entourage.)

As we all know, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the mask mandate and said that the state is "100 percent open." Understandably, many will proceed with caution.

Fortunately, this weekend offers a mix of virtual and in-person offerings. Stay safe and enjoy the welcome sunshine. Here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, March 4

Houston French Film Festival at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The MFAH's French Film Festival just started on Wednesday and, even though most theaters remain closed, MFAH audiences can still virtually enjoy French films this month (aka the international month of French Culture). Ten films will be shown, including comedies like Quentin Dupieux’s Keep an Eye Out, dramas like Faithful (starring Vincent Lacoste and Vicky Krieps), and other selections that will make you get your je ne sais quoi on. The festival will run through Sunday, March 28. 7 pm.

Asia Society Texas Center presents A Transformed Post-Pandemic World: Conversation With CNN's Fareed Zakaria
Join Asia Society Texas Center for a conversation with renowned journalist Fareed Zakaria on how this pandemic is speeding up history, a glimpse into the world already in the making and how our choices today can affect the future. In his book Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World, Zakaria helps his audience to begin thinking beyond the immediate effects of COVID-19. The virtual event will be moderated by Mustafa Tameez, CEO of Outreach Strategists, and will also be free to the public. 7:30 pm.

Friday, March 5

Aperio presents The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires is a modern tango masterpiece for a solo violin-and-string orchestra, cast here in a unique arrangement by Leonid Desyatnikov. The concert will be conducted by Aperio’s resident conductor Marlon Chen, featuring Chloé Trevor as violin soloist in a reprise performance from the ensemble’s 2019 Miller Outdoor Theatre concert. An artist talk with Ms. Trevor follows the performance. The concert will be available to stream through Friday, March 12. 7:30 pm

Improv Houston presents Jeremy Piven
We don't know how or when it happened, but Jeremy Piven is a comedian now. The Emmy-winning actor, best known his role as savage Hollywood agent Ari Gold from the HBO show (and eventual movie) Entourage, has been touring comedy clubs for a while now. Judging by what we've seen from past stand-up performances, he'll most likely talk about his junk and/or his experiences in Hollywood and/or his experiences with his junk in Hollywood. 7:30 and 9:45 pm (7 and 9:30 pm Saturday).

Saturday, March 6

Eastside Market Outdoor Pop-Up Shopping Event
This outdoor market returns for another round this weekend. The first Eastside Market (held in January) was such a hit that they decided to make this a recurring event. The stylish event will be held at the Très Chic parking lot, across from Kirby Ice House. Bovine & Barley's Adult Cocktail Truck will be there, as well as other delicious, food truck options. Attendees and vendors must wear masks. 9 am.

Redbud Gallery presents "Ex Libris" opening reception
Redbud Gallery will present a selection of “Ex Libris,” an exhibition of bookplates from the Old and New Worlds. The custom of affixing bookplates to books began in Germany in the mid-15th century. This exhibition will feature creations not made to show ownership of books, but rather the lost art of Ex Libris, designed to show the beauty of classical printmaking techniques. The exhibition will remain on display through Tuesday, March 30. Noon.

Sunday, March 7

Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series: Kazuo Ishiguro
Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro will give a short reading from his new novel Klara and the Sun, followed by a conversation with fiction writer Jim Shepard. This livestream event, part of the 40th anniversary, 2020/2021 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, will be accessible from the Inprint website. Details on how to access the reading will be provided to season subscribers and to those who purchase general admission tickets in the Eventbrite email receipt. 5 pm.

Raya and the Last Dragon at Moonstruck Drive-In Cinema
Do you wanna stick it to all those Star Wars nerds who thought The Last Jedi was trash? Take your ride up to Moonstruck Drive-In Cinema and check out the latest, computer-animated action/adventure/fantasy from the folks at Disney. This movie has Kelly Marie Tran (she of Jedi — who got seriously trolled) starring as a warrior who, along with her pet companion Tuk Tuk, tracks down the last dragon in order to finally stop the force terrorizing her land. 7 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

Cookie Queens goes behind the scenes of Girl Scout Cookie season

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Girl Scouts in Cookie Queens.

Few people are strong enough to resist the lure of Girl Scout cookie season every year, with the cookies’ limited availability and unique flavors a strong incentive to indulge. But only the girls and their families who have sold the cookies know the joys and stresses of trying to get people to buy them, a process that is detailed in the new documentary, Cookie Queens.

The film by documentarian Alysa Nahmias uses the stories of four different girls to represent the nationwide ritual for the Girl Scouts. They include 12-year-old Olive in Charlotte, North Carolina, a longtime top seller; 8-year-old Shannon Elizabeth in El Paso, Texas, who wants to earn the reward of going to camp; 5-year-old Ara in San Diego, California, whose goal is modest compared to most other girls; and 9-year-old Nikki in Chino, California, who has to compete with her older sisters in the cookie-selling bonanza.

The girls represent a cross-section of both ages and backgrounds, with some girls coming from wealthy families and some girls dealing with more limited means. And how much money your family has makes a big difference, as not only does someone richer have more freedom with their time and supplies, but all scouts are required to reimburse the organization for every box they take in, regardless of whether they’re able to sell it or not.

That caveat makes the journeys of the four featured girls feel wildly different. It’s clear from the start that Olive and Nikki’s families don’t give a second thought to the personal economics of selling cookies, with each girl taking in thousands of boxes at the beginning of the six-week selling season. With both Olive and Nikki rightfully confident that they’ll have no problem offloading their supply, their stories turn to how selling is personally affecting them, with each trying to reconcile the fun of doing it with the pressure they feel from their family members.

Shannon Elizabeth’s story is more harrowing, as her parents feel a strong desire to help her accomplish her lofty goal, but worry that the cost might literally be too high for the family as a whole. More than once, the parents are shown fretting that they won’t have the money to pay back what they owe should they fall significantly short in their sales. Their selling approach, which includes walking through an empty swap meet and standing outside a chain restaurant at night, only adds to their stress.

The most fun story to watch is that of Ara, whose innocence is matched by her confidence. Her parents teach her how much money they’ll owe with her small goal of 55 boxes, but right away she takes on more responsibility than expected. She’s shown making sales pitches and tallying the total number of boxes she’s sold with little-to-no help from either her mom or dad. With her high voice, glasses, and a monitor on her arm to manage her diabetes, she becomes the cute and sympathetic part of the film.

There are times that the film starts to feel more than a little manipulative, however. While many of the moments documented come off as organic, some of them seem like Nahmias is actively guiding the participants in order to get a better story. This is especially evident with Shannon Elizabeth and her family, whose early struggles turn into a miraculous feel-good story by the end, a turnaround that seems implausible at best. Everything with them might have been aboveboard, but Nahmias and her team edit the family’s journey in a way that pushes a bit too hard for emotion.

Cookie Queens, which was produced by a company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, helps to give insight into the business of selling Girl Scout cookies for those who’ve only been on the purchasing end of the transaction. The dedication of each girl toward selling their allotted supply proves fun and interesting, even if the filmmaker tries to gild the lily on occasion.

---

Cookie Queens is now playing in theaters,

movies girl scout cookie film

weekend event planner

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

10 eateries participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks for the first time

Classic car dealer rolls into Houston with massive Katy facility

Ex-NBA star's resort-style Houston home hits market for $11.99 million