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.

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Movie Review

Billie Eilish takes fans behind the scenes in immersive 3D tour film

Photo by Henry Hwu/courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Billie Eilish in Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

In 2021, at the tender age of 19, singer Billie Eilish was already the subject of a documentary, The World’s a Little Blurry. At that point, she had only released one album, so the film threatened to feel too early for such treatment. The ensuing five years have only made her a bigger star, though, so in many ways that movie now feels prescient for the person on display in the new concert documentary with the unwieldy title of Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

Directed by Eilish and blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron, the film takes viewers inside Eilish’s 2024-2025 tour in support of her latest album, 2023’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. Filmed mostly at her series of shows in Manchester, England, the movie is a showcase for Eilish’s music, but it also serves as a smaller exploration of the type of person she is, as well as the impact she has had on her legion of fans.

The draw of the film is the use of Cameron’s beloved 3D technology, which he has employed in each of the three Avatar films. Unlike in those films, where the 3D has the odd effect of making the visuals too realistic for their own good, the technique brings an intimacy to the large-scale show that underscores the unique bond the singer has with her supporters.

Eilish and Cameron go back and forth between performances at the concert to behind-the-scenes sequences, detailing the enormous effort it takes to put on a show like that and how Eilish spends her time getting ready for it. As in The World’s a Little Blurry, this film continues to portray the singer as down-to-Earth, someone who yearns to maintain the connection to her fans that she’s had since she released her first single, “Ocean Eyes,” 10 years ago.

And as the many emotional songs in Eilish’s concert playlist prove, the feeling from the crowd is mutual. While Eilish has multiple bangers like “Bad Guy,” “Therefore I Am,” and the Charli XCX collaboration “Guess,” it’s the sad songs like “Everything I Wanted,” “Happier Than Ever,” and the Oscar-winning Barbie anthem, “What Was I Made For?” that hit the hardest. The depth of feeling emanating from her many sobbing fans singing along to crushing songs cannot be understated.

For audiences of the film, though, it’s the breadth of camera angles and shot choices that make it truly dynamic. There are cameras everywhere, including in the crowd, inside a cube at the center of the stage that rises and descends, following Eilish as she traipses every inch of the long, rectangular stage, and even a small one Eilish uses to bring an extra personal touch to the in-arena screen. Combined, they capture the complete energy of the concert, something that is not always the case in a film of this type.

Eilish has almost as many movies — two — as she does albums — three — which borders on overkill for a singer of her age. But both her music and the movies show her to be a person who knows the responsibility of being a celebrity, someone who understands that her fans are the reason she’s famous at all. Her career may go up or down from here, but it’s clear she’s already made a huge impact on those who love her most.

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Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D opens in theaters on May 8.

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