weekend event planner

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

Dazzling art and photography celebrating royal India await at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Photo by Neil Greentree

It’s the start of a new month, and while swarms of Houston folk will get their cowboy on at RodeoHouston, there are other intriguing, active, artsy, and even free events that are poppin'. We've rounded up your top eight, to make the most of your weekend.

Thursday, March 1

Bun B opens the Bayou City Music Series at Discovery Green
For the next few months, The Bayou City Music Series will dispatch a number of Houston-proud performers to various venues throughout the city, in the hopes of getting the townspeople in an enjoyable, ultimately soulful mood. It all begins at 6:30 pm at Discovery Green, with trill rap icon, author, Rice University guest lecturer, and occasional CultureMap advice columnist Bun B as the headliner. The High School for the Performing Arts (HSPVA) Jazz Ensemble, former B.B. King bandleader Milton Hopkins, and jazz/blues legend Jewel Brown will serve as the opening acts. A great show — and it's free.

Rock out at Houston Ballet’s Rock, Roll and Tutus
The Houston Ballet has an intriguing, mixed repertory program happening this weekend, called Rock, Roll and Tutus. There will also be a pre-show, costume exhibit located in the theater’s lobby. Aptly titled “Tutus: From Stitch to Stage,” the exhibit features wardrobe from the Ballet’s various performances throughout the years. Among the tutus on hand: the Coppelia tutu, the Don Quixote tutu and, of course, the Swan Lake tutu. (Both those tutus will be seen again when productions of Quixote and Lake happen later this season.) The tutu/ballet fun runs through Sunday, March 4, at George R. Brown’s Resilience Center.

It's Turtle racing (!) at Little Woodrow’s
Have you ever wanted to get drunk while watching sea-dwelling creatures compete in a race? Little Woodrow’s in Midtown will once again serve all those looking for reptile-themed sporting events. Every Thursday night at 8 pm, the Little Woodrow’s Turtle Guy (apparently, this place has an official turtle handler) and his wranglers will bring in some turtles to take part of in a series of turtle races, while cheering fans get the chance to win a koozie if they pick the winner. Of course, if the sight of racing turtles doesn’t make you immediately giddy, this place still has lots of beer.

Friday, March 2

Leon Bridges brings old-school soul to RodeoHouston
As we noted, Ft. Worth native Leon Bridges is a legit national star, and a major player on the neo-soul scene. There have been some rumblings about Bridge's booking as the sole African-American act, but that doesn't take away from his superstar appeal. Expect head-swaying tunes from his album, Coming Home, which calls to mind greats such as Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. This show is sure to be a RodeoHouston standout, and unlike many of the other performances, there are still tickets available.

MasterChef Junior — with “HotHead Henry” viewing party
Katy kid chef Henry Hummeldorf will be the guest of honor at Dish Society at LaCenterra in Cinco Ranch. This night is special for the lad; that’s when the new season of MasterChef Junior airs, in which he appears as a Top 40 contestant. Along with giving a viewing party, Dish will also serve free ice cream with the purchase of a meal, as well as have Henry’s sauce stocked to spice up your dinner. (Already have HotHeadHenry on hand? Henry's happy to sign bottles of his sauce upon request.) This kid will be on TV and has his own sauce? Doesn’t this make you feel like you didn’t do a damn thing in your childhood?

Saturday, March 3

Meet tennis legends at Zina Garrison's EAT.PLAY.LOVE
Local tennis great Zina Garrison and her Zina Garrison Tennis and Education Academy has put together a charity weekend, basically known as EAT.PLAY.LOVE. The event starts at 8 am with a competitive doubles tournament. After that, VIP tents will feature contestants and winners from Hell’s Kitchen whipping up some food. Garrison and Martina Navratilova will then entertain folks at a dinner/auction set at Richard and Marty Finger’s home in River Oaks. On Sunday, there's a semi-finals tournament, followed by the “Ace of Love Fashion Show.” The event will culminate with finals and a trophy presentation.

Find your inner dude at the Houston Lebowski Bash
Twenty years ago this month, Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Big Lebowski hit theaters, though it wasn’t a smash upon its initial release (everyone was too busy seeing Titanic over and over again). However, this hilarious mashup of film-noir detective story, and rambling stoner comedy, has now turned into an iconic cult film — even spawning an annual, major gathering: Lebowski Fest. Local Lebowski fans can celebrate this movie by attending the Houston Lebowski Bash, at 6 pm at Smither Park. Along with an 8 pm screening of the movie, there will be a costume contest, Lebowski Trivia and a Vinyl Ranch DJ set. And yes, White Russians will be served.

Sunday, March 4

Dazzling treasures at Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India
This weekend, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston unveils eye-opening, sophisticated, Indian treasures. Sunday is the kickoff date for Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India, an epic exhibition of royal treasures from India. Some 250 objects will be on display — many of them seen for the first time in the U.S. Along with the artifacts, there is also a community “Mela” party on Sunday, from 12:15 pm to 6 pm. Free with admission, it will be full of art-making activities, Indian cuisine, performances, and other goodies. Peacock runs at the MFAH through Sunday, August 19.

Houston legend Bun B will trill the crowd at Discovery Green's free outdoor concert.

Photo by Katya Horner

Houston legend Bun B will trill the crowd at Discovery Green's free outdoor concert.

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Movie Review

Avatar: Fire and Ash returns to Pandora with big action and bold visuals

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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