weekend event planner

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

Yoga women upside down post Yoga Six hand stand

Grab the squad and head to a yoga pop-up this weekend.

A totally 2021 version of St. Patrick's Day is behind us. Looking ahead, kids and families are enjoying spring break, and the rainy weather is finally clearing up.

That means plenty of spring break fun (check out our guide here), and virtual offerings — including a chat with Alex P. Keaton (you may also know him as Michael J. Fox). After these virtual offerings or outdoor fun, get your stretch on at a yoga pop-up on Sunday.

Here, then, are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, March 18

Asia Society Texas Center presents AsiaFest: Spring Break Edition
Visitors to Asia Society Texas Center can spend their spring break enjoying some time outdoors with family while they eat, shop, and play during the spring break "lite" edition of the AsiaFest festival. Each day, the festival will highlight cultural traditions from a different region of Asia with daily performances, arts and crafts activities, fusion cuisine, vendor booths, and exclusive after-hours access to the exhibition, "Shahidul Alam: Truth to Power." 4 pm.

Harlan Coben in conversation with Michael J. Fox
Thanks to the fine folks at Murder by the Book, we'll be able to get in on this virtual conversation between mystery novelist Harlan Coben and Alex P. Keaton himself — Michael J. Fox! This is a ticketed event, however it couldn't be easier to get a ticket — just purchase a copy of Coben's Win from Murder by the Book. A portion of the proceeds from the book sales from the event will be donated to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. 7 pm.

Friday, March 19

Houston Latino Film Festival
The fifth annual Houston Latino Film Festival will kick off this weekend, starting with a selection of safe and socially distanced, drive-in film screenings at Moonstruck Drive-In Cinema on Friday and Saturday night. The festival is produced by a nonprofit, Latino arts organization dedicated to developing, promoting, and increasing awareness of Latino culture among Latinos and other communities by presenting a variety of art and films to the Houston area. The fest will run through Sunday, March 28. 7 pm.

Improv Houston presents Rickey Smiley
On Friday and Saturday night, Rickey Smiley will come down here and get the sort of yuks he usually gets on his morning show (which Houstonians can hear every weekday morning on Majic 102.1 FM). Smiley is definitely a veteran in this game, hosting not one but two seasons of BET's stand-up showcase Comic View. As a much-loved comedian/TV host/radio personality, Rickey Smiley has earned a reputation for delivering laughs onstage or off. 7:30 and 9:45 pm (4,7, and 9:30 pm Saturday).

Saturday, March 20

BLCK Market Health XPO
BLCK Market, the nation’s largest, bi-monthly gathering of Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs, is launching its very first expo, spearheading with the health and wellness industry. The event will also include myriad of health and wellness vendors paired with captivating panels, an in-person workout, and even a yoga session by Yogi Jaz Porter. There will also be HIV testing with nonprofit Bee Busy Inc. Kids 12 and under are free. 1 pm.

Cone Run Running Productions presents Clue

We all like Clue, right? Whether it's the board game or the all-star, 1985 movie adaptation, Clue is a fun time had by all. Cone Man Running Productions will be doing their own, virtual production. The tale begins at a remote mansion, where six mysterious guests assemble for an unusual dinner party where murder and blackmail are on the menu. When their host turns up dead, they all become suspects. Runs through Saturday, March 27. 8 pm.

Sunday, March 21

YogaSix March Pop-Up at Plaza in the Park
Join YogaSix for a free, pop-up outdoor yoga class that will develop your strength, flexibility, comfort level and stamina as you challenge your body and mind. Teaching the class will be Brazilian artist/yoga teacher Carol Germano, who has advanced teaching in restorative yoga. You will receive an experience that is energizing, empowering, and fun. After your class, visit Earthcraft Juicery or Primp and Blow for special discounts. 9 am.

j.k. livin foundation presents We're Texas Virtual Benefit with Matthew and Camilla McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey and his lovely wife Camilla will host this benefit, on his YouTube Channel and on Spectrum News 1 in Texas. The virtual event will be DJ'd by McConaughey, and will include performances by Gary Clark Jr., Kacey Musgraves, Kelly Clarkson, Khalid, Kirk Franklin, Leon Bridges, Willie Nelson, and so many more. All the proceeds go to j.k.livin foundation's Texas Relief Fund. 7 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

Action-packed Kraven the Hunter showcases gritty Marvel antihero

Photo by Jay Maidment

Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kraven the Hunter.

One of the oddest things about the blockbuster era we live in is that while Disney owns the rights to the majority of Marvel comic book characters, Sony Pictures owns the rights to Spider-Man and any affiliated characters. Since they’re sharing Spider-Man himself with Disney, Sony has been trying to capitalize on those rights by making stand-alone films using niche characters that only comic book fanatics would know.

Having exhausted Venom and whiffed on attempts with Morbius and Madame Web, they’re trying again with Kraven the Hunter. Also known as Sergei Kravinoff, Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is a self-styled vigilante who, as the film tells it, travels the world exacting vengeance on the truly bad people of the world. He’s the son of Nikolai (Russell Crowe), a hard-edged Russian oligarch, and brother to Dmitri (Fred Hechinger), who is relatively weak compared to the rest of his family.

The origin story has Kraven gaining his animal-like powers - including super-strength, speed, and jumping abilities - as a teenager from a mysterious serum given to him by a girl named Calypso (played as an adult by Ariana DeBose) after he was mauled by a lion. The two maintain a tenuous partnership as adults, with Calypso helping him hunt down other villains like Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola) and The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott).

Directed by J.C. Chandor and written by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway, the film looks and feels enormously lazy, something made merely to hold on to potentially valuable intellectual property. Other than the tense family dynamic between the Kravinovs, little makes sense in the story. Kraven has an indecipherable moral code that has him going after poachers - because he’s part lion? - in addition to other high-powered criminals, with no clear goal except to … get back at his father?

The laziness extends to the action scenes, which feature Kraven being mostly impervious to any damage, whether it’s hand-to-hand combat, knives, or guns. The CGI-heavy scenes don’t even allow moviegoers to enjoy an R-rated bloody free-for-all, as all of the blood splatter is computer-generated, too. Since apparently one Spider-Man villain is not enough, three others make appearances with abilities that are under-explained and CGI that is poorly done.

That’s not even counting Calypso, another Spider-Man villain whose purpose in this film is nebulous at best. Her early connection with Kraven is so coincidental as to be laughable, and her continued reasons for helping him as an adult strain credulity as well. The only saving grace of her presence is that the filmmakers don’t try to shoehorn romance into the plot; perhaps they’re saving that for the (inevitable?) sequel.

Taylor-Johnson has had one of the most prolific-yet-anonymous careers in modern Hollywood, with appearances in big films like The Fall Guy, Bullet Train, and Tenet that have made very little impact. Even as the star here, he fails to hold your attention, with the story and visuals doing him no favors. DeBose has followed up her Oscar win for West Side Story with schlock like I.S.S., Argylle, and this, which doesn’t bode well for her career. At least Crowe gets to chew the scenery.

With a contractual inability to mention the name “Spider-Man,” movies like Kraven the Hunter exist in a weird area that forces filmmakers to make up stories for characters to which most people have no attachment. And just like Sony’s previous efforts, it is a very poor way to spend two hours in a movie theater; avoid at all costs.

---

Kraven the Hunter opens in theaters on December 13.

movies film

weekend event planner

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

Movie Review

Action-packed Kraven the Hunter showcases gritty Marvel antihero

These are the 6 most affordable ZIP codes for Houston renters

Stylish new lounge shakes up Houston with art-inspired drinks and caviar

Wealthy Houston suburbs with big holiday budgets lead our top 5 stories