weekend event planner

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

It's Easter Weekend, and while some will be celebrating the season by hunting down colored eggs, brunching, or devouring a giant Easter bun with processed Tastee Cheese, there are some fun events worth checking out:

Thursday, March 29

Avenida Houston’s “Party on the Plaza” kickoff
Avenida Houston’s free concert series known as Party on the Plaza has an amazing lineup of performers for its 2018 spring lineup: Fishbone, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, and The Waxaholics. So, it’s quite interesting that the first artist out the gate is YouTube personality-turned-pop diva Poppy. All we can say about this lady is, um, interesting. It’s best if you just go on YouTube and watch some of her out-there videos if you want a sense of what you’ll be getting. She’ll be at Discovery Green at 6:45 pm.

The Urbane Society's swanky launch party
The Urbane Society is a members-only network geared for all the upscale, plugged-in foodies who like going to sophisticated restaurants and getting their grub on with friends. (Their logo is a dapper-looking gent — with the head of an old-school pepper mill — holding what appears to be a laptop.) The Society is hosting a swanky, pre-launch party at B&B Butchers and Restaurant, where people can learn more about their new app, enjoy light bites, dance to music, and get tipsy at the open bar. It starts at 7:30 pm.

Friday, March 30

All things anime at the George R. Brown
Just when you thought the release of Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One was going to be the geekiest thing to happen this weekend, there is also an insane anime convention going on at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Known as Anime Matsuri, this four-day event will actually mark the 12th year the festival has brought in people looking to partake in Japanese animation, games, fashion, cosplay, and so much more. Expect some 300 exhibitors, vendors and artists, as well as more than 800 hours of programming. The event starts at 11 am.

Saturday, March 31

The Houston Food Truck Block Party
You gotta love food trucks. Whether they’re parked outside a sporting event, a public gathering or a nightclub after closing time, these automotive eateries are always around, ready to cook up some delights for hungry, on-the-go folk. Some 20 trucks will be lined up for the Houston Food Truck Block Party, happening on 5610 Richmond Ave. We’re talking Mama Neats Snoballs, Boogies Chicago Style BBQ, Planet Churros, Muddy Water Crawfish, Iced Cupcakery —just oh-so-much damn food to choose from. Things get rolling at noon.

Sing-along to Beauty and the Beast on the Green
It’s that time of year when more outdoor movie screenings on popping up, inviting couples and families to pull out the blankets and lawn chairs and watch a movie under the stars. Bank of America and Taquerias Arandas are presenting a free film series at Discovery Green called Screen on the Green. This weekend’s feature presentation is last year’s global box-office smash Beauty and the Beast. But, this time, it will be an all-new, sing-along version, so everybody can follow the bouncing ball and sing with Bella and them. It starts at 8 pm.

ARKA ART’s The Meet Up art market/disco party
Periodically, Midtown art/event space ARKA ART brings in local vendors who sell clothing, artwork, knickknacks, and more for an evening of art, music and fashion known as The Meet Up. For the latest open-market gathering, there is a theme, and that theme is “A Psychedelic DISCO.” People are welcome to show up wearing vintage threads and shop while DJ crew The Foundation plays funky, retro grooves, and Chris Cisneros of Labels Vintage Streetwear provides some far-out lights and effects. Beverages will also be hand to help you get loosey-goosey. The boogey starts at 6 pm.

Sunday, April 1

The World’s Largest Showcase of Homes
Are you the sort of person that gets all hot and bothered when you look at a fine, scintillating piece of real estate? If you answered yes, David Weekley Homes will be hosting the third-annual, World’s Largest Showcase of Homes in cities across the country, including Houston. All through April, people can visit any model or showcase home and enter for a chance to win prizes, like a smart watch or an electronics package. And Ronald McDonald House Houston will receive a $5 donation for each visitor who registers with a sales consultant.

My First Music Lesson at Discovery Green
If you’re one of those parents who wants your children to get in touch with their musical side — or you just want your kids to be preoccupied with something so they can leave you alone for a damn day — you can take your offspring to My First Music Lesson at Discovery Green. This free, hands-on class is led by professional musicians from talent agency Divisi Strings, whom will teach kids how to play instruments. Children grades 1 through 8 are welcome, and the parents can join in on the fun — or go somewhere and get a beer (we suggest the latter). Events starts at 2 pm.

Weird YouTube sensation Poppy pops up for a performance this weekend.

Courtesy photo

Weird YouTube sensation Poppy pops up for a performance this weekend.

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Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doesn't match the first movie's enthusiasm

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films like M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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