weekend event planner

Here are the top 9 things to do in Houston this weekend

Enjoy Sunday's sunny weather at Market Square Park.

Photo by Morris Malakoff

This weekend, it's all about geeks — and moms.

Starting on Friday, Comicpalooza takes over the George R. Brown Convention Center. The three-day, pop-culture event will bring in the stars (Emilia Clarke! People from Star Trek!) and the fans who love them.

After the fans are done with that, they'll no doubt treat their mothers to some brunch time on Sunday, aka Mother's Day. (If you're still looking for a good spot, you know we've got you covered.)

As always, here's your weekend fun.

Thursday, May 9

Youth Mental Health Art Showcase at Winter Street Studios
This is the second annual art showcase for The Center for School Behavioral Health at Mental Health America of Greater Houston. This event is all about highlighting the importance of protecting youth mental health through the creative arts. It will feature paintings, sculptures, collages and more from pre-K through 12th graders in the greater Houston area, all representing the theme "What My Feelings Look Like." 5 pm.

Friday, May 10

Bella Gaia: Beautiful Earth at Miller Outdoor Theatre
The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing is fast approaching. For people who want to celebrate this historic event, Miller Outdoor Theatre will bring in this immersive theater experience. Inspired by astronauts who spoke of the life-changing power of seeing the Earth from space, Bella Gaia illuminated the natural and cultural beauty of the planet (aka Bella) and the interconnectedness of all things on Earth (Gaia). 8 pm.

The Goonies at Landmark River Oaks
This weekend's midnight movie at River Oaks is this Steven Spielberg-produced, kiddie treasure hunt from 1985, which also had several stars of tomorrow in the cast. Before he went on to play badass characters in comic-book movies, Josh Brolin made his big-screen debut in this flick. The same goes for future Lord of the Rings hobbit Sean Astin, who made his big-screen introduction as Brolin's little, adventure-seeking brother. 11:59 pm.

Saturday, May 11

BuffBrew Spring Carnival Party
Who doesn't love all the sudsy goodness the Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company provides on the regular? This ale factory is all about celebration, which is why they will be having a spring carnival party this weekend. Along with all the beer they'll be serving, there will be bouncy axe throwing, yellow sno-cones, cotton candy, bouncy batting cage, dunk tanks, a tender meat bouquet, and a performance from the comedic queen of burlesque KiKi Maroon. 6-9 pm.

Mother's Day Soul Music Fest with Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
If you have the kind of momma who sneaks in Crown Royal to every concert she goes to (and uses the accompanying, purple bottle pouch for a change purse), then this concert is definitely one she'll enjoy — and, most likely, get hella drunk at. This is a straight-up throwback concert, with performances from The O'Jays, Stephanie Mills, Con Funk Shun, and — a prince of R&B himself — El DeBarge. 7:30 pm.

Stargazing at Houston Astronomical Society at Discovery Green
There is nothing more peaceful, more serene, more at one with the universe than looking up at the stars at night. Join the Houston Astronomical Society for a star party, where volunteers will be showing off the moon, other planets in our solar system, and various deep-sky objects through a number of telescopes, and answering questions you may have about space and astronomy. 8-10 pm.

Sunday, May 12

Downtown District presents Second Sunday Revival
Whenever there's a fun event going down with a lot of booze, we're gonna give it love — and this event definitely deserves love. Historic Market Square Park’s new summer series creates a different experience on the second Sunday of each month through September. May is “Bloody Brass Brunch," a showcase of Houston’s best Bloody Marys accompanied by favorite local brass bands. Noon.

H-Town Festival of Laughs at Fertitta Center
The H-Town Festival of Laughs is a comedy concert for all those people basically who long for the jokes-so-funny-they-make-you-run-out-of-your-seat days of HBO's Def Comedy Jam and BET's ComicView. On the lineup for this show: the scintillating diva Sommore, veteran funnymen Earthquake and George Wallace, comedy royalty (and brother of Chris) Tony Rock, and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper's very own Mark Curry. 7-10 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.

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Kraven the Hunter opens in theaters on December 13.

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weekend event planner

Here are the top 9 things to do in Houston this weekend

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Movie Review

Action-packed Kraven the Hunter showcases gritty Marvel antihero

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
Get Houston intel delivered daily.