weekend event planner

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

Dive into Hotel Derek's Float & Flick party.

Hotel Derek/Facebook

The warmer temps are here, which means locals flock to poolside shindigs or chill, indoor events. This week features a splashy pool/movie bash, a pet-themed soiree, and a hip art market.

Here, then, are some fun events to heat up your weekend.

Thursday, May 30

Fierce & Fabulous at The Bellemore
Houston PetSet, Sotheby’s, and Al Ross Luxury Homes, along with the adoptable pets from ADORE Houston, will host this event at the prestigious Bellemore. Donation proceeds will benefit PetSet, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to ending the suffering and homelessness of companion animals in the Greater Houston area. Guests can look forward to complimentary appetizers, champagne, and a luxury Chopard showcase. 5-8 pm.

Float & Flick Summer Movie Series at Hotel Derek
Hotel Derek is once again starting up this monthly series, where films will be screened at the SPLASH pool for lounging moviegoers. The first movie up is the classic blockbuster Jaws, with Footloose, Apollo 13, and Mean Girls coming up in next few months. Tickets include complimentary gourmet popcorn, one complimentary signature drink, complimentary self-parking, and access to SPLASH starting at 7:30 pm for an after-work dip in the pool. 8:15 pm.

Friday, May 31

Keep Houston Rolling at Saint Arnold Brewing Co.
This event has bike-share program Houston BCycle throwing its first-ever fundraiser over at Saint Arnold's beer garden. This is a great opportunity to meet other BCycle riders and bask in the glory of car-free transit. There will also be free drink coupons for those who donate, BCycle T-shirts and hats for sale, Texas GOLD Sprint'em stationary cycling races, and a raffle. 5-11 pm.

Near Dark and Ginger Snaps at Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra
This Graveyard Shift double feature shines a light on a pair of down-and-dirty, horror flicks that have both a cult following and critical acclaim. First off, we have a grungy, vampire Western from future Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow, with Lance Henriksen and the late Bill Paxton as part of a family of nomadic bloodsuckers. Next up is a made-in-Canada werewolf flick where the lives of two teenage sisters get even more complicated once one of them gets attacked by a wild creature. 9 pm.

Saturday, June 1

Heartmade Art Market at Main Street Square
This semi-annual, downtown art market will return to Main Street Square this weekend. Conceived and created by Tracy Manford Carlson of Tracy Carlson Photography and Sonja Fulbright of Crush Design Co., this fest will feature more than 75 local and regional artists selling wares ranging from apparel and jewelry to home goods and art, as well as music, food truck fare, a beer and wine garden, free cotton candy from Lush Puff, and more. 10 am to 5 pm.

Silent Disco Vibe at CityPlace
Well, this dance party sounds intriguing as hell. This event will have people wearing wireless, LED headphones with three distinct channels of music, including two live DJs, giving the audience the power to decide who and what to listen to during the course of the evening. Depending on the selection, the headphones will change colors, adding an element of social experiment to the scene. Headphone rentals are just $5 each. 7:30-10:30 pm.

Sunday, June 2

Sunday Supper at Kau Ba Saigon Restaurant & Bar
"If I won't eat it, I won't serve it" is the mantra of Nikki Tran, a chef who has been featured on such Netflix food shows as Ugly Delicious and Street Food and also runs the Kau Ba Saigon eatery in Montrose. Starting this weekend, Tran is launching a monthly dining series known as Sunday Supper. The menu will change monthly, but it will always feature some of Tran’s favorite dishes, nostalgic flavors and recipes from her own family. 5 pm.

Hannah Gadsby: Douglas at Jones Hall
Last year, Australian comic Hannah Gadsby rattled the international comedy world with her Netflix special Nanette. It's basically a trojan horse of a stand-up special, with Gadsby doing a half-hour of bone-dry, observational humor before sliding into a dead-serious, brutally honest monologue on her life as a lesbian. Even though she said she was dipping out comedy after Nanette, she returns with the new show Douglas, where she talks about everything she went through after Nanette. 7:30 pm.

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Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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weekend event planner

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