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

Nerdy teen comedies make a comeback with new movie Summer of 69

Photo courtesy of Hulu

Sam Morelos and Chloe Fineman in Summer of 69.

There was a trend in the late 2010s/early 2020s of bawdy comedies featuring teenage female protagonists, including Blockers, Booksmart, and Yes, God, Yes. Those types of films seemed to go by the wayside in recent years, but they’re making a comeback with the new film Summer of 69.

Abby (Sam Morelos) is a high school senior and video game streamer who has had a crush on her classmate Max (Matt Cornett) for her entire childhood. When she learns that Max has recently broken up with his longtime girlfriend, she’s determined to make her move. With advice from a confidant that Max likes a certain sexual position, Abby sets out to learn as much as she can about it, including hiring a stripper, Santa Monica (Chloe Fineman), to help her.

Coincidentally, Santa Monica is facing a situation where the club at which she works, Diamond Dolls, will be closed if the owner doesn’t come up with $20,000 in a week. Abby, who comes from a well-to-do family, seems to offer the perfect solution, and so the two agree to a week of lessons for that amount. Naturally, all sorts of complications arise, as well as the two women forming an unexpected bond.

Written and directed by Jillian Bell, with help from co-writers Jules Byrne and Liz Nico, the film is both suggestive and innocent at the same time. For all of the talk about sex and innuendo, having the nerdy and inexperienced Abby at the center of the film ensures that the story remains relatively chaste throughout. That includes scenes at the strip club, where Bell makes the choice to show almost no nudity.

Most of the humor of the film stems from Abby’s lack of experience, highlighted by her having “sexual” fantasies about Max that never actually get to the sex part. The juxtaposition between Abby and Santa Monica is also used for laughs, although Bell and her co-writers make sure to include a side story for the dancer that makes her into a three-dimensional person.

What ultimately makes the movie succeed is the way it keeps its characters relatable. Many high school films feel the need to play into a bunch of stereotypes, but those are kept to a minimum here. Instead, Bell upends expectations by delivering honest - sometimes to a fault for the characters - dialogue that acknowledges the spectrum of sexual realities for high schoolers, a version that differs from insatiable horniness of some other teen comedies.

Morelos, one of the stars of Netflix’s That ‘90s Show, makes for a charming lead, someone who can convincingly take her character from awkward to confident over the course of the story. Fineman, best known for her current stint as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, complements her well, showing her comedic prowess in a number of physical scenes. A supporting cast that includes Nicole Byer, Paula Pell, Alex Moffat, and Natalie Morales keeps the energy level high.

Despite its titillating title, Summer of 69 is much more sweet than naughty. Like most coming-of-age movies, it’s about a girl who’s trying to figure out where she fits in the world. The answers she finds aren’t always the ones she was expecting, but in the best possible way.

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Summer of 69 starts streaming on Hulu on May 9.

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