weekend event planner

Here are the top 10 things to do in Houston this weekend

Houstonopoly boasts a 10,000-square-foot game board with Houston-themed stops.

Courtesy of Houstonopoly

This weekend's forecast predict soggy days, but before the rain sets in, look for some events.

Expect a fun summer kickoff event with beach volleyball, water games, and more, steak night, Houston-themed Monopoly, a filthy-mouthed TV dad, and a juicy tomato festival.

Here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, June 3

Balmoral Summer Kickoff Event
Balmoral has already opened up its lagoon to the public for this week-long, summer-kickoff event. Tickets include access to a free seating area, beach volleyball, lawn games, hammock, and putting green. Premium seating and water activities are available for an additional fee, including cabanas, beach umbrella set-ups, stand-up paddle boards, Hobie boards, kayaks and an inflatable trampoline. 11 am.

Thursday Steak Night at Axis Sports Bar
If you’re in the mood for some hearty cuts of meat this weekend, Axis Sports Bar has got you covered with its weekly steak night. We’re talking filet mignon, ribeye, salmon — all that good stuff. You can also get a steak and a beer for $15 or steak and lobster for $30. DJ Aggravated will be around to provide music for your certain-to-be-amazing dinner. No reservations are necessary. 6 pm.

Friday, June 4

Frost Bank presents Drive-Thru Spring Fling - Third Ward
Frost Bank will present a drive-through, socially distanced, Spring Fling event. There will be free breakfast tacos from Brunch Box and cookies from Ella Russell’s Crumbville, TX bakery. (We hope there will be some of those delicious, Amazin’ Craisin cookies around.) Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Houston/Galveston will provide games and a DJ will be on hand with music. 7:30 pm.

Houstonopoly Summer Pop-Up Exhibit
This fun, kid-friendly, summer pop-up will feature a 10,000-square-foot game board where visitors become the actual game pieces, traveling from space to space, with nods to the Bayou City at each stop along the way. Houstonopoly will feature more than 13 stops for photo ops, from Houston’s favorite music artists and events to iconic landmarks like the Historic Third Ward. Through Saturday, July 31. 10 am.

Improv Houston presents Bob Saget
Yes, America’s favorite, filthy-mouthed dad is coming to town, people! Bob Saget has starred in the successful TV shows Full House and America's Funniest Home Videos, but he’s also been an out-of-his-mind, Grammy-nominated standup comedian for over 30 years. From his cable specials to his scene-stealing cameos in Entourage and The Aristocrats, it’s always effective as Saget embraces his dark side. 7:30 and 9:45 pm (7 and 9:30 pm Saturday).

Saturday, June 5

Urban Harvest Farmers Market’s Annual Tomato Festival
Celebrate the peak of the tomato harvest with this annual fest. Tomato expert Dr. Bob Randall, will be on hand answering tomato questions. Guests can stop by the info booth for a specially curated tomato recipe from Tony’s chef Austin Waiter. They will be giving away olive oil from Tony's to the first 5 customers who come to the booth and sign up for the newsletter with their email address. There will also be live music from Dem Roots. 8 am.

Archway Gallery presents Joe Hale Haden: "Found Objects" opening reception
Joe Hale Haden grew up in Houston and has been making art ever since he can remember, obtaining degrees in both mechanical engineering and visual communication. He spent much of his adolescence creating drawings of life around him, as well as highly detailed blueprints for imagined homes. In this exhibition, Haden juxtaposes organic and non-organic shapes, marrying their superficial differences. Through Wednesday, July 7. 10 am.

ElectroBounce - 6 Year Anniversary of Soul Control
After a year-plus-long hiatus, the “movement-based healing” known as ElectroBounce is officially back in action this weekend, over at Shrine of the Black Madonna. This party also serves as this six-year anniversary of Soul Control, aka the ruckus-bringing duo of DJ Anarchy and DJ Elevated. It’s going to be an eclectic dance party, complete with an open bar. 10 pm.

Sunday, June 6

Children At Risk presents Big Brunch: "Bright Futures"
At this event, guests will enjoy a brunch with fried chicken, champagne & other delicacies, wine tasting games and more, all to raise support for children. The gathering will also honor some special heroes who have made extraordinary efforts throughout their careers to serve children. Special honorees include Dr. David Callender, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System, Stephen Williams, director of the Houston Health Department and others. Noon.

Sunday Fund Daze Pop-up Volume 2
It’s volume two for the Sunday Fund Daze Pop-Up shop, a collabo between All Blaq Everythang and Cassy’s Kitchen. They will be rounding up local, Black-owned businesses to showcase their products and services and spotlight the incredible brands that some of their favorite entrepreneurs have built. There will be vendors, food (from Cassy’s, of course), a live DJ and a cash bar. Noon.

event-planner

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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