weekend event planner

Here are the top 7 things to do in Houston this weekend

Sawyer Yards takes you out of this world on Saturday.

Photo courtesy of The Arts District

Looking for some laughs? Check out comedian Arnez J's four-night stint at the Houston Improv or Menopause the Musical playing at the Grand 1894 Opera House. There's also the scandalous Dave's 11th Annual Pimp and Ho Ball, going down this Saturday.

Of course, there are plenty of more, ahem, mainstream events happening this weekend.

Thursday, July 11

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache at 14 Pews
If you're a cinephile who enjoy knowing more about the women who inhabited the early days of cinema, may we direct you to this documentary. It tells the story of Alice Guy-Blache, who completed her first film in 1896 Paris and not only was the first female filmmaker, but one of the first directors ever to make a narrative film. Jodie Foster narrates the doc, which follows Blache's 20-year career as the founder of her own studio and as a writer, director and/or producer of 1,000 films. 7 pm.

Friday, July 12

Opinions While Black 50th Episode Celebration/Meet and Greet at Bar 5015
A popular podcast is recorded right here in Houston. It's called Opinions While Black, and it features writer Oz Longworth Jr. and rapper Damien Randle (best known as one of the MCs from K-Otix) riffing on news and pop-culture ephemera from an African-American (and, usually, not sober) perspective. In celebration of their 50th episode, they will be recording Opinions live at Bar 5015 — and they'll most likely be even drunker than they usually get when they record the show. 9 pm.

Piranha and Alligator at Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra
This weekend, the killer-alligator movie Crawl will hit theaters. But we shouldn't forget about the most definitive, crocodile horror flick to hit theaters: 1980's Alligator. This is about a scientifically-modified creature that bursts through sidewalks and starts gnashing on folks. It will be screened along with the 1978 Joe Dante-directed Jaws ripoff/parody Piranha. BTW, both these films were written by indie-film legend John Sayles. And live alligators will be available for selfies! 9 pm.

Saturday, July 13

Sawyer Yards’s Out of This World
The monthly Sawyer Yard’s Second Saturday open studios and outdoor market blasts off with a special space theme. Highlights include space photography of our solar system projected in the old Silos train shed and clips of the moon landing shown on the historic Riviana Rice silo; specialty craft beer and space-themed movies at Holler Brewing Co; a FotoFest Pop-up exhibition at Winter Street Studios of the art piece Hillerbrand + Magsamen: Higher Ground; plus, lots of interactive art opportunities throughout the day into the evening.

Christopher Titus at Hobby Center for the Performing Art
Some of you may not remember when comedian Christopher Titus had his own Fox sitcom, Titus, in the early aughts. The show was far from a success, especially considering it was based on his highly dysfunctional family, which included his emotionally abusive dad and mentally ill mom. But the man has still managed to mine a lot of material out of family trauma, as evidenced by the several one-man shows he's done over the years. He'll be here doing his latest, Stories I Shouldn't Tell. 8 pm.

Sunday, July 14

Dave Ward Book Signing at Le Peep
Don't you feel that Dave Ward has been a part of your life for so long, he's basically a part of your family? After all, he's been the anchor for KTRK's weekday Eyewitness News for the past 50 years. It's obvious the man has a lot of good stories to tell, and he tells a lot of them in his new memoir, Good Evening, Friends: A Broadcaster Shares His Life. He'll be at this event, signing copies of said book as well as being available for photo opps, this weekend. Noon.

Snakes on the Plains at Sheldon Lake State Park
You know, we don't get how people can be afraid of snakes. People call them slimy and disgusting, but their knack for shedding skin to further growth and remove parasites actually makes them the cleanest animals out there. But we don't mind them when they are visibly in our presence, like at this park, where guests will be able to see them slithering around the trails. 2 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

New thriller Crime 101 majors in cool with Hemsworth at the wheel

Photo courtesy of Amazon Content Services

Chris Hemsworth in Crime 101.

The career of actor Chris Hemsworth is a curious one, as it feels like he’s a huge star (mostly from playing Thor in Marvel movies) and not at the same time, with most of the non-MCU movies featuring him in a lead role failing to become big successes. But he still has a certain presence about him, which is why he’s being given another chance to prove his star power in the new thriller, Crime 101.

Hemsworth plays Davis, a talented thief who knows how to get what he wants without resorting to violence. When a job early in the movie turns slightly sideways, it makes him think twice about working with his handler (Nick Nolte), who seems to prefer someone with a stronger touch, like the up-and-coming Ormon (Barry Keoghan).

Davis is the main character, but two others who come into his orbit get their own subplots. Lou (Mark Ruffalo) is a slightly schlubby LAPD detective who’s convinced he knows the pattern of an unknown thief that likes to hit places close to Highway 101. Sharon (Halle Berry) works for a high-end insurance agency known for working with ultra-wealthy clients, the types who might be a great target for a thief like Davis.

Written and directed by Bart Layton, the film has a decent propulsion to it that comes with most crime thrillers. Davis and Ormon represent the yin and the yang of criminal approaches, and and it’s interesting to see the juxtaposition between the two as their simmering rivalry heats up over the course of the film. When the film commits to actually showing its crimes, it has an excitement that’s worth watching.

Unfortunately, Layton displays a real lack of focus, taking the audience into subplots with each of the three main characters that prove unnecessarily distracting. Lou’s marriage problems may explain his disheveled appearance, but there’s no need to see him deal with them with wife Angie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Sharon’s troubles with her male-dominated company prove slightly pivotal, but still don’t merit the time put into exploring them.

The most baffling subplot is Davis pursuing a relationship with Maya (Monica Barbaro), a woman he randomly meets. At different points in the movie, including many of his interactions with Maya, Davis seems like the most uncomfortable, antisocial person in the world. And yet he somehow morphs into a suave smooth-talker who’s able to convince anyone to do what he wants at other key points, making it unclear exactly what kind of person he really is.

Hemsworth does relatively well in the lead role, but he’s still missing that certain something to make his character, and therefore the movie, truly compelling. The rest of the cast is fine, too, but each of them seem to be putting in just the minimal amount of effort to make the film watchable. Ruffalo and Barbaro come off the best, but with the talent in the cast (11 Oscar nominations and one win), they could have been used better.

Crime 101 has most of the ingredients to be another great entry in the genre, and it succeeds when it actually decides to deliver on its promise. But too much of the film is spent on things that have no real bearing on plot or character development, leaving the movie in the middle of the pack.

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Crime 101 is now playing in the theaters.

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weekend event planner

Here are the top 7 things to do in Houston this weekend

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New thriller Crime 101 majors in cool with Hemsworth at the wheel

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