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

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

---

Queer is now playing in theaters.

movies film