one giant leap

All the out-of-this-world Houston events to celebrate Apollo 11's 50th anniversary

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed,” so spoke Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969, as he and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the moon. Fifty years later, if any place is going to throw a city-wide, ultimate (yet educational) party for when humans first reached the moon, it’s going to be Houston. In fact, some of us (looking at you, Houston Museum of Natural Science) have been celebrating for months now.

If you're looking to take a giant leap into space history, we've found the best cultural and scientific celebrations to launch you into lunar anniversary orbit.

Out-of-This-World Lunar Exhibitions at Houston Museum of Natural Science (ongoing)
HMNS has been celebrating moon exploration since April, with the giant lunar sculpture Moon by Luke Jerram, a new Burke Baker Planetarium show, To Defy Gravity, and a virtual reality experience, Destination Moon. They’ve also recently added a new installation recreating the Sea of Tranquility, where the astronauts of Apollo 11 landed. And now showing in the Wortham Giant Screen Theatre is the documentary Apollo 11: First Steps, showcasing never-before-seen 70mm footage and newly discovered audio recordings of the mission.

NASA Tram Tours featuring the Apollo Mission Control Center at Space Center Houston (ongoing)
Just in time for all the Apollo 11 celebrations, Space Center Houston has restored the Apollo Mission Control room, a national historic landmark. The room, used during the Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle eras, underwent restoration beginning in July 2017. Now reopened, guests will see the restored flight control consoles with their screens displaying data used during the Apollo 11 mission. The five large screens across the front of the room have been reactivated with projections to recreate the exact images seen during the Apollo 11 mission. This spectacular look into space history is included on the NASA Tram Tours and Level 9 VIP Tours.

Moon Walk from Buffalo Bayou Partnership and HMNS (July 16)
Guided by the full moon, take an educational “moon walk” along the Buffalo Bayou trails with an HMNS astronomer, who will be under the glow of a full moon. The moon has some radiant help in guiding your way as the signature Lunar Cycle Lighting along the bayou will all be white in sync with the full moon.

Armstrong film screening at Space Center Houston (July 18)
For this Apollo anniversary, Space Center Houston has a special addition to their Space on Screen series, which gives film and space buffs the opportunity to see documentaries and classic space films in the center of the five-story-tall Space Center Theater, one of the largest 4K theaters in Texas. See this feature-length documentary profiling the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong. The film introduces us to the real dynamic man, not just the first-man-on-the-moon myth.

Shooting the Moon: Photographs from the Museum’s Collection 50 Years after Apollo 11 at the Museum of Fine Arts (July 20–September 2)
The MFAH has been collecting space art for about as long as the U.S has been launching humans into space, and so the Apollo 11 anniversary is the perfect time to ponder when imagination, art, history, and science meet. The exhibition features 40 photographs ranging from documentary images of NASA’s mission to the moon to Ansel  Adams’s Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico.

The Day We Walked on the Moon film screening and panel discussion at the Health Museum (July 20)
This new Smithsonian Channel documentary takes viewers inside to the scenes right into mission control and the spacecraft, thanks to remastered footage and interviews with those who were there. Following this special screening, the Health Museum will bring together a panel of experts to discuss space health and medicine. The Health, Moon and Beyond features Dr. David Hilmers, a former NASA astronaut and current professor in the internal medicine department at Baylor College of Medicine; Dr. Robert Satcher, a former NASA astronaut and current oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center; Dr. Dorit Donoviel, director of TRISH at Baylor College of Medicine; and Dr. Jeffery Sutton, director of the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Apollo Day at the George Observatory in Brazos Bend State Park (July 20)
What better way to remember the moon landing than getting a telescopic space view. If you’re looking to commune with nature and alligators as you celebrate humanity’s walk on the moon, head out to Fort Bend for a day filled with speakers and stellar activities, and stay for an evening putting eyes to the telescopes viewing planets and deep-space objects.

A Giant Leap at Discovery Green (July 20)
For the ultimate free moon party, go downtown to Discovery Green for a night featuring pretty much everything but the moon sink. See a paratrooper landing by the U.S. Army Golden Knights, the United States Army’s official aerial parachute demonstration team. Explore interactive exhibits from NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the Lone Star Flight Museum. Pick up the book American Moonshot and meet its author, Douglas Brinkley.

Shop for space haute couture at a special edition of Discovery Green’s Flea by Night. Stargaze with the Houston Astronomical Society, and watch a video message from astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station. And after all that, if you’re ready for space respite, find your place on the lawn for a free screening of the documentary Apollo 11.

Apollo 11 50th Live at Space Center Houston (July 20)
The all-day celebration honoring the past, present, and future of space exploration will feature space-themed activities for the whole family, including NASA Tram Tours to Rocket Park and the Apollo Mission Control Center, speakers, book signings, an outdoor festival, and family STEM zone. The celebration reaches the stratosphere with an evening concert featuring performances by Walk the Moon and Phillip Phillips.

Apollo Night at Minute Maid Park (July 22)
Keep the celebration going as the Houston Astros host an astro-naut themed night. Look to Center Field at the Budweiser Brew House for a replica statue of Neil Armstrong's 1969 spacesuit from the Apollo 11 Mission. Neil’s son Rick Armstrong throws the ceremonial first pitch. And space and Astro fans can explore the NASA Mobile Exhibit and Space Exploration Vehicle during the evening.

Museum of Fine Arts’ Mixed Media Space City Party (August 2)
The MFAH’s summer Mixed Media night, always filled with drinks, dancing, and the best party music, gets a “Space City” makeover. The late-night spectacular brings a special appearance by Bun B with Doc Loc and the Swangers, along with sets by DJ Sun (Soular Productions) and Kay Illah, and exclusive access into the Shooting the Moon and the Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors exhibitions.

Discovery Green will screen the documentary Apollo 11 during its A Giant Leap celebration on July 20.

Photo courtesy of Neon

Discovery Green will screen the documentary Apollo 11 during its A Giant Leap celebration on July 20.

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Movie Review

Anne Hathaway's busy 2026 continues with meta-thriller Verity

Photo by Alisha Wetherill

Anne Hathaway in Verity.

Anne Hathaway has been inescapable for movie fans in 2026, starring in no fewer than five different movies across multiple genres, including Mother Mary, The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Odyssey, and The End of Oak Street. The actor (who’s pregnant and about to take a well-earned break) is wrapping up her supremely busy year with the psychological thriller, Verity.

Hathaway plays the title character, Verity Crawford, a hugely successful author who writes beach read thrillers, often from the perspective of the villain. An unpublicized car accident renders her immobile and mute, and her husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), and agents make the decision to recruit someone to ghostwrite her next book in order to continue her legacy.

The person hired for the job is Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), an aspiring author whose books mostly get ignored. She’s eager to take on the project, but the reality of Verity’s situation throws her for a loop. When she discovers a secret file that seems to be Verity admitting to some very bad things, Lowen starts to spin even more, imagining situations that may not actually be happening.

Directed by Michael Showalter and adapted by Nick Antosca from the book by Colleen Hoover, the film initially has a nice rhythm to it, setting up the three main characters well and building up tension. Though current day Verity can’t speak or move, the film gets to the heart of her through old interviews Lowen watches to get to know her mind better. Using that footage and other small moments at the house, a type of rivalry develops between the two characters.

Strangely, though, Showalter and Antosca fail to capitalize on the early momentum. The story stagnates about halfway through the movie and never delivers on what it seems to be promising. Whether they’re too true to Hoover’s original story or change things too much is difficult to tell for those who haven’t read the book, but either way, the result is a big tease with not much in the way of a payoff.

What’s most disappointing about the film is its inability to decide on a tone. There are some points where it feels like over-the-top, campy fun, and others where it seems like the filmmakers are going for a straight-up horror vibe. The down-the-middle approach that they land on serves neither the story nor the characters well. Moments that should be full of suspense or could get laughs often fall flat because of the indecisiveness of the filmmakers.

Due to her character’s affliction, Hathaway is reduced to a supporting role in the film, but she gets by on presence alone and still has a few scenes where she demonstrates her star power. Johnson delivers a good performance despite her typical lack of emotion. Like many of her roles, it’s her body that seems to get more attention than her acting. Hartnett is on a roll thanks to recent roles in Oppenheimer and Trap, and he puts in solid work here, as well.

Verity has the bones of a tense thriller, but it’s filled in with a bunch of questionable story beats that don’t prove as satisfying as the premise. The meta-plot of the authors of thrillers becoming involved in a thriller themselves should have been juicy and full of great twists, but ultimately it’s as catatonic as Verity herself.

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Verity is now playing in theaters.

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