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    weekend event planner

    Here are the top 12 things to do in Houston this weekend

    Craig Lindsey
    Aug 12, 2021 | 6:00 am
    Hot August Night Mid Main
    Rock out, shop, and check out some vibrant art at Saturday's Hot August Night.
    Photo illustration courtesy of Emily Jaschke/Mid Main

    Heads up, breakdancing fans: Red Bull BC One (aka the world's largest breaking competition), will be in town on Saturday. Watch the best b-boys and b-girls of Houston go head-to-head on the battle floor, with only one winner to be crowned.

    Meanwhile, the weekend offers plenty of fun, including plenty of cool concerts, beer olympics (if you still need that Olympic fix), massive dinosaurs, Indian-meets-Spanish dance, and a punk rock garage sale. Here are your best bets for the weekend.

    Thursday, August 12

    Positivity Popup Benefiting Kids Meals and Animeals
    Houston Heights realtor Caroline Schlemmer will partner with Generation Serve to host her latest Positivity Popup at A 2nd Cup this weekend. The free event is designed to promote volunteerism and will include fun DIY projects for kids that will benefit Kids Meals and Animeals. Examples include preparing lunch bags and making pet toys. Recent Positivity Popups have seen over 300 attendees. This event is ideal for kids and families preparing for back-to-school. 3 pm.

    Holocaust Museum Houston presents Dr. Alan Schlesinger
    Holocaust Museum Houston and its Boniuk Library will host Dr. Alan Schlesinger for a free author talk. Dr. Schlesinger will discuss his new book, Resilience: The Story of How My Father Survived the Holocaust. Dr. Schlesinger will tell the story of his father Joe’s three-year journey of survival that included 17 months of forced laborer on the eastern front followed by deportation to Auschwitz, where he survived for six months before spending an additional four months in five other concentration camps. 6 pm.

    Friday, August 13

    Kem in concert with Babyface and Musiq Soulchild
    Get ready for a primo-soul experience at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion this weekend. First off, we've got smooth-as-hell, adult-contemporary R & B star Kem, who'll be here promoting his 2020 album Love Always Wins. Then, we have R &B legend Babyface, who has written and performed hit songs for such artists as Whitney Houston, Madonna, Ariana Grande, Usher and himself. Finally, we have Musiq Soulchild, who practically made it cool to listen to neo-soul in the early 2000s. Oh, this is gonna be sweet! 7 pm.

    Zach Person in concert
    Before he takes off on his first European tour, new Texas artist Zach Person will have his Houston LP release show at House of Blues this weekend. The Austin-based, 24-year-old guitar-playing phenom has a brand-new, self-titled record, produced by Will Loconto (Information Society/T-4-2), that dropped in April. Person got his start playing music in Houston (at the House of Blues, specifically), so this show is very much a homecoming for him. 7 pm.

    Silambam Houston presents Sharing Stories
    With cross-cultural conversation and collaborative storytelling, Sharing Stories incorporates Indian classical dance, flamenco and theater arts into a unique, family-friendly experience for diverse audiences. Act One is a Kathak-Flamenco curtain-raiser featuring two dynamic dance ensembles, accompanied by live musicians from Indian classical and Spanish folk tradition. Act Two is the feature presentation, which tells the story of a 16-year old warrior who fought fearlessly in the epic Kurukshetra war of Indian mythology. 8:30 pm.

    Saturday, August 14

    Revelry Summer Beer Olympics
    Revelry on Richmond will be hosting this "Olympic" event — so grab your family, friends or fellow coworkers. (All you need is a team of 4 and $20.) There will be fun events such as giant beer pong, cornhole, golden tee closest to the pin, b-ball shootout, flip cup tic-tac-toe, and speed connect-4. Plus, there will be bonus points if your team dresses alike. The first-place winner will receive $400 in cash, $100 dollars in cash & a $100 gift card for second place, and a $100 Revelry on Richmond gift card for third place. 1 pm.

    Community Artists' Collective presents "Third Ward Special" opening reception
    For its August exhibit, Community Artists' Collective will highlight Houston’s iconic Third Ward neighborhood through the lenses of six photographers with deep roots in the area. This will feature the works of Marc Furi, Flash Gordon Parks, Rabéa Ballin, Risky Cereal, Brian Ellison, and Derrell Boson. The art is inspired by the many facets of the cultural, historic epicenter and is curated by Miles Payne and Marc Newsome. On display through Saturday, September 25. 5 pm.

    Mid Main's Hot August Night
    Mid Main lofts will host a "hot" night of entertainment, starting with music by Shakin’ All Over at Double Trouble along with drink specials at the Brass Tap — for those who mention Hot August Night.

    Stop, shop and sip at the Mid Main Lofts Gallery for the FULL METAL JASCHKE art show (by frequent CultureMap contributor, Emily Jaschke), as well as My Flaming Heart, and grab the perfect disco outfit at the Fashion Time Machine. Both stores and the gallery will be open late.

    Later, event headliners Disco Expressions will perform “A touch of Neil Diamond” at the Continental Club starting at 9 pm. The fun kicks off with Mid Main Lofts Gallery Open House featuring the FULL METAL JASCHKE Art Show from 6 pm-8 pm.

    Road to River Revival Music Fest
    Downtown District will close out its Road to River Revival Music Fest, a free monthly concert series at Market Square Park, this weekend. Presented in collaboration with Houston record label Splice Records and Saint Arnold Brewing Company, these concerts presented regional performers that showcased the genres represented at Splice Records’ River Revival Music Festival, taking place this September in New Braunfels. This month’s concert features Money Chicha with Mia Borders. 7:30 pm.

    Sunday, August 15

    Jurassic Quest at NRG Center
    Sunday will be the last day to check out this dinosaur-full spectacle, which will be happening this weekend at NRG Center. Jurassic Quest features over 100 realistic life-size dinosaurs, including Apatosaurus, Spinosaurus, T-Rex, and a 50-foot-long Megalodon. Guests can interact with walking dinosaurs and baby dinos, ride enormous dinosaurs, experience a giant fossil dig, face painting, bounce house, games, and more. Let's hope a lot of folks show up dressed as Laura Dern or Jeff Goldblum. 9 am.

    Punk Rock Garage Sale at Brash Brewing
    You know, it's been a hot minute since we last checked in on our favorite garage sale devoted to anything punk-related. More than 24 individual vendors (both inside and outside) will be offering up music equipment, toys, zines, DVDs and VHS, albums and cassettes, clothing, art, and all kinds of weird stuff. Vendors will be spaced out to allow for proper social distancing, and masks are required to enter venue and when approaching vendors. Kids and dogs are always welcome. 1 pm.

    Mutiny Wine Room's St. Roch Day "Yappy Hour" benefiting PupSquad Animal Rescue
    Celebrate St. Roch, the Patron Saint of Dogs, for a "Yappy Hour" benefiting PupSquad Animal Rescue. Guests will receive a complimentary glass of sparkling wine and light bites at the event honoring PupSquad and the people who work so hard to save Houston's homeless animals. 4 pm-6 pm.

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    Movie Review

    Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

    Alex Bentley
    Dec 12, 2025 | 2:30 pm
    Emma Mackey in 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.

    ---

    Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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