weekend event planner

Here are the top 9 things to do in Houston this weekend

weekend events mystical arts of tibet monk mandala

Tibetan monks will create breathtaking mandalas this weekend.

Photo courtesy of Asia Society

Thursday, August 16 is National Rum Day — and that's really all that needs to be said.

Several spots around Houston will be celebrating this day in full swing. Aloft Houston and the Sheraton North Houston at George Bush Intercontinental will both have Bacardi cocktail specials for $12, while Downtownfest Houston will have rum flowing out of several downtown locations.

While this is certainly a sweet way to start off the weekend, here are some other refreshing things also happening.

Thursday, August 16

Journalist Jayme Lynn Blasche talks the infamous Chicken Ranch
If you've never heard the story of The Chicken Ranch, maybe you might want to reserve a box lunch for this particular lecture. The Chicken Ranch was a house of ill repute where Madame Edna Milton had a stable of girls who made oil tycoons, major politicians, and dirt farmers very comfortable. That is until Houston's very own Marvin Zindler went on a mission to bring the place down on local TV. The Ranch famously inspired the Broadway musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which spawned a movie starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. Journalist/author Jayme Lynn Blasche will give his extensive history of the Ranch during this lecture. Noon.

The Drepung Loseling Monastery monks create stunning sand art
The Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery will return once again for a weekend of creating, dancing, music, and basically doing their thing. This is their fourth time in Houston, sharing their art and ceremony to the estimated thousands of people who gather each year to watch them. The monks' big project will be a sand mandala construction ritual, where millions of grains of sand are laid into place to purify and heal the environment and its inhabitants. The monks will also do Sacred Music, Sacred Dance, which comes from ancient Tibetan traditions. (A shorter, family matinee on Saturday at 2 pm has been added this year.) Noon-6 pm (10 am-6 pm Friday and Saturday; 10 am-3 pm Sunday.)

Friday, August 17

University of Houston/The Voice alumna Stephanie Rice returns
University of Houston graduate Stephanie Rice has come a long way. Once upon a time, she was disowned by her parents for being gay. But not only did she graduate UH in 2012 with a biology degree and psychology minor, she memorably was a contestant on NBC's singing competition show The Voice, which led to her pursuing a full-time music career. She's been down with music ever since she scrounged up $100 to buy a guitar after her parents kicked her out. Now, she's coming back to her alma mater for the UH College of Education's First Lecture. Rice said her remarks will address the themes of perseverance and the power of caring adults to influence a student's life. 11 am.

James Harden kicks off JH-Town Weekend with a night of stand-up
Houston Rockets star James Harden will be doing a lot this weekend. He will host his second JH-Town Weekend, which will include a celebrity softball game at the University of Houston and a basketball charity game over at Texas Southern University's H&PE Arena. (All the proceeds from the game will go to Harden's charity organization, 3 The Harden Way, which funds scholarship programs.) But the weekend officially begins with a night of comedy called "James Harden's MVP's of Comedy." The lineup will feature vets from such shows as HBO's Def Comedy Jam, BET's Comic View and MTV's Wild n' Out. So, expect a lot of these comics to step on stage and act a damn fool. 8 pm.

Saturday, August 18

Michael Rapaport and Paul Wall go off on pop culture and sports
Actor Michael Rapaport has become nearly as famous for his social media and podcast presence as for his acting acumen. He's bringing his popular "I Am Rapaport: Stereo Podcast" to Warehouse Live, where he'll spout off on politics, sports, pop culture, and even Houston's 68-year-old Jean Wilson, the grandmother who shot a suspect trying to break into her home. (Rapaport has has offered her up front-row tickets with drinks on the house.) Thankfully, you don't have to shoot anyone to see Rapaport shoot his mouth off. Houston rapper Paul Wall will co-host for what should be a raucous session. Tickets start at $28.

Four decades of R&B at four downtown bars at the R&B Bar Crawl
When we heard there is going to be an R&B Bar Crawl happening this weekend, we were worried that it would consist of people visiting bars that would play the same six R&B songs you hear on 97.9 The Box every damn hour. Thankfully, this crawl will serve up both new and classic soul goodies. The venues that are part of the crawl — Dean's Downtown, Bovine & Barley, Char Bar, and Pure Nightclub — will each play a different decade of R&B music. The night will finish up with an exclusive, private, all-time classics party. And if you show up as your favorite R&B idol, you might get some prizes your way. 4-10 pm.

The Lyft Summer Concert Series presents The Josh Abbott Band
For the past several weeks, on-demand transportation company Lyft has been celebrating its one-year anniversary in Houston with an outdoor concert series, aptly titled the Lyft Summer Concert Series. This weekend, the series wraps up with a live set from Texas country outfit The Josh Abbott Band. (Conroe Americana singer-songwriter Parker McCollum will serve as the opening act.) And, after that, we're sure Lyft will be there to give you a ride. 6 pm.

Sunday, August 19

Sip and support with Camerata's wine tasting/fundraiser
You wanna sip on some wine for a good cause? Camerata will have a wine tasting inside its establishment that will benefit the Organization for Autism Research (OAR). General manager Chris Poldoian will also run the Berlin Marathon next month to raise funds and awareness for OAR's applied autism research and projects. But back to the tasting — there will be six different wines poured and the tasting will be followed by charcuterie and cheese straight from Houston Dairymaids. Wine, cheese and all the proceeds will go Poldoian's fundraiser — not a bad way to spend a Sunday. 2-3 pm.

Eye-popping puppetry with Mr. Ruraru's Yard
If you're in the mood for some old-school puppetry, there will be a one-day-only, puppet performance of Mr. Ruraru's Yard. Based on the award-winning, Japanese picture book, this performance will consist of the Taiwanese puppetry group The Puppet and its Double doing "a non-verbal interpretation of the exchange of emotions between humans and nature." Houston is the last city in this show's U.S. tour, so take the fam and prepare to be moved by some beautiful, puppet action. 4 pm.

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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.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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