weekend event planner

Here are the top 10 things to do in Houston this weekend

Miller Outdoor Theatre summer outdoor concert

Will things get tense during this classic music face-off? Find out this weekend.

Photo courtesy of Miller Outdoor Theatre

Even though the summer season won't officially be done until late September, for a lot of people, summer is done when Labor Day Weekend rolls around.

This weekend is usually the last, fun-filled hurrah before fall and windy-to-freezing weather. Here's our usual rundown of noteworthy, weekend happenings:

Thursday, August 30

Truly special art at the Center of Art and Photography
The Celebration Company is an outfit that's making sure adults with disabilities can also create and explore art. With the new exhibit "The Art of Celebration: Through the Lens of Discovery," 23 of the Company's employees (along with guest photographer Michael Duke) get to show off the images they've captured using adaptive cameras. This exhibit will run through November 2. 6-8 pm.

Take in Mexico's unique and exotic beauty
The Houston Public Library isn't just for books, you know? It can drop some pretty historic art on folks too, as evidenced by the Library's newest exhibit, "South and North of the Border: Houston Paints Mexico." It features works of early-1920s artists who were inspired by their travels to Mexico. The exhibit just opened, but the opening reception is this weekend. It will be on display until November 10. 6-8 pm.

Bun B's big, trill record release show
On Friday, Bun B, one-half of the iconic, Port Arthur rap duo UGK, releases Return of the Trill, his first solo album in five years. So, of course, dude is going to celebrate by having a record-release party/concert. Technically, Bun B "and friends" are listed to be performing at the show. But we wouldn't be surprised if Big K.R.I.T., who serves as the album's musical coordinator, showed up for a few songs. 8-11:55 pm.

Friday, August 31

Craft beers at the 9th Annual BrewMasters Craft Beer Festival
Now in its ninth year, the BrewMasters Craft Beer Festival gives something special to people who attend: a three-day chance to get messed up on beer. People will be able to choose from hundreds of craft beer at this throwdown. But there will also be other things planned, like "Taste It First" selections, seminars and discussions by people on how to make it in the craft beer biz and — our favorite — a "Brew-B-Que." 11:30 am.

Discover who is the master in Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon
If you've never seen Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon, then you've never witnessed the only martial-arts musical from the '80s, produced by the man who created Motown. This 1985 relic is pure what-the-hell?, with the late Prince protege Vanity as a VJ caught in the middle of a feud between rival, inner-city, kung-fu fighters. Co-star Taimak, who plays one of the men, will also be there for a live Q & A afterwards. 7:30 pm.

Saturday, September 1

Exquisite, ceramic pieces at the Rienzi Collection
It's the 20th-anniversary opening of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Rienzi Collection, and a new exhibit will delve deep into the extensive selection that sits in this location. Called "The Connoisseur's Eye: New Perspectives on Ceramics in the Rienzi Collection," this exhibit expands the story of 18th-century ceramics in Rienzi's collection. This will be on display until February 3. 10 am.

Sip and paint to your favorite K-pop stars
If you listen to the youngsters today, it's all about K-pop. All those highly populated groups from Korea are now beginning to make a splash in the States: BTS, EXO, Girls' Generation, Momoland, etc. Local sip-and-paint crew Beats & Paint is capitalizing on all this K-pop love with an "I Love K-pop Sip Paint Party," where you can down some wine and most likely do portraits of your favorite K-pop singer. 6-8 pm.

Miller Outdoor Theatre's fierce classical music face-off
Miller Outdoor Theatre has been out there dropping free stage productions for nearly a century, and the place certainly isn't stopping anytime soon. For its 95th anniversary season, the theatre is kicking things off with chamber ensemble Mercury staging the multimedia orchestral showdown Vivaldi vs. Paganini. Finally, we will find out who's number one. (Dun-dun-duuuunnnn...) 8 pm.

Sunday, August 2

Find your peace with tai chi at Discovery Green
Are you getting too stressed out these days? Wanna take some time to do things in a slow, calming manner? Luckily, for you, a new tai chi class is popping off this weekend. Part of Sprouts Farmers Market's free fitness series, this class of slow, meditative movements will be taught by Chinese martial arts expert Trey Dick. These classes will run every Sunday through November 11. 9:30-11:30 am.

Kids can find their zen with "Yoga First Sundays"
You know, people, kids need to get some stress out their lives too, sometimes. If you're the parent of a child who needs to chill out (and you don't want to hit the young one with meds just yet), Children's Museum of Houston is starting up a children's yoga class this weekend that'll be on the first Sunday of every month. Kids will get to have a relaxing, 30-minute yoga session — and you can probably go and drink wine. 2:30 pm.

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Movie Review

New film Love Hurts serves as vehicle for Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan

Photo by Allen Fraser/Universal Pictures

Ke Huy Quan in Love Hurts.

Career revivals like the one that has happened to Ke Huy Quan are extremely rare in Hollywood. As a child, he scored two big back-to-back roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies. While he found occasional work after that, his career mostly went dormant starting in 2002 until he was cast in Everything Everywhere All at Once, a role that won him an Oscar.

Now, he’s the toast of the town, including his first-ever starring role as the lead in Love Hurts. Quan plays Marvin Gable, a relentlessly positive real estate agent who’s the top seller in his area. But from the beginning of the film, it’s clear that he has a hidden backstory, as he receives a veiled threat in a note from a woman named Rose (Ariana DeBose), who is seen early on defacing many of his advertisements around town.

When a heavy called The Raven (Mustafa Shakir) confronts Marvin at his office, he is pulled back into his old life, one where he was involved in the criminal enterprise of his brother, Knuckles (Daniel Wu). Soon he’s dodging attacks on multiple fronts, looking out for Rose, and all the while trying to keep up appearances at his day job.

Directed by Jonathan Eusebio (a stunt coordinator making his directorial debut) and written by Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, and Luke Passmore, the film is one big excuse to have Quan show off the martial arts skills he demonstrated in his Oscar-winning role. While there is some semblance of a story, it’s mostly to set up the various fight scenes; there’s little attempt to make the audience care about any of the stakes.

Instead, Eusebio and his team vacillate between moments of calmness and sequences with extreme violence. Quan and his fellow combatants (in addition to Shakir, he faces off against Marshawn Lynch, Cam Gigandet, and others) engage in a series of creative moves designed to inflict as much pain as possible. The juxtaposition of the seemingly mild-mannered Marvin with his abilities works relatively well, as does the variety of implements used as weapons (pencils, boba straws, feathers, and more come into play over the course of the film).

But the lack of a full story catches up with the film in the end, as instead of building to some kind of grand finale, there are diminishing returns with every scene. The filmmakers try to distract with a semi-amusing romantic connection between The Raven and Marvin’s assistant, Ashley (Lio Tipton), something that works much better than allusions to a bond between Marvin and Rose. There’s also a mini-Goonies reunion with Sean Astin as Marvin’s boss that’s kind of fun, but the antipathy between Marvin and his attackers never fully develops.

Quan is a joyful presence who does his level best to make himself into a lead actor, but he’s not served well in the film as a whole. DeBose, an Oscar winner herself, seems to be stuck in a rut of mediocre roles, ones that don’t allow her to show off her skills like West Side Story. Lynch shows again he’s reliable in comic sidekick roles, while Tipton and Shakir are the only other actors to make any kind of impact.

The Valentine’s theme of Love Hurts is not the only part of the film that feels tacked on. While the idea of letting Quan show off his skills is a good one in theory, very little thought appears to have been put into making that showcase effective. The result is a forgettable action comedy that puts more emphasis on ultraviolence than its story.

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Love Hurts opens in theaters on February 7.

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