weekend event planner

Here are the top 8 things to do in Houston this weekend

Sunday Funday comes courtesy of Second Sunday Revival at Market Square Park.

Photo by Morris Malakoff

Thursday is the International Day of Charity. So, if you've been looking to donate to a charity or nonprofit, or do some volunteer work, Houston has many charities you can help out.

As for the weekend, look for a divine drag show, a Spice Girls tribute, and a vintage market. Here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, September 5

Katya: Help Me I'm Dying at Cullen Performance Hall
Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race know that Katya Zamolodchikova is a prominent figure on that show. The drag goddess (aka Brian McCook) was a contestant on the seventh season, as well as the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. It turns out that Katya will be in town for a wild evening of entertainment. Known for doing funny personas and characters (including everybody’s favorite dumpster-living hairdresser Trish), her show promises to be one hilarious night. 8 pm.

Spice Girls Rad City Tribute at Present Company
On the first Thursday of every month, Present Company's Rad City Thursdays (organized by One Night Stand Events, the men behind RTB Event Group) will pay tribute to different iconic artists and moments in their career. (Selena and Madonna will be later this year.) First up, the Spice Girls and their 1996 debut album Spice will be saluted. Come dressed as you are, in Spice Girl glamour or any '90s attire, as DJ Fredster will be jamming all of the '90s guilty pleasures and many more hidden gems. 9 pm to 2 am.

Friday, September 6

Eric Roberson at Henke & Pillot
Eric Roberson is one of the most independent R&B artists out there. For nearly two decades, the man has been dropping music on his own label, Blue Erro Soul, collaborating with such artists as Lalah Hathaway, Marsha Ambrosius and rapper/singer Phonte. He also tours frequently, hitting spots here and abroad. He's currently on tour celebrating the 10th anniversary release of Music Fan First, his sixth studio album. The album was made as a reward to his fans and as a personal reminder that, he too, is a fan of music first. 7-11 pm.

Giselle at Wortham Theater Center
In 1967, Giselle was the first full-length ballet performed by Houston Ballet Foundation, and Houston Ballet is fittingly bringing it back to kick off the 50th anniversary season. Artistic Director Stanton Welch’s version of this iconic ballet has 61 company dancers vying for coveted roles in a production that cost more than $1 million to build. The two-act ballet is filled with stunning creations by Italian designer Roberta Guidi di Bagno, and the music will be brought to life by the Houston Ballet Orchestra. 7 pm (7:30 pm Saturday; 2 pm Sunday).

Saturday, September 7

Zine Fest Houston 2019: Zine Cuisine at Lawndale Art Center
Zine Fest Houston is upon us, and this year brings a culinary theme. This annual event of zine exhibitors in Houston will have two spaces — project and classroom — where you can learn such things as community food and civic activism, youth zine-making, and crafting culinary dyes. There will also be a screening of the short film Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers. Featured food vendors this year include Moon Rooster Food Truck and Somos Semillas Vegan Kitchen. Noon to 6 pm.

Game Theory Expo 2019 at Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake Hotel
Get ready for two days of exciting tabletop gaming, featured guests, panel discussions, local game masters, and company-sponsored, demo groups events at this gathering. (A Friday-night preview begins at 8 pm, kicking off 24-hour gaming for weekend badge holders.) This expo is out to promote tabletop gaming in all its diversity through hosting of local game conventions. And this year’s featured charity is Gnosis Project, which provides economic benefits to partner museums. 9 pm.

Sunday, September 8

Second Sunday Revival: Vintage Vida at Market Square Park
Downtown District closes out its monthly, Second Sunday Revival series this weekend, and they're going out with a vintage bang. For this one, Vida Antigua Vintage and Yoko Vintage present Got Vintage Market, the ultimate retro market. DJ MLE will provide the music as event-goers sip and shop in the all-day shopping extravaganza. OLI.Style will also present a fashion show featuring fabulous vintage looks. Lots of other fun activities will be happening throughout the day. Noon to 5 pm.

BERT at 14 Pews
Bert Long Jr. was a Houston artist who was known as one of the art world's most compelling, creative, and talented artists. In this documentary, director (and Houston Museum of African-American Culture CEO) John Guess tells Long's story, beginning from the cotton fields of Crabb Switch, Texas, and ending up in Rome and Spain. Long's quest for success becomes that of the quintessential American. After this screening, Guess and art chronicler Peter Gershon will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A. 3-4:30 pm.

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Movie Review

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is technically stunning but lacks emotion

Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Matt Damon in The Odyssey.

For a story that is 3,000 years old and has been referenced innumerable times since the advent of the moving picture, it’s striking that The Odyssey has not been adapted into a film more often. Christopher Nolan’s new film is, depending on your definition, just the fourth time in film history that someone has attempted to tell the original story (oddly, the third film — The Return — came out just two years ago).

Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, who has been gone from his home of Ithaca for over 20 years. Waiting at home for him is his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland), as well as a hall full of suitors — most notably Antinous (Robert Pattinson) — who are hoping that Penelope will finally believe that Odysseus is dead and choose to marry one of them.

In typical Nolan fashion, the film goes back-and-forth in time often to show what has happened to Odysseus in the past two decades. His sea voyages with his crew have him attacking Troy using the legendary Trojan Horse; taking on the cyclops Polyphemus (Bill Irwin); trying to escape the clutches of the witch Circe (Samantha Morton); living with the nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron); communing with the vision of Athena (Zendaya); and more.

Nolan, who wrote and directed the epic film, has a clear reverence for the material and, perhaps more than any current filmmaker, has the chops to make the sprawling story feel coherent. With a plethora of characters who have names that take some time to understand for those not familiar with the ancient tale, it’s extremely tough to wrangle everything and everyone together, and Nolan and his team make that trick seem relatively easy.

However, there’s a difference between making the story comprehensible and making it compelling, and Nolan is not as successful on this front. As portrayed in this film, it’s difficult to care whether Odysseus ever finds his way home. His connection with Penelope and Telemachus is tenuous, at best, and his status as a hero is called into question on multiple occasions. Complicated protagonists are nothing new, but in a story where the hero’s journey is the whole point, Nolan fails to make the quest all encompassing.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some standout moments along the way. The sequence in Polyphemus’ cave is tremendous, as are a few other scenes in which Nolan’s reported reliance on practical effects make you wonder how the crew accomplished what they did. Damon has said this is the hardest movie he’s ever made, and that effort shows up in every scene, especially those on the water.

At 56 years old, Damon is getting close to elder statesman status in Hollywood, and he ably embodies the role of the respected and feared leader. Hathaway, Holland, and Pattinson get the next most screentime, and each makes their character interesting if not mesmerizing. The murderer’s row of the supporting cast — Theron, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Elliot Page, Morton, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, and more — give each scene a nice sheen whether or not their individual arc makes sense.

While the technical achievements of Nolan and his team in The Odyssey are admirable and occasionally awe-inspiring, the story he lays out is not quite as overwhelming. The structure he chose to use doesn’t allow the story to overcome the episodic nature of Odysseus’ brutal journey, keeping big emotions mostly at bay.

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The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17.

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weekend event planner

Here are the top 8 things to do in Houston this weekend

Movie Review

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is technically stunning but lacks emotion

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