weekend event planner

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

Celebrate all the floofers at Doggy Party on the Plaza.

Photo courtesy of Doggy Party on the Plaza

With these fresh fall temps getting no higher than around 84 the entire weekend, it's a great time to be out and about doing virtually anything.

Perfect timing, then, for an outdoor tailgating contest, a massive dog party on the plaza, and a massive food festival featuring some top-tier chefs.

Enjoy the weather, H-Town. Here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, September 23

The Houston Seminar presents A House and a Home: Reckoning with Racial Disparity in Property Ownership
For the next three Thursdays, this virtual event will have guest speakers helping viewers understand the legacy and cost of land inequality and why it matters to all of us. First out the gate will be Andrea Roberts, an urban planner who researches intentional communities built by Black people. Her experience in community development under Houston mayors Bill White and Annise Parker inform her efforts to move disappearing African-American communities—facing sprawl, gentrification and resource extraction—from the margin to the center of public discourse. 5:30 pm.

Asia Society Texas presents After the Fall: Ben Rhodes on the Rise of Nationalism Across the Globe
Ben Rhodes, national security expert and former White House aide to President Barack Obama, will discuss his new book, which focuses on the rise of nationalism around the globe, with a particular look at Asia. Informed by his travels around the globe, meeting with politicians, activists and dissidents confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism experienced recently in the United States, Rhodes will share lessons the U.S. should learn in addressing nationalism’s root causes and effects. 6 pm.

Echoes of DeLuxe Art Show
A key part of the legacy of the DeLuxe Art Show (which happened 50 years ago) is the continued practice and expansion of Black modernism, breaking from forms and inventing new ones. These themes are represented in the program for this virtual, two-night event, including the documentary Time, directed by Garrett Bradley, the daughter of DeLuxe Art show curator Peter Bradley; and Stefani Saintonge’s F*cked Like A Star, part of a free virtual program with three short films representing 5th Ward, Black Invention, and Modernism. 7:30 pm.

Friday, September 24

Manhattan Short Film Festival
The 24th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival is a worldwide event taking place in over 400 venues across six continents, the only event of its kind. Going down locally this Friday and Saturday at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Brown Auditorium Theater, the final 10 films screen simultaneously across the world during a one-week period, with the Best Film and Best Actor awards determined by ballots cast by the audiences in each participating venue. By virtue of their selection by Manhattan Short, each short film is automatically Oscar-qualified. 7 pm.

Social Movement Contemporary Dance presents Power to the People
Through three world premieres, this live performance embodies the freedom from external control or influence. "The Culture" takes ownership of the now-global, hip-hop phenomenon through expression of hip-hop’s five pillars — breakdancing, MCing, DJing, graffiti and knowledge. In "Autonomy," artistic director Elijah Alhadji Gibson celebrates the strength, power and perseverance of all women, through a series of solos. To close the show, "We The People" conveys his observations of what happens when people’s daily lives are interrupted by the world's harsh realities and they begin to demand change. 7:30 pm.

Houston Symphony presents The Artistry of Augustin Hadelich
Amazing artistry and exciting new discoveries are all in store in these concerts, featuring Grammy Award-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich. The concerts begin with Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe, spotlighting principal oboe Jonathan Fischer. Then, Hadelich performs Shostakovich’s Sonata for Violin, Percussion and Strings and the Prelude from Bach’s Partita No. 2. To close, Hadelich shares a concerto by Joseph Boulogne, the son of a slave who went on to become one of the most important violinists in Paris. The Saturday performance will be available to livestream. 8 pm (2:30 pm Sunday).

Saturday, September 25

Bobcat Teddy's 1st Annual Tailgating Competition
If you love Bobcat Teddy's cook-offs, then you'll love this new competition, benefitting the Southern Smoke Foundation. Teams will be battling it out for the best tailgating team in town. First place will win $500, while second place will receive a $250 gift card to Texas Star Grill Shop. Come out for a fun-filled day of college football, taste some great grub, and watch your favorite teams compete. $7 will allow all patrons to taste and vote on their favorite tailgate team. Represent your alma mater, company, or yourself. Noon.

Houston PetTalk Magazine presents Doggy Party on the Plaza
This annual, fun-filled family day includes loads of activities, raffles, vendor sales, games, contests, and the Annual Doggy Party “Rescue Me” Parade. The event will feature shopping, food, games, artists, face painting, and more. Make sure you and your pooch come dressed to impress for this year’s Doggie Costume Contest — with prizes from Kendra Scott. Guests can rub noses with celebrity guests, get their photo taken in the free pet photo booth, have their face painted, enter giveaways for fabulous prizes, and more. Noon.

ROCO in concert: Bursting at the Seams
Conducted by ROCO’s artistic partner Mei-Ann Chen, this will feature the world premiere of the first movement of Maxime Goulet’s Ice Storm Symphony, Turmoil, telling the story of Canada’s historic, devastating 1998 ice storm, and also features the world premiere of Marcus Maroney’s OK, Goodbye. for flute, viola d’amore and chamber orchestra, inspired by the melting of the Icelandic Okjökull glacier, and highlighting soloists Matt Dane and Christina Jennings. Michael Abels’ Delights & Dances and Domenico Cimarosa’s “Il Maestro di Cappella” Overture complete the program. There will also be a ROCO surprise. 5 pm.

Sunday, September 26

Chef Fest
Houston foodies, assemble. Chef Fest will feature nine Houston chefs (including chefs from Lucille’s Hospitality Group, Tatemo, The Sporting Club, etc.) who will showcase their passion and creativity around local produce while simultaneously raising awareness and proceeds for the Houston Food System Collaborative. Guests will wash down the day's bites with craft cocktails, local beer, and Texas wine while also immersing themselves in add-on tasting and family-friendly cooking experiences. 11 am.

Main Street Theater presents Darwin in Malibu
Malibu, California. The present. One hundred and twenty years after his death, Charles Darwin (aka “the Devil’s Chaplain”) is hanging out at a beach house overlooking the Pacific with a girl young enough to be his daughter. His peace is rudely disrupted when his old friend Thomas Huxley (“the Devil’s Disciple”) washes up on the beach, closely followed by the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce. These three find themselves entangled in an enthralling and thought-provoking comedy about God and science. Running through Sunday, October 24. 3 pm.

Daryl Hall & John Oates in concert with Squeeze and KT Tunstall
“Private Eyes,” “Rich Girl,” “Sara Smile,” “One on One,” “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)” — we could honestly spend this entire blurb listing all the classic hits from the legendary Philadelphia duo, the bluest of blue-eyed soul singers. Here are two men who spent most of their careers making sure their invitation to the cookout is always open. Check them out this weekend, where you know they’ll hit you with “She’s Gone,” “Kiss on My List,” “Everytime You Go Away,” and all the faves. 7 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

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

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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