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

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York lifts big rewards from small stakes

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

John Turturro in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.

John Turturro is one of those people who embodies the term “character actor” the best. With over 120 credits in his nearly 50-year career, Turturro has rarely been the star of any of his projects. Instead, filmmakers have mostly used his unique face, New York accent, and inimitable acting style to help support the lead actors, a role for which Turturro seems well-suited.

Now 69, Turturro is taking the reins in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, playing Harry, a long-in-the-tooth thief who still has skills but not as many opportunities. The plucking of wallets isn’t as lucrative in the mostly-cashless modern society, and Harry has little use for smartphones since he doesn’t know how to use them. However, a rare opportunity presents itself when he happens upon Dylan (Will Price), a young man who seems to be as oblivious as he is rich.

After a clever robbery of Dylan’s vintage car, though, Harry discovers he might be in over his head, especially when he finds a card-shaped USB drive. It's the contents of the drive that soon puts Harry and anyone around him in danger, including his wife, Rosie (Karina Arroyave), who’s suffering from unresponsive wakefulness syndrome; Ben (Steve Buscemi), who helps Harry sell stolen items; and even his estranged daughter Kelly (Tatiana Maslany).

Written and directed by Noah Segan, the film is a low-key thriller made to emulate the tempo of Harry’s life. While one of the plot points puts a degree of urgency into his actions, for the most part Harry is someone for whom slow and steady always wins the race. He is someone who has developed relationships over decades, including with NYPD Detective Warren (Giancarlo Esposito), and it’s those bonds that help him make it through each day.

Even though Harry is a criminal, the film treats him as an overall good guy, especially through the way he takes care of Rosie and the generosity he displays with his (stolen) money. Almost no one has a bad thing to say about him, and so Segan comes up with a couple of ways to give him more depth. His one scene with Kelly does the trick, providing a glimpse into a lesser man who clearly existed at one time.

One of the pleasures of the film for longtime movie fans are the reunions Turturro has with Buscemi (his co-star in The Big Lebowski) and Esposito (his co-star in Do the Right Thing). All three could be all-stars on a team of character actors, with each having made big impressions in all sorts of roles over the past 40 years. Seeing them back together again as very different characters from when they last collaborated underscores the level of talent each of them has.

Turturro ably carries the load in the lead role, but given his acting style and the type of role he’s called to play, his performance is far from showy. The same goes for Buscemi and Esposito, who are there to give great support to the classic supporting actor. When someone does go over-the-top, as Price does in most of his scenes, it stands out in a bad way. Maslany scores a lot of points in her brief appearance.

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is a quiet film with big rewards despite its small ambitions. The beauty of the story lies in its small details, both character-related and not. Turturro rarely disappoints when he’s not the lead actor, and he demonstrates that he’s equally capable of making a movie great when he’s out front.

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The Only Living Pickpocket in New York opens in theaters on October 30.

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