weekend event planner

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

Journey to a time before COVID with the Texas Renaissance Festival.

Photo courtesy of Texas Renaissance Festival

Fall is finally here, as evidenced the by the joyful chill in the air. That means myriad outdoor events and some early Halloween-themed offerings. Also look for the the return of the beloved RenFest, where you can party like an era before COVID and wacky presidential debates.

Scare up some fun this weekend with these best bets for a good time in Houston.

Thursday, October 1

Bayou Preservation Association presents 17th Annual Symposium
The Bayou Preservation Association will present its 17th Annual Symposium as a virtual event with the theme Bayou-Diversity: Celebrate, Protect & Restore. The symposium, taking place over two days, will address the expanding importance of diversity in all its forms — physical, geomorphological, biological, socioeconomic, and conceptual. For this year’s conference, the Bayou Preservation Association has invited presenters from Asakura Robinson, City of Houston, Houston Audubon and so much more. 8 am.

11th Annual Keels & Wheels Uncorked at Lone Flight Star Museum
The evening will feature luxury items and experiences in the form of a live and silent auction curated by Auction Chair Jennifer Gerdes, including lavish packages of fine wines, spa getaways, hotel and resort stays, dinner certificates, autographed collectibles, and much more. Proceeds from the event benefit Lighthouse Charity Team and Today’s Harbor for Children. 6 pm.

Friday, October 2

Zoo Boo at Houston Zoo
Well, this looks cute: All little ghouls and goblins are welcome to take part in the Houston Zoo's month-long, scary/spooky event. Costumes are strongly encouraged, and guests will have plenty to experience, including the Spooky Train Village, the Friendly Dragon, where guests can hear a kid-friendly short story, and the Wildlife Carousel, which has been transformed into a spooktacular Scary-Go-Round. More than 10 different Instagram-able photo options spread all over the zoo. 9 am.

Kemah Boardwalk presents Boo on the Boardwalk
It's time to head over to Kemah and get scared with this month-long freakfest. The Boardwalk will come alive with Freaky Fridays, Scary Saturdays, and Spooky Sundays, each night featuring free activities, live musi,c and ghostly entertainment. Guests of all ages can enjoy a variety of festive and spooky thrills, including the Little Boo Haunted Fun House, Halloween-themed crafts, balloon artists, vampire stilt walkers, creepy creatures, and live concerts.

Saturday, October 3

The Texas Renaissance Festival
Now in its 46th year, the long-running festival where you can act like you're in medieval times and gorge on turkey legs ain't gonna let a pesky pandemic put a kibosh on their festivities. Expect nine fun-filled themed weekends from now until the end of November. This weekend, it's gonna be a full-fledged Oktoberfest, where everybody will be slamming down ale and saying the most inappropriate things — because, that's how things were back then. 9 am.

Hocus Pocus at the Drive-In at Sawyer Yards
Halloween is officially upon us, which means that a lot more screenings of this bit of 1993 nonsense, with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as a trio of sisters who wreak witchy havoc on the town of Salem, Massachusetts, will be popping off from now until Halloween. (Multiplexes will be playing the film this weekend.) 7:30 pm.

Sunday, October 4

Breast Cancer Can Stick It! presents Drummathon
Drummers, musicians and friends come together from all over the world to raise funds through their own online fundraising page to fight against breast cancer. The Virtual Live Stream Drummathon will commence with live music, auctions, celebrity guest appearances, breast cancer survivors, drum solos by top fundraisers, and the top three fundraiser interviews. 1 pm.

The Gumbo Jam at Shoeshine Charley's Big Top Lounge
Sometimes, you just need some gumbo in your life — and this weekly event is here to give it to you. This Louisiana-inspired jam session is home of all things funky and groovy. Singers, rappers, poets, musicians and of course horn players from all over come party in the loose, laid-back vibe of #TeamHornSection and The Gumbo Band. If you like to dance and hear great music (and get the best gumbo in Houston), this is the place. 8:30 pm.

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Movie Review

Michelle Pfeiffer visits Houston in new Christmas movie Oh. What. Fun.

Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

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Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

movies film