Weekend Event Planner

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

At last, it's fall in Houston (we think), with the promise of cooler weather and plenty of happenings to choose from. Outdoor events, musical acts, and lots of festivals are on tap this weekend (with many brisker weekends to come).

We've come up with 10 favorite things to do this weekend, but there are a lot more options on the CultureMap Events Calendar.

Thursday, October 20

Cheese Festival Store Stroll at Central Market

Rather than sit in Houston traffic, Central Market invites shoppers to stop by and say, "Cheese." Get your grocery shopping done for the weekend while you sample an array of cheeses, including GranaPadano, Les 3 ComtoisComte, One Year Aged Manchego, Camembert, and more.

Station Theater presents Trill Comedy

Houston’s most diverse comedy festival features 10 shows with more than 90 comedians performing improv, sketch comedy, stand-up comedy, performance art, variety shows, and more over the next four nights. Headliners include stand-up comedian Michelle Wolf, a correspondent for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and 3Peat, one of Chicago’s most exciting improv troupes, featuring Second City and iO Theater-based performers and instructors.

Luke Bryan at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Prepare to swoon as country music favorite Luke Bryan comes to The Woodlands. We're betting his concert will include tracks from his new album, Kill the Lights. Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch are the opening acts.

Friday, October 21

Alley Theatre presents Remote Houston

This participatory, pedestrian-based live theater experience involves a group of 50 individuals who meet and discover Houston from a remote perspective. Armed with only a set of headphones, participants are guided by a computer generated synthetic voice as they amble through downtown, crafting their own interpretation and unique story of the sights, music, and surrounding environments they encounter.

Vintique Flea presents Eats at Silver Street

Houstonians dine out more than residents of any other city in the United States, we are also very charitable; so what's better than combining the two by "eating for a cause" with such local vendors as The Waffle Bus, Cousins Main Lobster, Pocket to Me, Grove Donutz, and Curbside Sliderz? Proceeds benefit the Washington Avenue Arts District, which is home to 300 creative studios.

Asia Society Texas Center presents Night Market

The Asia Society's annual Night Market offers plenty of local vendors providing products, food, clothing, and Asian-inspired activities for all in the family to enjoy.

Saturday, October 22

10th Annual Puerto Rican and Cuban Festival

Get a taste of the Caribbean at this festival in downtown Houston. Salsa star Jerry Rivera will headline an homage to the musical, cultural, and culinary heritage of the Hispanic Caribbean.

The Bamboo Bash

Bamboo on The Bayou wraps up its first annual Tiki Week with The Bamboo Bash at Shoeshine Charley's Big Top Lounge. Guests are asked to dress in their finest vintage Tiki togs, with live music, DJs, an art market, Tiki-themed contest, and tropical cocktails at the Big Top bar, plus The Pachinko Hut out in the backyard.

Sunday, October 23

State of Grace First Anniversary Party

State of Grace celebrates its first anniversary with a big party. Chef Bobby Matos will serve up Tex-Mex bites and Ronnie Killen's BBQ and Raz Halili's Prestige Oysters are part of the lineup. Live music, specialty cocktails and Texas beers are also on tap. Tickets are $50, with proceeds benefiting the Houston Food Bank.

Woostock 2nd Annual Music Fest

Wooster's Garden hosts its second annual Woostock Music Festival, with several great bands to rock the night away with. A dunk tank, photo both, live wood sculpting, great food, and tantalizing cocktails add to the fun. You may even run into someone who went to the namesake Woodstock!

Houstonians get a new take on their city at the Alley Theatre's Remote Houston.

Photo by dabfoto creative

Houstonians get a new take on their city at the Alley Theatre's Remote Houston.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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