weekend event planner

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

Show off your best-dressed pets at at "yappy hour."

Photo courtesy of The VanRoss Foundation

This weekend promises some gorgeous weather and a chance to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos (check out our handy guides to all the events and food and drink happenings). Look for a cute Halloween "yappy hour" for furry friends, plus some gross and family-friendly fun at our beloved children's museum.

Or, catch dinner and a scary movie at a chic Houston hotel and some Halloween-themed tunes courtesy of the Houston Symphony.

Speaking of tunes, there's a chance to jam to Eddie Van Halen, too. Rock on with our weekend picks.

Thursday, October 29

Kinder Institute for Urban Research presents Urban Reads: Rucker C. Johnson
Rucker C. Johnson, acclaimed economist and professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley & faculty research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, will discuss his new book, Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works. Johnson asserts that school integration efforts in the '70s and '80s were overwhelmingly successful, and argues that we must renew our commitment to integration for the sake of all Americans. 12:15 pm.

Paw & Order F.A.C.T. - Halloween Yappy Hour at Osso & Kristalla
For all you dog lovers out there, you and your pet can also get in on the Halloween spirit. This event will feature a dog costume contest, food and drink specials, giveaways, and a raffle. Bring along your furry friend and enjoy complimentary pet treats from our sponsors, including Tito's Vodka. And even if you don't enter the contest, you can still dress up your dog in something spooky, since there will also be fun photo areas set up with Halloween-themed backdrops. 4 pm.

Friday, October 30

Dinner and a Movie Date Night at The Houstonian
The Houstonian is gonna have one fun dinner-and-a-movie planned this weekend. For starters, executive chef Neal Cox will have a four-course, seated menu themed to the movie, with sommelier Dat Le's cocktails and wine pairings. As for the movie, the original 1978 Halloween, it will be shown on ballroom screens with socially distanced seating. All the guests have to do is dress up like someone from their favorite, 1978 movie: Halloween, Superman, Up in Smoke, Animal House, etc. 6 pm.

Da Camera presents Steve Reich's Different Trains
Da Camera of Houston continues its fall season of virtual programming with this archival concert. The St. Lawrence String Quartet originally performed Reich’s groundbreaking work way back in April 2018. The concert will feature original synchronized video, and the interweaving of a live/pre-recorded string quartet with the sounds of trains, whistles, sirens, and recorded voices from the American past and fragmented memories of Holocaust survivors. 7 pm.

Saturday, October 31

Children's Museum Houston presents Halloween Grosstopia Watch Party
Children’s Museum Houston has been doing this thing all month long called Halloween Grosstopia, complete with “All-Time Access” videos to shock, startle, and connect you with our educators wherever you are -- at school, at home, at play, etc. They've saved the best for last this weekend with a watch party on Facebook Live, where they'll have blood making, snot prepping, and moon phase howling. Hey, we're sure your kids will dig it. 1 pm.

Houston Symphony presents Live from Jones Hall: Haunted Halloween POPS
Grab some spooky spirits (we're assuming that means booze) and have an at-home Halloween party as the Houston Symphony presents a virtual night of spooky throwbacks. Michael Krajewski, who served as the Houston Symphony's principal POPS conductor for 17 seasons, leads spine-tingling classics like In the Hall of the Mountain King, music from Psycho, Harry Potter, Ghostbusters, and more in this special livestream. 8 pm.

Sunday, November 1

The Women's Fund presents 10th Annual Rockin’ Resiliency Luncheon
The Rockin’ Resiliency Luncheon has been transformed into a virtual event. You’ll be able to enjoy the same education panel discussion, an inspiring luncheon speaker, auction items you love to bid on and a Baubles and Bubbles Champagne Raffle, right from the comfort of your own home. You can make the luncheon memorable by hosting a watch party with a small group of your friends from home. 12:30 pm.

The Eagles and Van Halen at Space City Shows
Pop-up drive-in theater Space City Shows will be hitting audiences with a double-dose of good, all-American rock — live (pre-recorded, that is) in concert. First off, is the legendary Eagles, that gang of California rock stars who are probably responsible for the births of so many Whole Foods shoppers out there. Then, later on, in memory of the late Eddie Van Halen, there will be a concert showing of the one-and-only Van Halen. (We don't know if it's David or Sammy who'll be fronting 'em though.) 4:30 pm.

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Movie Review

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya face pre-marriage jitters in The Drama

Photo courtesy of A24

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya in The Drama.

Robert Pattinson and Zendaya will be seen together a lot at the movies in 2026, with mega-films like The Odyssey and Dune: Part Three coming out later in the year. But fans can get a much more intimate look at the two stars in a film that offers a unique take on relationship struggles, The Drama.

Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Pattinson) are a New York couple who are engaged to be married. After a quick-but-effective montage of their courtship, the story joins them as they are just days away from their wedding. As they get all the details like music, flowers, and food finalized, a visit to the caterer with married friends Rachel (Alana Haim) and Mike (Mamoudou Athie) proves fateful.

A few too many drinks leads to each member of the group deciding to divulge the worst thing they’ve ever done. While each story is slightly shocking, Emma’s takes the cake, so much so that Charlie starts to question their relationship. As they get closer to the wedding date, Charlie finds it increasingly difficult to get beyond Emma’s revelation, with each real or imagined conversation threatening to derail their previously tight bond.

Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, the film is provocative, funny, and cringey as it tries to get to the center of human dynamics. Charlie, Rachel, and Mike have starkly different reactions to Emma’s story, and the way those play out over the course of the film provides, well, the drama. The harder Charlie tries to justify Emma’s past, the more his underlying feelings start to eat at him, causing friction not just between him and Emma, but in other parts of his life, as well.

Strangely, especially for a character played by Zendaya, Emma recedes more than expected. Her explanations for her previous actions are timid at best, and she mostly seems to be waiting for Charlie to forgive her instead of questioning why she needs forgiveness. Borgli favors the male side of the equation, and in so doing he doesn’t dig as deep into the root of the issue as he could have.

Still, the downward spiral at the center of the story has a propulsive nature to it, and each successive step proves to be both hard to watch and impossible to turn away from. It also helps that Borgli manages the tone well, keeping interactions between characters relatively light so that the film doesn’t turn into one like Marriage Story.

Pattinson, who gets to use his own British accent for once, put on an interesting performance that is much better than his last two roles in Mickey 17 and Die My Love. He has good chemistry with Zendaya, who manages to shine despite being laden with a role that doesn’t play entirely to her strengths. Haim and Athie do good work in small roles, while Hailey Grace and Hannah Gross make an impact in brief appearances.

The situation in which Emma and Charlie find themselves in The Drama is not one to be wished on anyone, but it’s presented well by Borgli, keeping tensions high for the bulk of the film. Despite the two main characters not given completely equal footing, the story finds a way to get to a satisfactory ending.

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The Drama opens in theaters on April 3.

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