weekend event planner

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

Throw on those costumes and head to some fun Halloween events.

Photo by Getty Images

This weekend, the one costume we imagine most Houstonians will don is that of a Houston Astros jersey, as our boys in blue (and orange) head to Atlanta to take it back and bring home a World Series title.

But it's also Halloween, meaning a ton events await to scare up some fun. Don those costumes and get out there (in-between Astros games, of course). Here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, October 28

CityPlace presents Día De Los Muertos Black Dinner
CityPlace will host a four-day Dia De Los Muertos celebration that will be kicked off with an exclusive Black Dinner, featuring Mexican chef and restaurateur Eduardo Palazuelos in collaboration with Houston’s own David Cordúa. A curated, four-course dinner paired with unique cocktails will be served. There will also be Catrina face painting, flower crowns, and an unveiling of a traditional altar to honor passed loved ones. Seats are limited to 50 guests. 6 pm.

Tahirih Justice Center presents Journey to Justice – Hope & Healing
This gala will be an evening of hope and healing where guests will virtually come together to honor the resiliency of immigrant survivors of gender-based violence on their journey to justice after an especially difficult year. The program highlights recent achievements and includes special messages from Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. Entertainment will be provided by Houston poet laureate “Outspoken Bean,” local singer songwriter Kristine Mills, and world-renowned salsa performer Tito Puente, Jr. 7 pm.

Czech Center Museum Houston presents Musical Tribute to Holocaust Survivor, Dr. Ervin Adam
The Czech Center Museum Houston will honor 99-year-old Holocaust survivor, Dr. Ervin Adam, of Czech origin. This event will feature a musical tribute to Holocaust victims and survivors by Houston Symphony cellist Louis-Marie Fardet and pianist Sherry Cheng. The evening will further Houston’s commitment to celebrating its diverse cultural landscape. This in-person event will include Czech hors d’oeuvres and other refreshments. 7:30 pm.

Friday, October 29

Holocaust Museum Houston presents "Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare" opening day
Holocaust Museum Houston will host this multi-sensory exhibition, highlighting issues of persecution, loss of civil liberties and the dangers of propaganda. The exhibition explores the intersection of politics, art, economics, and the social dynamics that impacted the American First Amendment rights of speech, religion, and assembly, during Hollywood’s Red Scare. On display through Sunday, February 20. 10 am.

Project Row Houses present Howling on Dowling
Celebrate the past, present, and future of the historic Eldorado Ballroom as Project Row Houses is set to revitalize the iconic building. There will be a gathering in the parking lot for a casually elegant night of music, drinks, and fun. Music curated to celebrate the golden era of Eldorado by DJ Elevated of Soul Control will be accompanied by cocktails, wine, and food courtesy of Lucille's 1913. 6:30 pm.

The Roots and Wings Project and Houston Coalition Against Hate present Matriarch
The Roots and Wings Project, in association with the Houston Coalition Against Hate, presents this two-day, transformative theatre experience that explores the roles women play in our patriarchal society and the urgent need to transform that dynamic. Following the performance, HCAH executive director Marjorie Joseph will host a panel discussion featuring performers and local domestic violence prevention advocates who are also Coalition members. 7 pm.

Saturday, October 30

8th Wonder Brewery presents Otaku Festival
8th Wonder Brewery will host a vibrant, two-day celebration of Otaku culture and street food featuring a market with rows of food vendors, live music, a Kawaii Zombie costume contest, trick-or-treating for the kids, and more. Modeled after popular street food markets found across Asia, the Otaku Food Festival will offer a dizzying array of mouthwatering dishes, many of which are prepared before visitors' eyes. Noon.

The Alta Arts presents David Hacker: "Inarticulate Paradise" opening day
The Alta Arts presents the first major exhibition of all new works in over a decade by American abstract painter David Hacker, and his first showing in Texas. Hacker’s paintings are purely abstract, featuring bold color choices against natural tones, and heavy marks both in the form of brush strokes and scrapes. The organic blocks of color and meandering brushwork together create a psychedelic space that is also reminiscent of the deep forests in the Catskills around Hacker’s studio. On display through Saturday, December 18. Noon.

Houston Arboretum presents Halloween Sip & Stroll
The Houston Arboretum’s Sip & Stroll outdoor event is taking on a spooky spin this Halloween. Guests can walk along the Arboretum’s dimly lit trails where they may encounter creatures of the night. The final destination will lead attendees to outdoor music and mingling with charcuterie and dessert provided by Cotton Culinary and beverages from Saint Arnold Brewing Company. Costumes are encouraged for this fun event for ages 21 and older. 7 pm.

Sunday, October 31

Cigna Sunday in the Park
Cigna Sunday in the Park, a slight twist on the block party concept of Cigna Sunday Streets, launches this weekend at Moody Park. Celebrate Halloween and/or Dia de los Muertos with bounce houses, a haunted house, a costume contest and something called “Trunk or Treat.” Cigna Sunday in the Park will relocate each month throughout the fall to neighborhood parks across the Houston area. Noon.

Premier Productions presents Elevation Nights
Elevation Nights is a new tour featuring Elevation Worship and Steven Furtick that brings the powerful worship experience of Elevation Church into arenas. The tour is more than a concert, but a full worship experience as Furtick preaches and Elevation Worship leads some of their hit songs including “Graves Into Gardens,” “Rattle!,” “Do It Again,” “The Blessing,” and others. 7 pm.

PMT Pop Up: Halloween Cabaret
As part of its Pop Up: Cabaret series, PMT Productions will present PMT Pop Up: Halloween Cabaret. There will be Halloween-inspired live performances from Houston-area vocalists, all accompanied live by The PMT Band. From Hocus Pocus to Rocky Horror to "Thriller," they are on theme for Halloween. Guests can go all out with their costume and compete to win the best costume of the evening. 8 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

Dakota Fanning-led The Sun Never Sets needs more direction

Photo courtesy of Independent Film Company

Dakota Fanning in The Sun Never Sets.

The movies of writer/director Joe Swanberg have always been an acquired taste, as he prefers to give his actors a loose framework of a story and let them improvise most of their lines to give the films a more natural feel. Sometimes that approach can yield great results, and sometimes — as in The Sun Never Sets — it can result in addled and maddening storytelling.

Wendy (Dakota Fanning) is in her early 30s and at a crossroads in her life. When a friend announces she’s pregnant, she starts to re-evaluate what she wants, including her two-year relationship with the older Jack (Jake Johnson). Although they love each other, their disagreements on having more children and extracurricular activities call their long-term viability into question.

Jack, not wanting Wendy to settle, encourages her to explore her options where they live — Anchorage, Alaska — telling her he’ll be waiting should she strike out. What he doesn’t expect is that Wendy’s ex-boyfriend, Chuck (Cory Michael Smith), has returned to the city, giving her an attractive alternative. The three engage in a love triangle that proves frustrating and confusing for both the participants and the viewers.

What works best about the film is its location in Alaska, which rarely gets showcased in movies, and even more rarely in the way it is here. The story takes place in warmer months, and Swanberg gives his characters multiple opportunities to be outside, showing off Anchorage’s harbor, surrounding mountains, and seemingly vibrant city life. The subtle but effective way Swanberg frames various scenes makes the landscape enormously appealing.

It’s too bad, then, that the story never measures up to its surroundings. Too often Fanning, Johnson, Smith, and others seem to be grasping for their next line, unsure of what they want their character to do or say next. That lets their scenes mimic real conversations, but you might not realize how much you want scripted dialogue until you see actors trying to come up with their own in the moment.

The larger issue is that there’s no consistency from scene to scene about where the plot is heading. The characters of Wendy, Jack, and Chuck are extremely wishy-washy about their desires, with each of them vacillating back-and-forth in just how much they want to be with each other. Depending on your experience, this may or may not be true to life, but watching it is excruciating and not enjoyable or romantic in the slightest.

As actors, Fanning, Johnson, and Smith are talented and interesting, with each capable of connecting with viewers in different ways. But working in improvisation is a different beast, and only Johnson — who has worked with Swanberg multiple times — seems truly at home. A few others, like Debby Ryan and Anna Konkle, do well in the format and maybe deserved bigger parts.

Swanberg has proven in the past that his method of filmmaking can be insightful and entertaining, but that is not the case here. In The Sun Never Sets, his hands-off approach is a detriment to the flow of the film and the story as a whole, resulting in an experience that is far from what most viewers will want to go through.

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The Sun Never Sets is now playing in select theaters.

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