weekend event planner

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

Have a trill ol' time at Axelrad's holiday party this Sunday.

Photo by Jamaal Vince Photography

Need a good laugh this holiday season?

There will be two holiday-themed comedy shows going on this Friday night. At Cafe Brasil, we have Unpopular Opinions: Holiday Edition, with comedians Peru Flores and Paul Shinneman performing alongside the 2018 National Champions of Earwolf's Improv4humans contest, Houston's very own Can't Tell Us Nothing.

At Station Theater, The ’80s Kids will present Gen-X-Mas: A Holiday Sketch Comedy & Variety Show, a holiday comedy extravaganza where people face their Christmas present. Both shows are at 9:30 pm.

As always, here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, December 19

Russian Winter Bazaar at Russian Cultural Center
The Russian Cultural Center is once again offering unique ethnic souvenirs and gifts that are hard to find anywhere else. Each and every one of them is hand-made in accordance with centuries-old, Russian traditions. Their collection of traditional blue-and-white porcelain — Gzhel — has been expanded recently, and includes many vintage items. They also have several beautiful, Russian tea sets by the famous porcelain factories, such as Lomonosov (Imperial) Porcelain Factory, Dulevo porcelain factory and others. Runs through Thursday, January 9. 9 am.

The Blue Angel at MATCH
If you've never heard of Marlene Dietrich, the androgynous star of the silver screen, a good place to start is this 1930 flick. Directed by Josef von Sternberg (Dietrich's longtime collaborator), the movie is about a sexually repressed instructor at a boys' school who learns of his pupils' infatuation with a local nightclub songstress. He decides to personally investigate the Blue Angel nightclub, but after stealing a glimpse of the smoldering Lola Lola (played by Dietrich), he finds himself consumed by desire and tormented by his rigid propriety. 7 pm.

Friday, December 20

Weekend Cake Shop Pop-Up at Jusgo Supermarket
Lady M New York will be back in town for another weekend pop-up. This time around, the world-renowned bakery will offer Houstonians the chance to take home one of their Mille Crêpe Cakes for holiday entertaining or gift-giving. Each cake is made by hand with quality ingredients and features no fewer than 20 lacy crêpes, delicately layered with airy pastry cream. So, expect a lot of fancy desserts to be sampled at this three-day gathering. 3 pm (noon Saturday-Sunday).

Die Hard at Landmark River Oaks
Let's settle this once and for all: Die Hard is a Christmas movie! The movie is set on Christmas Eve, after all. It's the movie that proved that Bruce Willis (the then-smart-ass co-star of the TV show Moonlighting) could be an action star, as his barefoot, New York cop takes out a bunch of terrorists (led by the late, great Alan Rickman) who take over a LA skyscraper. 11:59 pm.

Saturday, December 21

Best Friends Animal Society presents Holiday Wishes for Shelter Pets
Presented in collaboration with BARC, Montgomery County Animal Shelter Texas, Harris County Animal Shelter and Fort Bend County Pets — Fort Bend County Animal Services, this two-day event will be placing as many animals as possible in homes for the holidays. Adoption fees for dogs have been reduced to $20 and for cats to $10 and include spay/neuter, age-appropriate vaccinations and microchips. Visitors will also be invited to enjoy hot chocolate, cookies, make commemorative pawprint ornaments and cards.

A Drag Queen Christmas at House of Blues Houston
Those who missed the Ho! Ho! Holiday! Drag Bunch that happened at House of Blues last Saturday may want to check out this extravagant, yuletide experience. Hosted by Nina West, this show will have a bounty of cross-dressing divas pulling out the outrageous, over-the-top stops for your amusement. Even though this is an all-ages, seated floor show, there will be adult, ribald humor coming every which-a-way. So, please take this into consideration when you purchase tickets. 7 pm.

Sunday, December 22

Black Slacks Christmas Party at Cactus Music
Let's commend Cactus Music for continuing to sell records and CDs in these heavily streamed times. They continue to stay afloat by having live, in-store performances and getting all genres of musicians to pop in and do some meet-and-greets. For those who've stuck with the spot all this time, come down and celebrate the season with a Christmas party, complete with food, beverages, free CDs and a DJ set from longtime regular Black Slacks. (Just by his name, you can tell he's gonna spin some cool stuff). 1-4 pm.

Trills the Season Holiday Party and Toy Drive at Axelrad
Axelrad will be getting into the Christmas sprit with its holiday party/toy drive. Now in its fifteenth year, this event has raised and handed out over $20,000 in toys for kids all over this city. Bring a new toy to donate and, on Christmas Day, they'll work to bring supplies to the immigrant and refugee population at the Texas border. Nosaprise, Tony Badd, Thread Atlas, and Free Radicals will be performing, with OG Bobby Trill, Joey Flaco, and Ichikara IV Valdez serving as DJs. 4-9 pm.

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Movie Review

Over-the-top acting and incoherent plot drag down Her Private Hell

Photo courtesy of Neon

Sophie Thatcher in Her Private Hell.

Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is not someone who plays nice with the general film world. His 2011 film Drive introduced him to American audiences in a big way, but that pulsating thriller was followed up with artier films like Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon that eschewed coherent plots in favor of moody, atmospheric pieces.

Winding Refn, who hasn’t made a feature film in 10 years, has gone fully down the rabbit hole with Her Private Hell. Taking place in a liminal space that kind of resembles Earth but also feels like someone’s dreams/nightmares, the film focuses on Elle (Sophie Thatcher), an actor currently starring in a sci-fi film. Staying at a hotel with newcomer Hunter (Kristine Froseth), the two bond over their shared passion and the legend of Elle’s father, Johnny Thunders (Dougray Scott), who’s now married to Elle’s friend Dominique (Havana Rose Liu).

After spending a good amount of (mostly incomprehensible) time with that group, Refn introduces Private K (Charles Melton), who seems to be living in post-World War II Japan. He is looking for his daughter, who might have been taken by a mysterious figure known as “Leatherman,” and he will stop at nothing to find her, fighting whoever stands in his way.

It becomes clear almost right away that Winding Refn has no desire to engage in traditional storytelling in this film. The main characters wander through neon-drenched streets and buildings, which are often surrounded by a mist that is referred to on multiple occasions but never explained. Everyone speaks as if in a constant state of wonderment, and there are many moments where it’s unclear if events are actually happening, part of a movie-within-a-movie, or something else entirely.

Unlike his previous films, Winding Refn has taken the characters in this film completely out of the real world, with every scene taking place in a sparsely decorated room or street that is obviously a movie set. While there are moments where this decision really works, especially the striking first shot of a human-like figure mixed in with a cityscape and clouds, most of the time it only adds to the stilted nature of the film as a whole.

In fact, the entire movie has the feel of an avant-garde theater exercise. Every actor seems to be trying to outdo the others with awkward performances and out-sized reactions. Two very specific characters make appearances in both sides of the story for seemingly no reason other than to inject their weirdness into both spaces. The shocking violence that crops up on occasion would have more of an impact if it was related to anything intelligible.

Thatcher (Companion) and Liu (Tuner) are among the young stars who have had breakout moments in recent years, but neither of them is served well by this hot mess of a movie. They, along with Melton, still demonstrate the talent they possess, but the oddity of the film weighs them down. Scott makes an impression for all the wrong reasons, while Froseth is called upon to play a character who might as well not be there at all.

If there’s any kind of message that Winding Refn was trying to convey with Her Private Hell, it’s lost among the flashing lights, overload of pink, and jewel-like structures. Filmmakers who try to make art for art’s sake have a place in the world, but this film too often feels like people are making things up as they go, with no real goal in mind.

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Her Private Hell opens in theaters on July 24.

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