The Big Event

Updated with more listings: The procrastinator's guide to New Year's Eve inHouston

Pierre Peters Cuvée de Réserve Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Photo courtesy of Pierre Peters
Bocelli Prosecco
Photo courtesy of Bocelli Wines
Fratelli Berlucchi Rose
Photo courtesy of Fratelli Berlucchi
Whether with Champagne or another sparkling wine, New Year's Eve calls for atoast.
Toni Blay/Flickr

UPDATE: We can never include every NYE event around town, but we've been adding as new spots hit our radar. Keep checking back for the latest.

Whether you're just looking for a great meal before heading to a house party (or to ring in the year with someone special and Ryan Seacrest), or searching for an all-out, all-night shindig, we've wrapped up some great options for bringing in a memorable 2010.

Restaurant Specials

Whether you are planning to party downtown or just finished watching the Rockets take on the Mavs, enjoy a dinner in the park with The Grove's a la carte menu or special 3-course dinner.
Foodie fave Catalan and lively Ibiza are ringing in the new year with none of the assigned seating times or prix fixe menus, just the same great food and wine as the rest of the year.
Popular new kid on the block Yelapa Playa Mexicana is pulling out all the stops with a six-course dinner of south of the border seafood-heavy faves (think gazpacho, bolinhos, and spiced guava pork) in two seatings for $78 ($108 with wine pairings).
Wine lovers won't want to miss the four-course Texas-Provence dinner at Mockingbird Bistro to be paired with the award-winning wine list. $75/person
Can't decide between dining and clubbing? Hit up Straits for a retro Singaporean five-course meal, a DJ, drink specials from Belvedere Vodka and Veuve Clicquot, plus a front row seat for the CityCentre entertainment featuring The Texas Blues Brothers tribute band and fireworks at midnight. $75/person plus $20 cover after 11 p.m.
Start out an evening in Midtown with a five- or six-course meal at t'afia with plenty of options to choose from. $65-$75/person
For a break from prix fixe rules, hit the ever-fabulous RDG + Bar Annie for open seating and the full bar and grill menus, plus a special burgers and breakfast menu starting at 11 p.m.
Enjoy a continental New Year with a sumptuous three-course classic French feast and live music at Humble's Chez Nous. $75-$125/person
Whether spent on the patio (decked out with space heaters in chilly weather) or the cozy upstairs annex, finish out 2009 with the four-course meal at Backstreet Café. $69/person
It's hard to pick the high point of New Year's Eve at Hugo's, between the four-course dinner, live music by Viento and the special after-dinner coffee concoction of espresso, steamed milk, piloncillo, cinnamon and brandy called, ironically, The Drowsy Chaperone. $69/person
The world's a cabaret at SoVino, with a cabaret-style performance by Bubba and Greg, plus a four-course prix fixe menu offered in addition to the a la carte menu. Prix fixe dinner, $45-$55/person
Bistro Provence has something for everyone, three-course dinners served in an abbreviated early bird seating and three more leisurely seatings. $48-$70/person
Ring in the new year Italian-style at Valentino, with two dinner menu options ($80 or $110) alongside Valentino's famous wine list.
Celebrate New Year's Eve in style by the bay in Seabrook at Bailey's American Grille. Enjoy a five-course meal of mouthwatering upscale American favorites, dancing in the private event room to jazz and funk by the Grady Gaines band, a midnight breakfast buffet and a shuttle to local hotels. $115/person, $200/couple

Parties/Events

The St. Regis lets you pick your party, choosing between an early 5-course dinner at The Remington with live entertainment and dancing ($95/person), a later 4-course meal that adds a bottle of champagne ($185/person) or simply hors d'oeuvres, dancing and a midnight toast in the Remington Bar ($20/person)
The Hobby Center is throwing a "Dance in the Decade" shindig at Artista, with a 4-course dinner, champagne, raffles and music by Mango Punch. $135/person
Have a thoroughly modern new year at Hotel ZaZa's "Bubbles and Babes" roaring '20s-themed bash, featuring flappers, surprise performances, silent movie screenings, a five-course dinner at Monarch and plenty of booze. From $350 per couple
Ladies, time to practice bowling in that miniskirt: New Year's Eve at Lucky Strike Lanes includes call bar, appetizer and dessert buffets, champagne toast, and DJ for $60/person and $100/couple, plus bowling and shoe rental.
The PYTs will be partying at Vintage Lounge with an open bar and tunes by The Handsomes and DJ Melodic and Young $quaddy. $75 for advance tickets and $100 at the door, plus groups can pay $300 for a table with unlimited non-super-premium bottle service.
Get the best of everything with Hotel Icon NYE packages, including a 5-course meal at Voice, a luxe overnight stay, champagne delivered to your room and a swinging lobby party. Starting at $220 per room.
Assuming a flight to Monte Carlo is not in the cards, find all the same perks in the La Torretta Lake Resort New Year's Celebration, with hors d'oeuvres, gourmet dinner stations, a casino, live music, a DJ and karaoke, plus reasonable room deals. And forget the babysitter: for $20 per child, kids can enjoy their own party with a buffet, guitar hero contest, movies and games. Party $90/person, rooms from $309 per couple including two party tickets.
Keep it chic with NYE at the Red Room, with fierce DJs spinning, drink specials, and a champagne toast, of course. $100/person
Have a killer New Year's at Keith and Margo's Third Annual New Year's Celebration at the Renaissance Houston Hotel. After the modern, interactive whodunit, enjoy a gourmet dinner, reception, dancing to DJ-spun tunes, and an optional room to crash in. From $139/person
The Black Carpet NYE Party at The Tasting Room in Uptown Park combines wine lovers, hors d'oeuvres, live music, and, of course, champagne. $50/person
There's something for everyone at Warehouse Live and Sportsmonkey's BLT party—that's black tie, lingerie and togas—with multiple DJs and live music from Adrenaline and The Spicolis. $89/person
Party on the wild Veranda at Alden-Houston Hotel with an open bar, a Times Square simulcast and breakfast bites and coffee from *17, and you can start the evening with a five-course dinner at *17, and end it at a+ or in one of Alden's guest suite. From $100/person
For a more chill Eve, hit 13 Celsius, celebrating its third anniversary with its signature understated cool, including a birthday cake, champagne and a new art installation by Jonathan Leach. $15/person
Houston's largest NYE party is at the Hyatt Regency Houston, with three floors of festivities including tunes by Mary's Band, The Argyles, DJ 33 1/3, a special VIP room and a 50,000 balloon cascade at midnight. From $299 per room.

And don't forget to get the party started early with the Culturemap-sponsored Eve of New Year's Eve party at House of Blues on Dec. 30, featuring a disco frenzy in the Foundation Room after a HOB concert by Le Freak. Get free admission with a concert ticket stub or by emailing julialarson@livenation.com and mentioning Culturemap.

Looking to listen to music to bring in the New Year? Click here for our New Year's Eve concert picks.

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Movie Review

Cookie Queens goes behind the scenes of Girl Scout Cookie season

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Girl Scouts in Cookie Queens.

Few people are strong enough to resist the lure of Girl Scout cookie season every year, with the cookies’ limited availability and unique flavors a strong incentive to indulge. But only the girls and their families who have sold the cookies know the joys and stresses of trying to get people to buy them, a process that is detailed in the new documentary, Cookie Queens.

The film by documentarian Alysa Nahmias uses the stories of four different girls to represent the nationwide ritual for the Girl Scouts. They include 12-year-old Olive in Charlotte, North Carolina, a longtime top seller; 8-year-old Shannon Elizabeth in El Paso, Texas, who wants to earn the reward of going to camp; 5-year-old Ara in San Diego, California, whose goal is modest compared to most other girls; and 9-year-old Nikki in Chino, California, who has to compete with her older sisters in the cookie-selling bonanza.

The girls represent a cross-section of both ages and backgrounds, with some girls coming from wealthy families and some girls dealing with more limited means. And how much money your family has makes a big difference, as not only does someone richer have more freedom with their time and supplies, but all scouts are required to reimburse the organization for every box they take in, regardless of whether they’re able to sell it or not.

That caveat makes the journeys of the four featured girls feel wildly different. It’s clear from the start that Olive and Nikki’s families don’t give a second thought to the personal economics of selling cookies, with each girl taking in thousands of boxes at the beginning of the six-week selling season. With both Olive and Nikki rightfully confident that they’ll have no problem offloading their supply, their stories turn to how selling is personally affecting them, with each trying to reconcile the fun of doing it with the pressure they feel from their family members.

Shannon Elizabeth’s story is more harrowing, as her parents feel a strong desire to help her accomplish her lofty goal, but worry that the cost might literally be too high for the family as a whole. More than once, the parents are shown fretting that they won’t have the money to pay back what they owe should they fall significantly short in their sales. Their selling approach, which includes walking through an empty swap meet and standing outside a chain restaurant at night, only adds to their stress.

The most fun story to watch is that of Ara, whose innocence is matched by her confidence. Her parents teach her how much money they’ll owe with her small goal of 55 boxes, but right away she takes on more responsibility than expected. She’s shown making sales pitches and tallying the total number of boxes she’s sold with little-to-no help from either her mom or dad. With her high voice, glasses, and a monitor on her arm to manage her diabetes, she becomes the cute and sympathetic part of the film.

There are times that the film starts to feel more than a little manipulative, however. While many of the moments documented come off as organic, some of them seem like Nahmias is actively guiding the participants in order to get a better story. This is especially evident with Shannon Elizabeth and her family, whose early struggles turn into a miraculous feel-good story by the end, a turnaround that seems implausible at best. Everything with them might have been aboveboard, but Nahmias and her team edit the family’s journey in a way that pushes a bit too hard for emotion.

Cookie Queens, which was produced by a company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, helps to give insight into the business of selling Girl Scout cookies for those who’ve only been on the purchasing end of the transaction. The dedication of each girl toward selling their allotted supply proves fun and interesting, even if the filmmaker tries to gild the lily on occasion.

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Cookie Queens is now playing in theaters,

movies girl scout cookie film

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