NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTIES

The 14 best ways to party on New Year's Eve in Houston

Ring in 2021 with these hot Houston happenings.

Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel

Many Houstonians are looking forward to celebrating New Year's Eve in style. We also know there are those cautious souls who would much prefer to stay at home — because, you know, we're still in the middle of a pandemic.

This year, we decided to round up a baker's dozen of NYE events — some of them will be virtual, some of them will be out in the open.

Aerosol Warfare
Catch an online event where artists and creative types can get together and, you know, get creative. They can talk, show, perform, demo, cook, announce, tell a story, suggest a soundtrack, and do whatever before the clock strikes 12. 8:30 pm.

Azura Bar & Lounge
The lounge offers up a large room with amazing music, club lighting and upscale sections for its party. They will also have celebrity DJs, refreshing cocktails, frozen drinks, delicious food, and a midnight champagne toast. 8 pm.

Bar 2200
This spot will host a get-together that will be free with an RSVP. With this one, you got two levels of fun — each level with its own DJ — and the obligatory champagne toast at midnight. You can't get more NYE than that. 8 pm.

The Energy Corridor of Houston Orchestra
ECHO for short has recorded a program of music from the '60s, '70s, and '80s as a goodwill offering to the community in this pandemic time. There will also be a countdown to midnight that will be right on time if viewers begin watching at 10:30 pm.

Four Seasons
The iconic downtown will toast the New Year, with several offerings, including an elegant, four-course prix fixe dinner. Or, reserve a table at Bayou & Bottle for $75 to party all night with choice bourbon. Or, book a room and enjoy 10 percent off your Room Rate, a bottle of champagne, and a New Year’s celebration kit.

The Grand Tuscany Hotel
Get down with a Bollywood-themed shindig. Promoted by Sunil T and the Crazy Masala Crew of local Bollywood station 98.7 FM, this party will have DJ NISH spinning grooves while guests get in on the food stations and the midnight champagne toast. 8 pm.

The Grove (This event has been canceled as of December 29)
Discovery Green's most happening hot spot will host a glitzy and ritzy bash. It will include all-inclusive bars throughout the property, passed hors d’oeuvres and premium food stations, as well as DJs, live music, party favors and anything you can think of to celebrate in style. Dress to impress at this swanky soiree. 9 pm.

Live Oak Lounge & Grill
Celebrate from sun-up to sundown with "The Midnight Wish NYE," its daytime/nighttime party. Come enjoy food and drink specials all day while listening to DJs doing their thing. No cover with RSVP until 8 pm. 4 pm.

Lumen Lounge
The Upper Kirby club will be the start-off point for "All the Glitters 6," the sixth annual, end-of-the-year block party. We're talking a buffet, full wine bar, complimentary party favors, hookahs, a tented pavilion, 6 DJs, stilt walkers, etc. 8 pm.

Market Street
The Woodlands venue feature a concert with music from The Rick Marcel Band. All entertainment will be featured outdoors in Central Park. Guests are invited to enjoy the music from one of the marked, social-distance circles. 2 pm.

Numbers
The Montrose mainstay will go virtual with its spectacular, available on that gamer-friendly, live-streaming platform Twitch. Don't worry — there will still be music, prizes, and a balloon drop as the long-running club says good riddance to this gawdawful year. 9 pm.

Simple Space HTX
Look for a very lavish soiree where the tickets vary from $35 to $1,100. Mariam Echo will provide live music, while a rotating lineup of DJs will come in with hip-hop, R & B, reggae, soca, etc. 8 pm.

The Westin at the Woodlands
This hotel is offering not only a party above the Woodlands Waterway, but a whole getaway. Say goodbye to this year with live music, champagne at midnight, a room at the Westin and a New Year’s Day brunch for two people. 9 pm.

The Woodlands Resort
Yet another Woodlands inn will host a celebration for families. The spot will have a fun, full day of crafts, karaoke, games and other festivities at the heated Forest Oasis waterpark. There will also be a sparkling cider toast and a beach-ball drop from the waterslide tower at 5:30 pm. 10 am.

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Movie Review

The Mandalorian and Grogu lacks the cinematic magic of a true Star Wars movie

Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm

The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

At one point in the 2010s, Disney planned to release a different Star Wars movie every year, with an “Episode” film (like The Rise of Skywalker) alternating with anthology movies like Rogue One. But when 2018’s Solo underperformed, those plans changed, and the pandemic made any Star Wars movie less appealing, with Lucasfilm shifting heavily toward TV shows like The Mandalorian.

The popularity of that show in particular has led to the return of Star Wars to the theaters in the form of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. The film follows the bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) and his Force-sensitive adopted child as they travel around the universe, hunting down the remaining members of the Galactic Empire (the film, like the series, is set in the years following The Return of the Jedi).

The main thrust of the film has the duo, at the behest of Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) of the New Republic, trying to track down Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), the son of the late Jabba the Hutt, who’s supposedly been kidnapped. The discovery of the ultra-buff Rotta sets them down a different path than they thought, one that puts Mando and Grogu in the crosshairs of Rotta’s twin cousins.

Directed by Jon Favreau and written by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor, the film is perfectly fine if you consider it to be an extended Mandalorian episode, but at no point does it rise to the level of a great movie experience.

The film, like the show, is defined by the Mandalorian’s unflappable nature and strict code, as well as Grogu’s mischievousness and unquenchable appetite. Right from the start, the Mandalorian has a “take no prisoners” approach, laying waste to all comers in a PG-13 sort of way. Grogu is mostly along for the ride, occasionally breaking out the Force to help out, but mostly serving as the comic sidekick. Their relationship keeps the film watchable, but only just barely.

The biggest issue, one which was starting to affect the Disney+ show as well, is that the story never seems to go anywhere despite the fact that its two main characters are constantly on the move. No matter how big or ferocious the opponent they face, the overall stakes are so low as to almost be nonexistent. If Favreau and Filoni (who has a small part in the film) are trying to build toward some larger story, it doesn’t come through on screen.

The film’s action fits in well with sequences that have been put forth in previous Star Wars films, but to call them “cinematic” would be stretching things. There are all manner of monstrous creatures that the duo comes across in their adventures, but only a few of them are memorable. The most interesting sequence features a snake/dragon hybrid that Mando fights in a watery pit that is reminiscent of the trash compactor scene in the original Star Wars. Much of the rest of the film blends together in a mish-mash of uninteresting opponents.

For a live action film, there are precious few actors who actually show their faces. The Mandalorian removes his helmet exactly once, making it clear that Pascal is merely providing the voice for the character. White affects a tough voice for Rotta that may be canon, but frankly sounds ridiculous coming from the character’s body and in no way resembles White’s actual voice, which negates his casting altogether. Weaver is close to a non-factor in her small role, but Martin Scorsese is kind of fun voicing a four-armed fry cook/informant.

The cachet of Star Wars and the fun of The Mandalorian series may be enough for many to enjoy the inoffensive lark that is The Mandalorian and Grogu. But the film does not come close to reaching the heights of the best Star Wars movies, and does nothing to indicate what to expect from the valuable intellectual property going forward.

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Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu opens in theaters on May 22.

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