new year's eve parties

The 12 best ways to party on New Year's Eve in Houston

Look for belly dancers and drag queens at Boheme.

Photo courtesy of Boheme

Rest assured that, on the night of December 31, Houston will be swarming with New Year's Eve parties. Here's a rundown of festive gatherings, which include desserts, disco, drag queens, and even a sober party.

Stay safe — and feel free to party hop. The parties are listed in order of start time, so you can plan your night and your ride sharing.

Children's Museum of Houston's "Rockin' New Year's Noon"
For those who have kids who want to celebrate New Year's Eve too (but can't stay up for it), the museum will have its annual "Rockin' New Year's Noon." There will be festive hats and noisemakers, a countdown, two simultaneous ball drops and parade featuring a New Orleans-style brass band. (A pre-show kicks off at 10:45 am.) Noon.

Belly dancers and drag queens at Boheme
Start your New Year's Eve early over at this cocktail hangout. The popular bar will have an extravaganza featuring a drag show by beloved drag queens Chloe Knox, Cyn City, Angelina, and Chloe Crawford. Exotic belly dancers will perform in-between sets and around the bar. (Entertainment starts at 9 pm.) 4 pm.

"Dancing & Desserts: NYE" at Heights Theater
What's been missing at New Year's Eve parties? Desserts! Thankfully, this theater will be offering up a self-serve dessert buffet if you buy a ticket to "Dancing & Desserts: NYE," which will feature a live set from Boomtown Brass Band. There will also be a champagne toast at midnight. 7 pm-1 am.

Arnaldo Richards' Picos "Dine and Disco New Year's"
You ever wish you could've hung out with Andy, Liza, Bianca and the gang at Studio 54 back in the day? This restaurant will be fulfilling your wish with "Dine and Disco New Year's." Guests can enjoy a fabulous four-course dinner, with an open premium bar and specialty cocktails. After that, you can boogie the new year away! 8 pm.

Conservatory's Asian-style market
Instead of throwing another NYE soiree, our favorite, underground beer and grub spot will be hosting an Asian-style night market. Among the vendors that will be ready to celebrate: Beer Garden, Noble Rot Wine Bar, aRTe Pizzeria, El Burro & the Bull Restaurant, Treacherous Leches, and others. 8 pm-2 am.

Finca Tres Robles "Farm & Firelight: A Sustainable New Year's Celebration"
If you're in the mood for an all-natural, outdoorsy, New Year's Eve party, here we have "Farm & Firelight: A Sustainable New Year's Celebration." Guests can cozy up around bonfires whose ashes go into the farm's compost to help feed the East End, roast marshmallows and drink hot toddies & craft beer from Sigma Brewing Co. 8 pm-1 am.

"Totally Awesome '90s New Year's Eve Party" at MKT Bar
The bar will have a "Totally Awesome '90s New Year's Eve Party," complete with a champagne menu, food specials and dance-off prizes. Kay Allah and Mohawk Steve will be spinning the music, and we're sure they'll be playing tunes that'll have people doing such '90s dance crazes as the Macarena, the Humpty Dance, and even the Bartman. 8 pm-2 am.

"New Year's Comedy Jam" with Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley
Wouldn't you like to leave 2018 with a good laugh? Check out a top-notch collection of comedians ready to make you chuckle over at the "New Year's Comedy Jam." Expect two Original Kings of Comedy — Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley — along with Arnez J and Nephew Tommy. 8 pm.

New Year's Eve at the Crystal Ballroom at Rice Lofts
The ballroom and Lawless Spirits and Kitchen will be joining forces for one, big, blowout NYE bash. General admission tickets will get guests into the ultimate and all-inclusive party at the ballroom. Guests can upgrade their tickets with a pass into the adjoining, intimate and glamorous Lawless. 9 pm.

"Year of the Bo$$ 2K19 NYE Celebration" with Slim Thug
Welcome in the new year with Slim Thug and his crew, as they will be the headliners for the "Year of the Bo$$ 2K19 NYE Celebration." You can head in early for happy hour, from 5 to 7 pm. There will also be a chef-created, á la carte dining menu, available until 8pm. (The lounge menu will be available until 11pm.) 9 pm.

Sober Eve 2018 at The Story Houston
If you would like to ring in the new year with a clear head, this spot will have "Sober Eve 2018." The shindig will have all the familiar accoutrements of a NYE party — music, flashing lights, confetti dropping at midnight — except there won't be any drugs or alcohol. It's perfect for people who want to drive home safely. 9 pm-1 am.

Fireworks at CityCentre
What New Year's Eve isn't complete without fireworks? This event will have a countdown to midnight that will be capped off with confetti and a 60-second, rooftop fireworks show, which we're sure will be a spectacular sight. There'll also be a live performance in the plaza from five-piece, variety dance band A Sure Thing. 9:30 pm.

nightlife holidays

Movie Review

Glen Powell stumbles in remake of sci-fi classic The Running Man

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Glen Powell in The Running Man.

For all its cheesy ‘80s greatness, the original version of The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was a very loose adaptation of the novel by Stephen King. For the new remake, writer/director Edgar Wright has tried to hue much closer to the story laid out in the book, a decision that has both its positive and negative aspects.

Glen Powell takes over for Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards, a family man/hothead who can’t seem to hold a job in the dystopian America in which he lives. Desperate to take care of his family, he applies to be on one of the many game shows fed to the masses that promise riches in exchange for humiliation or worse. Thanks to his temper, Ben is chosen for the most popular one of all, The Running Man, in which contestants must survive 30 days while hunters, as well as the general population, track them down.

Given a 12-hour head start, Ben earns money for every day he survives, as well as every hunter he eliminates. Since he only has a relatively small amount of money to use as he pleases, Ben must rely on friendly citizens who are willing to put their own lives on the line to help him. That’s a task made even more difficult as the gamemakers, led by Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), use advanced AI to manipulate footage of Ben to make him seem like a guy for which no one should root.

Co-written by Michael Bacall, the film is shockingly uninteresting, working neither as an exciting action film, a fun quippy comedy, or social commentary. The biggest problem is that Wright seems to have no interest in developing any of his characters, starting with Ben. Our introduction to the protagonist is him trying to get his job back, a situation for which there is little context even after we’re beaten over the head with exposition.

The situation in which Ben finds himself should be easy to make sympathetic, but Wright and Bacall speed through scenes that might have emphasized that aspect in favor of ones that make the story less personal. The filmmakers really want to showcase the supposed antagonistic relationship between Ben and Dan (and the system which Dan represents), but all that effort results in little drama.

Ben has a number of close calls, and while those scenes are full of action and violence, almost every one of them feels emotionally inert, as if there was nothing at stake. It doesn’t help that Wright doesn’t set the scene well, making it unclear how far Ben has traveled or who/what he’s up against. There are times when Ben feels surrounded and others when he can walk freely, weird for a society that’s supposed to be under almost complete surveillance.

Powell has been touted as a movie star in the making for several years following his turn in Top Gun: Maverick, but he does little here to make that label stick. With no consistent co-star thanks to the structure of the story, he’s required to carry the film, and he just doesn’t have the juice that a true movie star is supposed to have. Nobody else is served well by the scattershot film, including normally reliable people like Brolin, Colman Domingo, Michael Cera, and Lee Pace.

The Running Man is a big misfire by Wright and a blow to Powell’s star power. On the surface, it has all the hallmarks of an action thriller with a side of social commentary, but nothing it does or says lands in any meaningful way. Schwarzenegger’s one-liners in the original film may have been goofy and over-the-top, but at least they made the movie memorable, which is way more than can be said of the remake.

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The Running Man opens in theaters on November 14.

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