weekend event planner

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

Things get trill at Axelrad.

We've somehow arrived to the end of 2021, so expect celebrations from Thursday through Friday (find them all here). Aside from those New Year's Eve bashes, look for some fun standup comedy, a party just for kids, dinosaurs in downtown, an epic house music party, and a trill music show.

Stay safe this weekend and have the happiest New Year. Here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, December 30

La Orquesta Salmerum at Sambuca Houston
Kick off the weekend with dinner and salsa vibes from the 12-piece orchestra, complete with a full complement of horns and Latin rhythm section. This musician ensemble is the best at their craft and are recognized internationally, as they have been asked to accompany some of the biggest names in salsa when they come to Texas. This is definitely for all the people who want to close out the New Year on a spicy, sexy note. 7 pm.

Improv Houston presents Steve Treviño
Steve Treviño is fast becoming one of the country’s hottest comics and the new voice for the 21st century Mexican American. Finding his way from a Hispanic upbringing in a small South Texas town to living his dream in Hollywood has infused Treviño’s comedy with a “Tex-Mex” sensibility. As a performer, he has a uniquely American voice that transcends anything about ethnicity, making him universally relatable. 10:15 pm (7:30 and 10 pm Friday).

Friday, December 31

Children’s Museum Houston’s Rockin’ New Year’s Bash
Kids finally don’t have to stay up until midnight to celebrate the New Year. This daytime bash is the city’s longest-running, New Year’s Eve celebration just for them. This end-of-year party will ring in the New Year at the stroke of 11 am, noon and 1 pm with ball drops, just like in Times Square. Musical talents will spotlight this celebration, complete with countdowns, ball drops and a DJ dance after-party. 11 am.

“KISS ME @ Midnight” New Year’s Eve Dinner Party Affair
KISS, Houston’s newest vibe dining hotspot, is inviting guests to ring in 2022 with this swinging party. The sleek new social dining experience in Washington Heights is accepting reservations for its NYE celebration, featuring a decadent prix fixe menu (curated by Chef Ossume Collins), champagne, vibe beats, and some very cool photo ops to capture and share those ‘countdown to 2022’ moments. 5 pm.

New Year's Eve at Margaritaville Lake Resort
Looking for a fun and festive place to dine on New Year’s Eve? Head to Margaritaville Lake Resort for a lineup of tasty options at several of the resort’s tropical-inspired restaurants. LandShark Bar & Grill will have a full menu, along with live music from Dan Golvach. Meanwhile, License to Chill Bar & Café is offering an exclusive four-course, prix fixe menu for guests that would like an elevated, NYE dining experience. 5 pm.

Saturday, January 1

Dino and Dragon Stroll at George R. Brown Convention Center
This Saturday and Sunday, Dino and Dragon Stroll is the only North American tour that lets spectators get up-close to life-like and life-size dinosaurs and dragons. Nowhere else can you encounter colossal-sized dinosaurs ranging from babies to the huge Brachiosaurus standing 20 feet tall and 36 feet long, the massive Mamenchisaurus standing over 2 stories high and 60 feet long, and the gigantic Apatosaurus that is 24 ft. tall and 65 feet long, just to name a few. 10 am.

Praia Urbana New Year's Day 2022
After great success at its new location, Praia Urbana ("urban beach" in Portuguese), the longest-running and largest outdoor house music and techno festival in Texas, returns to Bauhaus on New Year's Day as your first daytime party of 2022. Begin the new year with headliners Mark Knight, Junior Sanchez, David Berrie, and Scotty Boy, as well as more than 20 of Urbana's favorite local and regional artists. 2 pm.

Still Trill at Axelrad
If you want to start the New Year by checking out live music for a worthy cause, Axelrad Beer Garden and Trills the Season has got this show, which benefits Houston Food Bank. BNG (Brew Nosaprise Grinch), Tony Badd, Free Radicals, Frank Synato and Shrey Day will be giving the live performances, while Comp One, Hiram and Ichihara Valdez will be providing DJ sets. The whole day's events will be outside and distanced. 4 pm.

Sunday, January 2

The Menil Collection presents "Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s" closing day
The Menil Collection is about to wrap up the first show to focus on the experimental and prolific work of French American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002), featuring numerous works from European collections displayed in the United States for the first time. This exhibit brings together major paintings, assemblages, and sculptures from this prolific chapter in the artist’s career, as well as extensive film and photographic documentation from the Menil Collection Archives. 11 am.

The Riot Comedy Show presents Current with Patrick Eady and Chad Alexander
The Riot over at Rudyard's British Pub presents this new, Sunday comedy show (produced by comedians Brian Gendron & Drew Jordan), where current events, trends and topics are open to jokes. Patrick Eady and Chad Alexander will host this contemporary showcase of up-to-date jokes and the witty comedians who wrote them. 8 pm.

event-planner

Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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