weekend event planner

14 best things to do in Houston this weekend: illusions, silent disco, and more

Your partner will loom large at the new Museum of Illusions.

Photo via Museum of Illusions

Plenty of fun events await this Labor Day weekend (check out our Labor Day events list here). A mind-bending museum is all an illusion, while a gripping art exhibit on the sad reality Black Americans used to face while traveling.

Things get loud — and quiet — with silent disco in River Oaks, bird watching soars at Houston Audubon, and a smooth, soulful singer comes to town on Sunday.

Enjoy; here are your best bets for Labor Day weekend.

`Thursday, August 31

Black Restaurant Week presents Nosh: Houston Culinary Showcase

Black Restaurant Week presents their sixth annual culinary showcase, featuring Houston's premier Black chefs, caterers, and bartenders. Guests can dive into the African diaspora and tantalize taste buds with flavors of African, African-American, and Caribbean cuisine. From spicy and savory, to sweet and subtle, there will be an array of options suited for every taste. 6 pm.

Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino presents Carlos Cruz-Diez: "A Legacy in Color" opening reception

Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino will present its seventh solo exhibition of the master artist, featuring three large-scale Physichromies, each from different periods, representing Carlos Cruz-Diez’s ever-expanding investigation of color. Cruz-Diez set out to challenge viewers’ traditional understanding of fine art. He searched for what he called “a new starting point” and to create work that had never been seen before. Through Thursday, October 12. 6 pm.

Houston Museum of African American Culture presents The First Rainbow Coalition

Chicago, 1969: Activists from the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and Young Patriots united African Americans, Latinos, and poor whites to confront police brutality and unfair housing practices. A timely story of collective action, this documentary tells this little-known chronicle of political struggle with insight and urgency, using archival footage and interviews with those who lived it. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Black Panther Party member Henry "Poison" Gaddis, director Ray Santisteban, and artist El Franco Lee. 6:30 pm.

Friday, September 1

Museum of Illusions Grand Opening

Museum of Illusions will celebrate its grand opening this weekend. This is a unique and exciting museum dedicated to providing visitors with a fun, interactive and educational experience that challenges perception and inspires creativity. The museum features 60 interactive exhibits that combine entertainment and education into an “edutainment” amalgamation, using optical illusions, visual tricks, and hands-on interactive displays to create a playful environment that engages visitors of all ages. 10 am.

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service presents "The Negro Motorist Green Book"

The Green Book provided life-saving information on restaurants, gas stations, department stores and other businesses that welcomed African American travelers during an era of segregation and Jim Crow laws. The exhibition will offer an immersive look at the reality of safe travel for African Americans during the mid-century, including artifacts like business signs and postcards to historic footage, images, and firsthand accounts to convey the apprehension felt by Black travelers. Through Sunday, November 26. 10 am (Noon Sunday).

Stages presents POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive

One four-letter word is about to rock 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When the President unwittingly spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis, the seven brilliant and beleaguered women he most relies upon risk life, liberty, and the pursuit of sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble. This uproarious, all-female farce took Broadway by storm in 2022. After all, behind every great man is a great woman — or seven of them. Through Sunday, October 8. 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Home Run Dugout presents Legends

Starting this weekend, Home Run Dugout is launching a concert series, with the inaugural concert featuring some of Houston's favorite home-grown talent. The venue's Biergarten Baseball Field will be transformed into a concert venue, giving concert-goers a unique “field of dreams” live music experience. The series kicks off with a concert featuring H-Town rap icons Lil' Keke, Slim Thug and Paul Wall. Proceeds from the show will go to benefit Spring Spirit Foundation. 9 pm.

Saturday, September 2

Conroe Sports Cards & Collectibles Show

The two-day Conroe Sports Cards & Collectibles Show will include cards, toys, memorabilia, art, comics, board games, video games, Funko pops and more. Guests can expect chances to win prizes through giveaways and raffles. There will be 200+ tables of collectibles set up and admission is free for all ages. Houston Astros legend Larry Dierker will also be making an autograph appearance on Saturday at 11 am. FCG card grading will be available onsite. 9 am (10 am Sunday).

Agora Haus presents Grapes & Grooves Festival

There will be a fusion of wine, music, and sophistication at the Grapes & Grooves Festival. General admission tickets let guests savor wine tastings and indulge in lite bites at the Haus Patio. VIP admission guests will gain exclusive access to Agora Haus and discover a selection of wines during a private tasting session, as well as a dinner reception at B&B Butchers, curated by chefs. VIP+ guests will also enjoy all the benefits of VIP admission, including exclusive wine tastings and lite bites. 11 am.

Redbud Arts Center presents Wayne Goodman: "Storyville" and Daniel Anguilu: "Memories from the Future" opening reception

71-year-old Wayne Goodman has masterfully harnessed his lifetime of experiences to produce “Storyville,” a body of work that reflects on past and present narratives. (Through Saturday, September 30.) Also, Redbud presents the opening of Daniel Anguilu’s show, “Memories from the Future.” Anguilu is an acclaimed artist renowned for his compelling journey to creating monumental murals that engage with social and political issues, while paying homage to the symbolism of his ancestors. (Through Saturday, October 28.) 6 pm.

River Oaks District presents Silent Disco in the Park

As the finale to its summer series of monthly activations, Houston’s River Oaks District presents its first-ever silent disco event. Open to the public and free of charge, this alfresco silent disco welcomes guests of all ages to grab a wireless headset and groove to a selection presented by two live DJ’s. Adding to the festivities, The Traveling Spirit Bar will also be serving complimentary disco-themed cocktails and mocktails, while Wonder Pops will showcase complimentary boozy and kid-friendly popsicles. 8 pm.

Sunday, September 3

Wine VIbes Micro Winery and Bistro End of Summer Celebration

Wine Vibes Micro Winery closes out the summer and frosé season with a family-friendly luau celebration. Slip into your best Hawaiian or vacation outfits (or come as you are), enjoy wine and frosé, a DJ, photo ops, and free popsicles for the kids. Each person who purchases a glass of frosé will be entered into a drawing to win a Wine Vibes t-shirt. As they celebrate with Hawaiian vibes, they will be raising money to support the victims of the Maui wildfires. A QR code will be available to directly donate to the impacted Hawaiian communities. 3 pm.

Houston Audubon presents Purple Martin Watch Parties

Houston Audubon will give visitors a chance to experience the spectacle of the migration of thousands of purple martins. There will be an info table for guests to chat with the Houston Audubon staff and volunteers about purple martins and their amazing migration. Guests must bring their own lawn chairs and water. Registration is highly encouraged. The event will take place in the Willowbrook Plaza parking lot near the At Home store. 7:45 pm.

Anthony Hamilton in concert with The Ton3s and TMF

R&B singer Anthony Hamilton will be in town this weekend, which means a lot of sistas will be heading up to Smart Financial Centre – probably with a flask of Hennessy on them – ready and willing to sing along with the North Carolina native and his smooth, soulful love songs. The man has released seven albums in his career, most recently 2021's Love is the New Black, which actually includes a song called “White Hennessy.” He'll be joined by The Ton3s and TMF. 7 pm.

Movie Review

Avatar: Fire and Ash returns to Pandora with big action and bold visuals

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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