weekend event planner

Here are the 15 best things to do in Houston this weekend

This weekend is all about celebrations.

A Galleria-area bakery will celebrate its one-year anniversary with birthday cake conchas. A Black-owned food truck will celebrate National Food Truck Day with free stuffed wings. Two local rap legends will celebrate DJ Screw Day with a live show. A new neighborhood bar in the Heights will celebrate its grand opening with $1 food and drinks.

And, of course, there’s NRG Stadium, where the entire city will celebrate the return of our one-and-only Queen Bey. It’s time to get in formation, folks!

Thursday, June 26

El Bolillo Bakery’s One-Year Anniversary
El Bolillo Bakery’s Fountain View location has been currently celebrating its one-year anniversary with a week of BOGO deals (marranitos, tortillas, tamales, aguas frescas, etc.), as well as limited-edition birthday cake conchas. Baked in honor of the store’s first year serving the Galleria-area community, These colorful conchas will be given out free on Thursday — but only while supplies last. It’s the bakery’s way of thanking the Houston community for a warm and wonderful first year on Fountain View. 6 am.

ROCO Resound: Savor!
At ROCO Resound: Savor!, attendees can savor a selection of wines, plus bites by chef Soren Pedersen, as ROCO explores the commissions and composers of their 21st season, through pairings of musical and gastronomic flavors. Led by sommelier/ROCO board member Mike Muña, attendees will enjoy a curated wine tasting while learning more about a few of their new commissioned works for the upcoming season, as the composers join in-person and virtually from all over the country. 6:30 pm.

Performing Arts Houston presents Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
For two nights this weekend, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the world’s foremost, all-male comic ballet company, brings its internationally beloved troupe of dancers to Houston as part of its landmark 50th anniversary season, featuring gems from across the company’s groundbreaking repertoire. Affectionately known as the Trocks, the company dances en travesti with razor-sharp wit and breathtaking pointe work, performing polished parodies of works that span the classical ballet canon. 7:30 pm.

Friday, June 27

National Food Truck Day Giveaway at Stuff’d Wings
Friday is National Food Truck Day, and Black-owned food truck Stuff'd Wings will team up with BLK, the world’s largest social and dating app for the Black community, for a delicious giveaway. The first 100 BLK users who show the app will get free stuffed wings from Stuff'd. This free community event will celebrate Houston’s food truck culture while fostering connection in the Black community, making National Food Truck Day accessible and joyful. 11 am.

Social Junkie Sports Bar + Kitchen presents Slim Thug & Lil Keke
Social Junkie Sports Bar + Kitchen is turning up the volume on DJ Screw Day with a special, Social Junkies Fridays live performance by Houston hip-hop royalty Slim Thug and Lil Keke. Honoring the legacy of the legendary DJ Screw and the sound that shaped the city, this one-night-only event is free to the public and poised to deliver an unforgettable H-Town celebration. $5 Happy Hour specials will run through 9 pm, followed by late-night vibes from 10 pm to 2 am. 5 pm.

Houston Symphony presents Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Concert
This weekend, the Triwizard Tournament comes to Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Concert. Audiences can relive the magic of Harry Potter soaring across the big screen in high-definition, as well as experience the music of a live symphony orchestra performing Patrick Doyle’s score. 7:30 pm (2 pm Saturday and Sunday).

Houston Contemporary Dance Company presents Resilience
Houston Contemporary Dance Company celebrates the completion of the company’s sixth season with a guest performance by their second company, Houston Contemporary 2. Resilience will feature a world premiere by Houston-based educator and choreographer Travis Prokop, centered around the LGBTQ+ community. This evening will also include Citizen by performer/choreographer Yue Yin, a new work by Jacob’s Pillow Choreographic Fellow Natasha Adorlee, and another new work by Houston-based choreographer Stacey Allen. 8:30 pm.

Saturday, June 28

42nd Biannual Bridal Extravaganza Show
The Bridal Extravaganza Show, the largest, two-day, bridal planning showcase in the U.S., will return to Houston with the latest fashion, cakes, gowns, and local vendors. Future brides, bridesmaids, mothers-of-the-bride, grooms, family, and wedding planners will have their pick of over 225 vendors that cater exclusively to the wedding industry. There will also be cake samples, multiple fashion shows, Instagram walls for selfies, prizes, and entertainment from Houston’s top wedding professionals. 11 am (Noon Sunday).

47th Annual Official Houston Pride LGBT+ Celebration
The 47th Annual Official Houston Pride LGBT+ Celebration features vibrant community resources, vendors, major local and national talent, and immersive entertainment zones that transform the city into a full-on celebration of Pride. The Festival at Houston City Hall kicks off with high-energy performances, celebrity hosts, and exciting giveaways. As the sun sets, the streets ignite with Pride Houston’s Parade at 7 pm. Floats, performers, and community groups light up downtown in a powerful display of unity, visibility, and celebration. Don’t miss the official afterparty at Rich’s in Midtown. 11 am.

The River Oaks Theatre and Yellow Rose Ghostbusters present Ghostbusters
Yellow Rose Ghostbusters, Houston's premier Ghostbusters-themed non-profit charity (and proudly recognized by Sony's Ghost Corps), will present a screening of the 1984 sci-fi/comedy classic they hold so near-and-dear to their hearts. Members of the non-profit will be both in attendance and dressed in costume. A portion of all ticket sales will be donated on behalf of Yellow Rose Ghostbusters to Texas Children's Hospital. 1 pm.

The Kid Grand Opening
New Heights neighborhood bar The Kid will have a grand opening celebration this weekend. Be among the first 100 guests and score $1 sliders, beers, and cocktails. The party kicks up a notch with live DJs starting at 6 pm. Customers can sample Rodeo Goat fan favorites like the iconic Royale with Cheese (yes, it’s Pulp Fiction-inspired), stacked with American cheese, chopped onions, bacon, mustard, and spiked ketchup. Whether you’re a cocktail connoisseur or just going for the sliders, The Kid is your new neighborhood go-to. 4 pm.

Beyoncé in concert
In all likelihood, most of the city will be at NRG Stadium this weekend. That’s where Beyoncé Knowles Carter, Queen of Houston and the World, will be. She will play two hometown shows in support of her 2024 genre-bouncing masterwork Cowboy Carter, which won Album of the Year and Best Country Album at this year’s Grammy Awards. (The CMAs may act like the album doesn’t exist, but the Grammys finally did right by the woman.)

Sunday, June 29

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents "Anicka Yi" opening day
Anicka Yi’s work dissolves boundaries between biology and technology, proposing new ways of thinking about perception, sentience, and survival. From animatronic sculptures that breathe and flicker like prehistoric lifeforms to software designed to carry on her practice after death, Yi approaches technology as a creative partner. Anchoring this presentation are two complementary installations that address the concept of “Karmic Debt.” Through Sunday, September 7. 12:30 pm.

Lone Star Symphonic Band presents "With Hearts of Gratitude"
Over at Holy Covenant United Methodist Church in Katy, Lone Star Symphonic Band’s concert season will conclude with the band’s annual “With Hearts of Gratitude” patriotic concert. This event will honor the history, the commitment, the service, and the life of each individual that is woven into the very fabric of our country. The LSSB Community Chorus will join the band for this celebration. 4 pm.

Wooster’s Garden presents Kitchen Takeover
Chefs Javi Becerra and Rico Mackins – formerly co-chefs of the now closed fine dining restaurant Degust – bring their creative flair and celebrated culinary backgrounds to Wooster’s Garden this weekend. This one-night-only event promises an exclusive, hand-crafted menu (filled with tacos, nachos, confit duck, etc.) and an unforgettable experience of inventive flavors and vibrant energy in the heart of Midtown. 4 pm.

$Beyonc\u00e9 Cowboy Carter$

Photo by Blair Caldwell

Beyonce brings her Cowboy Carter tour to Houston this weekend.

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Movie Review

Meta-comedy remake Anaconda coils itself into an unfunny mess

Photo by Matt Grace

Jack Black and Paul Rudd in Anaconda.

In Hollywood’s never-ending quest to take advantage of existing intellectual property, seemingly no older movie is off limits, even if the original was not well-regarded. That’s certainly the case with 1997’s Anaconda, which is best known for being a lesser entry on the filmography of Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez, as well as some horrendous accent work by Jon Voight.

The idea behind the new meta-sequel Anaconda is arguably a good one. Four friends — Doug (Jack Black), Griff (Paul Rudd), Claire (Thandiwe Newton), and Kenny (Steve Zahn) — who made homemade movies when they were teenagers decide to remake Anaconda on a shoestring budget. Egged on by Griff, an actor who can’t catch a break, the four of them pull together enough money to fly down to Brazil, hire a boat, and film a script written by Doug.

Naturally, almost nothing goes as planned in the Amazon, including losing their trained snake and running headlong into a criminal enterprise. Soon enough, everything else takes second place to the presence of a giant anaconda that is stalking them and anyone else who crosses its path.

Written and directed by Tom Gormican, with help from co-writer Kevin Etten, the film is designed to be an outrageous comedy peppered with laugh-out-loud moments that cover up the fact that there’s really no story. That would be all well and good … if anything the film had to offer was truly funny. Only a few scenes elicit any honest laughter, and so instead the audience is fed half-baked jokes, a story with no focus, and actors who ham it up to get any kind of reaction.

The biggest problem is that the meta-ness of the film goes too far. None of the core four characters possess any interesting traits, and their blandness is transferred over to the actors playing them. And so even as they face some harrowing situations or ones that could be funny, it’s difficult to care about anything they do since the filmmakers never make the basic effort of making the audience care about them.

It’s weird to say in a movie called Anaconda, but it becomes much too focused on the snake in the second half of the film. If the goal is to be a straight-up comedy, then everything up to and including the snake attacks should be serving that objective. But most of the time the attacks are either random or moments when the characters are already scared, and so any humor that could be mined all but disappears.

Black and Rudd are comedy all-stars who can typically be counted on to elevate even subpar material. That’s not the case here, as each only scores on a few occasions, with Black’s physicality being the funniest thing in the movie. Newton is not a good fit with this type of movie, and she isn’t done any favors by some seriously bad wigs. Zahn used to be the go-to guy for funny sidekicks, but he brings little to the table in this role.

Any attempt at rebooting/remaking an old piece of IP should make a concerted effort to differentiate itself from the original, and in that way, the new Anaconda succeeds. Unfortunately, that’s its only success, as the filmmakers can never find the right balance to turn it into the bawdy comedy they seemed to want.

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Anaconda is now playing in theaters.

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