weekend event planner

Here are the 14 best things to do in Houston this weekend

Monday is St. Patrick’s Day, which means that people will be either walking around in green, drinking green beer, or both.

Before that happens, many non-St. Patty’s Day events will be going down this weekend. We’ve got the Moon 2 Mars Festival, a stage musical adaptation of The Wedding Singer, a pop culture convention, a Cowboy Bebop celebration, and the return of alt-metal outfit Deftones. And don’t forget about Pi Day!

Thursday, March 13

Space Center Houston presents Moon 2 Mars Festival
Space Center Houston’s Moon 2 Mars Festival celebrates NASA's Artemis program, which will return astronauts to the Moon using innovative technologies to build a permanent presence on the lunar surface. The festival will feature live music, food, and cosmic exploration for all ages with cutting-edge space technology. The fest will feature a headlining performance by Third Eye Blind on Saturday, March 15. Through Saturday, March 22. 10 am.

Bludorn presents Blu Bayou Dinner Series: Chef Rogelio Garcia
Bludorn Hospitality Group will present the second iteration of their Blu Bayou Chef Series, a quarterly, collaborative dinner series. At the second dinner, chef Aaron Bludorn is teaming up with James Beard Award finalist Rogelio Garcia of Auro. At the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Calistoga, Garcia redefines Mexican cuisine with a modern approach that highlights the finest ingredients the region has to offer. 5 pm.

Alley Theatre presents The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is an American classic that follows a family trapped in dreams and delusion. Amanda, a faded Southern belle, yearns for a better life for her children. However, Laura would rather spend time alone with her collection of delicate glass animals, while Tom, her restless son, longs to escape the monotony of his current life. The timeless masterpiece asks audiences to explore themes of memory, escape, and the delicate nature of human connections. 7:30 pm (8 pm Friday; 2 and 8 pm Saturday; 2 pm Sunday).

Friday, March 14

CAMP Houston at The Galleria presents Pi Day
Families can book a Pi Day slime bar appointment, choosing from three exclusive Pi Day-inspired slime recipes — Sticky Key Lime, Buttery Pumpkin, or Fluffy Banana Cream Pie — highlighting the digits of Pi with four math-inspired topping options. There will also be free pizza and hands-on STEM activities like slime-making, beaded bracelet crafting, face painting, temporary tattoos etc. 10:30 am.

River Oaks Theatre presents No Other Land
Starting this weekend, the River Oaks Theatre will play the recent Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature. A collective of Palestinian and Israeli activists/filmmakers chronicle the Israeli military’s incremental expulsion of the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta in this tightly focused, urgent documentary. Over a period of five years, Masafer Yatta resident and Palestinian journalist Basel Adra shoots video of demolitions (legalized by the area’s conversion to an IDF training zone) and their consequent protests by displaced residents. 11:30 am.

Houston Symphony presents "Korngold’s Violin Concerto & Cinderella"
Korngold’s Violin Concerto contains everything audiences love about violin concertos: shimmering beauty, finger-flying fireworks, and melodies that soar to the stratosphere as only a violin can. Journey into a world of boundless innovation and imagination as the Houston Symphony gives the world premiere of Al-Jazari’s Ingenious Clocks, inspired by the fantastical inventions of 12th century Islamic polymath Ismail al-Jazari. Prokofiev’s Cinderella whisks us through a world of fairy tale magic, leading up to the stroke of midnight. 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Stageworks Theatre presents The Wedding Singer
The musical version of the beloved Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore comedy comes to H-Town. Rock star wannabe Robbie Hart is New Jersey's favorite wedding singer. He's the life of the party until his fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark and, unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. 7:30 pm (3 pm Sunday).

Saturday, March 15

Pop Culture Con
Over at Spring’s Houston CityPlace Marriott at Springwoods Village, Pop Culture Con offers a two-day, family-friendly experience with celebrities, anime guests, comic creators, voice actors and cosplayers. There will be an exhibitor hall and celebrity Q&A panels with opportunities for autographs, voice recordings, and photo opportunities. Among the celebrities appearing will be Lou Ferrigno, Keone Young, and Vic Mignogna. 10 am (10 am Sunday).

SANMAN Studios presents A Tell of Two opening reception
SANMAN Studios will present A Tell of Two, a dynamic exhibition showcasing the powerful works of Justin "Jah" Broussard and Corey Ramon Gibson. This exhibition explores the shared narratives and distinct perspectives of each artist’s Black experience, shaped by the urban landscapes of Houston and Washington, D.C. Experience the powerful storytelling of Broussard and Gibson as they present their artistic journeys through a stunning visual dialogue. Through Saturday, May 10. 11 am.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & the Art of Survival
Renowned for her sleek Art Deco paintings, artist Tamara de Lempicka took Paris, Milan, Berlin, and New York by storm in the 1920s. A century later, this fascinating documentary tells the story of her life, tracing Lempicka’s flight from persecution, her affairs with men and women, and her hidden Jewish heritage. Narrated by Anjelica Huston, The True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & the Art of Survival complements the exhibition Tamara de Lempicka. 5 pm.

Suelta La Lengua Con Itati Y Dona Silvia
TikTok sensation Itati Lopez and Doña Silvia, her co-host and mom, will come to Houston with their live tour, Suelta La Lengua Con Itati y Doña Silvia Live. Lopez, beloved by her 14M+ TikTok followers for her bold and candid personality, has been making waves with season 2 of Suelta La Lengua, now featuring her equally magnetic mother. Expect riveting discussions, hilarious moments, and live Q&A Chisme Calls sessions where audience members can ask Doña Silvia for her signature advice or hear Itati’s empowering tips on leveling up. 7:30 pm.

Sunday, March 16

Link Up: Houston
Andre Power brings his popular music collective Link Up to Houston, launching a nationwide pop-up series in partnership with a tequila company. Expect high-energy sets from local artists Payyy, Tay Powers, Super Jay, and Maiya Papaya, tequila cocktails, and more. 2 pm.

Deftones in concert
Proving that you can’t keep a good alt-metal band down, Sacramento rockers Deftones have been getting back in the live swing of things. They’re currently on their first, proper North American tour since 2022, and they recently announced they’ll continue doing shows in August and September, kicking off in Vancouver and ending in Kansas City. The long-awaited follow-up to their 2020 album Ohms is supposed to be coming soon. Until then, all those fans who had the cover of their second album on their bedroom walls can see them live. 7 pm.

Echoes Presents: Cowboy Bebop Celebrating Japanese Composer Yoko Kanno
Echoes will present an electrifying celebration of legendary Japanese composer Yoko Kanno. This one-night-only event will feature the Woody Witt Big Band performing selections from the Cowboy Bebop original soundtrack, bringing the iconic music of the beloved anime to life. The ensemble features a powerhouse lineup of musicians across saxophones, trombones, trumpets, and a dynamic rhythm section. Audiences can expect a high-energy setlist, immersing fans in the signature jazz, blues, and funk-infused sounds that define Cowboy Bebop. 7 pm.

Photo by Frank Maddocks

Deftones perform at Toyota Center on Sunday.

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doesn't match the first movie's enthusiasm

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films like M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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