weekend event planner

These are the top 15 things to do in Houston this weekend

As Houstonians commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11, many people across the city will get together to celebrate peace and remember those who lost their lives.

Others will be spending their weekend participating in the H-Town Naked Bike Ride. Happening this Saturday at Super Happy Fun Land, attendees will be able to get their bodies painted with other cyclists, hop on their ten-speeds, and just ride the night away.

Of course, this weekend offers plenty of other things to do, from attending an evening of art and food to celebrating National Video Games Day at a new playhub to having “no fun” with these guys.

Thursday, September 10

Space Center Houston presents An Evening with Leland Melvin
Leland Melvin is a former NASA astronaut, engineer, and NFL wide receiver whose journey powers his speaking experience. After an injury ended his professional football career and a near-deafness diagnosis threatened his future at NASA, Melvin defied the odds to fly two Space Shuttle missions aboard Atlantis, helping build the International Space Station and logging more than 565 hours in space. Melvin delivers a message that challenges audiences to embrace setbacks, unlock potential, and pursue bold new frontiers. 5:30 pm.

Barbacana presents A Taste of Art with Affordable Art Fair Houston
Barbacana chef-owner Christian Hernandez is staging a one-night dinner where every course is a direct response to an original work of art. It’s built around work from Joan Steinman and Holly Wong (Ellio Fine Art) and Angel Oloshove (Hooks-Epstein Galleries), three local artists showing at the Affordable Art Fair Houston this October. Throughout the evening, both the artists and the chefs will share insights into their creative processes. 7 pm.

The Hobby Center presents Live at the Founder's Club: Orfeh’s Off the Record with Steven Jamail
Grammy/Tony nominee Orfeh brings powerhouse vocals, sharp storytelling, and unmistakable style to the Founders Club for a two-night show that blends music, personality, and a few surprises along the way. Joined by Houston native/Rice University alumnus Steven Jamail, Orfeh moves across genres with ease, pairing songs audiences love with stories from her life and career, including a few nods to Texas legends. 7:30 pm.

Friday, September 11

Inman Gallery presents Angela Fraleigh: "I have decided not to be hungry" opening reception
Angela Fraleigh’s newest paintings enter the charged terrain of the feral feminine, unleashing a cast of unruly figures animated by desire, instinct, and an irrepressible appetite. Maenads, witches, and animals emerge and recede through lush layers of paint, carrying an energy that shifts between the ecstatic and the intimate, the violent and the tender. Guided by a logic closer to ritual than narrative, Fraleigh approaches painting as a form of alchemy, allowing images to collide, dissolve, and transmute. Through Saturday, October 31. 6 pm.

Mötley Crüe in concert
Mötley Crüe comes to The Woodlands as part of its The Return of the Carnival of Sins tour. The two milestones being remembered are the 20th anniversary of their 2005-06 Carnival of Sins tour, which marked the reunion of the band's original four members, and the 45th anniversary of the band itself. It's also the 12th anniversary of Mötley Crüe's "retirement" from touring, but that retirement was shelved in 2022 when the band started the first of two tours with Def Leppard. 6:30 pm.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Take Care of My Cat
A sleeper hit in 2001, Jeong Jae-eun’s debut chronicles the lives of five graduating friends whose bonds fracture as they contend with unrealized dreams and unequal opportunities. Set in the port city of Incheon, the film tackles notions of class, solidarity, and privilege – in what is now a timeless snapshot of a rapidly evolving society. Suffused with the joys of girlhood, yet clear-eyed about the uneasy transition into adulthood, Take Care of My Cat offers a tender portrait of young women at the turn of the new millennium. 7 pm.

Cash Money & No Limit Tour
New Orleans icons Cash Money and No Limit are teaming up for a concert that celebrates some of the most signature voices in Southern hip-hip. The lineup includes Birdman, Master P, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, B.G., Silkk the Shocker, Mia X, Mac, Fiend, Mercedes, Choppa, and Mr. Serv-On with special guest Ying Yang Twinz. VIP packages are also available. 8 pm.

Boondocks presents Let Me Rock! Houston featuring JonoJono
Houston alternative rock artist JonoJono is celebrating the release of his sophomore album, We Asked For More, with a local release event as part of the Let Me Rock! Houston show at Boondocks. This is designed as both an arts showcase and a community resource hub. After navigating his own mental health battles, Jono created More as his personal therapeutic outlet, and he’ll be bringing that message home by merging live music, visual storytelling, and actionable mental health resources for local attendees. 9 pm.

Saturday, September 12

Blue Bird Circle presents Couture Boutique
Luxury fashion meets philanthropy at The Blue Bird Circle’s Couture Boutique. The store will offer a selection of authentic designer apparel, handbags, shoes, jewelry, and accessories from coveted fashion houses, including Chanel, Dior, and Gucci. Every purchase supports The Blue Bird Circle Clinic for Pediatric Neurology at Texas Children’s Hospital and neurological research at Baylor College of Medicine. The annual event offers fashion lovers the opportunity to find designer treasures while supporting vital pediatric neurological care and research. 10 am.

Tokyouth Playhub presents National Video Games Day
Tokyouth Playhub is turning National Video Games Day into an all-day celebration, inviting gamers, families, and claw machine fans to play, compete, and win with prizes happening every hour. Throughout the day, one attendee every hour will be selected to win either a $100 Tokyouth playing card or a $50 gift card to EMA Japanese Cuisine. Tokyouth will also host an hourly claw competition, putting players' claw machine skills to the test. People can purchase 50 credits for $20 and compete to see who can grab the most prizes during their competition. 10 am.

Vietnamese Culture & Science Association presents Viet Cultural Fest
Founded in 2019, Viet Cultural Fest is a day filled with cultural entertainment, traditional games, competitions, and Vietnamese cuisine. The fest’s mission is to preserve and promote the rich beauty of Vietnamese culture while establishing an annual tradition that welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds throughout Houston and surrounding areas. This year’s theme, “Phù Đổng Thiên Vương – When Courage Calls, Giants Rise,” draws inspiration from the legendary Saint Gióng, one of Vietnam’s Four Immortals. 10 am.

Cactus Music presents Kate Waters In-Store Performance
Kate Waters is a neurologically-trained and board-certified music therapist, using music to bring healing and hope. And it’s hope — specifically the kind that’s hard fought-for — that is the undercurrent of Some Comfort, Waters’ sophomore album of soulful Americana and first studio release. Waters finds light in every hardship, and never spares us the dirty, difficult work of searching for it. This weekend, she will celebrate the release with a live performance at Cactus Music. 1 pm.

Sunday, September 13

Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theater presents DANCE | HUNGER | ACTION
A multi-day celebration of dance, community, and action that's presented by Social Movement Contemporary Dance Theater, the fest brings together youth, pre-professional, collegiate, and professional dance artists from across Houston and beyond. The series includes three concerts: Youth Concert, Pre-Professional Concert, and Professional Concert. Activities continue throughout September with master classes and a community volunteer day benefiting the Houston Food Bank. Through Friday, September 18. 2:30 pm.

River Oaks Theatre presents The Complete Metropolis Live Score with David DiDonato
The restoration of Fritz Lang’s sci-fi 1927 masterpiece Metropolis will feature a live score by Austin composer/multi-instrumentalist David DiDonato. This new score includes elements of classical, electronic, metal, dance, vaporwave, industrial, and shoegaze. The restoration adds new integration of scenes and subplots long considered lost, as it dramatizes the conflict between wealthy über-capitalists and rebellious subterranean laborers — orchestrated by a diabolical scientist capable of destroying them both. 6 pm.

Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter in concert
The Sex Pistols — original members Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock — and singer Frank Carter (replacing outspoken ex-lead singer John Lydon, who is currently on tour with his band, Public Image Ltd.) come to Houston as part of their Never Mind the Bollocks tour. They'll play the band’s landmark 1977 album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, in its entirety, along with additional material spanning the group’s catalog. 7:30 pm.

Motley Crue Facebook

Mötley Crüe returns to The Woodlands this weekend.

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Movie Review

Korean monster movie Hope starts strong, then chews too much scenery

Photo courtesy of Neon

Hwang Jung-Min and Hoyeon in Hope.

Monster movies can take on all sorts of different flavors, from all-out mayhem to quieter ones where the monster can sometimes be the protagonist. The new South Korean film Hope splits the difference to a degree, delivering action-packed sequences while also attempting to understand the non-humans in a way.

The story starts in medias res, with an unseen creature having already done great damage to a huge bull and laying waste to much of a small Korean town. The local sheriff, Beom Seok (Hwang Jung-Min), tries to take control of the situation in the town, while a group of hunters led by Sung Ki (Zo In-Sung) travel into the nearby woods to see what they can find there.

Thus starts a nearly nonstop, 160-minute epic of each side trying (and mostly failing) to defend themselves against gigantic creatures who seem hellbent on destroying everything in their path. It’s not until 40 minutes into the film that the audience is shown one of the monsters in detail, and the less said the better about what it actually looks like, as the mystery behind it keeps the intrigue going.

That initial section of the film is the best, as Beom Seok — eventually joined by deputy Sung Ae (Hoyeon) — goes on a frantic hunt around the town, always just far enough behind the monster to keep from seeing it. The utter destruction he witnesses and his interactions with various locals are intense and oddly funny, with the hectic conversations he has laced with fear and incredulity over how different people choose to act.

Writer-director Na Hong-jin bounces back and forth between the people in the town and the group in the forest, doing his best to maintain the momentum of the first section. This approach works for a while as each group makes their own discoveries about the creatures and has run-ins with them that more often than not are ill-fated. Using a mixture of relatively good CGI, great production design, and an abundance of gore, the filmmaker shows he knows how to make an effective blockbuster-style film.

The trouble is, he doesn’t know when to stop. Somewhere around the two-hour mark of the movie, the story starts to become repetitive and Hong-jin introduces elements that don’t mesh well with what has come before. For some reason, he decides that some of the creatures should speak, a move that is baffling on several fronts. The biggest one is that they are voiced by English-speaking actors like Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell, but each speaks a non-human language, rendering their performances moot.

Jung-min puts in a fantastic lead performance, one that requires him to vacillate between abject terror and in-control leadership. In-Sung is almost as good, although his character requires him to play one note over and over again. Hoyeon, who some may recognize from Squid Game, delivers an extra shot of energy when she enters the film, something she keeps going despite her character being forced to say some bad lines.

If Hong-jin had kept the focus Hope a little tighter, the sci-fi thriller might have ended up toward the top of this year’s films. But by choosing to extend the story into territories that don’t add much to the plot or make much sense, the filmmaker puts a damper on what was a fun and brutal monster movie.

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Hope is now playing in theaters.

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