weekend event planner

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

Show your love for the Astros at FanFest.

Houston Astros/Facebook

This weekend breaks bad, as the stars of Breaking Bad hit Houston to introduce the city to their mezcal brand. The city celebrates our Houston Astros with a big bash, and art lovers can help artists in need after the devastating Winter Street Studios fire.

And anyone who's ever needed a drink to get through a Shakespeare production will appreciate a new "smashed" hit comedy — where an actor downs five shots before leading the cast into the show.

Enjoy (responsibly); here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, January 19

Spec's presents Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul of Dos Hombres Mezcal

Any Breaking Bad fans out there? Well, Jesse and Mr. White will be in town! Stars and co-creators of Dos Hombres Mescal Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will be stopping by the great state of Texas this weekend, for two bottle-signing events in Dallas (on Saturday) and Houston (at Spec’s downtown). Cranston and Paul love engaging with fans and sharing their passion for mezcal, and these bottle signings have been a huge hit in the past. 10 am.

Drift presents Purse Bingo

Drift, one of Houston's most popular sports bars, is holding its first Purse Bingo night this weekend. Purse Bingo is a new take on the classic bingo game where participants who successfully get bingo on their card can win a designer purse. There will be five rounds of bingo where participants can win up to $6,000 in prizes, including a Bottega Veneta or Valentino designer purse. Drift will hold Purse Bingo on the third Thursday of every month, and tickets are available for $25 each. 7 pm.

Paranormal Clique

Paranormal Cirque will expose attendees to a unique creation of combined theatre, circus, and cabaret with a new European-style flare. Cirque Italia is now presenting a brand-new show for a mature audience, with a horror story that features different shades of sexy. No one under the age of 13 will be admitted to the show. Guests aged 13 through 17 must be accompanied by an adult. Through Sunday, January 29. 7:30 pm (6:30 and 9:30 pm Saturday; 5:30 pm and 8:30 pm Sunday).

Friday, January 20

Blaffer Art Museum presents "The Secrecy of Water" opening reception

The Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston presents the first solo museum exhibition for Leslie Martinez, as well as monumental video installation "We Are in Hell When We Hurt Each Other," by interdisciplinary artist Jacolby Satterwhite. Martinez creates immersive, spellbinding paintings that explore ideas of place, climate, landscape, and personhood through unconventional methods of applying and interlaying various materials, textures, and hues on canvas. Through Sunday, March 12. 6 pm.

14 Pews presents EO

EO, a gray donkey with melancholic eyes and a curious spirit, begins his life as a circus performer before escaping on a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside in a journey marked by absurdity and warmth in equal measure. With his first film in seven years, legendary filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski directs one of his most free and visually inventive films yet, placing the viewer directly in the heart and mind of the four-legged protagonist. 7 pm (8 pm Saturday).

The Italian Cultural & Community Center of Houston presents Jewish Life in Rome in Three Chapters: Ghettoization, Emancipation, and Holocaust

The Italian Cultural & Community Center of Houston, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in Houston, will host a lecture about Jewish life in Rome, presented by Marla Stone, to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. Stone’s lecture will present the history of Jewish life in Rome and the Roman Ghetto, from its inception in 1555 through the current iteration as a fashionable neighborhood in the city’s historic center. 7 pm.

Houston Symphony presents Riots & Scandals Festival: Stravinsky Rite Of Spring

A century after its riotous premiere, The Rite of Spring’s pounding rhythms, propulsive energy, and sheer sonic impact remain an immersive, electrifying experience unlike anything else in all of art. Music director designate Juraj Valčuha leads this groundbreaking masterpiece as part of a two-week spotlight on works that scandalized the artistic establishments of their day. Silvestre Revueltas’s rowdy and relentless Sensemayá opens the concert. 8 pm (2:30 pm Sunday).

Saturday, January 21

2023 Houston Astros FanFest

The Houston Astros are excited to host their annual FanFest, as they celebrate their 2022 World Series Championship and get ready for the 2023 season. FanFest is the official kickoff to the 2023 season and has something fun for the whole family, including autograph sessions, photo opportunities, the World Series trophy, games, and more. All proceeds benefit the Astros Foundation. A limited number of vouchers will be available the morning of the event. Vouchers will appear in the MLB Ballpark app 24 hours prior to the event. 11 am.

Art Fundraiser for Winter Street Studios

Last month, a devastating fire took place at Winter Street Studios, destroying several studios and damaging countless artworks, equipment, and personal belongings. Over 100 artists have been affected and displaced from their studio spaces. This weekend, a pop-up art show and fundraiser will take place at Silver Street Studios Warehouse. The public is invited to come buy artwork to support the artists, while they enjoy beer, snacks, and live music. All proceeds will go to provide stipends to the artists affected by the fire. 11 am.

Hops n' Hot Sauce Festival

The 7th Annual Hops n’ Hot Sauce Festival, featuring fresh beer from SpindleTap Brewery, will include over 70 vendors – from all over the state of Texas and beyond – with hot sauce, salsas, jerky, jams & jellies, pickled products, seasonings, sweets, and more. The event will include a hot pepper-eating contest and spicy food challenge, as well as a silent auction benefiting Addi’s Faith Foundation and Texas Heroes Advocating Autism Research. 11 am.

Brass Jar Productions presents Drunk Shakespeare

Brass Jar Productions will present the Houston production of the “smashed” hit comedy. It begins with one actor drinking five shots of liquor before attempting to lead the cast through a Shakespeare play in under 90 minutes. Pop culture references, improvisation, audience games, a wealth of surprises and liberal departures from the text (with outrageous consequences) make this accessible for anyone who likes a good time. Through Saturday, April 29. 7 pm.

Sunday, January 22

4th Wall Theatre Company presents The Sound Inside

When Bella Baird, an isolated creative writing professor at Yale, begins to mentor a brilliant but enigmatic student named Christopher, the two form an unexpectedly intense bond. As their lives and the stories they tell about themselves become intertwined in unpredictable ways, Bella makes a surprising request of Christopher that neither knows if he can fulfill. Brimming with suspense, Adam Rapp’s riveting play explores the limits of what one person can ask of another. Through Saturday, February 11. 3 pm.

Punk Rock Garage Sale at Equal Parts Brewing

Insomnia Gallery and Deep End Records will be heading to Equal Parts Brewing for the first time for the first Punk Rock Garage Sale of 2023. Skip those big-box retailers and avoid the anxiety of slow shipping times. About 30+ individual vendors will be on hand offering up everything cool – music, art, toys, books, comics, clothing, music gear, and crazy handmade offerings. Willow’s TX BBQ will also be around for a rare pop-up. 1 pm.

NobleMotion Dance presents Coin Toss

NobleMotion Dance’s pre-professional company returns in an evening that will include original works by Lenorris Arnold, Reagan Crandall, Jaiquan Laurencin, and NobleMotion Dance artistic directors Andy Noble and Dionne Noble. Additionally, this concert will feature original choreography by NMD2 company members and a special guest performance by Sam Houston State University. Athletic, generous, fun and communal, Coin Toss highlights the talents of 13 up-and-coming dance artists. 7 pm.

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Movie Review

Live action Lilo & Stitch remake offers up frenzied fun and nostalgia

Courtesy of Disney

Lilo & Stitch returns to theaters this weekend.

The project to turn every single Disney animated movie into a “live action” film has rarely seemed like anything but a money grab by the movie studio. Most of the films have failed to update the original in any meaningful way, and in many of the cases, they’re almost shot-for-shot remakes, making the reason for the new film’s existence even more confusing.

Having almost exhausted the supply of their 20th century movies, Disney has now remade 2002’s Lilo & Stitch. The film follows an alien experiment, originally known as 626 (voiced by Chris Sanders), created by Jumba ( Zach Galifianakis) for the benefit of an alien race led by the Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham). Unfortunately, 626 is too uncontrollable for them, and is banished to the faraway planet known as Earth.

Landing in Hawaii, the creature soon to be known as Stitch gloms on to a young girl named Lilo (Maia Kealoha), who mistakes it for a dog while looking for companionship following the death of her parents. Tracked by Jumba and fellow alien Pleakley (Billy Magnussen), now in human form, Stitch leaves a trail of destruction wherever he goes, much to the chagrin of Lilo’s older sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong).

Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp and written by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, the film will surely be a blast of nostalgia for anyone who was a kid when the original came out. The now-3D Stitch is just as chaotic as ever, and they even included cast members from the first film like Tia Carrere (now playing a social worker for the orphaned sisters) and Amy Hill as a kindly neighbor.

But for all of the frenzied fun that Stitch offers, there’s very little else that holds the story together. For one, the Lilo character as a real person doesn’t work as well as she does in animated form, as there’s something fluid that happens in animation that feels stilted when it’s an actual little girl. Perhaps sensing this fault, the film is loaded to the hilt with bite-sized moments that try to make the audience laugh, but do little to give the story any meaning.

The difference between animation and live action is never more evident than with Jumba, Pleakley, and CIA agent Cobra Bubbles (Courtney B. Vance). Characters that are goofy and enjoyable in animated form come off as weird and off-putting in human form. They’re supposed to bring a sense of fun and even suspense to the film, but instead they feel like characters who are getting in the way of a better story.

Kealoha, making her professional debut, is definitely cute and offers up some interesting moments opposite Stitch and Nani, but her lack of experience shows. Agudong turns in the best performance, giving a bit of emotional weight to a film that needed more. Galifianakis and Magnussen would have been better served as voice-only roles; neither comes off well when their characters turn into humans. Hill is like a warm hug every time she comes on screen, and the story could have used more of her.

The new Lilo & Stitch is not an abomination, but like most of the Disney live action remakes before it, it fails to stand on its own merits. Never given a chance to be its own thing and featuring storytelling too disjointed to be effective, the film is another so-so effort from a studio that knows how to make much better movies.

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Lilo & Stitch is now playing in theaters.

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