weekend event planner

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

TUTS presents a refreshed Rent.

Photo by Melissa Taylor

This weekend, a group of young New Yorkers worry about how they'll play rent — and a lot more, while some Austin teens stay dazed and confused. Those with a green thumb can get their plant on, while space lovers can celebrate a milestone anniversary of Spacelab.

Scaly reptiles invade NRG and a Sunday Funday concert brings the jams without the booze.

Enjoy; here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, May 18

Shocks and Jolts Summer Exhibit at Children’s Museum Houston

Get ready for a shock to your system with an electrifying exhibit like no other. Experience what the “Shocks & Jolts” exhibit is all about during a stunning opening ceremony where people will complete an electric circuit by making a human chain to open the gallery. Made possible by OXY, the exhibit will enable you to discover the illuminating field of electrostatics, examine the properties of electromagnetism, and build and test your own electrical circuits. 10 am.

Dartmouth College and University of Houston presents MusicMexico 2023 Symposium

For three days, the Hopkins Center for the Arts (the Hop) at Dartmouth and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston will convene musicians, performers and scholars to explore the past and future of Mexican music and its representation in wind band literature and educational settings. The second Music Mexico Symposium is part of Dartmouth’s ongoing Mexican Repertoire Initiative to enhance access to and appreciation for Mexican artists, who are actively innovating and contributing to the evolution of wind music. 6 pm (7:30 am Friday and Saturday).

Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown presents Dazed and Confused

Alright, alright, alright! Enjoy the sights, sips and sounds atop BLVD Place. Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown has partnered with Saint Arnold Brewing Company to present Texas filmmaker RIchard Linklater’s 1993, back-to-the-’70s favorite, which launched the careers of so many stars (Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Renee Zellweger). Saint Arnold will provide guests with tastings of their newest beer, Simmer Pilsner. which pairs impeccably with the nostalgic teen comedy and the skyline of Uptown Houston. 7:45 pm.

Friday, May 19

PlantCon International

The inaugural plant convention PlantCon International is a 100-vendor plant market and exhibition featuring rare and hard-to-find plants, seminars and workshops from field experts, and a unique non-profit mission to promote inclusivity and visibility for all national and international plant organizations. The event is organized by With Heart Collective, a non-profit focused on creating inclusive spaces and opportunities for small, minority-owned businesses and their customers. 6 am (8 am Saturday; 10 am Sunday).

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV

This fascinating documentary (narrated by Steven Yeun) chronicles the life and career of Nam June Paik (1932–2006), “the father of video art.” Born in Japan-occupied Korea, Paik studied as a classical musician before moving to Germany in the 1950s, where he became a member of the influential, experimental art movement Fluxus. Relocating to the United States, he became fully engaged with television and video, revolutionizing the use of technology. 7 pm (5 pm Sunday).

Space Center Houston presents Skylab 50th Anniversary Evening Celebration

Space Center Houston will mark the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Skylab space station. Guests will have exclusive, after-hours access to Space Center Houston, with a special cocktail hour in the Skylab trainer exhibit. The reception will include passed hors d’oeuvres, beer, and wine, with liquor available to purchase, live music, and the unboxing of Skylab artifacts. 7 pm.

Houston Symphony presents Stravinsky Oedipus Rex

Sophocles meets the groundbreaking musical language of Stravinsky: the result is raw, riveting, and unforgettable. Lose yourself in the drama as this mythic tale of fate, political intrigue, and patricide unfolds, realized with stunning on-stage visuals created specially for these performances by artist Adam Larsen. Music Director Designate Juraj Valčuha and the orchestra are joined by world-famous opera superstars Sean Panikkar and Michelle DeYoung, along with the Houston Symphony Men’s Chorus. 8 pm.

Saturday, May 20

The Crawfish Open Championship at Low Tide Kitchen and Bar

Spring Branch seafood restaurant Low Tide Kitchen and Bar is hosting a unique crawfish eating contest. It’s open to all amateur eaters 18 years or older. (Entries will be accepted through May 18 by 8:00 p.m. A non-refundable entry fee of $20 must be paid to participate.) Contestants will be given a tray of crawfish that will be weighed before and after the contest. The competitor to eat the most crawfish meat by weight at the end of eight minutes wins. The winner will receive the Crawfish Open Trophy Belt and Prize Basket. Noon.

Southside Sporting Club Welcomes Keith Frank & The Soileau Zydeco Band

Southside Sportside Club will welcome Louisiana’s Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band for one performance only. Led by the legendary vocalist and accordion player Keith Frank, their music is a modern celebration of Louisiana culture that’s earned them a loyal following and acclaim. The band features some of the most talented guitarists, drummers, bassists, and fiddlers in the genre and they put on a show like no other, with electrifying performances and crowd-pleasing hits that never fail to get their audiences up and dancing. 5 pm.

Blaffer Art Museum presents Robert Hodge x Tim Kerr: "No Kings But Us" opening reception

Hodge-Kerr is a collaboration between Houston-based artist and impresario Robert Hodge and Austin-based musician and artist Tim Kerr. Individually, their work is steeped in the rich history between music and pop culture, and they share a deep interest in racial equality and human rights. With mutual admiration and converging interests, from color palette to messaging to medium, they have come together to entwine a creative vision. Through Sunday, June 4. 6 pm.

Theatre Under The Stars presents Rent

Winner of the Tony for Best Musical and Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this sensational musical has captured the hearts of millions of theater fans around the world. A re-imagining of Puccini's La Bohème, Rent follows an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. With its inspiring message of joy and hope in the face of fear, this timeless celebration of friendship and creativity reminds us to measure our lives with the only thing that truly matters — love. Through Sunday, May 28. 2 & 8 pm (2 and 7:30 pm Sunday).

Sunday, May 21

Reptilian Nation Expo: Reptile and Amphibian Show

This weekend, over at NRG Center, Reptilian Nation Expo will feature 100+ breeders and vendors with over 300 tables of reptiles, amphibians, arachnids, isopods, and other bugs. Visitors can buy supplies, enclosures, insect/rodent feeders, and more. There will also be crocodilian and exotic, venomous snake presentations. So, if you’re the type of brave soul who isn’t freaked out by these little mofos, this expo is right up your alley. 10 am.

The Party Sober Partnership presents Recover Out Loud Soberfest 2023

SoberFest HTX 2023 is a unique event that celebrates the joys of sobriety while showcasing the power of music. It is an inclusive space where everyone can come together to have fun, dance, and enjoy great music without the influence of alcohol or drugs. By sober people for sober people, this festival is an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and to embrace a sober lifestyle. The festival will feature a variety of food trucks, vendor booths, and mocktails to keep everyone entertained throughout the day. Noon.

Impractical Jokers: The Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Tour

Brian “Q” Quinn, James “Murr” Murray, and Sal Vulcano of the beloved prank show Impractical Jokers will bring The Drive Drive Drive Drive Drive Tour to Sugar Land. The hidden-camera comedy show follows Q, Murr and Sal as they compete to embarrass each other amongst the general public, with a series of hilarious and outrageous dares. This event will feature never-before-seen videos and storytelling stand-up. 5 pm.

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.

movies film