weekend event planner

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

snow globe theater moody gardens holiday spectacular

Snow Globe Theater casts a spell at Moody Gardens' A Christmas Wish: Holiday Spectacular.

Photo courtesy of Moody Gardens

We're just days away from Christmas, which means last-minute shopping, a much-needed break, and time with friends and family. Don't forget to check out all the dazzling holiday light displays all around town this season (check out our roundup here).

As for this weekend, look for ugly sweater parties, a visit from actor Jeremy Piven (who's trying standup now), holiday tunes at Houston Symphony, and a holiday spectacular at Moody Gardens in Galveston. And for some last-minute gift or ornament ideas, check out a cool class at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Enjoy; here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, December 21

Holiday Family Week at Rooftop Cinema Club

Through December 23, each adult ticket purchase for a matinee or afternoon screening at Rooftop Cinema Club includes a complimentary kid's ticket, valid for children 12 and under. The offer can be claimed on each film’s ticket page. While these screenings are open to all ages, please note headphones used for movie sound are best suited for ages 5 and up. Holiday films include The Nightmare Before Christmas, Home Alone, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, and It’s A Wonderful Life. Visit the Rooftop Cinema site for showtimes and tickets.

Catch some holiday movie faves at Rooftop Cinema Club.Photo courtesy of Rooftop Cinema Club

93’ Til 3 Year Anniversary & Holiday Party

93’ Til will be celebrating three years this weekend. The vinyl restaurant and bar will have food and drink specials for the celebratory occasion, including $9 cocktails and $3 Asahi beers. Holiday-themed drinks, including the signature Nogg it Off Egg Nog cocktail, will also be available. There will be multiple DJs on-site spinning hits throughout the night. The anniversary party will be holiday-themed. Ugly sweaters are encouraged. 93’ Til will also have different raffle prizes and a toy drive throughout the night for donations. 7 pm.

Exalted Arts Theatre Company presents Passport to Christmas

Passport to Christmas is a heartwarming musical about dysfunctional siblings who are reunited by a challenge, presented to them by their late music-publishing father. The siblings must travel around the world in the 25 days of December (about 3 and a half weeks), using a scrapbook filled with holiday songs from the countries they explore. They must perform tasks and sing songs until they reach home on Christmas Day, where they will earn a big inheritance. 7:30 pm (8 pm Friday; 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday).

Capricorn Cocktail Launch Party

The Aphrodisi-Acts will bring their signature neon dreams to Roswell’s Saloon for their Capricorn cocktail release party, celebrating the hardworking and loyal Capricorns in our lives with $6 Capricorn cocktails all night. There will be three neon-dripped, burlesque performances by the effervescent Cara Cherie throughout the evening, as well as go-go dancing by Bambi LaBamba, Roxie Revel, and Dahlia Devine. Nikki Knockout will serve as the MC. This Is a free, one-of-a-kind show – but please bring your tipping money for the performers. 8 pm.

Friday, December 22

Moody Gardens presents A Christmas Wish: Holiday Spectacular

Embark on a journey like no other at Moody Gardens' A Christmas Wish: Holiday Spectacular. This spellbinding show combines the artistry of Broadway-style song and dance with mesmerizing acrobatics and more. Join Natalie, the lead character, on her transformative adventure as she dives into her cherished childhood memories inside an enchanting snow globe. With spirited characters, stunning visuals, and electrifying performances, this is a heartwarming spectacle that will reignite your holiday joy. Through Saturday, December 30. 6:30 pm.

Improv Houston presents Jeremy Piven

So, Jeremy Piven is doing stand-up now. After a more than 30-year acting career, appearing in everything from The Larry Sanders Show to Black Hawk Down to Broadway & off-Broadway plays, the Emmy winner is on a quest to introduce his fans to a funnier side with his new stand-up comedy show. Piven has also starred in such shows as Entourage and Wisdom of the Crowd. 7:30 and 9:45 pm (7 and 9:30 pm Saturday).

Houston Symphony presents "Very Merry Pops"

Here we go with a Houston holiday tradition for the whole family! All this weekend, gather with loved ones in Jones Hall—decked with boughs of holly—for a sparkling concert filled with all your holiday favorites. Featuring Broadway leading lady Mandy Gonzalez (star of Hamilton and In the Heights) and the Houston Symphony Chorus, this concert is guaranteed to get you in the festive spirit quicker than you can sing “Jingle Bells.” 7:30 pm.

Silent Party Houston “RNB vs Trap Essentials Ugly Sweater” Edition

It’s your typical party…with no speakers or amps. Instead, attendees don wireless headphones and turn them to various stations, then boogie on the dance floor amidst other revelers dancing to whatever’s in their headphones. Multiple DJs are competing for your attention during this bash, spinning the hottest hits. also switching to old school hits. If you don’t like a song, simply switch your headphones from one station to the next to keep the party going. This time around, wear your ugliest Christmas sweater as R&B and trap tunes play in your ears. 9 pm.

Saturday, December 23

Saturday Morning Cartoons at Houston Toy Museum

Head over to the Houston Toy Museum for their next Cartoon Cereal Party – this time with a holiday twist! They’ll be screening a mix of classic holiday episodes of favorites like The Flintstones, The Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and more. Enjoy a milk and cereal buffet, complete with all of the sugary classics. Kids get in free if they're wearing their holiday PJs. The event is free of charge when you purchase museum admission on the website or in person. Children must be accompanied by an adult. 10 am.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema presents Poor Things Brunch

Alamo Drafthouse La Centerra invites you to sit back, and relax with a special menu brunch screening of the highly anticipated film Poor Things, starring Emma Stone. Watch Emma Stone deliver a mesmerizing performance in this dark, comedic Yorgos Lanthimos film, all while indulging in a special, curated, movie-themed brunch menu. Indulge in delectable dishes inspired by the film, combining flavors that will transport you into the world of Poor Things. 11:35 am (11 am Sunday).

Contemporary Arts Houston presents Holiday Ornament | Bonus Art Studio

Get crafty at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston ornament-making classes. Photo courtesy of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

CAMH’s Open Studio sessions feature drop-in, hands-on activities that draw inspiration from the exhibitions on view. During these sessions, participants will have an opportunity to explore imaginative concepts inspired by world-renowned artists who show at the museum by making artworks in response to theirs. With Christmas around the corner, you’ll be able to make a decorative ornament using mixed-media materials at this session. 2 pm.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros

Acclaimed filmmaker Frederick Wiseman (who turns 94 on New Year’s Day) explores the daily lives of the family running renowned French restaurant La Maison Troisgros—which has held three Michelin stars for the past five decades over four generations. The four-hour, mostly French-language film is set in central France and takes viewers through vegetable markets, cheese-making plants, and vineyards to behind the scenes in the kitchen with staff as they create, prepare, and present mouthwatering meals. 2 pm.

Sunday, December 24

Bottomless Mimosa Sunday: DJ Brunch Extravaganza

Embrace the rhythm of Sundays at Hull & Oak’s Boozy Brunch featuring bottomless mimosas and electrifying DJ music. Elevate your weekend and savor a delectable brunch spread while the DJ spins the hottest beats. Indulge in endless mimosas that sparkle alongside your favorite tunes, creating an unforgettable musical experience. Gather your friends, bask in the ambiance, and make your Sundays extraordinary. Cheers to good vibes, great company, and the ultimate DJ soundtrack to your day. 7 am.

Ugly Sweater Christmas Eve Brunch at Taste Kitchen + Bar

Taste Kitchen + Bar, Houston’s ultimate all-day brunch destination, is hosting an all-day “‘Ugly Sweater Brunch” on Christmas Eve. The fun, holiday dining experience offers an opportunity to pull out that fabulous ugly Christmas sweater and wear it proudly for a Christmas Eve celebration of food and festivities. There will be holiday music, Christmassy cocktails and mimosas, and the restaurant staff will be donning their favorite ugly Christmas sweaters to get everyone in the spirit! 11 am.

Practice Portrait Photography and Party

Head over to Market Square Park for an exciting evening of portrait photography. This event is designed for both amateur and professional photographers who want to learn how to capture stunning portraits in a party atmosphere. You'll have the chance to practice your skills with a variety of models. Experienced photographers will be on hand to provide guidance and tips on how to get the most out of your equipment and capture the perfect shot. Event is BYOE (Bring Your Own Equipment). 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.

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