weekend event planner

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

This weekend is loaded with concerts, that we don’t have room for them in the main column. Briefly, in addition to the ones we included, all of the following artists are also performing: Snow Tha Product, PJ Morton, Wallows, Eden Munoz, and Deep Purple. Whew.

In addition to concerts, we also have movie screenings, new stage productions, butterfly walks, and a rescheduled 713 Day party with Paul Wall. To quote Dave Chappelle as Rick James, enjoy yourself!

Read on for this weekend’s best bets.

Thursday, August 15

HITS Theatre presents A New Brain
A New Brain is an energetic, sardonic, often comical musical about a composer during a medical emergency. Gordon collapses and awakes in the hospital. Reluctantly, he had been composing a song for a children’s television show that features a frog. The specter of this large green character and the unfinished work haunts him throughout this ordeal. What was thought to be a tumor turns out to be something more operable, and Gordon recovers, grateful for a chance to compose the songs he yearns to produce. 7:pm (2 & 7 pm Sunday).

Friends of River Oaks Theatre presents Hundreds of Beavers
The Friends of River Oaks Theatre brings you the Houston premiere of Hundreds of Beavers for one night only, with two showtimes. In this 19th century supernatural winter epic, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become the greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers. Shot over two years for $150k in the Wisconsin wilderness, the cult fave is a true original of lo-fi surrealism, with influences ranging from Chuck Jones and Tex Avery cartoons to Guy Maddin and The Legend of Zelda. 7 & 9:15 pm.

Rooftop Cinema Club Uptown presents American Pie
Rooftop Cinema invites you to the party of the year with an American Pie theme. Get ready to relive the iconic moments of this classic ‘90s film on the big screen in an unforgettable setting. Join Jim, Kevin, Oz, and Finch as they navigate their senior year with one goal in mind: to “score” before prom night. Put on your best ‘90s gear, gather your crew, and come enjoy this film, followed by an epic party. Enjoy a night filled with trivia, a band camp contest, iconic party games like flip cup, themed drinks (in red Solo cups of course), prizes, and music. 7:45 pm.

Friday, August 16

Barry Manilow in concert
[Update: Barry Manilow has contracted Covid. The concert has been rescheduled for Wednesday, August 28.] Y’all can hate on Barry Manilow all you want for being cheesy, but dude was churning out those pop hits back in the day. We’re talking “Copacabana,” “I Write the Songs,” “Mandy,” and “Could It Be Magic.” We even dug the song he did for that Goldie Hawn-Chevy Chase movie. He has released 31 studio albums in his career, including his latest, Night Songs II, in 2020. If you’re a proud fan of his work, Bette Midler’s favorite piano man will be performing at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land this weekend. 7 pm.

Improv Houston presents Dusty Slay
Dusty Slay's observational comedy and eternally optimistic outlook is peppered with ironies: growing up poor, a love for both hard-core country and classic rock, a career history peppered with jobs like waiting tables and selling pesticides, and what counts as fashion-forward thinking in his world. The trucker hat, long hair and mustache, flannel shirt and oversized glasses aren’t affectations to cultivate a stage persona as the B-side of a 1970-something Bob Seger single — it’s just Slay. 7:30 & 9:45 pm Friday (7 & 9:30 pm Saturday; 7:30 pm Sunday).

Dirt Dogs Unleashed presents Frenzy
[Update: This production has been canceled due to logistical constraints stemming from Hurricane Beryl.] Dirt Dogs Unleashed presents Frenzy, a new play by John Hawthorne Smith, directed by Trevor B. Cone. Rebecca has everything prepared for the multimillion-dollar acquisition of her sister’s tech firm. But when a mysterious crowd begins to gather outside the building and a cellphone video quickly goes viral, the deal and Rebecca’s very life are suddenly in jeopardy. In an age where everything is available online, can one person protect herself from an internet mob? Through Saturday, August 24. 8 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Kings of Leon in concert
Once dubbed the Southern Strokes for their countrified version of the NYC band’s garage rock sound, Kings of Leon have grown into heavier rock act that took off with the 2008 hit album, Only by the Night and its the ubiquitous single, “Sex on Fire.” After a hiatus, the Followills are back with this year’s regarded Can We Please Have Fun.Phantogram, the excellent genre mixologist duo will open. 8 pm

The Roots in concert
While Juvenile will be here representing for the ‘99 and the 2000, we’re more psyched that The Roots will be back in Houston as part of their Hip-Hop Is The LOML Tour. We still remember when they did that clogged-as-hell show at Club Waxx 25 years ago. When the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon house band performs at 713 Music Hall this weekend, things will hopefully be roomier. They'll be joined by Digable Planets. 8 pm.

Saturday, August 17

Buffalo Bayou Partnership presents Butterfly Walks
Buffalo Bayou Partnership will present a series of nature walks exploring butterflies, this year’s summer species. Visitors can learn about local butterfly species, life cycle, and habitat on this discovery tour of Buffalo Bayou with Nancy Greig, former director of the Cockrell Butterfly Center. An avid natural historian “jack of all trades,” she has a particular interest in native plants and insects. Guests can meet at Jackson Hill Bridge (on the Allen Parkway side), just east of Flora Restaurant. Walking tours are 90 minutes and cover approximately three miles. 9 am.

Cactus Music presents Fontaines D.C. Romance Listening Party
Irish indie rock sensation Fontaines D.C. returns with their new album Romance, out on Friday, August 23. Recorded shortly after their tour supporting Arctic Monkeys, it seizes on the momentum of 2022's Skinty Fia, which firmly established them as one of today's most exciting rock bands. Roll up to Cactus this weekend to be among the first to hear their highly anticipated album. As always, Saint Arnold Brewing will provide refreshments. 1 pm.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Aurora Picture Show Summer Filmmaking Camp World Premiere
Walk the red carpet for Aurora’s annual Summer Filmmaking Camp World Premieres event, where young filmmakers’ visions come to life on the screen. This screening showcases a wide range of creative short films made by Houston kids and teens (ages 7–15) through Aurora’s summer youth education program. Admission is free and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. 1 pm.

Santana and Counting Crows in concert
Here is an interesting combination that’ll be coming to town, ready to hit audiences with tasty rock grooves. Iconic, Grammy-winning guitarist Carlos Santana and ‘90s rock band Counting Crows will co-headline the Oneness Tour. Santana will perform songs from his 50-year career, including a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Supernatural. Counting Crows will perform their hits, including music off their most recent project, Butter Miracle, Suite One. 7 pm.

Sunday, August 18

Flying Saucer Draught Emporium presents 24th Anniversary Celebration
Flying Saucer Draught Emporium celebrates 24 years in downtown Houston with an epic blowout. Guests are invited to wear their favorite ‘80s attire and take the stage for a karaoke showdown. Marking the milestone for the craft beer pioneer, Flying Saucer will tap several exclusive brews from Prairie, Other Half, Jester King, New Belgium, and more, in addition to cocktail specials. Noon.

Home Run Dugout presents 713 Day with Paul Wall and Lil Keke
Due to Hurricane Beryl's impact on Houston, Home Run Dugout rescheduled its 713 Day concert with the zaddylicious Paul Wall and Lil Keke for this weekend. But it won’t be just a concert featuring Wall, Keke and other Houston artists; a car meet will also go down on the premises. Personally, we’re hoping that Wall will be there serving unlimited glasses of Paul Masson Ice, a new beverage that he co-created with Paul Masson Brandy. We suspect that, after a couple sips, we’ll be talking like Orson Welles. 3 pm.

Ferragosto Pizza and Movie Night: Strangeness (La stranezza)
The Italian Cultural & Community Center of Houston invites the public to its annual Ferragosto Pizza and Movie Night at the historic Milford House. This year, ICCC Houston will screen Strangeness (La stranezza), starring Italian actor Toni Servillo (The Great Beauty) as Nobel-prize winning playwright Luigi Pirandello. Set in 1920s Sicily, this irreverent dramedy reimagines the inspiration behind Pirandello's absurdist masterpiece Six Characters in Search of an Author. Following the movie, pizza from Piola Midtown and drinks will be served. 5:30 pm.

Photo courtesy of Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon perform at Toyota Center on Friday.

event-planner concerts performing-arts

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.

movies film