weekend event planner

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

This weekend features several festivals happening around town, including a film festival featuring films from all over, a Jewish book and arts festival, an Islamic arts festival, and a fest celebrating countries and cultures in the Americas. As our darling editor Eric says, let’s be ecumenical (translation: promote unity with all religions and races) — which is not a bad idea right now.

Read on for this weekend’s best bets.

Thursday, November 7

Houston Cinema Arts Festival
The Houston Cinema Arts Festival will feature more than 40 different screenings and programs over 11 days, including feature films, short films, documentaries, and more. The festival will open with Tendaberry, directed by Houston filmmaker Haley Elizabeth Anderson. Other highlights include John Waters doing live commentary during a screening of Hairspray; and a screening of Bambi alongside a book signing for Background Artist: The Life and Work of Tyrus Wong. Through Sunday, November 17. 5 pm (7:30 pm Friday; 10 am Saturday and Sunday).

Mid Main Houston First Thursday Block Party
The businesses of Mid Main, together with Mid Main Lofts, will host the First Thursday Block Party. Attendees will get to eat, shop, and rock at the block partners and have beer, sponsored by Saint Arnold Brewing Company. There will also be live music, art shows, special activations, street art, and handmade goodies from local vendors at the Winbern Street Market. This month, the nonprofit you can donate to at this block party will be Fresh Arts. 6 pm.

La Colombe d'Or Hotel presents Oysters & Champagne
The Montrose boutique hotel will host its annual party devoted to bivalves and sparkling wine. Attendees will feast on Gulf Coast oyster varieties from Prestige Oysters paired with Savor Caviar and sips from Telmont Champagne. The event also includes champagne-themed cocktails and live music. 6 pm.

Houston Music Classifieds presents Lungs
Midtown bar Leon’s Lounge will turn into a theater venue this weekend. Step into the raw and intimate world of Lungs by Duncan MacMillan, where life, love, and the future of our planet are intertwined in a gripping, thought-provoking story. Directed by Madison Elaine and starring the talented duo Eva Olivia Catanzariti and Dillon Dewitt, this play explores the complexities of human connection in an uncertain world. Following the play, there will be a live music set from local Houston musicians. 8 pm.

Friday, November 8

Reeves Art + Design presents Rachelle LeBlanc: "No Time for Sorry" opening reception
In "No Time for Sorry," French American/Canadian artist Rachelle LeBlanc invites viewers into an exploration of alternative realities and identities, delving into the themes of transformation, belonging, and the fluidity of self. Through a fusion of hand-hooked surface embroidery and ceramic sculptures, LeBlanc crafts a narrative transcending traditional boundaries, engaging with the concept that there is no time to apologize for becoming who you were meant to be as a pathway to self-discovery and social change. Through Saturday, November 16. 6 pm.

Theatre Under the Stars presents Lights Up Gala
The wintry-themed Lights Up Gala will feature live and silent auction experiences and entertainment by one of Broadway’s greatest leading ladies, Tony Award winner and Emmy nominee Kelli O’Hara, who will perform alongside students from the TUTS Education Pre-Professional and Performance Troupes. All proceeds from this event fuel the magic behind TUTS' mainstage productions, empower education programs, and ignite community engagement initiatives. 7 pm.

Houston Symphony presents It Don’t Mean a Thing: Swingin’ Uptown Classics with Byron Stripling
Inspired by legendary musical hot spots like The Cotton Club and The Savoy, It Don’t Mean a Thing: Swingin’ Uptown Classics will transport audiences to Harlem’s hippest nightclub, when Duke Ellington’s orchestra was the house band and Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, and Ethel Waters showcased the biggest jazz hits of the day. The concert will be conducted by Byron Stripling. 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Improv Houston presents Dave Attell
If you grew up watching Insomniac with Dave Attell on Comedy Central back in the day, you’ll be happy to know that the veteran comedian will be in town this weekend. Attell's caustic wit, rapid-fire delivery, and his choice of material that can best be described as "very adult" has earned him the reputation as a "comic's comic." Maybe you’ll also see him hanging out at some Houston nightspots, like he used to do back on Insomniac. 7:30 and 9:45 pm (7 and 9:30 pm Saturday).

Saturday, November 9

Nickelodeon and VStar Entertainment Group present PAW Patrol Live! A Mighty Adventure
This all-new live stage show picks up where PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie left off. Audiences will join the “PAW-some” pack in Adventure City and witness the pups charging up like never before, as they work together to super-save the day. PAW Patrol Live! A Mighty Adventure is based on the Nickelodeon preschool series PAW Patrol, which follows Chase, Marshall, Skye, and the rest of the pack after they save Adventure City with their Mighty Pup Powers. 10 am and 2 pm (11 am and 3 pm Sunday).

Islamic Arts Society presents 11th Islamic Arts Festival
The Islamic Arts Society presents the annual, two-day Islamic Arts Festival, featuring artists from across the U.S. It is the largest and oldest festival of Islamic arts in the country. It's a platform for established artists to network, collaborate, and inspire, while also providing a space for emerging and student artists to showcase their talent. There will be a film festival, a comedy show, and a Sufi music entertainment program. 10:30 am.

The Galleria presents Tree Lighting and Ice Spectacular
The Galleria will present the 35th Annual Ice Spectacular, which will kick off the holiday season with the lighting of its 55-foot Christmas tree, featuring 450,000 twinkling lights and 5,000 ornaments in a variety of colors and shapes. The 45-minute tree-lighting show will feature a performance by The Voice season 25 contestant Zoe Levert. The event will culminate with the lighting of the tree by Skating Santa and a fireworks display. 6 pm.

52nd Annual Ann and Stephen Kaufman Jewish Book & Arts Festival
The Ann and Stephen Kaufman Jewish Book & Arts Festival started last weekend, but you know what? We’re gonna give some love to this fest, which attracts an audience of all ages and is recognized as one of the largest Jewish book & arts festivals in the nation. On Saturday, Mitch Albom will be talking about his book The Little Liar. And, on Sunday, Jason Bell will be there with his book Cracking the Nazi Code: The Untold Story of Agent A12 and the Solving of the Holocaust Code. Through Saturday, November 16. 7:30 pm (7 pm Saturday).

Sunday, November 10

Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra presents World of Animation: Grave of the Fireflies
Set in Japan during WWII, the 1988 Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies follows two siblings as they try to survive without their father, who is in the Navy, and their mother, who dies tragically during an air raid. As the oldest of the two, Seita bears a heavy burden, not only ensuring that his little sister has food and shelter, but also doing his best to keep the harsh reality of their lives from robbing her of her childhood. In Japanese with English subtitles. 11:45 am.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Fall Festival: Myths and Leyendas
The MFAH will host Myths and Leyendas, a family festival celebrating legends and folklore from a variety of countries and cultures in the Americas. Now in its third year, the fest features new, temporary large-scale sculptures by six Houston Latinx artists.This year’s festivities includes food, live music, and dance performances at the Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza. Visitors can play a lotería game with cards featuring MFAH works of art, wander through the Cullen Sculpture Garden to discover the sculptures, and join in art-making activities. 1 pm.

Texas Medical Center Orchestra presents "Voices of Resilience"
The Texas Medical Center Orchestra presents "Voices of Resilience," a performance that will explore the pressing issues of homelessness and mental illness, especially among veterans, through the power of music. The performance will feature the world premiere of Lost Child by Max Viventz, a new composition that captures the emotional journey of those who have faced life’s harshest realities. 5 pm.

Photo courtesy of The Galleria

The Galleria presents Tree Lighting and Ice Spectacular.

event-planner

Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

---

Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

movies film