It’s the last weekend of the year and if you’re still looking for something to do, we’ve got a few suggestions. From family-friendly films and a New Wave masterpiece to a tribute to the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll and a movie perfect for New Year’s Eve, keep reading for our picks of the best bets over the next few days.
A little spider yearns to catch the moon in “Swing to the Moon Deep,” one of seven shorts featured in Kid Flicks 1, which screens at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 28, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The family-friendly program of shorts – animation, live action and documentary – are designed for ages five to ten and come from the touring edition of the New York International Children’s Film Festival. A second edition, Kid Flicks 2, with short films for kids aged eight and up, is scheduled to follow on Thursday, December 28, at 1 p.m. Both editions, Kid Flicks 1 and Kid Flicks 2, will be screened a second time on Thursday, January 4, at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. Admission to all of the screenings is free with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Yet another Christmas may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to catch Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas on a big screen one last time, as the holiday classic will be shown at Discovery Green as part of Bank of America’s Screen on the Green series on Thursday, December 28, at 7 p.m. Pack a picnic and dig out some camping chairs or blankets to enjoy pumpkin king Jack Skellington’s attempt to bring Christmas to his Halloween Town home, which has “become the alternative watch at Christmas for those of a spookier disposition, whilst at Halloween it has been the perfect choice for those who can’t stomach hardcore horrors.” Admission to the family-friendly movie night is free, and you can register here.
On Thursday, December 28, at 7 p.m. Friends of River Oaks Theatre’s Mobile Movie Palace will set up at White Oak Music Hall to showcase Jonathan Demme’s 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense. The evening will feature a screening of the 4K restoration and dance party, with a pre-screening video DJ and post-screening Talking Heads karaoke. Filmed over three nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre, Stop Making Sense has been called “the rare concert movie that is itself a successful work of art,” with The New Yorker noting that Demme was able to “create a concert movie artistically equal to his fiction features” – features that include films such as Melvin and Howard, The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia. Tickets can be purchased here for $15.
If it’s tough to imagine a world without the phrase “booty call,” well, you can thank comedian Bill Bellamy for that. Bellamy is credited with coining the phrase during his time on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam and yes, he regrets not trademarking it. This weekend, Bellamy will stop by the Bayou City this holiday weekend for several shows at Houston Improv, the first scheduled for tonight, Thursday, December 28, at 7:30 p.m. Bellamy is also set to perform at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. on Friday, December 29; 7 and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 30; and 7:30 and 10 p.m. on Sunday, December 31. You can learn more about tickets for any of the shows here.
How about one more Nutcracker for the road? If you’re not ready for the holiday spirit to vacate for the year, you can see another take on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic story when Talmi Entertainment’s NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet comes to the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on Friday, December 29, at 7 p.m. The touring company travels around the country in November and December, taking with hand-painted backdrops and hundreds of costumes, larger-than-life puppets, and dozens of dancers to bring to life the story of a young girl who goes on a fantastical Christmas Eve journey. Tickets can be purchased here for $39 to $123, and platinum and gold circle tickets are also available, which include perks like best available or preferred seating, a nutcracker tree ornament, a collectable book, and pre-show Q&A.
Take a peek at the future of dance during the Spaces Dance Concert, presented by HTX Connect 713, as the community-based organization is connecting pre-professional dancers with professionals for the show. The program will include guest performances from Vitacca Ballet and SoulEscape as well as premieres from Christian Denice, Olivia Morrow, HTX Connect 713 founder Terrill Mitchell, and Lenny Arnold, who is creating a concert-length work for the program’s Emerging Artists cast comprised of dancers aged 12 to 17. Though in-person tickets to both shows are sold out, you can still livestream the Saturday, December 30, performance at 2 p.m. straight from The MATCH. Livestream access can be purchased here for $15, which also gets you video-on-demand access to re-watch to your heart’s content until January 5.
It’s not “just one of the most endearing and beloved romantic comedies of all-time,” When Harry Met Sally… is “more or less the perfect template for what rom-coms still strive to attain today.” It’s also “one of the few staple New Year’s Eve movies,” with “possibly the greatest New Year’s Eve scene of all,” the one where – spoiler – Billy Crystal’s Harry tells Meg Ryan’s Sally that he loves her at a New Year’s Eve party. You can experience the scene, as well as the film, this New Year’s Eve when Alamo Drafthouse Cinema presents the When Harry Met Sally…Brunch on Sunday, December 31, at 11 a.m. You can order from the brunch menu as you relive the ups and downs of Nora Ephron’s classic screenplay. Tickets can be purchased here for $11.
The life and times of the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll will come to town on Tuesday, January 2, at 7:30 p.m. when Broadway at the Hobby Center opens Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. Roz White, who plays the role Turner’s mother Zelma Bullock, recently told the Houston Press that she believes this show is the one Turner would have wanted, saying “I definitely think that this was the story she wanted told as opposed to the Hollywood version. This gets into her life more and she definitely said she wanted her American fans to know that she loved them and this was her love letter to them.” Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 7 p.m. Sunday through January 7. Tickets can be purchased here for $40 to $325.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
