It is Clean Out Your Bookcase Day, and while we think it’s a worthy pursuit, we recommend only a light dusting to ensure you have time and energy to enjoy this week’s best bets. We’ve got the return of a local film festival, classic films on stage accompanied by live music, and much more. So, keep reading.
Officials from the Bhutanese government travel to Bhutan to measure people’s happiness in Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó’s 2024 documentary Agent of Happiness, which leads off the first day of the 17th Indian Film Festival of Houston on Friday, February 21, from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Asia Society Texas. The evening continues with the short Free as a Bird and a reception with entertainment followed by the evening’s feature presentation, The Mehta Boys, the directorial debut of longtime character actor-turned-filmmaker Boman Irani, who co-wrote the film with Oscar winner Alexander Dinelaris. On Saturday, February 22, from 5 to 9:30 p.m., the festival will return with programming that includes a screening of Suman Ghosh’s The Ancient and a Q&A session with the director. Tickets are $20 for a single screening or $50 for a Friday All-Day pass here.
Marilyn Monroe famously made peanuts for her iconic role in Howard Hawks’s 1953 classic comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. On Friday, February 21, at 7 p.m., you can see the film as it is screened at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, as part of the Museum’s Movies Houstonians Love series. (The Houstonian, in this case, is Laurence Unger, a former executive director of the Houston Cinema Arts Society and current member of the MFAH Film Subcommittee and Ultimate Film Buffs member.) The film is well-remembered as a “satire on the anything-but-cold war between the sexes, an exemplar of ravishing Technicolor cinematography, extravagant mid-century haute-couture costumes, and impeccable production numbers.” Tickets to the screening can be purchased here for $7 to $9.
It “strikes fear — and awe — into fans’ hearts” with “staccato rhythm and menacing horns,” and it “might be one of the most well-known melodies in all of pop culture.” It is “The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme),” composed by film composer extraordinaire John Williams for the second film in George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy. On Friday, February 21, at 7:30 p.m., you can hear the piece – “the ultimate bad guy anthem” – within Williams’ classic score, live during Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert performed by the Houston Symphony at Jones Hall under Conductor Steven Reineke. The concert will be performed again on Saturday, February 22, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets to either of the performances can be purchased here for $53 to $200.
A woman, Una, surprises a man, Ray, at his workplace to talk about their relationship from 15 years earlier. The thing is, Ray is 56 and Una is 27. The emotionally difficult is the basis for David Harrower’s Blackbird, which Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. will open at the MATCH on Friday, February 21, at 8 p.m. Though the play has been controversial due to its themes, Harrower has said, “It’s actually a really moral play. It doesn’t have a happy ending. It can’t.” Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Monday, March 3, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays through March 8. Tickets are available here for $30 (with Sunday and Monday shows pay-what-you-can with a minimum of $5.00 and a suggested price of $30).
If you missed the Patrick Swayze/Jennifer Grey-led 80s classic Dirty Dancing when it returned to theaters in 2022 for its 35th anniversary, now is your chance to catch it on a big screen – but this time, with a live band and post-show party. On Saturday, February 22, at 7 p.m., you can see the surprise summer hit of 1987 at the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land when the North American tour of Dirty Dancing in Concert stops in. During this film-to-concert experience, you can enjoy the digitally remastered film while a live band and singers perform the film’s songs. Following the film, stay for a Dirty Dancing dance party to sing and dance along to your favorite songs. Tickets can be purchased here for $49.50 to $93.50.
Celebrate Black History Month at Discovery Green on Saturday, February 22, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. with a screening of Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s 2018 documentary United Skates. The film, executive produced by John Legend, is a depiction of “a culture under threat,” using “deep archival material to chronicle skating’s roots, from the civil-rights era to a Queen Latifah rink show in the 80s, up to present day, and features original interviews with rap artists and rink owners.” The screening is free to attend, and if you are inspired to get skating, you can head over to The Rink: Rolling at Discovery Green, an outdoor roller rink that is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays. Tickets to skate are $14 plus tax and include skate rentals. You can purchase tickets in advance here.
Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but romance will be found in the Houston Chamber Choir’s latest concert, Love Songs & Sonnets, on Saturday, February 22, at 7:30 p.m. at South Main Baptist Church. Special guest conductor Barnaby Smith, the artistic director of VOCES8, will lead the choir in two arrangements from Gustav Holst’s Six Choral Folksongs, Op. H. 136, which join a program that also includes Renaissance-era madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi, Romantic period works from Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert, and 21st-century examples of sacred text set to music by Sven-David Sandström and Ivo Antognini. The program will also feature a little Shakespearean-inspired jazz, courtesy of George Shearing, and a little barbershop singing, too. Be sure to stick around for “after-prom” music and refreshments. Single tickets are available here for $10 to $45.
The Lunar New Year officially began on January 29, but it’s not too late to start the year off on a positive note by celebrating the Year of the Snake at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Winter Festival on Sunday, February 23, from 1 to 5 p.m. Taiko drummers from Kaminari Taiko will kick off the festivities, which include musical performances, K-pop dancers, traditional lion and dragon dances, and arts and crafts opportunities to make your own snake-inspired bookmark or create an ema (an illustrated wooden plaque common in Japan). There will also be plenty of East Asian cuisine on hand from vendors, chances to walk the Museum’s galleries, and even participate in a scavenger hunt. Admission to the family-friendly festival, as well as the museum, is free.
