Come to the 14th Annual Dripping Springs Rodeo on Memorial Day Weekend! This year they will be bringing all the rodeo style fun on Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Bring your family and friends for a weekend of mutton bustin', bull riding, vendor shopping, great food, and all things rodeo!
If you had to guess the plot to a 1962 French New Wave film, what would it be? Right: a love triangle. In Adieu Philippine, the trio in question is made up of two best friends and a TV assistant looking for a good time before shipping off for mandatory military service in the hugely unpopular Algerian War. In 2022, when the film showed at MOMA as part of the series “Forgotten Filmmakers of the French New Wave,” New Yorker film critic Richard Brody suggested that Jacques Rozier’s gem was forgotten because it was ahead of its time: “It’s a film that belongs to its historical moment but also reflects it from the outside like a magnifying mirror.” It employs the signature techniques of the era – blending documentary and fiction, utilizing first-time actors and improvised dialogue – but feels prescient at the same time. “With his reliance on spontaneity and improvisation, Rozier created something like the primordial version of mumblecore,” Brody wrote. Now that’s a comparison you don’t often hear when you think of the French New Wave. – Lina Fisher
No director has ever launched on so many fool’s errands as Francis Ford Coppola. Enraging the mafia to make The Godfather? Founding indie mega shingle Zoetrope Studios? Disappearing into the Philippines for months to make an abandoned George Lucas project? Okay, so they all mostly paid off, and that last one scored him three Oscar nominations for a little flick called Apocalypse Now. But he’s also had a long history of spectacular failures: Zoetrope going bust, The Cotton Club and Tucker: The Man and His Dream flopping, the beautiful stupidity of Bram Stoker’s Dracula … you catch the drift. So, while we all wait to see whether his latest and maybe last movie, Megalopolis, is masterpiece or disaster, catch his preferred version of his wild anti-war fever dream. – Richard Whittaker
Get in your PJs for a show I definitely misread as “Joker’s Mild.” But there’s nothing mild about what the Monday Night Jammie Jam variety show has to offer, with local performers as well as out-of-town talent bringing the best burlesque and more.
Do you got that summertime sadness? Are you sizzling under the Austin sun? The cure, according to local legend, is dunking yourself in a big hole filled with chlorinated water. Austin Motel’s got you covered, as they play venue to Local Queer ATX and Lonestar Queer’s big Labor Day splash. Cast off capitalism’s shackles for one single day of fun. Enjoy exclusive Lonestar Queer merch benefiting sexual health clinic ASHwell, drag by Lawrie Bird and Owie, DJ sets by Boyfriend ATX and Lavender Thug, and NSFW pool games. Before you ask, I don’t know what will be not-safe-for-work about them. I’m literally at work right now, so I can’t look it up. All this, and it’s free with RSVP? What a way to beat the heat. – James Scott
One of the many non-Disney animated features that gained traction in the Aughts due to it being, well, not Disney. Quest for Camelot takes Arthurian legend and certainly does Something to it. Here you won’t find the traditional young Arthur finding his way or Merlin casting spells. Instead, the viewpoint swings to the daughter of a round table knight, who vows to take his place once her pops dies in battle. Usual animated movie shenanigans ensue, including throwing big-name actors into the voice cast like Gary Oldman playing bad guy Lord Ruber, Eric Idle and Don Rickles as an occasionally funny two-headed dragon, and Cary Elwes in the love interest role. Special mention to the singing voice cast, which boasts Celine Dion and Journey’s Steve Perry. – James Scott
Despite modern perceptions of Labor Day as an end-of-summer free for all, the holiday, in fact, celebrates the work of activists who fought for the rights of the working class. It’s only right, then, that we take the day to help out the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America to the sounds of Austin’s finest weirdo rock. On the lineup: Slomo Drags, who skewer Elon Musk fanboys with glistening synth pop (“Rich Pervert”); Batty Jr., who deliver quirky anti-folk with a Southern twang (“Cocoons”); and Big Bill, whose new LP Strawberry Seed blends punk politics (“Poverty of Wires”) with polished new genre excursions. – Carys Anderson
One thing I’ve loved about newer theatre or museums is the space given for land acknowledgement – statements about the ancestral roots of the space being used. Space that was not always ours, but taken. The Blanton’s latest exhibit tackles that question, but pushes the boundaries. It’s not just about what Native America was, but what it can be. Curator and lauded artist Wendy Red Star has assembled nine other Native artists to create a rich exploration of what life in America is today. Shown through a variety of mediums, something is guaranteed to resonate with the audience. Whether it’s the photos, paintings, videos, or multimedia works is up to you. – Cat McCarrey
For two glorious weeks, some of the best restaurants in town are offering prix fixe menus, drink specials, and more, all to benefit Central Texas Food Bank.
A delightful night of dance starts with an intro to authentic Argentine tango (no experience or partner needed) with Gustavo Simplis, and continues with two hours of social dancing with DJ G.
No one is saying that traditional bingo is boring, but if you enjoy the bluer forms of (verbal) intercourse – and many do – Butt Stuff Bingo could be just right for you. BSB is an interactive game-show themed contest, but instead of grandma rules, with only one winner per contest, Butt Stuff gives multiple contestants the chance to win “novelty” prizes – dildos? – from “specialty” stores. Each night features an “adult re-imagined parody” of classic works like I Love Lucy, Dirty Dancing, or The Smurfs. – Brant Bingamon