july on the rooftop

Houston's rooftop and drive-in cinema reveals scorching July lineups

This pandemic summer is more horror than comedy, but one Houston-area movie purveyor is doing its best to salvage July entertainment during COVID-19 and social distancing.

Rooftop Cinema Club has unveiled its summer lineup at its original rooftop venue at BLVD Place in Uptown Houston and the popular Drive-In at Sawyer Yards. The new listings extend the summer schedule through August 2. Meanwhile, Sawyer Yards now features $20 “Late Night Date Night” tickets on weekdays.

The movie club will continue to host its $5 Community Screenings for those impacted by COVID-19 and also those in support of Black Lives Matter. All proceeds from its first film every Monday will be donated directly to the Houston Food Bank and to the Black Lives Matter organization, according to a press release.

Guests can check the film program online for the “Community Screening” banner to find those events and book tickets.

Tickets for the Drive-In at Sawyer Yards start at $28 per vehicle, regardless of occupancy. New for July, Rooftop Cinema is offering “Late Night Date Night” tickets for $20 per vehicle (maximum 2 people) for the second screenings on Sunday through Thursday. Guests have the option to bring their own snacks, choose to order concessions from Rooftop Cinema Club, or food from on-site food trucks all done online for a safe, contactless, experience.

Doors open at 7:15 pm, with the first of two showings each night starting at 8:30 pm. Here is the complete July schedule for Sawyer Yards.

July 1 - Shrek; Pretty Woman
July 2 - The Lego Movie; Boyz N the Hood
July 3 - Jurassic Park; The Terminator
July 5 - Grease; Girls Trip
July 6 - The Muppets (Community Screening); Rocketman
July 7 - Toy Story 4; If Beale Street Could Talk
July 8 - Stand By Me; The Shining
July 9 - The Sandlot; Do the Right Thing
July 10 - The Goonies; Friday
July 11 - Jurassic Park; Con Air
July 12 - Poetic Justice
July 13 - Moana (Community Screening); Grease
July 14 - The Breakfast Club; Bridesmaids
July 15 - How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World; A Nightmare on Elm Street
July 16 - The Princess Bride; Knives Out
July 17 - The Lost World: Jurassic Park; Casablanca
July 18 - The Lion King (2019); Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
July 19 - Grease; Pretty Woman
July 20 - Sister Act (Community Screening); What's Love Got to Do With It
July 21 - The Sandlot; Crazy, Stupid, Love
July 22 - Hocus Pocus; Poltergeist
July 23 - Finding Dory; Grease
July 24 - Friday
July 25 - Love Jones
July 26 - Up; Breakfast at Tiffany's
July 27 - Beauty and The Beast (Community Screening); Purple Rain
July 28 - Grease; Set It Off
July 29 - Friday the 13th
July 30 - Frozen II; Poetic Justice
July 31 - Space Jam; Fight Club
August 1 - The Goonies; Beverly Hills Cop
August 2 - The Sandlot; Dirty Dancing

New for July, Rooftop Cinema at BLVD Place has added a second screening after 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets start at $17 per person for a one-person lounge seat. Tickets for couples, or anyone looking for a roomier loveseat, plus large popcorn, are $24 per person. Student discounts are also available starting at $15.30 per ticket, with valid I.D. required the night of the event.

Here is the full July schedule for the BLVD Place Rooftop venue:

July 6 - Breakfast at Tiffany's
July 7 - Do the Right Thing
July 8 - Hustlers
July 9 - You've Got Mail
July 10 - If Beale Street Could Talk; The Rocky Horror Picture Show
July 11 - Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood; A Nightmare on Elm Street
July 12 - The Breakfast Club
July 13 - Armageddon
July 14 - Jaws
July 15 - The Great Debaters
July 16 - The Notebook (Open Caption)
July 17 - Love Jones; Raising Arizona
July 18 - Grease; The Craft
July 19 - Clueless
July 20 - The Farewell
July 21 - Selena
July 22 - Hustle & Flow
July 23 - Dirty Dancing
July 24 - When Harry Met Sally; The Room
July 25 - The Great Gatsby; Friday the 13th
July 26 - The Wood
July 27 - Sweet Home Alabama
July 28 - The Sandlot
July 29 - Pulp Fiction
July 30 - Grease (Sing-Along)
July 31 - Dazed and Confused; Friday
August 1 - Love and Basketball; Death Becomes Her
August 2 - Pretty Woman (Open Caption)

Drive up and chill at Sawyer Yards.

Photo courtesy of Rooftop Cinema Club

Drive up and chill at Sawyer Yards.

movies

Movie Review

Reminders of Him taps into grief, grace, and the power of moving on

Photo by Michelle Faye / Universal Pictures

Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers in Reminders of HIm.

Texas author Colleen Hoover has gone from being a popular writer to a full-on celebrity in the 2020s. The new film Reminders of Him marks the third adaptation of her books in just 19 months (a fourth, Verity, is scheduled for release in October 2026). All of her books that have been adapted so far — most notably It Ends With Us — are female-led stories that feature elements of romance and trauma, catnip for studios looking to appeal to the underserved demographic of women.

Leading the way in this film is Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), who returns to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming after spending years in prison for killing her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow), in a car accident. That relationship resulted in a daughter, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), whom Kenna gave birth to while imprisoned and is now being raised by her grandparents, Patrick (Bradley Whitford) and Grace (Lauren Graham).

Yearning to be a part of Diem’s life, Kenna tries to reconnect with Patrick and Grace, only to be rebuffed by Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), a former NFL player who now owns a local bar. In running interference, Ledger starts to become closer to Kenna, discovering that her tragic mistake shouldn’t be the only thing that defines her.

Directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Lauren Levine, the film features mostly surface level examinations of its themes and average performances, yet it winds up being effective thanks to a willingness not to rush through its storytelling beats. The filmmakers take the slow and steady approach toward the coupling of Kenna and Ledger, setting up their bond through a series of heart-to-heart conversations that makes any romance feel earned.

The majority of the focus is on Kenna reclaiming her place in the world, and on Ledger coming to terms with the fact that the person who killed his best friend is not inherently a bad person. The film definitely could have gone deeper in its explorations of grief and anger, but the sheer amount of time it takes in addressing the characters’ doubts and fears turns out to be sufficient for a film that’s not aiming to be considered a dramatic masterpiece.

It also helps that Caswill and Levine do a solid job of establishing the variety of characters that inhabit the film. Kenna and Ledger don’t always feel like fully-formed people, but they become so through their interactions with each other and the other townspeople. Lady Diana (Monika Myers), a girl with Down syndrome who lives in Kenna’s apartment complex, and Roman (Nicholas Duvernay), Ledger’s co-worker at his bar, help to broaden the appeal of the two leads.

Monroe has, to this point, been best known for starring roles in horror films like It Follows and Longlegs. While she does somewhat well in this role, her delivery is often more flat than you’d expect for a character going through what she does. Withers thankfully doesn’t remind viewers of his recent bomb Him, demonstrating a crossover appeal that should serve him well in the future. Whitford and Graham don’t get to do much, but their combined experience gives their roles exactly what is needed.

It may sound like damning with faint praise, but Reminders of Him is a competently made film that knows how to serve its core audience without insulting anyone who may not automatically be all-in for such a story. The filmmakers don’t try to force any of the key moments down the audience’s throat, and that stands out in a genre that’s not always known for its subtlety.

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Reminders of Him opens in theaters on March 13.

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