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CultureMap's fifth anniversary bash set to rock the downtown party scene and you're invited

The traditional five year anniversary gift is wood, conveying strength and longevity, and while both words fit CultureMap just fine, we decided to take our five-year celebration on Friday, Oct. 10, in a more festive direction. Think rock the night.

There will be delicious bites from Houston’s best restaurants and a drink selection befitting a true milestone event.

As in multiple dance-tastic bands, the creation of artwork while you watch, the chance to win fab prizes, delicious bites from Houston’s best restaurants and a drink selection befitting a true milestone event.

Yep, five is looking good, and why shouldn’t it? Party central is the entire gallery level of the new JW Marriott Houston Downtown, giving us plenty of room to birthday it up in style. Get your tickets here.

Every party needs a soundtrack and the five-year playlist from the Cadillac Music Series Stage features the IDT Band, DJ Bizonee, Sonic Boom and Fly Boys. Art and music go hand-in-hand, so while the music plays, artists David Hardaker, Kelley Devine, Lee Wright and Tra Slaughter will be creating live artwork based on what Houston means to them.

And since we know Houston is all about generosity, 50 percent of the sale of their artwork is being donated to Casa de Esperanza, CultureMap’s beneficiary. A portion of the $25 ticket price will also be given to the organization that provides assistance to children in crisis due to abuse, neglect or the effects of HIV.

CultureMap readers know just how important dining and libations are no matter what day or event, so we’ve lined up quite an array of food from the JW Marriott’s Erin Smith, Crave Cupcakes, Green Plate Foods, The Grove, Kiran’s, Nara, Springbok and Los Tios, which just happens to be celebrating its 44th anniversary.

We have a few party tricks up our sleeve too. Be on the lookout for the Truth Booth for an honest, cheeky and anonymous evaluation of your style.

There’s certainly no shortage of salutatory beverages at our five-year fete. Grey Goose, Bacardi, El Sueno “Tinto de Tejas,” Saint Arnold, Karbach, Bud Light, Ziegenbock and Stella are all on tap. Like a generous pour? Don’t miss Bitter Creek Chardonnay, Lambert Bridge Merlot, Vanishing Creek Pinot Grigio and Wire Ridge Cabernet on the wine menu and you can rehydrate with Acqua Panna, San Pellegrino and San Pellegrino sparkling fruit beverages.

We have a few party tricks up our sleeve too. Be on the lookout for the Truth Booth for an honest, cheeky and anonymous evaluation of your style, so dress to impress. Pop by the Smilebooth to capture your attendance because as we all know, if it’s not on Instagram, it didn’t happen. While you’re at it, Kendra Scott’s Swag Station is another social spot. The first 100 partiers to pop by, take a pic and tag themselves on Instagram and Twitter with #CMbdaybash win prizes from the Texas jewelry designer.

Not that we’re expecting any awkward silences, but Yellow Cab and some of Houston’s most iconic locales have teamed up with us to bring you a match game sure to get you mingling. Hold onto the colorful card you get when checking in, and then look for someone else with the same card. Meet up, match and score prizes from West Ave, Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, BBVA Compass/Home of the Houston Dynamo, Warehouse Live, House of Blues, MFAH and Hermann Park.

What else? Well, you of course. Our five years wouldn’t be what they are without our CultureMap readers. You’ve made us your homepage, commented on stories, attended our events, supported local charities near and dear to us and for that, we thank you.

Now, who’s ready to party?

The IDT Band is just one of the musical performers at CultureMap's Birthday Bash.

Photo Courtesy IDT Band

The IDT Band is just one of the musical performers at CultureMap's Birthday Bash.

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Movie Review

Rachel McAdams goes feral in Sam Raimi's gory new comedy Send Help

Photo by Brook Rushton

Rachel McAdams in Send Help.

Director Sam Raimi has gone through different phases as a filmmaker, including leading the first Spider-Man trilogy and joining the MCU with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But he first gained notice with the gory and funny Evil Dead movies, a sensibility he’s returning to with his latest film, Send Help.

Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is a meek and eccentric middle manager at a financial firm that’s just named Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien) as its new nepo CEO. Bradley’s dad had promised Linda a promotion to vice president, but she gets passed over in favor of one of Bradley’s frat buddies, sending her into a mild rage. Still, she gets invited along on a planned business trip to Thailand, during which she hopes to prove her worth.

Unfortunately for most of the passengers on the private plane, it crashes into the ocean, leaving only Linda and Bradley alive on a deserted island. Linda, who has privately developed survival skills, adapts quickly to the forbidding environment, while Bradley tries to revert to bossing her around. But Linda quickly understands the power dynamic has shifted, and she uses this knowledge to try to keep Bradley in line, turning their stranding into a battle of wills.

Directed by Raimi and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, the film is the classic “so bad it’s good” kind of experience. McAdams, inarguably an attractive and charming person, is given stringy hair, an antisocial personality, and quirks like eating tuna fish at her desk to make her as off-putting as possible. Bradley, along with almost everyone else at her office, is stereotyped just as hard in order to set up the twist of fate.

When the action shifts to the island, things get even more over the top. The audience has already been primed for Linda to demonstrate her survival expertise, but the film does way more than just show her making fire. Whether it’s flawlessly building a shelter or hunting a wild boar, everything Linda does is portrayed in a slightly off-kilter manner. Then they turn everything up to 11, indulging in gore that is so unnecessary that you can’t help but laugh.

The filmmakers prove they’re in on the joke the rest of the way, including a variety of preposterous but hilarious scenarios that would cause massive eyerolls if they were actually trying to take the film seriously. While they do a great job of showing Linda’s ability to handle herself in the wild, they also show that she is somehow the only person in the world who could get a glow up after a plane crash and weeks living in nature.

McAdams, an Oscar-nominated actor for Spotlight, is way too high class for a movie like this, which makes her presence here all the more interesting. She is all-in on whatever Raimi wants her to do, and she’s at her most fun when she goes the animalistic route. O’Brien, who was great in the recent Twinless, doesn’t get as much of an opportunity to show his range, but he still proves to be an interesting foil for her.

Were it released in any other month, Send Help might be looked at as bottom of the barrel material. But with the movie year just getting started, it’s easier to forgive its outrageous plot twists and just have fun, especially since Raimi and his team put the rest of the film together so well.

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Send Help opens in theaters on January 30.

movies film

Don't miss it

CultureMap's fifth anniversary bash set to rock the downtown party scene and you're invited

The IDT Band is just one of the musical performers at CultureMap's Birthday Bash.

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