Meet Me at City Place

Discover the magic of fall at City Place in Spring, Texas

As autumn graces the Lone Star State, City Place transforms into a vibrant tapestry of seasonal delights.

Whether you're a local or visitor, the sustainable north Houston community in Spring — located immediately south of The Woodlands and a short drive from George Bush Intercontinental Airport — offers a perfect blend of entertainment, dining, and outdoor exploration that promises to make your fall getaway or staycation unforgettable.

Family-friendly fun
City Place is a fantastic destination for families looking to enjoy quality time together. A busy fall calendar of mostly complimentary events and activities caters to all ages, with offerings that span yoga and fitness classes to outdoor movie nights, wildlife education workshops, and puppet shows.

Spotlight programming for the season includes the Water Lantern Festival and the debut of interactive temporary artwork As Water Falls on Saturday, October 5. A festive Dia de los Muertos celebration is set for Saturday, November 1, and prepare for bustling holiday lighting starting on Sunday, December 1.

The Dia de los Muertos celebration is happening November 1.Photo courtesy of City Place

A seasonal wonderland
As the temperatures cool and winter starts to sneak in, City Place becomes a haven of seasonal festivities.

Stroll through the beautifully landscaped, waterfront City Place Park and gaze at the Plaza's holiday decorations, which include City Place’s signature, 35-foot, floating Christmas tree rising from the park’s main pond. The giant Gingerbread Village welcomes guests down a gumdrop, lollipop, and candy cane-lined path — guarded by two giant gingerbread men — to a raised clearing featuring cookie trees, a 16-foot-high gingerbread house, and a 12-foot windmill.

With its picturesque setting and welcoming ambience, City Place is the ideal spot for enjoying December’s charm.

Outdoor adventures
Pedestrian-oriented City Place provides a picturesque backdrop for outdoor enjoyment, regardless of the season.

Within the community, visitors can take advantage of easy access to 290 acres of parks and natural corridors via a network of smooth paths and natural trails. Utilizing RunGo, an ad-free placemaking app, users can select from nine verified and protected trail routes, ranging in distance from just over a half mile to 7.7 miles, with turn-by-turn voice navigation and location-based information.

Take a stroll around City Place Park.Photo courtesy of City Place

City Place also offers a direct connection to the Spring Creek Greenway, which connects and protects approximately 7,000 acres of forest, preserving this ecological gem as a mecca for ecotourism, education, and outdoor recreation. Users can explore more than 19 miles of natural forests and white sandy beaches brimming with local wildlife and plant species while enjoying activities including canoeing, kayaking. and archery, plus nature trails perfect for hiking and biking.

A taste of Texas
No matter your taste or budget, City Place serves up myriad dining options that showcase a variety of Texas-based, fast-casual concepts and independents. These include Sushi Rebel, Torchy’s Tacos, SwitcHouse Plates & Pours, Common Bond Bistro & Bakery, Jinya Ramen Bar, Island Grill, Noe’s Café, Tarka Indian Kitchen, Yi Cha Tea and Coffee, and Urban Bird Hot Chicken.

Also on the menu is dine-in movie indulgence at Star Cinema Grill, which also boasts a chic central lounge.

Explore your options at Sushi Rebel.Photo courtesy of City Place

Photo courtesy of City Place

Gather the fam for an outdoor movie night.

Area attractions
While there’s lots to do inside City Place, the community also benefits from its prime location and proximity to an array of nearby excursions such as Market Street, Old Town Spring, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown (home of The Light Park during the holiday season), and Lake Conroe.

Plan your visit
This fall, make City Place in Spring your go-to destination. In addition to its unique blend of dining, shopping, and entertainment, there are three premier hotels — the AAA Four Diamond Houston City Place Marriott, Residence Inn Houston City Place, and Courtyard Houston City Place — where you can rest and relax while create lasting memories.

Visit www.cityplacenow.com to plan your trip and discover all of this fall's exciting activities.

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Movie Review

Offbeat drama Pillion features command performance by Alexander Skarsgård

Photo courtesy of A24

Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling in Pillion.

Describing the new movie Pillion is almost an act of futility. It contains a variety of seemingly disparate parts that coalesce into a whole to make it utterly fascinating. Few other recent films have been able to walk the line between filthy and wholesome in quite the way this one does, and that’s only because few other filmmakers would actually dare to try.

It centers on Colin (Harry Melling), a meek man in his mid-thirties who still lives at home with his parents, Pete (Douglas Hodge) and Peggy (Lesley Sharp), while working a dead-end job giving out parking tickets. While performing in a barbershop quartet at his local pub, Colin catches the eye of biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), who summons him for a clandestine hook-up the following day (which just so happens to be Christmas Day).

With barely a word exchanged between them, Ray establishes a dominance over Colin that quickly leads to them starting a relationship in which Colin does anything Ray asks. And that means more than just sex: Colin, whether desperate for any kind of affection or unlocking a side of himself he hadn’t known, readily agrees to cook, clean, shop, and basically do whatever else Ray wants him to do.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Harry Lighton, the film is astonishing in the way it’s able to mine humor from Colin and Ray’s atypical bond. To call Ray “unfeeling” might not be totally accurate, but the way he treats Colin borders on cruel. However, the way Lighton structures the film, it’s easy to understand why someone like Colin would be willing to go along with the situation. It’s both hilarious and heartbreaking to see Colin debase himself in a variety of ways.

On the flip side is Colin’s heartfelt arc with his parents. It’s established right away that Peggy, who is sick with cancer, is a bit too involved with Colin’s love life, with the opening scene featuring her setting him up on a blind date. But their easy acceptance of his queerness and desire to see him find love is as heartwarming as it gets. The juxtaposition between the wholesomeness of their family and Colin’s new life is also the source of a good amount of comedy.

Lighton does not shy away from the sexual side of Colin and Ray’s relationship, and the scenes he depicts are as graphic as you are likely to see in an R-rated film. Some go up to and a little past what might be expected in a mainstream movie (including the use of a certain fake appendage). Other times they play out in a comical way to illustrate just how far Colin has progressed from the person he was when the film started.

Skarsgård, who stole the show in the Charli XCX movie The Moment, is the attraction in more ways than one in this film. The part calls for someone who’s not only impossibly handsome, but also a person who can stop dissent with just a glance, and he lives up to both qualities equally well. Melling, best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter movies, also embodies his role perfectly. He plays Colin as weak enough to be run roughshod over by Ray, but not so hopeless as to not be worth rooting for.

Pillion (which is the name of the secondary seat on a motorcycle on which Colin rides multiple times in the film) operates at a storytelling level that is difficult to achieve. Many people will not fully understand the film’s central relationship, but the way it is showcased by Lighton makes it compelling, gut-wrenching, and sexy.

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Pillion is now playing in theaters.

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