Your Cultural Place

Fall into seasonal fun at City Place near Houston as the holidays near

Celebrate Dia de los Muertos November 1-2.

Photo courtesy of City Place

Fall into fun this season at City Place, the north Houston business and leisure destination brimming with free-to-attend activities for families through the holidays.

The sustainable community, located immediately south of The Woodlands, combines a picturesque backdrop of waterfront green spaces, a variety of restaurants at varying price points, and a trio of popular hotels: Houston City Place Marriott, Courtyard Houston City Place, and Residence Inn Houston City Place.

At the art of it

Happening in The Meadow through November 10, As Water Falls is the third major pop-up installation — and first from an international group — to be featured at City Place since the community launched an ongoing initiative with Weingarten Art Group earlier this year to spotlight engaging and interactive temporary public artworks.

City Place As Water Falls Photo by Nicki Evans Photography

Designed by Montreal-based digital art studio Iregular, the dazzling, multi-faceted piece functions at the intersection of art and technology. The large-scale, virtual waterfall with accompanying soundscape was specially reconceived for its current exhibition. Reimagined in a cube format, its continually changing LED displays — each interactive by touch — allow participants to alter the digital cascades and sounds in an enticing reminder that nature is alive and ever-evolving.

City Place As Water Falls Photo by Nicki Evans Photography

Drawing inspiration from the piece’s vibrant bursts of color, City Place Mediterranean restaurant Island Grill has created a limited time cocktail called the Blue Falls to toast the temporary attraction.

From Coco to Calacas

City Place's fourth-annual Dia de los Muertos celebration kicks off November 1 at 7 pm with a complimentary outdoor screening of the Disney movie Coco (rated PG) on The Plaza, complete with complimentary popcorn while supplies last. Additionally, the first 100 guests will receive samplings of a special Dia de los Muertos cake from community restaurant Common Bond Bistro & Bakery.

City Place movies Photo courtesy of City Place

Programming continues on November 2 from 4-8 pm in partnership with Latino-focused and Houston-based non-profit ALMAAHH.

The day begins with the unveiling of a ceremonial altar for visitors to recognize their dearly departed loved ones.

Guests can shop at the open-air Mercado, where a variety of curated vendors and artisans will showcase an assortment of upscale accessories, art, jewelry, clothing, handcrafted ornaments, and more. Hands-on craft stations will allow guests to create flower crowns, piñatas, and papel picado (traditional decorative folk art).

City Place face painting Photo courtesy of City Place

Visitors can also enjoy activities such as face painting and a loteria house. Lively performances will take center stage with a headline show from Bidi Bidi Banda, Austin’s first all-star Selena Tribute band, in addition to traditional mariachis and pop-up dance performances.

Giant gingerbread men and a floating tree

Capturing a stunning seasonal selfie or holiday snapshot has become a tradition for many at City Place.

City Place Christmas tree Photo courtesy of City Place

Its iconic décor includes a signature, 35-foot, floating Christmas tree rising from City Place Park’s main pond, along with the Giant Gingerbread Village that welcomes guests down a gumdrop, lollipop and candy cane-lined path — guarded by two giant gingerbread men — to a raised clearing in The Meadow featuring cookie trees, a 16-foot-high gingerbread house, and a 12-foot-tall windmill. This year, visitors can also expect new, seasonal installations peppered around The Plaza.

City Place Gingerbread Village Photo courtesy of City Place

Get into the spirit starting at noon on November 23 and 24 with special Christmas activations featuring Andy Rooniverse and Mr. Leo Puppet Show. The annual holiday lighting is set for Sunday, December 1, from 3-7 pm, featuring elements spanning from real snow on The Plaza, photos with Santa, and a special music performance from Divisi Strings to a holiday artisan market and kids craft area.

As Christmas approaches, the Pix on The Plaza outdoor movie series spotlights the film The Polar Express, plus trackless train rides on December 13 beginning at 7 pm. Mr. Leo Puppet Show and Andy Rooniverse return to The Plaza on December 21 at 11 am and December 22 at noon, respectively, along with additional holiday programming.

Visit www.cityplacenow.com to plan your trip and discover all the exciting seasonal activities awaiting you.

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Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doesn't match the first movie's enthusiasm

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films like M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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