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.

holidays festivals families movies christmas dia de los muertos promoted

Movie Review

Spielberg-inspired movie The End of Oak Street is a dino-snore

Photo by Daniel McFadden

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway in The End of Oak Street.

Steven Spielberg is the iconic director of the last 50 years, so it’s no surprise that many other filmmakers have borrowed from his classic films. But most of the time those come in the form of references or homages, not straight up theft, which is what it feels like watching The End of Oak Street play out in front of your eyes.

Set in the early 1980s in an idyllic suburban neighborhood of an unnamed city, Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are parents to two teenagers, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery). They’re also possibly heading toward divorce, as Audrey is secretly writing a novel with a thinly-veiled plot about their life, and Brian is cagey about having to earn extra money with a pizza delivery job.

That all gets put on the backburner when a mysterious event takes their entire neighborhood back to the time of dinosaurs. Armed with little more than a shotgun and sledgehammer, Audrey and Brian do their best to keep the family safe in their house. But the longer the ordeal goes on, circumstances force them out onto the streets and into the increasing danger that’s all around them.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the film tries immensely hard to be like the Spielberg movies its filmmaker clearly adores, but fails at almost every turn. It never earns the broken family in ‘80s suburbia vibes that were prevalent in E.T., going all in right away in the opening scene with a neighborhood block party that feels forced. Other elements like a bully who has it out for Brian, the family dog that disappears, and an angry neighbor come across as the tropes they are and not as organic parts of the plot.

When it finally gets to its dinosaur sequences, they pale in comparison to those found in Jurassic Park. The strange manner in which the dinosaurs appear is a big part of that, but the action involving them forgoes ominous moments that could build tension for those that play up gore in an unexpected way for a PG-13 movie. Many of the attacks have so little emotional meaning that they come off as comical, which is entertaining but in a hollow way.

As if those weren’t enough, Mitchell — perhaps at the behest of producer J.J. Abrams (who made his own Spielbergian film, Super 8) — tries to honor Spielberg in other ways. Just like in Jaws, he employs the use of a split diopter lens, which keeps characters in both the foreground and background in focus. But instead of using it judiciously, it’s brought out in three separate scenes, including a laughable one with the four family members where it turns into overkill.

Hathaway, coming off of a role in The Odyssey that could earn her an Oscar nomination, is the best part of this film. But even her evident skills are dragged down by the ridiculousness of the story, which requires hysterics that even she can’t sell. McGregor can normally be counted on for a good performance, but he gives several line readings with strange cadences that make his already-underwritten character come off worse. Stella and Convery are okay, but their roles are unmemorable overall.

Mitchell and his team can never settle on exactly what type of film they were trying to make, and so even though The End of Oak Street has a few moments that work, they’re surrounded by many others that don’t. In trying to emulate Spielberg — there’s even a blatant Back to the Future (produced by Spielberg) rip-off towards the end — all Mitchell has done is show how difficult it is to be the master.

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The End of Oak Street opens in theaters on August 14.