Yesterday I read that Mark Cuban of Dallas Mavericks fame would be putting up his Landmark Theatres company for auction. What exactly does that mean for us Houstonians? I think it means that the River Oaks Theatre is threatened--yet again.
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| Courtesy txnco38 on Flickr |
Coincidentally, my husband Chad and I had planned to go there last night to see Win Win. (We tried to see it last weekend, but it was sold out--for good reason.)
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| Win Win |
Making a night out of going to the River Oaks, the last historic movie theater in Houston that is still used for its original purpose, to me, is always a treat. I won't argue that the smaller upstairs theaters could use some retrofitting, especially now that we Americans are not only super-sized but also accustomed to either the recliners in our home media rooms or the cush seats with cupholders at our more recently built multiplexes. Hands down and blind-folded though--on any night, Chad and I would choose two hours of feeling a bit squeezed to watch a grade-A film (with a glass of wine, if so inclined) over the crowds, pay-for-parking and often so-so selections at our local megaplex.
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| Courtesy Houston Deco |
We had dinner before the movie and decided on visiting Tony Mandola's in its Miracle Location on Westheimer. While we would normally have chosen somewhere walkable in the River Oaks Shopping Center, we wanted to patronize the former tenant in its temporary locale. We're looking forward to Brasserie 19 opening in its old place and, of course, to Mandola's returning nearby on Waugh. Often overlooked, and with less fanfare, Epicure Café is a such a gem. We enjoyed a fresh mint tea and shared a slice of cheesecake there after the movie. I always feel like I'm in a European café there, which is an accomplishment worth noting in our sprawling city.
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| Epicure's pastry display courtesy www.julieheinrich.com |
Call me a "Preservation-preferring sentimentalist," but if the River Oaks Theatre is ever demolished, it will be such a shame for the Magnolia City. I so respect Bryan Caswell for making El Real happen in the old Tower Theater on Westheimer. (If you haven't been yet, it is scrumptious, no-frills Tex-Mex and a great use of the space.) And hopefully something good will become of the Alabama Theater. But with what Weingarten did on the northwestern corner of the River Oaks Shopping Center, where Three Brothers Bakery used to be, not to mention putting in a third Starbucks within a baseball's throw (two visibly located across the street from one another and the third inside Barnes & Noble), I can't help but fear the future of the theatre and our city's oldest auto-oriented retail center. If we're going to be a city made up of strip malls, at the very least, shouldn't we protect our first?
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| El Real in the old Tower Theater |
But I'll climb off of my soapbox and give two thumbs up to Win Win, a terrific movie starring Paul Giamatti and showing now at the River Oaks. Whatever ends up happening to the venue, I'm thrilled to know that indie films will be available Downtown soon, when my first movie star crush Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas takes the place of the old Angelika. There's a bevy of great stuff happening Downtown, and this will most certainly be a strong addition. They signed something like a 50-year lease, so no endangerment in my lifetime at least! But for the River Oaks, it will take more than that for our future generations to enjoy it.
