Hot Town, Cool City
Friday, March 16, 2007 1:10 PM
Ask someone where she's going on vacation, and Houston is never picked as a destination city. You only go there if you've got to make the annual trek to visit your parents - or if you're on business.
But a new film wants to change that. HotTown, Cool City is a 56-minute film that shows the hidden gems of Houston. Directed by Maureen McNamara, the world premiere will be hosted by socialite Lynn Wyatt on Friday, March 30, at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The after party will be hosted by Treebeards and METRO. After the viewing, METRO will transport your party round-trip for free to Treebeards restaurant downtown. You'll get to hear the sounds of cool jazz from Houston blues musicians Milton Hopkins and Texas Johnny Boy.
We're offering the free METRO train ride only on the film's premiere night, Friday, March 30.
Mention San Francisco, New York or Chicago. Now those are cool cities. But Houston? McNamara thinks so - people just don't know where to find the scattered gems across the nation's fourth largest city.
"Houston is more of an adolescent, renegade cool city," she says on her Web site. "Things are a little more spread out in Houston. Houston is full of surprises and discoveries; it's an interactive city."
Her film features places many locals don't know about: the Glass Bros. Watermelon Stand, New World Museum, The Chocolate Bar, Project Row houses, a farmer's market tour.
Going beyond oil, NASA, the Medical Center and the Galleria, this film brings viewers on a treasure hunt of discovery. McNamara points out that our hot, humid city is also home to some of the nation's top chefs and eateries and has the third largest arts community in the country.
A teacher of children's art classes at the MFAH Glassell Junior School, McNamara received a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance to make Hot Town, Cool City, her first film.
If you can't make the premiere, there will be more screenings: Saturday, March 31, at 1 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, April 1, at 1 p.m.
Afterwards, take your ticket stub, pick up a METRO Hot Town, Cool City map at the MFAH and METRO locations, buy a round-trip rail ticket from the METRO Museum District station....and get ready to discover a good time.
Visit "CRAWL" locations depicted by an asterisk on the METRO map - and you'll receive a Hot Town, Cool City prize at 16 fun locations - all within walking distance from METRORail.