While no one will confuse Houston with Hollywood, the Bayou City has been the setting for a wide variety of movies over the years, even if they weren’t always filmed here. Case in point is the new locally set movie from Houston-raised director Bassam Tariq, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” starring Mahershala Ali, John Cho, and Giancarlo Esposito. The crime thriller takes place in the city but was, unfortunately, filmed in Atlanta. The film kicks off this year’s Houston Cinema Arts Festival Oct. 1 and opens wider in theaters Oct. 9.
But it’s not the only Houston-related movie coming to our screens. Cristopher Velasquez’s “Journey,” the timely, immigration-themed indie drama that was partially shot here, opens Oct. 2. (You can read an interview with the director here.)
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In conjunction with the release of these movies, we have compiled a list of 30 favorite movies (and some runners-up) that were either filmed or set in Houston. These are works that every Houstonian should see, as watching or re-watching them is like rummaging through the city’s memories. At their best, they reveal what life is like in this swampy Gulf Coast city.
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Bassam Tariq, left, and Mahershala Ali, center, are pictured on the red carpet for “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, on Sept. 12. The film opens in Houston Oct. 9.
Laura Proctor/Associated Press
The selections range from big-budget studio productions to homegrown, indie projects. Though it has to be said that two of the best depictions of Houston are TV series: Netflix’s “Mo,” conceived by and starring H-Town comedian Mo Amer (who has said that he wants to make a feature film set here), and Apple TV’s alternate-history science-fiction show, “For All Mankind.” And there are some honorable mentions at the end.
All of these movies are available on various streaming platforms or video-on-demand. Click on the titles to see the trailers.
Tom Hanks, left, Kevin Bacon, center, and Bill Paxton star as astronauts in ‘Apollo 13’ which was filmed at the Johnson Space Center and other Houston locations.
RON BATZDORFF/AP
“Apollo 13” leads the list, and not just because the word “Houston” probably has never been said more times in a movie than in Ron Howard’s epic telling of the failed and nearly disastrous flight of Apollo 13. This is the mission that came close to taking the lives of the three astronauts, played by Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and the late Bill Paxton. Beyond that, the film, nominated for nine Oscars and winner of two, perhaps is the best cinematic window into the world of NASA astronauts and engineers. At once suspenseful and inspirational, “Apollo 13” is blockbuster filmmaking at its best. Much of the action took place at Houston’s Space Center, which was also used for scenes in two entertaining but lightweight popcorn movies with space themes, “Armageddon” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” Other stellar Apollo-related films, such as “The Right Stuff” (1983) and “First Man” (2018), had scenes set in Houston but were shot elsewhere.
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Rob Morgan stars as a rodeo rider in the indie film “Bull”
Bert Marcus
The cowboy culture of rodeos is a big part of Houston’s identity, but the subculture of Black rodeos isn’t as often in the spotlight. Austin director Annie Silverstein goes some way to remedying that in this moving drama about an unlikely friendship set in the world of cowboys who live in neighborhoods like Acres Homes and ride in rodeos in towns like Egypt, 66 miles southwest of Houston. The film, starring Rob Morgan, earned several nominations and wins at festivals such as Cannes and SXSW and won the Houston Critics Film Society’s Texas Independent Film Award in 2020.
Mason (Ellar Coltrane), Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), and Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) in Richard Linklater’s ‘Boyhood’ with Houston Astros and Houston Rockets pennants on the wall
Matt Lankes/IFC Films
Houston-born/Austin-based director Richard Linklater crafted a Texas classic: a coming-of-age story set over 12 years that was filmed over a dozen years in various parts of the Lone Star State, including at an Astros game. This portrait of a family grappling with divorce, dysfunction, as well as the tiny horrors of the everyday feels as real as one’s own life. Patricia Arquette won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as the put-upon mom.
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Screen shot from ‘Who Killed Fourth Ward?’
Courtesy Houston Cinema Arts Festival
James Blue’s three-part, three-hour film is considered a classic of the documentary form, with The New Yorker’s critic Richard Brody in 2022 even calling it “life-changing.” Blue, a Rice film professor and early co-director of the Rice Media Center, and his team didn’t just get Fourth Ward residents to open up to him about the forces of redevelopment upending the historic neighborhood founded by the formerly enslaved after the Civil War, but also the city’s power brokers. Blue, who died in 1980 at the too-young age of 49, also wrestles with his own fears and guilt as a white Houstonian who knew little about this area. Shot on Super 8 (like a home movie of the era), this isn’t a slick Netflix doc, and seen through the lens of the last 50 years of rampant development, he might come across as naive. But it is heartfelt and honest. All three parts are screening as part of the upcoming Houston Cinema Arts Festival and are available on YouTube.
Shirley MacLaine (right) and Debra Winger in the 1983 movie, “Terms of Endearment”
Paramount Pictures
James L. Brooks turned out some of the best films of the ’80s, including “Broadcast News” and “As Good It Gets,” but his best is the moving, comedic tearjerker “Terms of Endearment,” starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson. The film won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Partially shot around Houston in River Oaks, The Heights, downtown and Galveston, “Terms” was such a big hit that it spawned a sequel, the decidedly less successful “The Evening Star,” which was also partially shot in Houston.
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Jada Pinkett Smith and Allen Payne in ‘Jason’s Lyric’
Gramercy Pictures
When films get made about Houston, they aren’t usually set in Third Ward. But director Doug McHenry and writer Bobby Smith Jr. put the neighborhood in a starring role in this drama about two brothers who follow different paths and sometimes end up on a collision course. In addition to featuring a breakout performance by Jada Pinkett Smith, “Jason’s Lyric” starred Forest Whitaker in the memorable role as the alcoholic dad, Maddog.
Actor Jason Schwartzman and director/writer Wes Anderson are seen here promoting the film ‘Rushmore’ together.
KADOCH, Ariane/125196
Houstonian Wes Anderson’s first film, “Bottle Rocket,” was filmed in Dallas, but he came home for “Rushmore,” his alternately comedic and melancholic tale of the world’s most sophisticated (and insufferable) 15-year-old high school student starring Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. It was filmed in various locales around Houston, from St. John’s School to Lamar High School and St. John the Divine church to Hollywood Cemetery. The film won a trove of awards, including a Film Independent Spirit Award, and became Anderson’s breakout hit, bringing his idiosyncratic style to the world.
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Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling outside Enron Headquarters in downtown Houston.
Wyatt McSpadden/Magnolia Pictures
When the outwardly flourishing Houston-based Enron energy and commodities corporation collapsed like a Jenga tower under the weight of fraud, lies and corruption in 2001, it almost brought the entire city down with it. Alex Gibney’s riveting, Oscar-nominated documentary tells how it all happened, and it’s far more than a story about one company’s hubris and the comeuppance of CEO Jeffrey Skilling. The shadow of “Enron” looms large today, serving as a lesson to those in 2026 to be wary of those guys in the room who may be too smart for their own good.
Harry Dean Stanton as Travis in “Paris, Texas.”
Twentieth Century Fox
This masterwork from Wim Wenders, starring Harry Dean Stanton as a man who drops out of society for four years and then struggles to reconnect with his family, is one of the best films of the ’80s. Interestingly, the film never sets foot in the Texas town of Paris but the last half of it does take place in Houston. Written by Sam Shepherd, the movie won many awards, including the Palme d’Or at Cannes and Best Director at the BAFTAs.
Trai Byers, center, stars in “The 24th,” a film about the Houston Riot of 1917.
Associated Press
The relatively little-known Houston Riot of 1917, in which Black soldiers at Camp Logan (where Memorial Park is today) rebelled against police violence and an angry mob, is brought to life in director/writer Kevin Willmott’s thoughtful and well-made look back at the cruelty and indignities of the Jim Crow era. The film, nominated for an NAACP Image Award, features a strong ensemble cast that includes Trai Byers (“Empire”), Mykelti Williamson (“Forrest Gump,” “Con Air”), and Texan Thomas Haden Church (“Spider-Man: No Way Home”). Willmott also co-wrote Spike Lee’s 2018 film “BlacKkKlansman.”
Stan, voiced by Milo Coy, is head over heels for space travel in Richard Linklater’s animated film “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood.”
Associated Press
If “Apollo 13” offers a vision of the serious, life-and-death side of being part of NASA’s world, Richard Linklater’s animated “Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood” takes a lighter view. Partially based on Linklater’s own childhood as he came of age in southeast Texas in the ’60s and ’70s, it captures, with wit and warmth, the giddiness of space-obsessed Houston at the time.
Mickey Gilley and John Travolta at the Houston movie premiere party for “Urban Cowboy” at Gilley’s club.
Larry Reese/Houston Chronicle
James Bridges’ love story starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, and set within the world of the sprawling Houston country-music nightclub known as Gilley’s, became a national phenomenon. Everyone wanted a pair of cowboy boots, every bar wanted a mechanical bull and country music surged in popularity with the film’s soundtrack selling more than three million copies. Best of all, it was filmed all over the area, including Houston, Deer Park, Pasadena and Huntsville.
Jonathan Caouette and his mother Renee LeBlanc in ‘Tarnation’
Wellspring/web
Jonathan Caouette’s extremely personal, autobiographical and haunting “Tarnation” is one of the best documentaries of the aughts. Made long before confessional TikToks and Reels became a thing, “Tarnation” is a crazy quilt of home movies, photos, answering machine messages, video diaries and hazy memories charting his life as a young gay man coming of age with his schizophrenic mother in Houston. The film earned several award nominations and wins, including recognition from the Independent Spirit Awards, the National Society of Film Critics and Cannes Film Festival.
Steve Zahn, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Janeane Garofolo in ‘Reality Bites’
Universal Pictures
Houston becomes a cool, hip backdrop for struggling Gen X 20-somethings making their way in the world in Ben Stiller’s whimsically hipster romantic comedy. With a cast that includes Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, Steve Zahn, Janeane Garofalo, Swoosie Kurtz, and Stiller, the film elicits only a couple of winces of embarrassment all these years later. Filmed around Houston (with L.A. standing in for H-Town), “Reality Bites,” when watched now, reinforces how much the city’s landscape has changed in 32 years.
Samantha Smart stars in the Houston-shot “Charliebird”
Houston Cinema Arts Society
In recent years, Houston has had an under-the-radar indie film scene that has often gone unacknowledged, with films like Nell Teare’s “Bolivar” (2022) and Tarun Verma’s “Conception” (2022) deserving more exposure. One of the best of these is Libby Ewing’s moving “Charliebird,” written by and co-starring Texan Samantha Smart, in which Southeast Texas hovers like a constant presence. It’s set in the days following Hurricane Beryl, when the TV chatter is all about either impending natural disaster or the Astros. But at the heart of the story is a friendship that develops between a music therapist and a difficult young patient. Built around the extraordinary performances of Smart and Gabriela Ochoa Perez, “Charliebird” earned awards from several festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival.
This is a photo taken at the Eldorado Ballroom in its 1904s heyday. The Eldorado Ballroom jumped big-time in the years after World War II, as shown in this 1947 photo, with top Houston bands and visiting stars, but by the 1960s its nights were numbered. Musical styles had changed – and so had the audiences.
unknown/Courtesy photo
While Houston might not be as widely known as Chicago and New Orleans as a blues or jazz capital, Alan Swyer’s thoughtful, informative documentary about the many musicians who came from Houston and the many venues, such as the Eldorado Ballroom that hosted the music, makes the case that it should be. Lightnin’ Hopkins, Big Mama Thornton (who recorded “Hound Dog” before Elvis), Clifton Chenier, Albert Collins, Illinois Jacquet and Trudy Lynn are just some of the notable musicians who have called Houston home.
Jennifer Lopez and Edward James Olmos star in ‘Selena.’
Courtesy photo
Though Selena was closely tied to Corpus Christi, the singer who took Tejano pop far beyond the borders of Texas had connections to the Houston area, too. She was born in Lake Jackson, and the pinnacle of her career came when she headlined the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo at the Astrodome in 1995; the film opens with this scene. Gregory Nava’s engaging biopic covers all of this, starring Jennifer Lopez as Selena and Edward James Olmos as her dad, Abraham.
“Local Hero” writer-director Bill Forsyth, left, talks over a scene with actor Burt Lancaster, far left, during location shooting at Texas Commerce Tower.
Ben DeSoto/Houston Chronicle
From its magnificent vistas of the Scottish countryside to the haunting score from British guitarist Mark Knopfler, Bill Forsyth’s winning drama about a harried executive from the big American city who discovers a spiritually rich life in rural Scotland wouldn’t seem to have much to do with Texas. But the big city in question is Houston, and the first part of this film, starring Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert, is not only set here but was actually shot in such locations as the Texas Commerce Tower (now the JPMorgan Chase Tower) and the Johnson Space Center.
Simon Rex, left, and Suzanna Son riding the coaster in Galveston in a scene from “Red Rocket.”
Associated Press
Sean Baker, who brought L.A. and Florida to vivid life in “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project” respectively, did the same with southeast Texas in this bawdy and raucous story of a porn star who had been living in L.A. (a memorable Simon Rex) looking to start his life over in his Texas hometown. Filmed in Galveston, Texas City, and Groves (at the famous Donut Hole), “Red Rocket” captures the region’s look and feel, from the forest of refineries to the wide, open sky.
Fisherman Bang Nguyen in ‘Seadrift’
Tim Tsai
The friction in 1979 between immigrant Vietnamese fishermen (many of whom came here after the fall of Saigon) and their white counterparts working along the Gulf Coast near Houston led to violence and even the involvement of the Ku Klux Klan. All of this is chronicled in Tim Tsai’s illuminating documentary that isn’t just about this particular clash but the wider war over immigration, culture and a changing Texas.
Brad Pitt, left, and Laramie Eppler in “The Tree of Life.”
Merie Wallace/AP
Houston (along with Dallas) appears briefly in Texas director Terrence Malick’s gorgeously rendered cinematic tone poem about family, love, and loss, starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, and Jessica Chastain. Though largely set in mid-century, small-town Texas, the film is bracketed with shots of Penn’s character in contemporary times, lost and adrift amid a gleaming but soul-sucking corporate landscape. It’s not exactly the image the chamber of commerce might want to promote, but Houston and Dallas perform their roles beautifully.
Houston’s OMB Bloodbath stars in ‘Ghost Song’
GoGoGo Films
The low-budget indie from French director Nicolas Peduzzi does something few Houston films do: it draws a sharp contrast between the haves (in presumably River Oaks) and the have-nots in Third Ward as everyone navigates the urban sprawl and a hurricane threatens the Gulf. Life in Houston fascinated Peduzzi and much of what he captures might feel like cliché to locals. As I wrote at the time of its release, “this impressionist, voyeuristic view of Houston often states the obvious — the city’s hot, damp, racially and economically divided, and runs on oil, duh — but does it in a visually haunting way.” The film stars OMB Bloodbath, who has a striking screen presence, but the rapper was recently convicted of murder in aid of racketeering and of using a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death.
Krisha Fairchild in a scene from “Krisha.” The film, directed by Trey Edward Shults, was made in nine days with less than $100,000, shooting at his mother’s house and starring his aunt.
AP
Houston director Trey Edward Shults made a big splash with his semi-autobiographical debut feature, set in an anonymous Houston-area neighborhood (it was shot in Spring) during an especially tense family Thanksgiving. Krisha Fairchild (Shults’ real-life aunt) plays the title character, a difficult, self-destructive visiting relative whose behavior horrifies other family members. The film, picked up by hot distributor A24, won honors at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the National Board of Review and SXSW.
From left, Alessandra Manon, Michelle Magallon, Gerardo Velasquez, Justin Rodriguez, and Naomë Antoinette star in “Rich Kids”
ITN Distribution
For a city that counts more than 40% of its population as Latino, that reality isn’t reflected on the screen very much. The drama “Rich Kids,” from director Laura Somers and co-writer David Saldaña, goes some way to rectifying that. Coming out around the same as “Parasite,” “Rich Kids” — in which a group of lower-middle-class young people invades a home of wealthier neighbors who are away on vacation, but find “the dream” has a dark side — makes similar points about class, consumerism and aspirational living. Shot in South Houston and Pasadena, the movie won several film-festival honors, including best film at the New York Latino Film Festival.
Houston’s DJ Screw, shown here in his home studio, makes a brief appearance in the film ‘5th Ward.’
Ben DeSoto
Greg Carter’s gritty but engrossing ultra-low-budget, coming-of-age drama, set in Fifth Ward, tells the story of a young man dealing with life after the murder of his brother. It led to two seasons of a prequel TV show, “Fifth Ward: The Series,” and could be seen as a forerunner to the many Houston-set dramas from young Black directors on Tubi. The soundtrack also features DJ Screw (who makes a rare, brief appearance in the film), Lil Keke and Bun B.
(Left to right) William Atherton, Goldie Hawn and Michael Sacks in Steven Spielberg’s “The Sugarland Express.”
Universal Studios
Following several years as a rising TV director (including the inspired TV movie “Duel”), Steven Spielberg chose a purely Texas story inspired by real events for his first major feature film. In 1969, a couple kidnapped a cop and led police on a wild, 300-mile chase across much of southeast Texas. Spielberg turned that into a comedic drama starring Goldie Hawn that’s full of good ol’ boys, crashing cars and fried chicken. The one thing contemporary Houston viewers will notice about this film, shot in Sugar Land, Richmond, and San Antonio, is how empty and rural the entire region seemed back then. There’s no Walgreens or Whole Foods in sight. Then there’s the whole misspelling of Sugar Land thing, but we’ll let that slide.
Cowboy (Sonny Carl Davis), legendary local hero and a regular patron of “The Alamo,” a small bar in Houston, flirts with Lisa (Amanda LaMar), in a scene from “Last Night at the Alamo.” From Cinecom International Films.
Cinecom International Films.
It’s the final night of existence for a Houston dive bar called The Alamo, which is being torn down to make way for condos and chain restaurants. That doesn’t sit well with some of the regulars, a group of low-life ne’er-do-wells who see the rough-and-tumble Houston they knew slipping away. Eagle Pennell’s black-and-white movie feels a bit like a filmed play, but the claustrophobia underscores the cloistered lives of these barflies.
Luke Benward, Michael McKean, Hannah Kasulka stand atop a building in downtown Houston in ‘Playing God”
Scott Brignac
Indie director Scott Brignac has described his engaging comedic drama about sibling con artists starring Alan Tudyk, Michael McKean and Marc Menchaca as “a love letter to Houston.” This shows up with such location choices as the Hotel Alessandra, the Metro light rail and, as the film was shot in 2018, the much-loved music club Fitzgerald’s in the Heights, which closed in 2019.
Juliana Destefano (center) stars in the film ‘Acid Test’
Acid Test Productions
Houston director Jenny Waldo’s feature debut is an engaging, partly autobiographical coming-of-age story about a ’90s-era, Harvard-bound teenage Latina in Houston who discovers LSD, her Latino roots and the riot grrrl scene. Her cultural awakening, happening at the same time as the 1992 presidential race, puts her Harvard dreams in jeopardy.
Amanda Schull as Liz and Chi Cao as Li in ‘Mao’s Last Dancer’
Simon Cardwell / Samuel Goldwyn /Dallas Morning News
Australian director Bruce Beresford’s inspirational, if occasionally overwrought and heavy-handed, “Mao’s Last Dancer” traces the true story of Chinese ballet dancer Li Cunxin, who arrived in Houston in 1979 as a student with the Houston Ballet and left as a star. Beyond showing Li’s personal struggles with both himself and the dictatorial Chinese government, the film also showcases Houston — from the gleaming skyline to the Galleria and Miller Outdoor Theatre — and the spirit of the late Ben Stevenson (played by Bruce Greenwood), who, as the artistic director of the Houston Ballet and later the Texas Ballet Theater in North Texas, contributed so much to the arts in the state.
Shelley Duvall’s first film appearance was in the 1970 movie “Brewster McCloud” with Bud Cort.
Courtesy Photo/MGM
The satirical counterculture humor of Robert Altman’s tale about a young man living beneath the Astrodome who wants to fly with his self-made wings doesn’t hold up in the 21st century. It is certainly a comedown from Altman’s previous film, the Oscar-winning “M*A*S*H.” But “Brewster McCloud” matters in Houston film history as the first movie shot inside the Astrodome (the world premiere was held in the stadium before 24,000 people) and as the feature-film debut of Texas actress Shelley Duvall.
In the documentary ‘Ghosts of Sugar Land,’ all the interviewees wear masks to conceal their identities.
Netflix
Bassam Tariq’s 21-minute Netflix documentary deserves a mention as a symbol of our contentious Houston times. This Sundance Award-winning work is a fascinating portrait of a group of young South Asian Muslim men from Sugar Land who, as adults, felt forced to re-examine their high-school friendship with African-American student Warren Christopher Clark. He was one of their friend group who went on to join ISIS. They struggle with the consequences of his decisions, which reflect badly on them and draw attention from the feds (all wear masks in their interviews). There’s also the question of whether their unintentional othering of their classmate pushed him away and into the deepest, darkest regions of the internet. (Clark, who had become a substitute teacher in Sugar Land, converted to Islam, moved to Syria where he was captured by Kurdish forces, sent back to the U.S., and in 2024 was sentenced to a 10-year prison term.)
Youssof al-Mosleh and one of his daughters wait for treatment at Houston’s Hope Clinic in ‘Seeds of All Things’
Yehuda Sharim
Looking at it now, this fly-on-the-wall documentary set inside southwest Houston’s Hope Clinic and a refugee family’s bare-bones Houston apartment hits harder, given all that’s happened to immigrant communities since it was filmed a decade ago. Made by two Houston-based Jewish filmmakers who are refugees themselves, Iranian director Yehuda Sharim (who has since moved to California) and Russian producer Yan Digilov, “Seeds” offers a small window into the world of what life is like for refugees in Houston by focusing on two families who are patients at the Hope Clinic. Set against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential election, the film leaves viewers wondering what became of them a decade later. Sharim and Digilov’s mission as filmmakers was to spotlight local immigrant dreams as their other films include “We Are In It” (a look at the lives of five immigrants) and “Lessons In Seeing” (a portrait of a math teacher from Ethiopia who finds community at a west Houston market). All films stream at sharimstudio.com/film.
The Tubi generation
Artwork for “The Dirty 3rd: Next Generation”
Derrick “D-Reck” Dixon
Tubi has become a major gateway for young filmmakers, especially Black directors, in Houston to tell their stories. They aren’t waiting for Hollywood to come calling. They are doing it themselves. There’s an entire universe of directors largely unknown to the wider world, such as Lakisha R. Lemons and Nahala Johnson, making movies, largely crime dramas, romantic dramas and thrillers, for this market. Johnson, who came out of the world of music videos, is especially notable for the best moments in his films, such as “Candy” and especially “The Dirty 3rd: Next Generation,” pop like a flashbang.
Dave Andrews, aka Outlaw Dave, a disc jockey at KLOL-FM, is one of the air personalities featured in the documentary ‘Runaway Radio.’
Steve Campbell/Houston Chronicle
Longtime Houston journalist Mike McGuff became a director with this entertaining, nostalgic documentary that takes a fond look back at Houston album-rock station KLOL-FM, which, from 1970 to 2004, was the sound of mainstream rock in town.
Houston noir
Opening titles of ‘The Houston Story’
Screen grab by Cary Darling
Then there’s “The Houston Story” (1956), a cheesy slice of ’50s-era Gulf Coast-noir from B-movie kingpin William Castle (“I Saw What You Did,” “13 Frightened Girls!”). Starring Gene Barry as an ambitious hood who hatches a scheme with a local mobster to scam the oil industry, the film has the most Houston twist ever. Barry replaced original lead Lee J. Cobb, who had suffered a heart attack while filming a fight scene outside in the Houston heat. Much of the film was actually shot in LA, though viewers will spot Hermann Park, the Houston International Airport (now known as Hobby Airport), and Houston Police Headquarters.
Houston’s a disaster
On Oct. 12, 1989, Houstonians could run into film crews working on ‘Robocop 2.’
Howard Castleberry/Houston Chronicle
No story about films made or set in H-Town would be complete without mentioning three dystopian science-fiction films, one zombie movie, and one disaster flick. It’s as if Hollywood, a half-century ago, looked around and said Houston is the perfect place for: a voodoo zombie attack (“Sugar Hill,” 1974); a deadly game designed to pacify the bloodthirsty masses (“Rollerball,” 1975, filmed in Germany); a mass-extinction event for everyone once they reach the age of 30 (“Logan’s Run,” 1976, though mostly filmed in DFW); a killer-bee invasion (“The Swarm,” 1978); and a violent cyborg cop (“Robocop 2,” 1990, not as good the first “Robocop”), though, to be fair, “Robocop 2” was actually set in Detroit and Houston was a mere stand-in. It’s almost enough to make you glad that there was a Houston-shot, baseball-themed “Bad News Bears” sequel (“The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training,” 1977) and, later, a golf-themed romance starring Kevin Costner (“Tin Cup,” 1996, partly shot at Kingwood Country Club) as alternatives.
Rafael Cebrián plays an undocumented man arrested and sent to Mexico in the film ‘Journey’ which was shot in Houston and Laredo. It hits theaters Oct. 2.
Courtesy Cristopher Rodriguez
What: “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” opens the festival at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 and then opens in theaters Oct. 9; “Who Killed Fourth Ward?” part 1 screens at 4 p.m. Oct. 11 at Rice Cinema; “Who Killed Fourth Ward?” parts 2 and 3 screen at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at Mt. Horeb Baptist Church.
Where: Various venues around Houston
Details: cinemahtx.org/hcaf