Don’t ever try to snuff the light out of a venue of beauty — for it just may resurrect into a much more luminous gathering place. At least that’s Houston director Richard Linklater’s now hopefully view after the restoration and reopening of his hometown’s iconic movie palace — River Oaks Theatre.
This is a full-circle moment for the Academy Award-winning director. Linklater collaborated with the local activist group Friends of River Oaks Theatre (now renamed Arthouse Houston) to help save the cherished cinema after it shuttered in 2021 amid a lease dispute and remained dark for more than three years.
“I think it’s a proud moment for Houston,” Richard Linklater tells PaperCity in an exclusive one-on-one interview, “The real win came from all the passionate cinema goers who truly care about River Oaks Theatre. Thanks to all the people who hit the ground running, who really showed up. And the people who were making phone calls behind the scenes.
“It was clear that this was not OK for this cinema to go away.”
Making this new lease on life happen for River Oaks Theatre turned out to be a bit of a rollercoaster ride. After failed lease negotiations in 2021, the beloved cinema went dark. Culinary Khancepts, the sister company of Star Cinema, purchased the property. Star Cinema and Culinary Khancepts CEO Omar Khan made bringing this Art Deco gem back to life a personal mission.
“This is a huge passion project for me, and I love cinema as an art,” Khan says. “I’m so excited to help shape River Oaks into what it used to be.”
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Freshly minted as an Art Deco treasure in 1939, the River Oaks Theatre has been restored with new amenities. That includes a new retractable projector screen, new modern theater chairs, an ambitious food and drinks menu from Culinary Khancepts. The main auditorium now accommodates 250 people while the two smaller upstairs auditoriums hold 50 people. The renovations include a new sound and projection system — and bars on each floor of the movie theater.
“The new theatre is really wonderful,” Linklater says. “They’ve done a great job.”
What brings Linklater joy is how the plight of River Oaks Theatre mobilized so many Houstonians to try and save this movie palace from the wrecking ball.
“It’s a big city-wide pat on the back,” Linklater tells PaperCity. “I’m so proud of Houston. It’s a great example of artistic activism that really worked. The Friends of River Oaks Theatre — they are very dedicated, and they helped make it happen.”
Richard Linklater’s Love For River Oaks Theatre
Life can be more profoundly understood when viewing the chapters in retrospect, as the philosopher Søren Kirkegaard once observed. Linklater channels that idea when he details how River Oaks Theatre shaped his life and career as a filmmaker.
“After working offshore when I was younger, I would come to Houston and go to River Oaks Theatre,” Linklater says. “I was just discovering cinema at that time. I was just so lucky that there was a resource like River Oaks Theatre, showing two movies a night. Like classic cult films.
“I sat down there for a couple of years and watched every film they showed. River Oaks Theatre was the flagship for independent films. Films at the River Oaks Theatre were interestingly curated.”
Linklater regarded this movie theater as a sanctuary, one where he intently focused on the art of the films. He often went to see movies by himself at River Oaks Theatre.
“I just remember feeling really happy — even though I was often 99 percent alone,” Linklater says. “For cinephiles, you go to movies alone and it’s not a big deal. I remember thinking, ‘I’m really interested in this movie, and no one else wants to go, I’m ready to go it alone.’
“Cinema is always ready for you. You can either have a great moment with several people in a movie theater or you can have it alone. It is special experience.”
One River Oaks Theatre screening that left a deep impression upon Linklater came in viewing Taxi Driver for the first time.
“I can still feel it,”Linklater says. “I remember walking out of River Oaks theatre, walking to my car, after I saw the movie Taxi Driver,” Linklater says. “I was just in a daze after seeing this film. And I thought, ‘Wow, that was a deeply affecting experience.’ ”
“It’s a big city-wide pat on the back. I’m so proud of Houston. It’s a great example of artistic activism that really worked. The Friends of River Oaks Theatre — they are very dedicated, and they helped make it happen.” — director Richard Linklater
The Grandeur of River Oaks Theatre
Richard Linklater believes that there’s a true sense of grandeur when you walk into River Oaks Theatre that can uplift movie goers.
“Isn’t it great when the space makes your spirit soar?” Linklater says. “Like the Menil or River Oaks Theatre? You feel a certain something in the space. Theatres have that potential, but not all of them are like that. A lot of them are like boxes. It’s nice when you get an extra special rush from the environment you’re in.
“It makes a big difference. Even when I make a movie, I do have an abstract notion of an audience in mind. I do think that I make movies for those cinephiles who are sitting there who are dedicated to independent film.”
Linklater is now working on post-production for two independent movies Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague, coming off the runaway Netflix success of his movie Hit Man. Linklater is still most known as an auteur in independent film circles for his visionary work, including the Academy-Award winning Boyhood, Before Sunrise, Slacker andDazed and Confused.
“It’s been a really busy year for me,” Linklater notes. “I’ve done post-production for Blue Moon, set in 1943, and Nouvelle Vague. It’s two films about artists at different points in their career. Blue Moon is about Rogers and Hart — and the transition of Hart to Hammerstein.”
The unveiling of the newly renovated River Oaks Theatre brought gratitude for many movie and preservation believers.
“I feel joy and deep gratitude more than anything else,” Friends of River Oaks Theatre spokesperson Maureen McNamara says. “The theatre has been saved several times over the years. But the combination of the pandemic, the lease term expiring and the owner’s desire to redevelop the property was a perfect storm.
“Friends of River Oaks Theatre will now live on as Arthouse Houston — supporting preservation and enrichment of the Houston community through our arts, architecture and film community and shared experiences in historic and special spaces.”
Linklater still believes that movies can be transformative.
“Movies are magic. And they can transport you,” he says. “Art in general can answer most of your problems. It can be dealt with through the arts — literature, music and films. It is like a secular church.”
Inspired by the artistic activism that resurrected the River Oaks Theatre, Linklater is now encouraging Houston movie lovers to stick with it.
“Go treasure River Oaks Theatre,” he says. “Support it. Go maximize it. Make it be what it can be.”
For more information on the reopened River Oaks Theatre and the movies and comedy shows it’s showing, go here.