This unique annual film series invites notable Houstonians from different walks of life to present a favorite film. An initiative of the MFAH film committee, Movies Houstonians Love has two primary goals: to provide speakers with the opportunity to show another side of themselves, and to introduce new audiences to the year-round film programming offered in the museum’s state-of-the-art Brown Auditorium Theater.
Over the years, presenters have included Houston mayors Annise Parker and Bill White, former Houston Ballet star Lauren Anderson, rapper Bun B, former First Lady Barbara Bush, chef Bryan Caswell, pioneering heart surgeon Denton Cooley, former Houston Comets superstar Cynthia Cooper, fashion designer Chloe Dao, former Houston Astros pitcher and manager Larry Dierker, NPR's John H. Lienhard, and filmmaker Richard Linklater.
The fifth season of Movies Houstonians Love adopted the theme of "Meals on Reels" and invited local chefs and restaurateurs to introduce their favorite food film. Restaurants represented in that series were the breakfast klub, t'afia, Irma's, Voice, and Indika. The themed series was very successful and generated suggestions of many more specific subjects for a local spin.
2012
• Basketball star Clyde Drexler with Braveheart
• Houston Astros' Jeff Luhnow and Bo Porter with Moneyball
• Rice University's Ping Sun with Aftershock
• The Menil Collection's Josef Helfenstein with Live and Become
2011
• Rice University's Justin Cronin with The Lives of Others
• KUHT's Ernie Manouse with Mildred Pierce
• Project Row Houses' Rick Lowe with Nothing but a Man
• Civic leader Ellen Cohen with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• MFAH Trustee and gallery owner Meredith Long with Kind Hearts and Coronets
• Fashion designer Alexandra Knight with Bill Cunningham New York
• Southwest Alternate Media Project's Mary Lampe with Wings of Desire
2010
• Restaurateur Anita Jaisinghani with Mostly Martha
• Restaurateur Scott Tycer with La grande bouffe
• Restaurateur owner Robert Del Grande with Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
• Restaurateur Armando Palacios with Super Size Me
• Restaurauteur Charles Clark with Babette's Feast
• Restaurauteur Monica Pope with Food, Inc.
• Mayor Annise Parker with The Wizard of Oz
• Restaurauteur Bryan Caswell with The Big Lebowski
2009
• University of Houston President Renu Khator with Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
• Anadarko Petroleum's CEO Jim Hackett with Kingdom of Heaven
• Houston Grand Opera's Anthony Freud with A Man for All Seasons
• Amazing Race winners Joyce and Uchenna Agu with The Sound of Music
• Former Mayor Bob Lanier with For Whom the Bell Tolls
• Restaurauteur Marcus Davis with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
• Restaurauteur Irma Galvan with Tortilla Soup
• Restaurauteur Michael Kramer with Big Night
2008
• Fashion designer Chloe Dao with Dead Poets Society
• Houston Chronicle columnist Leon Hale with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• Activist and socialite Joanne King Herring with Tea with Mussolini
• Politician Sissy Farenthold with Reds
• Art gallery owner Fredericka Hunter with Andrei Roublev
2006–2007
• Baseball star Larry Dierker with Casablanca
• Former First Lady Barbara Bush with Life Is Beautiful
• Rapper Bun B with Style Wars
• Filmmaker Richard Linklater with Some Came Running
• Educator Mike Feinberg with Gattaca
• Houston Ballet’s Lauren Anderson with Singin’ in the Rain
• Engines of Our Ingenuity’s John Lienhard with No Highway in the Sky
2005–2006
• Basketball star Cynthia Cooper with The Shawshank Redemption
• Mayor Bill White with The Last Picture Show
• Heart surgeon Denton Cooley with Catch-22
• Actress Annalee Jefferies with Barbarella