Next Friday, April 5, the Patriots and Peace: Arab Americans in Service to Our Country will close at the University of Houston. Funded by the Arab American National Museum (the only museum in the country committed to preserving Arab American history), Patriots and Peace honors more than a century of Arab American service by focusing on three areas of service: the US Armed Forces, diplomatic service, and the Peace Corps. Exhibiting photographs, military awards, and personal stories of sacrifice and dedication, Patriots and Peace offers general audiences an opportunity to expand, not only their understanding of Arab American national service, but also their knowledge of Arab culture ... Read More »

Chase Hamblin’s named his new album, VAUdeVILLE, in tribute to a uniquely American form of entertainment. As Hamblin relates in the liner notes, his grandfather was a songwriter in the heyday of vaudeville, the popular early 20th century “variety show” that combined musical performances with comedy, dancing, burlesque and more. Hamblin and his band, The Roustabouts, do well to channel vaudeville’s theatricality and eager-to-please energy, offering up twelve bouncy songs steeped in classic pop songwriting. Hamblin crafts well-proportioned, energetic tunes, veering from Brill Building jingles to bluesy vamps to Beatles-esque pomp, all united by his crisp, elfin vocal style (at ... Read More »

In addition to a few wide openers there’s also some limited releases opening this weekend in Houston: The Girl (AMC Studio 30), Ginger & Rosa (Sundance Cinemas Houston), and Wrong (Alamo Drafthouse Vintage Park). Another exclusive in its second strong week is On the Road (also at the Sundance Cinemas Houston). Ginger & Rosa despite a great cast moves slowly and finally adds a layer of disinterest to the story of a couple of young girls in the UK in the early 1960s. Essentially a coming of age story G&R stars Elle Fanning and Alice Englert and posits that divorce, ... Read More »

If you’re familiar with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones you know that the Stones are perceived as, well, more wicked. Truth be told it was the Liverpool Lads who were getting into fights and playing all night gigs hopped up on amphetamines while Mick and Keith are from middle class backgrounds. The Stones saw the light of the movie screen early on and have consistently made concert films and participated in docs throughout their career. Perhaps rightly so, the Stones withheld Cocksucker Blues from distribution for years – not because it’s bad (it’s actually quite good), but because it’s ... Read More »

The Weekly Music Review for March 28th-April 5th   The FREE PRESS HOUSTON Pick of the Week:  Saturday, March 30th: Super Happy Fun Land 10 Year Anniversary featuring Muzak John, Rusted Shut, Organ Failure, Nick Greer, Days N’ Daze, Concrete Violin, Black Magic Marker, Nonsense Music Band, PSA, The Southmore House Presents, Caleb Fraid, Poopy Lungstuffing, Clockpole, and Free Radicals Come out and support 10 years of the most liberated and lovably strange venue in Houston!   This Week in Music! The Weekly Round Up: Friday, March 28: Roscoe Mitchell Quartet @ The Historic Eldorado Ballroom (8pm, $13) Chase Hamblin, Kiki’s Sordid ... Read More »

Politics makes for strange bedfellows in the Chilean film No, directed by Pablo Larraín. A couple of Larraín’s previous films (Tony Manaro and Post Mortem) featured flawed characters caught up in the upheaval of Chilean society in the 1970s. Tony Manaro in particular saw the dichotomy of a serial killer obsessed with Saturday Night Fever who seems normal when compared to corrupt people in the government. No finds Larraín still exploring the ramifications of the Pinochet dictatorship. Remember that the former elected leader Socialist Salvador Allende was overthrown by a military coup on September 11, 1973. By the end of ... Read More »

The Houston Palestine Film Festival is starting off its seventh year as strong as ever. This locally grown film festival was built on community donations and volunteers, who have supported the festival since 2007. HPFF won the Best Local Film Festival Award by the Houston Press in 2009 and the Audience Choice Award in 2010. This year the Houston Arts Alliance recognized HPFF’s years of community support and successful programming through a grant. These grants are typically given to organizations that encourage the sharing of distinct Houston cultures. In an interview with the festival director, Sary Joudah explained that the ... Read More »

 Tristana (3/12, Cohen Media Group) serves up a heaping dose of Luis Buñuel filtered surrealism although to be sure this 1970 effort has more realism and occasional melodrama that most of his other films. Set in Spain in the 1920s and based on a famous 19th century Spanish novel (Benito Galdós) Tristana weaves themes of sexual repression by religious minded hypocrites, all honorable yet flawed, which of course is pure Buñuel territory. It’s later in his career and he’s mellowed, but it’s the start of other careers. Catherine Deneuve, Fernando Rey, and (Django himself) Franco Nero star. Please note that ... Read More »

As if SXSW wasn’t enough for all the folks that that either visited Austin or reside there, the city is also hosting a pretty fantastic comedy festival! This is Moontower’s 2nd Annual Festival and it is proving to be an even bigger spectacle than their inaugural event. Last year, the fest brought you  Steven Wright, Aziz Ansari, Johnathan the Magician, just to name a few.Well, this  year comedy-lovers will get the opportunity to catch the likes of Dana Carvey, Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, Chelsea Peretti, Bill Hader, and a ton more. The festival will take place within 11 venues throughout ... Read More »

By: Jacob Calle Photos: Richard  Ramirez There has been many rumors floating around about what will become of the Astrodome. Once such rumor mentions the Astrodome becoming an exotic animal hunting lease. This glorious building with its Empyrean dome is considered to be the Eighth Wonder of the World and, for some, is considered as awe-inspiring as The Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, The Great Pyramid of Giza, and The Great Sphinx.  So why do we even have to raise the question of whether or not this brilliant structure should be destroyed? While there doesn’t seem to be a definitive ... Read More »