Eclipse is the third film from The Twilight Saga. While the series didn’t start out as a quartet of movies the first film, Twilight did so well it spawned the successive sequels (New Moon, and now Eclipse). We’re talking about a juggernaut. That’s an unstoppable force, which is not to say that the film is good or bad so much as to warn of its hurricane like effect at the box office. More than likely whatever zeitgeist Eclipse has tapped into at the current moment will have elapsed when the target audience, which is huge, ages into another generation. Eclipse ... Read More »

We’ve all done some turd gazing before. It’s an inexorable evil when entering a public bathroom. Some slob forgets to flush his feces and you’re stuck with that nasty after-image burned into your brain. A few weeks ago though Free Press employee and Funwunce Supergroup cofounder, Mark Armes, revealed to us all, a photo of a turd so mythic that it merits an exhaustive investigation of the facts. The shear magnitude of this leviathan wunder-loaf has made it the object of both awe and scrutiny by gastroentrologists worldwide. Hans Farfetnügen of Austria’s most prestigious bowel movement think-tank said this about ... Read More »

Devo has always been one of those bands I am supremely jealous that I did not have the good fortune to grow up listening to. Though they’ve been active since they reformed in 96 I barely knew it until the release of their latest album just a week ago. Their novel take on consumerism, conformity, and the workaday world is still just as clever as it was in the 80s if not sharper in their latest offering Something for Everybody. Watch this hilariously deadpan, pre-release address, by band member Jerry Casale on the content of Something I’m very happy about ... Read More »

Watching Joan Rivers – A Piece of Work won’t turn you into a huge fan if you aren’t already at that place in your life. And this intimate look behind the scenes of her life for over a year won’t make her a cult figure a la Tammy Faye Baker (and thanks goodness for that). The fact remains; Rivers stands as one of the biggest influences on comedy in the last half of the previous century. We’re not talking about influence in the way that Lenny Bruce or even Johnny Carson made strides into our culture. Nonetheless Rivers can be ... Read More »

Do you ever wonder how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gains members? Obviously you have to be involved in film production in some manner, but a glance at 2025 invitees raises few eyebrows. If you’re familiar with the films and people you see the relation of cause to effect. There are some interesting categories and choices to be sure, like the At Large, Executive or Music sections. What follows is the main part of today AMPAS press release: Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization ... Read More »

9500 Liberty comes at just the right moment to capture the zeitgeist of the nation’s immigration debate. The documentary is a true independent release. There is no studio or mini-major or even one of the small distributors like Magnolia or IFC behind the scenes. 9500 Liberty is being self-distributed by its producers who are releasing it on a city by city-by-city basis. 9500 Liberty depicts the events in the town of Manassas, Virginia and surrounding Prince William County when an immigration policy took effect that essentially allowed police to stop and question anybody who looked like an illegal alien. The ... Read More »

Winter’s Bone shows the kind of cachet that money can and cannot buy. Sure it has a Sundance film festival stamp of approval and a nice look with solid production values, but Winter’s Bone also sports a strong lead performance backed by an at times gripping storyline. Winter’s Bone bears some superficial similarities to another indie drama from a few years ago Frozen River – main plot unwinds in rural areas, both feature tough females – however the threads only appear to match. In WB we are thrust into a world of backwoods intrigue where hillbillies are not people missing ... Read More »

For Micmacs, a wacky caper comedy whose physical agility keeps sweeping you in different directions, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet avoids the sentimentality of Amelie or the symbolism of City of Lost Children. Jeunet seems to want to playfully re-invent the kind of kinetic cinematic tricks he played with in Delicatessen. Our humble if not befuddled lead character Bazil, Danny Boon a willowy figure given to comical deadpan expressions, finds himself unemployed after he’s accidentally shot in an incident of random violence and loses his job as a clerk in a video store. In a typical Jeunet flashback at the beginning we ... Read More »

When Tilda Swinton made an appearance at a film festival in Houston last year she premiered I Am Love or Io Sono L’Amore, which is the original title of this 2025 Italian film. I Am Love works its own particular brand of magic best in an art house setting or in previews to appreciative audiences like the one just mentioned. I Am Love offers visual and musical flourishes that demand attention. It’s earthy and lusty but at the same time melodramatic and overwrought. Trapped in the world of upper class order that she married into Emma Recchi (Swinton) finds herself ... Read More »

Last Friday I had the fortune of seeing LIMB play at El Rincón Social in the warehouse district to celebrate the release of their latest LP The Shape of Punk for Some and it only gave me more respect and admiration for their work. The band’s set was surrounded by a plethora of surreal imagery that made it, for me, an almost mystical encounter. Featherface, an original experimental Houston rock band, opened with a relaxing ambient rock set that was only enhanced by the echoes of the cavernous El Rincón warehouse. Other performances of the night included trippy electronic artist ... Read More »