Cheapskate's Guide to the Finer Things in Life
Cineastes rejoice: More free movies at WorldFest
Free is good. Free movies are very good. And WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival has some very, very good news for serious cineastes: The Houston film festival — now underway at the AMC Studio 30 — is expanding its list of free attractions by offering two more freebies to local audiences this week.
Freebie No. 1:Cré na Cille (Earth of the Churchyard), a supernatural Irish dark comedy (in Gaelic with English subtitles) about life, death and all things in between. During the 1940s in a small Connemara village, the jealous rivalry between two sisters continues long into the afterlife. Showtime: 5 p.m. today.
Freebie No. 2:Love Life of a Gentle Coward, a Croatian comedy that takes to heart the advice given a frustrated wordsmith in Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast: If you can't become a writer, become a critic. But the protagonist in Pavo Marinkovic's film — a restaurant critic — continues to be frustrated in his life and work until he takes a chance on love. Showtime: 5 p.m. Friday.
"All you have to do," WorldFest founder-director Hunter Todd says, "is go up to the ticket booth in the lobby of the AMC Studio 30 before either film, and just ask for free tickets. It's that simple."
And don't forget a previously mentioned freebie:
Freebie No. 3: Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta, an award-winning IMAX film that merges drama and documentary while recounting the origins of the Hajj — the 1,400-year-old ritual that calls for all Muslims to undertake at least one pilgrimage to Mecca to celebrate the prophet Abraham. Filmed on location in the deserts of Morocco and around the Ka'bah at Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley, Journey to Mecca will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
“It’s a really superb IMAX film,” Todd promises. “And if you want to see it — for free — all you have to do is pick up tickets ahead of time at the AMC Studio 30 ticket booth. There’s a limit of four tickets per person. But they’re four free tickets.”
Joe Leydon covers everything about movies on his movingpictureblog