free-for-all!

14 fun things to do in Houston this summer that are totally free

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Rienzi Fall Lectures

Enjoy a picturesque picnic in the Rienzi Gardens.

Photo courtesy of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

As the summer weather gets even hotter (believe it or not), Houstonians — especially parents whose kids are out of school and just wandering around the house, scrolling through Instagram, etc. — are looking for fun activities. We've rounded up some fun events that have some serious added value: they're all free.

Park life
Discovery Green always has free things offerings, whether it's the monthly, Flea by Night market, various yoga/exercise classes, or special events like the Rainbow on the Green concert this Friday, June 22. Hours are 6 am to midnight daily.

Market Square Park, located in the center of downtown Houston's Historic District, also has free weekly events, including outdoor movie screenings and the monthly Backyard Jams concert series. Hours are 6 am to 11 pm daily.

A night at the museum
The Houston Museum District has a hub of museums (Contemporary Arts Museum, Diverseworks, The Menil Collection, Rice Gallery) that offer free admission times. But the other museums (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Children's Museum of Houston; Houston Museum of Natural Science) also have days where people can get in for free.

The Art Car Museum is always free for those who want to see the various automobiles that have been creatively souped-up by brilliant artists. It's open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 am to 6 pm.

Kick out the jams
The Houston Symphony has several upcoming events at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion where free mezzanine and lawn seating are available: Star-Spangled Salute (July 3), The Music of David Bowie (July 16), and Blue Suede Tunes (August 30). All shows are at 8 pm. There will also be free symphony shows at Miller Outdoor Theatre — dubbed "Summer Symphony Nights" — on June 22-23, June 29-30, and July 4. All shows are 8:30 pm.

The Four Seasons Hotel has a monthly "Summer Music Festival," where local musicians and DJs entertain folks at the hotel's swanky pool deck. Look for $5 beers and poolside games. It's on the third Friday of every month, from 7 to 10 pm.

Cool camp for kids
Apple Camp is a great option if your kiddo is constantly on their phone. Kids aged eight to 12 can sharpen their skills 90 minutes a day, for three days, at a local Apple Store exploring coding and robotics, moviemaking, or musical storytelling.

At the movies
Premiere Cinemas is screening free kids' movies on certain days, as part of its "Summer Kids Fest." Premiere Renaissance Theater at Greenspoint Mall and Premiere Cinemas Tomball have free flicks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10 am, while Premiere Cinemas Pearland screens them on Wednesdays at 10 a.m.

Stay in your (bowling) lane
The nationwide Kids Bowl Free program involves bowling alleys all over the country offering two free games every day to registered kids. In Houston, kids can bowl for free at Copperfield Bowl and Emerald Bowl, while Katy kids can go to Times Square Entertainment.

Bounce, skate, roll
The Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark has 40,000 square feet for skaters (but not BMX bikers — sorry!). It's near Eleanor Tinsley Park. Plus, you get a nice view of the Houston skyline from the Sabine Street bridge. It's open Mondays through Sundays, 9 am to 10 pm.

North Houston Skate Park in Spring has 78,000 quare feet of space for people to skate to their hearts' content — and it's always free! It's open on Mondays, Wednesday, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8 am to 10 pm, and Sundays from 10 am to 9 pm.

You’re on a boat
The Port Houston Boat Tour sends guests on a free, 90-minute tour of the Port of Houston. You’ll navigate around the seaport while massive ocean freighters and barges cruise by; keep an eye out for tanker surfers who ride the freighter crests. The tour is free but reservations are required.

Reading is fundamental
Houston Public Library is giving children (and adults) the gift of literacy this summer. Branches all over the city will offer free summer reading programs as well as weekly story times and activities. HPL has also partnered with Levy Park for family storytime that happens every Thursday at 10 am.

Rienzi at the MFAH has summer storytime tours, where children will learn about art and literature in an intimate house museum setting. Families can also have a picnic in the Rienzi Gardens following the tours. It's at 10 am on Wednesdays.

event-planner funny-stuff

Movie Review

New horror movie Faces of Death puts a modern twist on cult classic

Photo courtesy of of IFC Films

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death.

True horror fans will likely be familiar with the 1978 cult film Faces of Death, which purported to be a documentary showing real-life killings in gory detail. It didn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop rumors from continuing to spread for decades. Now, almost 50 years and multiple sequels later, comes a new version of Faces of Death, an actual movie that pays homage to the original in interesting ways.

Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works at a YouTube-like company called Kino as a content moderator, flagging videos that violate the company’s policies. This means her job often involves seeing some truly despicable things from all manner of depraved people. One day, though, she comes across a video that seems a little too real, and after seeing more similar videos, she starts to believe they’re genuine murders.

Going against her company NDA, she starts to investigate the videos on her own, which puts her on the radar of Arthur (Dacre Montgomery), who is actually kidnapping people and killing them on camera through methods seen in the original Faces of Death film. It’s not long before Arthur tracks her down, with a plan to make her one of his next victims.

Written and directed by Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) and co-written by Isa Mazzei, the film is not so much scary as it is creepy, with the occasional gross-out sequence. The idea of having someone emulate the killings in the cult film is a good idea, and pairing it with the modern-day attention economy — in which content creators go to increasing lengths for clicks — is a clever twist on a concept that other films have done.

The film as a whole is a commentary on how social media and video sharing sites have often decided to prioritize profits over the well-being of their users. Margot is shown allowing videos involving violence and sexual assault to stay on the site while nixing ones depicting how to use Narcan or demonstrating putting on a condom on a banana. Josh (Jermaine Fowler), Margot’s boss, is even explicit in the company mandate that outrageous videos drive views.

While Arthur has the makings of a good villain, there are few attempts to make him seem truly diabolical. His kidnappings often seem more spur-of-the-moment than calculated, and even though he has a well thought-out dungeon at home, the house’s location in the suburbs seems to make him vulnerable to easy discovery. Goldhaber and Mazzei leave more than a few unanswered questions along the way that take away from the intensity of the story.

Ferreira is yet another actor from Euphoria who’s capitalizing on her exposure from that show. She plays Margot’s increasing anxiety well, and when the action ratchets up in the final act, she meets the moment in a satisfying way. Montgomery returns to the vibe he had while playing the evil Billy on Stranger Things, and even though his character doesn’t fully live up to his potential, Montgomery sells his evil for all it’s worth.

The new Faces of Death may not be what some are expecting given the reputation of the previous films, but it’s a solid horror/thriller that uses the brand as a launching pad into something different. It doesn’t make much of a dent in the scare department, but it does give its violence and gore a degree of relevance in today’s often desensitized world.

---

Faces of Death is now playing in theaters.

movies film