Credit: Photo by Ali Gokay Sarioz / GrandSon Creative, courtesy of IFC Films

It’s been ages since Owen Wilson called Austin home – famously, he met his Bottle Rocket collaborator Wes Anderson in a playwriting class at the University of Texas – but, if I may speak for the city at large, we still sentimentally claim him as one of our own. Shockingly, the Chronicle has never put him on the cover before. We’ve corrected that oversight in this issue, on the occasion of Wilson’s star turn as a Bob Ross-like public television personality in Paint, which opens in theatres on Friday. Check out Culture Editor Richard Whittaker’s interview with Wilson here.

You’ve only a few days left to vote in the write-in round of the Chronicle‘s Best of Austin Readers Poll. Got strong opinions about the best dive bar, drag performer, podcast, playground, tattoo artist, smoke shop, and swimming hole? Don’t keep them to yourself! Head over to vote.austinchronicle.com to cast a ballot now in 175 categories celebrating local people and places; voting in this first round ends Monday (April 10) at midnight.


ONLINE THIS WEEK

Taylor Swift performs March 31 at the AT&T Center in Arlington Credit: Photo by David Brendan Hall

Taylor Swift Takes Arlington: Music Editor Rachel Rascoe reviews the Eras tour – Swift’s first touring show in five years – touchdown in the Dallas metroplex.

CMT Music Awards at Home in Austin: Broadcasting live from Moody Center, Sunday’s show was an impressively run machine of superstar performances and seamlessly orchestrated prime-time television, writes critic Doug Freeman.

Timothy Olyphant returns as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens in Justified: City Primeval Credit: Courtesy of FX

Justified: City Primeval to Premiere at ATX Television Festival: The June fest dedicated to all things small-screen will also play host to Dawson’s Creek and Outlander panel events.

“Video Games Are an Incredibly Young Art”: Gabrielle Zevin stopped at BookPeople on Monday to discuss Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, her novel about game developers – and the gaming industry – coming of age.

Day Trips & Beyond: Travel columnist Gerald E. McLeod on what to look forward to this spring festival season celebrating music, food, history, sandcastles, and bluebonnets.

Eat Your Stems! Texas Farmers’ Market offers zero-waste solutions.

R.I.P. Mandy Mercier: A fiddler and guitarist who played with Lucinda Williams and Blaze Foley, Mercier died Monday, March 27, on her 74th birthday, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

A Very Jewish Horror: Filmmaker Gabriel Bier Gislason discusses cultural authenticity in his new film Attachment.

Something to Chew On: Dish Society, Houston’s fast-casual farm-to-table restaurant, is coming to Mueller this fall.

This article appears in April 7 • 2023.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...