Flat-Track Snack Attack: Frito-Lay vs. Crackerjack

A Texas Rollergirl defends her name

"...What's in a name? Take "crackerjack." The word has been a compliment, the nickname for..."

April 24, 2009 News Feature by Richard Whittaker

Tomb Raider

Lara Croft is back again!

"...character Lara Croft gets a much-needed reboot in this crackerjack, Saturday afternoon matinee adventure. It’s not a terribly witty..."

March 23, 2018 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House

Account of the informant who brought down Nixon's administration

"...Despite some seriously crackerjack casting – Sizemore, Lucas, Hall – and a terrific..."

Oct. 20, 2017 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Finest Hours

Perfect effects and performances made this sea-rescue movie a dandy

"...– working in pitch-and-yaw-perfect 3-D – have made a crackerjack actioner. Dramamine is recommended prior to viewing. Based on..."

Jan. 29, 2016 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Open Windows

Elijah Wood is the star of Nacho Vigalondo's nervy thriller about digital voyeurism.

"...cultural buttons, and Open Windows works as both a crackerjack suspenser and an intellectually chewy meta-commentary on our current..."

Nov. 7, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Looper

Crackerjack thrills, time travel, violence, humor, and action: Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis are characters who share the same morally conflicted core.

"...time-travel terrain, the relentless rapid heart rate of a crackerjack thriller, and the bursts of extreme violence, buttressed with..."

Sept. 28, 2012 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Sleepless Night

Purloined cocaine, his kidnapped son, and a den of thieves who wish him ill cause one man to have a very desperate night in this taut French thriller.

"...on, but Jardin's control of tempo and tone is crackerjack. And in an era of supermuscled leads and gravity-defying..."

May 11, 2012 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Win Win

Paul Giamatti stars in this dark comedy from the director of The Station Agent and The Visitor.

"...a taciturn runaway and, as it turns out, a crackerjack wrestler, too. Shaffer, a first-time actor, is an unnerving..."

April 8, 2011 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Dungeon Masters

From the filmmaker who make the Roky Erickson doc, You’re Gonna Miss Me, comes this astute and empathetic survey of Dungeons & Dragons gamers.

"...tabletop fantasy fits into their lives. Reunited with frequent crackerjack Austin cinematographer Lee Daniel (with whom McAlester made 2005’s..."

Oct. 23, 2009 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Beowulf

The irony inherent in using 21st century motion-control technology to tell a tale approximately 1,400 years old is just one of many bizarrely entertaining aspects of Beowulf.

"...things get really freaky. There's no doubt Beowulf is crackerjack popcorn entertainment. The 3-D effects, developed by James Cameron's..."

Nov. 16, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

American Gangster

A sizzling cast and their director do a crackerjack job of nailing the look and feel of New York City's bad old days of internal corruption and outer rot.

"...Jacobson's New York magazine article, American Gangster does a crackerjack job at nailing the look and feel of New..."

Nov. 2, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Sum of All Fears

Tom Clancy's CIA agent Jack Ryan makes his fourth film appearance in this thriller.

"...Hinds and Bridget Moynahan. If you've ever wondered what crackerjack CIA Agent Jack Ryan was like back when he..."

May 31, 2002 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Whammy Round-Up

Texas Rollergirls gather for annual awards

"...Cration MVP: Lucille Brawl Team Spirit: Bullet Tooth Tracy, Crackerjack, Dilla, Vicious van GoGo Captain's Choice: Kat A Killzem..."

Jan. 18, 2010 Sports Post by Richard Whittaker

Electric Skaterland

Austin births a Roller Derby renaissance

"...Transfercutioners, move to Austin just to roll with them. Crackerjack, formerly of the Mad Rollin' Dolls from Madison, Wis.,..."

Nov. 27, 2009 Sports Feature by Richard Whittaker

She Is Love

Dry love-triangle comedy sacrifices honesty for hollow style

"...That is a crackerjack setup, but crackerjacks do not a meal make. She..."

Feb. 3, 2023 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Werewolves Within

Howlingly hilarious lycanthrope comedy is a shaggy whodunnit

"...his feature debut, meta-horror Scare Me, nails the required crackerjack comedy pacing, and balances that with some genuine big..."

June 25, 2021 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Molly's Game

Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut plays a high stakes game with Jessica Chastain

"...the director’s chair. But overall, Molly’s Game is a crackerjack, quintessential holiday movie. Smart, engaging, and full of great..."

Dec. 22, 2017 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

Krisha

This exceptionally well-done drama ushers in a striking new talent

"...approach that pays off wonderfully. The one deviation, a crackerjack montage involving a Nina Simone song and a dropped..."

March 25, 2016 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

Taken 3

Liam Neeson's back in action.

"...but this substituted plot invites easy comparison to the still-crackerjack thrills of 1993’s The Fugitive, with Forest Whitaker’s dogged..."

Jan. 16, 2015 Movie Review by William Goss

The Adventures of Tintin

Steven Spielberg brings Hergé's comic books to animated life.

"...matter a jot, though, as Spielberg, working from a crackerjack script courtesy of Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead),..."

Dec. 23, 2011 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Mother and Child

Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, and Kerry Washington lead a wonderful ensemble cast in this muzzy look into the rigors of adoption.

"...and dislikable, as is Elizabeth (Watts). Elizabeth is a crackerjack attorney who jumps from firm to firm and uses..."

June 18, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Lose the Battle, Win the War?

Hustlers experiment en route to the Texas Rollergirls championship

"...they both wiped out from some serious blocking. Then Crackerjack and Curvette both got ejected (Crackerjack laughed off her..."

July 8, 2009 Sports Post by Richard Whittaker

The Brothers Bloom

Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo are cast as the best con men in the world whose current swindle involves an eccentric heiress (Rachel Weisz) in this sophomore effort by the writer/director of Brick.

"...Brothers Bloom never achieves the satisfaction of a real crackerjack con movie, that visceral thrill that comes when all..."

May 29, 2009 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Next Day Air

A misdelivered package of concealed cocaine kicks off events in this comic film starring Donald Faison, Mike Epps, and Mos Def.

"...onscreen operators even when he's not trying, has been crackerjack in everything from Monster's Ball to The Hitchhiker's Guide..."

May 15, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Leatherheads

George Clooney's latest (behind and in front of the camera) is awfully agreeable, but it lurches forward in fits and starts.

"...record. And there you have the makings of a crackerjack love triangle, with each leg entirely game – and..."

April 4, 2008 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Black Book

Although in many ways a characteristically perverse Paul Verhoeven spectacle, this Dutch World War II resistance story is more morally shaded as well as handsomely mounted and suspenseful.

"...influence, and the film has Lean’s epic scope and crackerjack timing, if not his mannerly refinement. (The 145-minute running..."

April 27, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Pushing the Envelope

For years, mail art has been enlivening the world's postal systems and creating a "meeting of minds" among creative types across the world. Three Austin artists are profiled in a look at the history and continuing appeal of mail art.

"...Japan, Nicole Peyrafite of France, Chuck Welch (aka the CrackerJack Kid) of the U.S. -- artistic do-it-yourselfers known to..."

March 23, 2001 Arts Feature by Wayne Alan Brenner

Raul's in Overdrive: "AUSTIN IS UN-MELLOWING OUT!"

In 1978, visits from Patti Smith and Elvis Costello plus the Austin Punk Scene’s first record could mean “AUSTIN IS UN-MELLOWING OUT!”

"...The headliners' producer Nick Lowe opened fronting Rockpile, a crackerjack team of pub rock veterans he co-led with guitarist..."

Dec. 30, 2022 Music Feature by Tim Stegall

We Have an Issue: Toasts All Around

Celebrating the Best of Austin: Restaurants awards, and sending off Music Editor Kevin Curtin

"...her from her music column, "Faster Than Sound"; her crackerjack reporting; her insightful features. She's got terrific instincts, style..."

Sept. 23, 2022 Column by Kimberley Jones

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

"...Two red Persian cats named Crackerjack and Pumpkin played the role of Crookshanks in the..."

Aug. 21, 2020 Column by Mr. Smarty Pants

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