Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii 1972, G, 60 min. Directed by Adrian Maben, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Pink Floyd performs in concert in a Pompeii amphitheatre and are also shown rehearsing in the Abbey Road studios.
“De Colores” and “Out in the Cold”
“De Colores” and “Out in the Cold” NR, 52 min. Directed by Martin Bedogne, Eric Criswell, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Featuring activist Judy Shepard (mother of Matthew Shepard), “Out in the Cold” looks at the plight of runaway gay and lesbian youth. The filmmakers examine the experiences of several young people,…
Imagine
Imagine 1988, R, 103 min. Directed by Andrew Solt, Narrated by John Lennon, Voices by , Starring . Culled from more than 200 hours of footage, this documentary primarily focuses on the post-Beatles/John & Yoko years.
The Glove
The Glove 1978, R, 90 min. Directed by Ross Hagen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring John Saxon, Roosevelt Grier, Joanna Cassidy, Joan Blondell, Jack Carter, Aldo Ray, Keenan Wynn. A world-weary bounty hunter faces the task of bringing down a very large man in body armor and steel-plated gloves that give him a…
Jabberwocky
Jabberwocky 1977, R, 100 min. Directed by Terry Gilliam, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Michael Palin, Max Wall, Deborah Fallender. Gilliam goes medieval again in this follow-up to Holy Grail that’s strong on atmosphere and bodily-function humor yet short on plot. The print, however, is newly restored.
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life 1983, R, 103 min. Directed by Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Carol Cleveland. One of the Python’s very best films returns the group to a sketch comedy format with hilarious results.
The Thin Man
The characters are the invention of Dashiell Hammett, although the urbane chemistry between Loy and Powell as Nick and Nora Charles is the ultimate in dipsomaniacal detective mystery and screwball comedy.
Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot Suit Riots 2002, NR, 60 min. Directed by Joseph Tovares, Narrated by Hector Elizondo, Voices by , Starring . Director and producer (and UT alum) Tovares sheds light on Los Angeles’ infamous Zoot Suit Riots of 1942, in which the racial and social tensions among Anglos and Mexican-Americans ignited and built to widescale riots…
To Infinity and Beyond!
The year 2001 saw a host of local cultural types taking journeys beyond their homes, traveling to other communities to share their art and finding new venues locally in which to produce their work and expand their creative sensibilities.
Things Have Changed
A brief, very general overview of the year in albums 2001
The Hightower Lowdown
A business magazine gushes over the accounting practices of … Enron?; Bush gambles with your retirement money; and CEOs create “opportunity” by firing employees.
Books Top 10s
3. Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris (Random House): The second volume of Morris’ planned three-volume study of Roosevelt covers Roosevelt’s presidency. It’s one of 2001’s most exciting reads; TR was a vibrant leader, of course, and a fascinating subject, but Morris’ bracing ability to place readers at the scene and his nimble, intimate authority are…
Critics Poll
Critics’ favorites from 2001
Short Cuts
The Good, the Bad, and the “Yo Mama’s So Ugly, She Makes Blind Kids Cry– Dept.: Sheesh! I’ve been trying to come up with a list of Austin-film specific events that fit the parameters above, but even in a year like 2001 there was a heckuva lot more good than bad, and precious little that…
National Top 10s
Raoul Hernandez 1. Bob Dylan, Love and Theft (Columbia) 2. Radiohead, Amnesiac (Capitol) 3. Manu Chao, …Proxima Estacion… Esperanza (Virgin) 4. Aterciopelados, Gozo Poderoso (BMG) 5. Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor (J) 6. Blind Boys of Alabama, Spirit of the Century (Real World) 7. Orlando Cachaito Lopez (Nonesuch) 8. Buddy Guy, Sweet Tea (Silvertone)…
2001 Revisited
The Paramount Theatre will screen a newly restored print of 2001: A Space Odyssey as part of their Winter Movie Classics series.
Texas Top 10s
Jay Trachtenberg 1. R.C. Banks, Conway’s Corner (Loudhouse) 2. Blaze, Say What Now (Blaze) 3. Blue Noise Band, Brad Green From Queens (Chocolate/Southern Love) 4. Alex Coke & the Worthy Constituents, Through the Years (CreOp) 5. Alejandro Escovedo, A Man Under the Influence (Bloodshot) 6. Gnappy (Harlequin) 7. Wayne Hancock, A-Town Blues (Bloodshot) 8. Delbert…
News Top 10s
The Top Story Terrorism and the War: The country and the world were stunned by coordinated terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., and the subsequent “war against terrorism” in Afghanistan. The death tolls mount: approximately 3,000 people in New York, several hundred more in D.C. and on the planes, an estimated 3,700…
Video Reviews
A Salute to America’s Anti-Hero, Gene Hackman
The Year in Film
It was a very good year … just not a great one.
News Top 10s
Top 10 News Stories, Local 1. The Economy Lurches, the City’s Belt Tightens: Even before Sept. 11, Austin’s dot-com-heavy economy was (to quote Merle Haggard) rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell. City services, already cut to the bone, now face ugly budget predicaments. 2. Mayoral Race: The Kirk Watson Era came to a…
TV Top 10s
TV Eye’s Top 10 on the Telly
Impostor
Impostor 2002, PG-13, 97 min. Directed by Gary Fleder, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, Vincent D’Onofrio, Tim Guinnee, Mekhi Phifer, Tony Shalhoub, Shane Brolly, Jack Truman, Rachel Luttrell. The nations of the world are at war with a faceless, merciless enemy intent on their complete obliteration. Paranoia and fear…
Critics Poll 2001
Russell Smith Near Misses: Moulin Rouge, Pitch People, The Others, The Shipping News, Shrek Most Overrated Films: Blow, Mulholland Drive Most Underrated Films: Pitch People, Vertical Ray of the Sun, With a Friend Like Harry… Acting Kudos — Male: Denzel Washington (Training Day), Robert De Niro (The Score), Ethan Hawke (Tape, Training Day) Acting Kudos…
News Top 10s
Top 10 News Stories, State 1. Bush Becomes President, Sort of: Despite that unfortunate unpleasantness in Florida (shhh — we’re not supposed to mention that) and a rather dramatic loss of the popular vote (don’t tell anybody), the ex-Governor from New Haven, Midland, Houston, and Kennebunkport took up residence in D.C. Soon he was selling…
La Ciénaga
Martel’s debut film is a family portrait of people falling down the class ladder.
Best Bites
MM Pack’s Top 10 Places to Buy Kitchenware 1. Chef’s Toolbox: This tiny spot across from Central Market is the place to find those specialty tools and gadgets that separate the serious cooks from the sissies. We’re talking space-age Japanese knives, garnishing tools, and pastry tips. Just viewing the offerings here will make you want…
News Top 10s
Top 10 Things the City of Austin Didn’t Accomplish in 2001 Face it, last year was pretty horrible all the way around, even before and aside from Sept. 11. In local politics, we’re struck as much by what wasn’t done — couldn’t be done, didn’t get done, what have you — as by the city’s…
Articulations
The first weeks of 2002 show that Austin artists are still busy taking their art to other parts of the country, and Physical Plant Theater needs your leaves.
News Top 10s
Top 10 Media Stories 1. Austin American-Statesman Rises to Sept. 11: The reporters at the local daily did a commendable job of meeting the challenge of our new day of infamy. They explored seemingly every aspect of the tragedy, international, national, and local, and did it with solid reporting and professionalism. 2. Rich Oppel Doesn’t:…
Local Bestsellers, 2001
Dragon’s Lair Comics and Fantasy 1. Heroes (Sept. 11 benefit book) 2. Dark Knight Strikes Again 3. Green Arrow No. 1 4. Amazing Spider-Man No. 36 5. Green Arrow No. 2 6. Green Arrow No. 3 7. Green Arrow No. 4 8. Origin No. 2 9. Origin No. 3 10. Authority No. 22Book Woman1. The…
News Top 10s
Top 10 Austin Layoffs 2001 was one of those years we’ll be telling our grandkids about. Pink-slipped employees carrying cardboard boxes to their cars became an all-too-familiar theme last year, as about 21,000 workers were sent home from Austin-area jobs. More than 200 local companies, most of them in the technology industry, were forced to…
Page Two
It’s been a year of great, inspiring films from American filmmakers — and from Austin filmmakers in particular.
News Top 10s
Top 10 Reasons Why the Bust Sucks 1. Can’t afford to renew magazine subscriptions. 2. And who’s going to pay off those credit card bills piling up on the kitchen counter? 3. Alas! The student loans, the car payment, the mortgage … 4. I grew so accustomed to my lower middle-class lifestyle. 5. Meanwhile, millions…
Mr. Smarty Pants
Joseph Black (1728-1799) discovered carbon dioxide.During summer, a cubic mile of air over the Earth’s temperate regions contains up to 25 million assorted insects, spiders, and other animals suspended or drifting in the winds.The fortune cookie, an American invention, didn’t make it to Asia until 1989.A rancher’s rule of thumb: It takes about three gallons…
News Top 10s
Top 10 Reasons Why the Bust Isn’t So Bad In every cloud there is a silver lining, and that’s true for our current cloudy economy, despite all the doom-and-gloom in the news. Consider the following benefits: 1. Artists and musicians can afford to live here again. 2. The rest of us can afford to live…
Day Trips
Captain Day Trips lists his Top 10 traveling tales of the year.
Naked City
President George W. Bush will take time out from his Crawford “ranch” vacation to make the trip to Austin for a Capitol portrait-hanging ceremony on Friday afternoon. The former guv’s likeness will take its place on the south side of the rotunda next to that of Ann Richards, who lost to Bush in 1994. To…
After a Fashion
Were you guilty of indulging in any of these particular fashion no-nos this year? Check out these horrid style Top Tens.
Naked City
Last week defense attorney Tony Diaz resigned his new position with the city’s police civilian review panel over concerns that his role as lawyer for yogurt shop murder defendant Michael Scott would be construed as a conflict of interest. The seven members of the panel, which will review citizen complaints against the Austin Police Department…
To Your Health
I am due to have angioplasty in two weeks. I know this procedure is necessary now, but I want to prevent further deterioration of my heart condition. What is helpful?
Naked City
The city of Austin drew another line in the sand Monday in its attempt to halt, or at least slow, the work of Longhorn Pipeline, which is replacing four miles of pipe in Southwest Austin. In a nutshell, the city says Longhorn must have a permit and an approved site plan to continue the replacement…
About AIDS
“If someone gets HIV, and then I have sex with them, how soon could they infect me?” This is a question we’ve heard thousands of times over the 15 years that we’ve been running an AIDS hotline. The answer has always been the same: People become infectious very quickly after their own infection. The only…
Naked City
Newly appointed Travis County Commissioner Margaret Moore has announced her intention to run for the Pct. 3 seat, although she may have an uphill battle on two fronts: She is a Democrat running in Republican-leaning western Travis County, and she served as a paid consultant for Longhorn Pipeline Partners LP — the controversial company that…
In the Bedroom
In the Bedroom 2001, R, 131 min. Directed by Todd Field, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl, William Mapother, Marisa Tomei, William Wise, Celia Weston, Karen Allen. In the Bedroom takes its name from a “bedroom trap,” in which two lobsters are trapped in a single fishing cage…
Coach’s Corner
Year-end columns stink. Coach tells you why in 2002 sports will stink, too.
Naked City
Holding candles or roses, about 100 Austinites participated in a one-hour vigil in front of the Capitol building last week to advocate peace in the Middle East. Organized by the Austin chapter of Women in Black — an international peace network that holds silent vigils to protest war, rape as a tool of war, ethnic…
