Become the Sky
Become the Sky 2002, NR, 57 min. Directed by Laura Dunn, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This documentary film by the local student Academy Award-winner Laura Dunn (Green) examines the politics of energy in Texas. A discussion of energy, pollution, and politics will follow.
She-Devils on Wheels
She-Devils on Wheels 1968, NR, 83 min. Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Betty Connell, Nancy Lee Noble, Christie Wagner. Whereas in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, the chesty Amazons race around in cars beating up on men, in Herschell Gordon Lewis’ She-Devils on Wheels, the buxom babes do much…
“Bike Like U Mean it”
“Bike Like U Mean it” 2002, NR, 46 min. Directed by Rusty Martin, Susan Kirr, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Local filmmakers Rusty Martin and Susan Kirr’s documentary is a thorough, even touching, study of Austin’s vibrant bicycle community. The film covers the entire cycling scene, including the successful Yellow Bike Project,…
Imagine the Sound
Imagine the Sound 1981, NR, 90 min. Directed by Ron Mann, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Canadian documentarian and SXSW Film regular Ron Mann (Grass, Comic Book Confidential) filmed this profile of four jazz avant-gardists in the early Eighties. Included are performances by Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon, and Paul Bley.…
Homegrown Gems: Film Shorts
Homegrown Gems: Film Shorts NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Film shorts by Austin filmmakers will be shown.
Chained Heat
Chained Heat 1983, R, 95 min. Directed by Paul Nicolas, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Linda Blair, John Vernon, Sybil Danning, Tamara Dobson, Stella Stevens, Henry Silva, Edy Williams. Linda Blair finds herself locked-up in this women-in-prison cheez fest. The warden has a hot tub in his office and Stella Stevens cracks the…
Diary of a Lost Girl
Diary of a Lost Girl 1929, NR, 100 min. Directed by G.W. Pabst, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Louise Brooks. G.W. Pabst and Louise Brooks’ startlingly frank follow-up to Pandora’s Box features Brooks as a woman freed and empowered by her sexuality. As a beautiful naïf who, after a series of horrendous misadventures…
Mr. Smarty Pants
Some modern cockroaches in the tropics are known to grow to four inches or bigger.Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix were both from Seattle, both dropped out of high school to play guitar, both became successful with three-person bands, and both had careers that lasted four years before their deaths.People who have extreme unhappiness with their…
Phases and Stages
Steve Earle Sidetracks (E-Squared/Artemis) A self-described collection of “unreleased or underexposed” songs, Sidetracks illustrates the many sides of Steve Earle. The album’s 13 stray tracks are either taken from a movie soundtrack, previously available only in Japan, a remix or a rarity, and not for the most part, outtakes from his most recent albums. As…
Stop! Hey! What’s That Sound?
Proposed noise ordinance threatens downtown clubs.
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Right stuff, ‘Wrong Numbers’: 26-year-old Alex Holdridge’s feature debut is not only the little movie that could, but did, and in the process could become very big, indeed.
To Your Health
I was born six weeks premature, and as a result I have some visual problems. I’m now 28 years old and I need to make a decision soon about starting a family. I’ve been concerned that there might be problems if I had a premature baby. Can these problems be avoided now?
Phases and Stages
Stanley Smith In the Land of Dreams (Spanks A Lot) Locals may know Stanley Smith from his work as a clarinet player for the Asylum Street Spankers and the Jazz Pharaohs. He’s also served as a sideman with Terry Allen, Terri Hendrix, Santiago Jimenez Jr., and worked on the soundtrack to Richard Linklater’s The Newton…
Knee-Jerk Reporting
On April 18, the Austin American-Statesman reported on various disciplinary actions taken by the Austin Police Dept. against five officers for a variety of infractions, from “skipping work, to improperly storing seized drugs.” Titling its article “5 Police Officers Back on the Job After Suspensions,” the paper referred to disciplinary memos regarding the officers’ suspension,…
Reel Women Host Movie Hoot
Local femme-centric film collective Reel Women presents Movie Hoot: local bands covering film’s classic sounds
About AIDS
Lawsuit, Anyone? Prison Health Care Lacking for HIV-Positive Inmates The state of California has agreed to settle a huge class-action lawsuit that alleged the state’s prison system engages in “cruel and unusual punishment” by denying adequate medical care to its 160,000 inmates. The settlement commits the California Department of Corrections to implement various health care…
Phases and Stages
Knife in the WaterCrosspross Bells EP (Peek-a-Boo) In a town brimming with a dizzying number of alt.country/Western/folk permutations, Austin’s Knife in the Water have managed to mark their own dusty territory. They’re spiritual cousins of Tucson’s Calexico, crossing that band’s 3am desert hallucinations with the Lone Star yearning for a good twangy tune. Nowhere have…
McCracken’s Mud
In a race as close as the contest for City Council Place 4 appears to be, the mud was bound to start flying. Attorney/novelist/ deacon/candidate Brewster McCracken has slung a fistful at incumbent Beverly Griffith, first at an April 16 candidates forum and then in an April 17 press release in which he tried to…
Hold the Mayo
The Lucky Bum Film Tour rolls into town with tasty treats for local cineastes with the munchies for movies that bypass the run-of-the-mill.
What Time Is It There?
What Time Is It There? 2001, R, 116 min. Directed by Ming-liang Tsai, Starring Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Yi-Ching Lu, Tien Miao, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Cecilia Yip. Like a peevish schoolgirl, harrumphing for recess, wondering when it’s gonna get good, my initial assessment of What Time Is It There? was to brand it cinematic broccoli –…
After a Fashion
Is hair there and everywhere? Do the Eighties give you the Shiverz? And who’s got Anthony’s Nak? Read inside to see!
Phases and Stages
Hidden SpeakerThe May Collection EP (Seventy-Seven/Robitussin) The latest release from this Texas/California pop collective serves as an appetite-whetter for their upcoming sophomore effort, tentatively titled Careening on Pins. Bandleader Evan Dickson delivers a mélange of guitars and keyboards on “Beyond Me” that brings to mind an updated spin on gothic stalwarts like the Sisters of…
Warring Over Wimberley’s Future
Developers, editors, and environmentalists battle over the future of Wimberley.
Short Cuts
Support local film and bunk out at Club DeVille for their two benefits this week. Plus, Austin film den mother Anne del Castillo heads for greener pastures.
Crush
Crush 2001, R, 115 min. Directed by John McKay, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Andie MacDowell, Imelda Staunton, Anna Chancellor, Kenny Doughty, Bill Paterson. Crush, by first-time writer-director John McKay, is the kind of movie that gives “chick flicks” a bad reputation. This gal-pal British import lacks the courage to follow through on…
Coach’s Corner
Kings?Blazers?Mavericks? Forget it — the only team with a chance to unthrone the Lakers is the San Antonio Spurs. And that second-round series will likely be decided by a couple of injuries.
Phases and Stages
Ben KwellerSha Sha (ATO) Critics are raving about Ben Kweller’s pop-happy true solo debut Sha Sha, but frankly, it’s a problematic outing. The Texas-grown, Brooklyn-based wunderkind, who formed punk band Radish at 12 and had toured the world by age 17, has struck out on his own and offered up a project that’s best described…
May 4 Election
It’s time to pick ACC Board members again.
Video 101
Back in 1984, when it was neither profitable, nor especially safe, to be a Mohawk-wearing punk rocker, the tour doc Another State of Mind showed a softer side of hardcore — the positive, politically conscious one.
Second Helpings
Food Editor Virginia B. Wood reveals Austin’s catfish hot spots in the first of a two-week series.
Home Grown
An early morning finds Lou Lambert heading to the airport, although travel isn’t in his plans today. He has a box that has to get to its destination tout de suite, on account of the contents therein. While this scenario may seem vaguely sinister, his box contains no mischief-making elements but maybe a beef tenderloin.…
Phases and Stages
Meat PuppetsLive (DCN) It’s fitting this new tour souvenir ends with the same song that begins the Meat Puppets’ previous live document, because Live is the antithesis of 1999’s happily warped Live in Montana. Course Montana, recorded in ’88, captures the former Arizona trio at their peak, while the new (just plain) Live preserves the…
Election at a Glance
Elections will be held May 4, to determine three City Council seats, eight proposed changes to the city charter, six Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees seats, two Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Board of Directors seats, and three Austin Community College Board of Trustees seats. Early voting runs April 17-19 and April 22-30.(i = Incumbent)…
TV Eye
Technology is making great strides in the development of interactive TV. Now when are TV execs going to start paying attention?
Moving Backward to Go Forward
The opening of its fourth season finds the Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company moving backward in order to go forward.
Food-o-File
Great food and creative fundraising go hand in hand here in Austin for the next few weeks.
Phases and Stages
The Sons of HerculesRight Now (Suprema) For their fourth full-length, this veteran Austin-by-way-of-San Antonio quintet continues to mine the rich legacy of garage punk from the Stooges to the Saints despite label and personnel changes. As usual, the Sons of Hercules deliver painfully solid, hook-laden songs that capture the sloppy euphoria of their less experienced…
Chronicle Endorsements
Chronicle Endorsements, May 4 election
Articulations
The renovation of Laguna Gloria is a go, Charo is not, and Flaming Idiot Rob Williams whips up one of his bologna specials for Katie Couric.
Pop Beloved
Nineteen eighty-five. What was on the radio in 1985? Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” a-ha’s “Take On Me,” and who could forget Billy Ocean’s “Loverboy”? (Please God, help us forget.) Of course, “We Are the World” was all the rage that year, and Madonna, well,…
Phases and Stages
The Hard FeelingsYou Won’t Like It (‘Cuz It’s Rock & Roll!) (Beerland) The Hard Feelings’ sophomore effort plays like a cross between the MC5 and Jimmy Reed. The local trio’s first release on Sympathy for the Record Industry was a bit ragged at times, but it’s obvious the band’s rhythm section has sucked it up…
Naked City
Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, and other dignitaries will discuss the Bush budget and its impacts at the next general membership meeting of the Gray Panthers of Austin — Sunday, April 28, at 1:30pm at the AFL-CIO Hall at 11th and Lavaca. For more info, call 477-6000.…
Exhibitionism
Portraying the kids from the Peanuts comic strips is trickier than you might think, but two of the performers in the Silver Star Theater Group production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown radiate the bold outline and broad humor — the cartoon essence — of the source material.
The Reivers Reviewed
The ReiversSaturday (Dualtone)The ReiversEnd of the Day (Dualtone) The long-awaited CD release of these two albums, which the Reivers originally released on Capitol Records to little fanfare, once again brings up the question: What went wrong? Where most Austin acts lucky enough to snag major-label deals crippled themselves with albums that were either short of…
Phases and Stages
Reverend Horton HeatLucky 7 (Artemis) Reverend Horton Heat nearly got himself excommunicated with 1998’s abominable Space Heater, and although 2000’s Spend a Night in the Box didn’t quite merit a life sentence in the old gray-bar hotel, neither did it approach the hair-raising heights of the days when the Rev was young, dumb, and full…
Blueprint and Blues for AISD
The other shoe has dropped on AISD’s Austin Blueprint Monday, as Supt. Pat Forgione announced the six schools to be included in his new program to improve school performance and student achievement. Three — Dobie Middle School, and Blackshear and Oak Springs Elementaries — had already been designated for the program as a consequence of…
Pauline & Paulette
This Belgian drama tells a deceptively simple story about the complex relationships of four elderly sisters, one of whom is mentally handicapped.
Exhibitionism
The seven short plays that make up iron belly muses’ production Seven Deadly Sins aren’t always pleasurable to watch, but several capture that desperation behind sins’ commission and ask interesting questions about transgression itself.
Phases and Stages
W.C. ClarkFrom Austin With Soul (Alligator) W.C. Clark spends most of his time on the road these days, and for this reason locals sometimes take him for granted. After all, the guitarist has been a stalwart of the local blues scene for as long as any of us can remember, over 30 years now. Well,…
Dancing About Architecture
The city’s noise ordinance proposes to drown out live music in Austin.
Signs of Tension
Hanging in the vast front window of Sound Exchange on the lower Drag, between fliers advertising upcoming performances by the Riddlin’ Kids and Mala Sangre, is a handwritten sign directed at the commercial strip’s new Diesel clothing store. “Diesel sucks because of the homogenizing of the Drag, making it one big strip mall,” the sign…
Exhibitionism
Doghouse Theatre’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire creates an interesting environment in the back yard of a University neighborhood, but the story gets lost in the show’s directorial freedoms and delivery.
Phases and Stages
Soul Survivors: The Official Autobiography of Destiny’s ChildBy Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams, with James Patrick Herman ReganBooks/HarperCollins, 280pp. $24.95 Now, a few “Life Lessons From Destiny’s Child,” courtesy of the Houston R&B trio’s new autobiography Soul Survivors: “Never give up — that’s the key to being a survivor.” “Don’t dis anybody –…
Desert Island Disc-Man
This missive comes from local country singer-songwriter Clay Blaker, who’s had songs cut by George Strait and other Nashville stars. Below, you’ll learn just how he and his wife Allene will be spending the resultant royalties: “About four years ago, Allene and I purchased four acres of beachfront property on an island in the Caribbean…
God’s Own Reps
Texas Congressional Republicans were big in the news last week, in D.C. and back home. Houston Congressman Tom DeLay got caught on tape at a church meeting telling parishioners not to send their kids to Baylor (where he attended before graduating in 1970 from the University of Houston) or A&M. DeLay said his daughter was…
Those Were the Days
Earlier this spring, University of Texas Press began publishing a series of books about politics in Texas. Because the editors of the series, which is spearheaded by Don Carleton, the director of UT’s Center for American History, understand that it’s more interesting to read about underdogs than the ruling class, all three books in the…
Phases and Stages
Here’s a story of irony and persistence: Shelley King toiled locally for the past few years and won a bittersweet victory last month by taking Song of the Year at the Austin Music Awards while simultaneously being rejected for a SXSW showcase. Her prestigious songwriter award benefited in no small part from Toni Price recording…
Stinkin’ Up the Great Outdoors
We’ll see how loud they can get by the time they start, but this year’s Free Summer Concert Series begins Wednesday, May 1 at Waterloo Park, with three acts per night, 7-10pm, every Wednesday during May and June. Clip ‘n’ save the entire lineup as follows. No glass containers are allowed at these concerts, and…
New Blood and Elbow Grease
Arizona state legislator Christine Weason barnstormed through Austin last weekend promoting the Austin Fair Elections Act. Known as Prop. 1, the Act would provide public matching funds to City Council candidates, who would qualify by getting 500 people to give them a signature and $5 each. The three-term Democrat from central Phoenix decided in 2000…
Book Review
Jonathan Safran Foer’s ‘Everything Is Illuminated’ has appeared under an unusually beneficent conjunction of stars for a debut novelist. The first chapter was excerpted in ‘The New Yorker’. The book was featured on the very cover of ‘The New York Times Sunday Book Review’. Reviewer Roger Gathman explains why all the fuss is being made.
Phases and Stages
Tee DoubleDub-Plates (Kinetic Marketing) Tee Double has been on the Austin hip-hop scene for years, representing hard for this city as a Hip Hop Humpday MC and on his biannual album installments. One of the few local MCs to consistently produce and rhyme available quality music, Tee further utilizes his indie status with Dub-Plates, a…
Common Ground on the Colorado
The new Eastside Colorado River Park begins to take shape.
This Week in Council
A slow week, leading up to E-Day and G-Day: the election on May 4, and City Manager Jesus Garza’s last day in City Hall April 30, after which he’ll shuffle off to the Lower Colorado River Authority. Items of interest include: Changing the fees for off-site parking at Austin-Bergstrom; Accepting a U.S. Dept. of Energy…
The Cat’s Meow
The Cat’s Meow 2002, PG-13, 112 min. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Victor Slezak, Ronan Vibert, Claudia Harrison, Jennifer Tilly, Joanna Lumley, Cary Elwes, Eddie Izzard, Edward Herrmann, Kirsten Dunst. Bogdanovich’s first film since 1993’s The Thing Called Love is being celebrated in some quarters as a return to…
Recommended
The questions novelist, playwright, and poet LeAnne Howe asks in her new novel Shell Shaker (Aunt Lute Books, $11.95) are both political and suspenseful — a noteworthy success, since it’s the blight of the left to keep forgetting that people like to be entertained, not harangued. Howe sets out to determine why Red Shoes, the…
Phases and Stages
The Gloria RecordStart Here (Arena Rock Recording Co.) There are still a lot of grousing Mineral fans out there, holding on to the memory of Austin’s Nineties emo kings and their fuzz-bomb laments, hoping for more of the same out of the Gloria Record. Fat chance. It’s been five years since frontman Chris Simpson and…
A Primer on Prop. 1
Mike Clark-Madison summarizes the Austin Fair Elections Act.
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large: Money Changes Everything
Do we feel sorry for Toby Futrell yet? Well, no, not really, since the new city manager clearly doesn’t feel sorry for herself. But the upcoming budget cycle — which has already started, months ahead of usual — will be noisy and odorous enough to disturb anyone’s honeymoon with the City Council. It’s almost useless…
Life or Something Like It
Life or Something Like It 2002, PG-13, 97 min. Directed by Stephen Herek, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Angelina Jolie, Edward Burns, Tony Shalhoub, Christian Kane, James Gammon, Stockard Channing, Melissa Errico. Let’s play an association game. Angelina Jolie is to Life or Something Like It as Tiffany’s is to a suburban strip…
Page Two
The city of Austin claims to support live music and film, but its actions speak louder than its slogans.Chronicle AISD Endorsements, 2002Endorsements in Austin Community College Board Election. The Chronicle Endorsements for the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District
Phases and Stages
The Octopus ProjectIdentification Parade (Peek-a-Boo) Fusing four-track rock to electronic music with a piecemeal arsenal of garage-sale instruments, Austin’s Octopus Project opens its second album Identification Parade with two tracks founded on minimal tape loops that could’ve been recovered from Raymond Scott’s Manhattan Research sound laboratory. The primitive blips that kick off “What They Found”…
A Race for the Aquifer
The outcome of two contested races for the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District could recast the board’s current 3-2 environmental majority — up or down. Two incumbents running for re-election — board president Craig Smith and longtime member Don Turner — face contenders with philosophically opposing viewpoints on the board’s responsibilities. The differing opinions break…
The Hightower Lowdown
Bush likes democracy, except when he doesn’t; business is a poor model for government; The Book Thing gives reading material to the needy.
Day Trips
Lake Whitney State Park wins the prize for best place to take a nap. The 11 campgrounds within the park are spread out enough along the lakeshore to muffle the occasional outburst of happiness by an overzealous camper at being in such a wonderful place. About 15 miles off of I-35 and another 20 miles…
Phases and Stages
WammoFaster Than the Speed of Suck (Spanks A Lot) There’s this guy and this gal, see? And they’ve borrowed a friend’s vehicle and are cruising across the U.S. in it, with their fragile sanity at the mercy of whatever tunes they can pick up on the car radio. No, that’s not the beginning of an…
The Gridlock at TxDOT and 51st Street
Traffic jam on 51st Street defies highway solution.
Online, Unplugged
Wireless Internet is cost-effective, accessible, of the people rather than gouging the people. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to cut the cord.
