Drowning by Numbers
Drowning by Numbers 1988, NR, 118 min. Directed by Peter Greenaway, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson, Bernard Hill, Jason Edwards. There’s no brief but adequate way to describe Drowning By Numbers. The movie’s composition is based on the numbers 1 through 100 because, as the Skipping Girl…
Lost in Translation: Shorts From the Madcat Women’s International Film Festival
Lost in Translation: Shorts From the Madcat Women’s International Film Festival NR. Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . “Lost in Translation: Shorts from the MadCat Women’s International Film Festival” will present works from the third annual San Francisco screening of independent and experimental films by women directors from all over…
Ellen Spiro Retrospective
Ellen Spiro Retrospective NR. Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Ellen Spiro Retrospective will present several excerpts from the documentaries of this UT film professor, including Roam Sweet Home, Diana’s Hair Ego, Greetings From Out Here, The Shampoo King, and others, as well as what is promised to be a…
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
So many debuts, so much promise. Heckerling’s portrait of high school/shopping mall life in Southern California (based on Cameron Crowe’s book) is still just about as good as it gets.
Letters at 3AM
Why a sizable number of heterosexuals feel threatened by the concept of gay marriage
Loose Diamond
5 A fan stands on the edge of the shadows in the afternoon sun. “We wanted to be unique,” Express sales rep Scott McLeod says, “different not only from other baseball stadiums in the league, but [from other sports facilities] in the area as well. Round Rock is constantly lumped in as a suburb of…
Salt of the Earth
Local activists remember Cesar Chavez on the seventh anniversary of his death.
Video Reviews
Conspirators of PleasureD: Jan Svankmajer (1997); with Petr Meissel, Gabriela Wilhelmová, Barbora Hrzanóvá. What can you do with thumbtacks, feathers, nails, live carp, bread balls, a chicken head, straw-filled dummies, and a complicated servo-driven masturbation machine? Conspirators of Pleasure is a surrealist look at fetishism and its logical conclusions, set in modern-day Prague. Almost entirely…
Second Helpings: Pizza Restaurants
Chronicle writer Greg Beets surveys local pizza establishments in this week’s Second Helpings.
After a Fashion
A fetish club turned into a fashion catwalk at Atomic Cafe’s recent fashion show.
Loose Diamond
6 A last-minute touch-up. The week before Opening Day, the place is empty save for a handful of construction workers milling about, their yellow hard hats gleaming against the dark green backdrop of the elegant curves made by rows of empty seats.
The Tumultuous Years
During the late Seventies and early Eighties, the United Farm Workers went through an internal struggle over power and loyalty that weakened the organization and led to the loss of many talented staff members. A simmering conflict in the 1970s — over the longstanding question of organizational structure — had become a full-blown rift by…
Video Reviews
Talk About a StrangerD: David Bradley Bradley (1952); with George Murphy, Nancy Davis, Billy Gray, Kurt Kasznar. Little Bobby Fontaine (Gray) is a kid growing up on a citrus ranch in California. Bobby’s dog turns up dead soon after a mysterious stranger named Matlock (Kasznar) moves into the neighboring ranch. The youngster soon presumes that…
Dance of the Prodigal Son
Soft-spoken and self-effacing choreographer Stephen Mills seems an unlikely candidate for rebellious Prodigal Son. But he was, breaking away from Ballet Austin in 1996, only to return two years later. Now the newly named artistic director of Ballet Austin, Mills talks about his departure, his return, and the future of the company.
Mr. Smarty Pants
This week’s hot topics: obituary attainment, bodily proportions, laugh tracks, magic numbers, and leaded gasoline
Loose Diamond
7 The minor leagues might very well be baseball’s final stop for heart and soul. The players are known for their dedication to the game and enthusiasm for the fans. These are the days before cocky attitudes and large contracts.
Cesar’s Roots
Cesar Chavez grew up on a small family farm in Arizona before debt forced his family into the stream of California farmworkers. He missed the liberty of the family ranch and bounced from school to school (30 or 40 before dropping out in the eighth grade) while picking nearly every type of crop grown in…
Video Reviews
Mercury Rising D: Harold Becker (1998); with Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Miko Hughes, Chi McBride, Kim Dickens, Robert Stanton, Bodhi Pine Elfman.The Sixth SenseD: M. Night Shyamalan (1999); with Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Trevor Morgan, Donnie Wahlberg. Bruce Willis certainly has a way with children. A couple of times, recently,…
Evil New Yorkers and Bit-Whoredom
They’re horrible! They’re evil, mean, and terrible! They’re New Yorkers! They’re the Fabulous and Ridiculous Theatre, and they’re giving laid-back Austin a shot of scrappy, sophisticated, lowbrow, smart-ass theatre.
Coach’s Corner
Aging stars and aging boomers spell an ongoing decline in the popularity of tennis, Coach muses, while dropping a bundle in a Vegas sports book.
Loose Diamond
8 Highway 79 on game day. The road heads east, and the stone and steel is quickly replaced by ranch land, cattle, and the occasional tractor trailer that lumbers by. Just as the final shreds of urbanization dissolve in the rearview mirror, something big looms on the horizon: the Dell Diamond, just another field of…
Naked City
Willie Lewis and Danny Thomas campaigns turn ugly; Jeff Jack gets aide appointment in Beverly Griffith’s office, Richard Arellano leaves Jackie Goodman’s office.
TV Eye
After federal agents stormed the Gonzalez house last Saturday, it was all Elián, all the time on cable television : but doesn’t it feel more like a movie of the week than breaking news? Also, upcoming May television events, and networks announce series renewals.
Articulations
An honor for Don Toner at the State Theater.
Day Trips
Day trip in style with a Harley from Austin’s EagleRider Motorcycle Rentals.
The Ego Has Landed
Love Supreme frontman Noah Lit shares his interests and disinterests – and talks about his band occasionally.
Naked City
With plans for the Colorado River Park nearly complete, a process that looked ugly at its outset has produced a blueprint that nearly everyone can live with.
Frequency
Frequency 2000, PG-13, 117 min. Directed by Gregory Hoblit, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dennis Quaid, James Caviezel, Andre Braugher, Elizabeth Mitchell, Shawn Doyle. Frequency reconfirms the classic Hollywood axiom that the dumbness of sci-fi/fantasy movies increases in direct proportion to the profundity of the science involved. And yet, due largely to the…
Telling War Stories
National Book Award winner and SWT professor Tim O’Brien is real. He’s blunt. But he’s also, according to Chronicle editor Sarah Hepola, responsible for her hangover.
About AIDS
A new bereavement support group is getting underway thanks to AIDS Services of Austin.
Just Mary-y-y-y
Q&A with Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power
Naked City
The Travis CountyChild FatalityReview Team’s annual report reveals that child fatalities continued to decline in 1999.
Where the Heart is
Where the Heart is 2000, PG-13, 120 min. Directed by Matt Williams, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Keith David, Dylan Bruno, James Frain, Joan Cusack, Stockard Channing, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman. The writing team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel is responsible for some of the best comedic dramas of the past 20…
Postscripts
How to pun your way to fame, how to meet lots of Texas writers, and how to discover the truth behind the mysterious and controversial de la Peña diary.
Carrying the Burden
During Gov. Bush’s campaign for his party’s presidential nomination last fall, reporters asked the candidate to comment on a federal government report asserting that many Texans, including large numbers of children, were going to bed hungry. “I saw the report that children in Texas are going hungry. Where?” he demanded, going on to say, “You’d…
Dancing About Architecture
Austin leaves Ken Lieck homeless and fuming.
Naked City
RomaDesign Group prepares to present its revised redevelopment plan for Robert Mueller Airport to theCity Council; now the ex-airport just needs some tenants.
Book Reviews
Burned Orange: Tom Penders and 10 Years at the University of Texas by Kyle Dalton Addax Publishing Group, 207 pp. $14.95 (paper) Tom Penders has been gone for two years. And by all appearances, the University of Texas couldn’t be happier. Although Penders restored a winning tradition to UT’s men’s basketball program, his only loyalty…
Think Charitably, Eat Locally
By supporting food assistance and promoting economic independence among people in need, Share Our Strength meets immediate demands for food while investing in long-term solutions for the problems of hunger and poverty; here’s the info on how to attend an event on April 30 that will benefit SOS.
Record Reviews
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai(Epic/Razorsharp) Just as it’s almost impossible to picture anyone but Forest Whitaker playing the placid, pigeon-raising hit man hero of Jim Jarmusch’s meditative, hypnotic gangsta fable Ghost Dog, it’s damn near inconceivable to imagine anyone but Wu-Tang abbot Robert “RZA” Diggs masterminding the film’s equally compelling soundtrack. In fact,…
Naked City
A Sunset Advisory Commission staff report recommends a two-year probation for the Texas Dept. of Housing and Community affairs, but that may not be enough to save the ailing agency.
Book Reviews
Joe Gould’s Secret by Joseph Mitchell Vintage, 186 pp., $9.95 (paper) In his long, if rather unprolific, career at The New Yorker, and even beforehand, at the Herald Tribune, Joe Mitchell proved his ability to quietly absorb, and best of all, to describe in dead-on, if meandering, prose, his subjects and their surroundings. Without ever…
Summer Free Lunch Program
Jorge Zapata, supervisor of the Austin PARD’s summer free-lunch program, is serious about outreach. He wants the parents of all Austin school kids who qualify for reduced-price or free lunches to know their kids are welcome at the 55 PARD summer free-lunch sites around the city.
Record Reviews
Price of Glory(New Line) Despite the fact that Jimmy Smits’ boxing drama got KO’d commercially, the film’s heavyweight Rock en Español soundtrack moves and punches like Roberto Duran in his prime. As was the case with 1997’s Star Maps soundtrack, Price of Glory pumps barrio beats with a vivid cinematic panache that will long outlive…
Naked City
Clean Water Action will hold an Earth Day fundraiser on Thursday, April 27, from 6-9pm at the Austin Children’s Museum. Tickets for the event, called “Spring for Water,” are $20 for individuals, $35 for couples, and $10 for students. For more info, call 474-0605 or go online at http://www.cleanwaterfund.org/springforwater/. Michael Dell will discuss e-business and…
Book Reviews
Colors of the Mountain by Da Chen Random House, 314 pp., $25 You would never expect a memoir of growing up under the political oppression of the Cultural Revolution to be as much fun as this book is. But thanks to the author’s easygoing style, crystalline memory, and charming personality, I would go with the…
The Happy Kitchen
During classes at La Cocina Alegre (The Happy Kitchen) Food School, participants learn how to economically provide and prepare fresh, nutritious meals for their families.
Record Reviews
Committed(Chapter III) Like Rushmore’s consummate example of the form, the soundtrack for the new Heather Graham vehicle Committed is part music from the motion picture, part score by Tucson’s Calexico, both of which fit the film’s desert quest/smart romantic comedy bill as perfectly as British-invasion-era songs and a Mark Mothersbaugh score boostered Rushmore. The pairing…
Council Watch
City lays out new housing program, Southpark Meadows goes for world-class venue, Zilker Neighborhood Association holds council candidates forum
Joe Gould’s Secret
Joe Gould’s Secret 2000, R, 108 min. Directed by Stanley Tucci, Starring Ian Holm, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Steve Martin, Hope Davis, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Tovatt, Celia Weston. The very thought of Stanley Tucci’s new movie — his sure-footed but languorous new movie — is certain to rankle inveterate New Yorker readers who bristle and…
Off the Bookshelf
Burt Lancaster An American Life by Kate Buford Knopf, 447 pp., $27.50 In his description of Burt Lancaster’s performance in The Train (1965), New Yorker film critic Brendan Gill distilled the star’s signature screen presence down to its essence. “He is a contemporary Sisyphus,” Gill wrote, “but he is not resigned, and in a contest…
Emergency Groceries and Meals
In addition to the nearly 50 food pantries operated by local churches, neighborhood centers, and social-service agencies in the Austin metropolitan area, here’s a list of soup kitchens that provide some meals for Austin’s hungry and homeless citizens.
Record Reviews
Wonder Boys(Sony Music Soundtrax) The premise behind this Michael Douglas vehicle is how a middle-aged college professor, once a shining star of the literary world, struggles with the realization that he’s probably past his prime. This collection of music from the movie features bittersweet offerings from the salad days of a host of songwriters, who,…
Summer Gaming Preview
A year ago, you couldn’t have a conversation about gaming without mentioning the word “Columbine.” The effect it would have on gaming; the effect gaming may have had on it. Debates erupted, titles were temporarily shelved, and parents everywhere started to raise an eyebrow or two at the games their children brought home. These days,…
Gossip
Gossip 2000, R, 90 min. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kate Hudson, Joshua Jackson, James Marsden, Lena Headey, Edward James Olmos, Norman Reedus, Sharon Lawrence, Eric Bogosian. A slick premise underlies this week’s fresh-new-faces youth movie. For a term project, a group of college students starts a nasty rumor…
Off the Bookshelf
The Onion’s Finest News Reporting Volume One edited by Scott Dikkers and Robert Siegel Three Rivers Press, 176 pp., $16 (paper) If you’re among those who missed The Onion’s (http://www.theonion.com) formative years, you’re in luck. This new collection includes the funniest and most subversive news stories dating to the humor publication’s earliest years online. Some…
Food-o-File
Updates on upcoming culinary events.
Record Reviews
High Fidelity(Hollywood) Powers that be in the film industry commonly complain about the control wielded by movie stars. Hitchcock might have equated actors to cattle, but the marquee names are now herding directors and producers down their chutes, so to speak, more often than not. Kudos to John Cusack and his production company for his…
In Between Days
Chris Norden, Lead Programmer of Deus Ex, Ion Storm, Austin Personally, I’m the most excited about the new console hardware coming out. There’s some incredibly powerful machines coming from Sony, Nintendo, Sega, and Microsoft, and they will allow us to really push the state-of-the-art in computer and video games over the next couple of years.…
Off the Bookshelf
House Fires by Nancy Reisman University of Iowa Press, 212 pp., $18.95 (paper) Winner of the 1999 Iowa Short Fiction Award, Nancy Reisman’s collection of stories, House Fires, is populated by perceptive yet lonely characters trying to find their places in the world. Reisman has divided the book into four sections, grouping the stories either…
Loose Diamond
1 Opening Day at the Dell Diamond. Fans young and old pack into the sold-out stadium to view everything it has to offer, even the Grand Old Game.
Record Reviews
American Psycho(Koch) Like most contemporary soundtracks for period films, American Psycho is more intent on revisionism than accuracy. That’s why when the album explodes with the Dead or Alive dance classic “You Spin Me Round,” it’s not Peter Bern’s flamboyant original, but White Dope’s metal grind. Followed by David Bowie’s “Something in the Air” from…
Monster Achievement
For the past four years, we have waited. And waited. And hemmed. And hawed. And wondered. And speculated. And screamed out loud with anticipation. And paced on pins and needles, dreaming about the release of the sequel to the now-legendary 1996 Game of the Year — an action-adventure sleeper hit named Diablo. It was a…
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Loose Diamond
2 There is more in Round Rock’s new facility than just a baseball field: The terrific views from the Sports Court, swimming pool, and hot tub (!) above the right field wall keep fans active, or at least relaxed, while they watch the game, as the scoreboard’s 16’x21′ video screen shows color replays of the…
Record Reviews
AIRThe Virgin Suicides (Astralwerks) What’s in a name? With French duo Air, what you see is what you get, which in this case at least, isn’t much. Fans of the band (keyboardists Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin), who cut their teeth on the pair’s winningly subtle Moon Safari debut in 1998, will find this slight…
Other Upcoming Titles
MDK2 (Interplay, May 10) Take control of three bumbling heroes and save Earth in this comical action/adventure sequel. Shogun: Total War (Electronic Arts, May 24) This real-time strategy is making waves for its Braveheart-meets-Akira Kurosawa approach to combat scenes. Daikatana (Eidos, May 28) No preview would be complete without mentioning Ion Storm’s perennially delayed first-person…
Page Two
Louis Black sounds off on the Chronicle endorsement process.
Loose Diamond
3 It’s as if the architects behind the design of the new ballpark couldn’t get the “buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack” part of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” out of their heads. Concession stands built outside the main structure of the stadium allow fans to watch the game while buying their…
Record Reviews
The Million Dollar Hotel(Interscope) Bono goes Hollywood? Well, sort of. The 2000 Nobel Peace Prize candidate co-wrote the script for this, German auteur Wim Wenders’ latest flick; the title refers to the seedy downtown L.A. joint where U2 filmed the “Where the Streets Have No Name” video. The irrepressible Irishman also has a cameo in…
The Ongoing Tradition
The Taos Talking Pictures Festival has carved out a place as one of the country’s top 10 film festivals with an eclectic, mellow mix of artists, activist politics, panels, and New Age philosophy.
Public Notice
Public Notice straps on the skates, picks some flowers for mom, and finds out if it is eligible to donate to the Mother’s Milk Bank….
Loose Diamond
4 Fans trickle in and out on Opening Day. The Dell Diamond — named for the $2.5 million of financial support from Austin’s homegrown computer megacorp — seats just under 10,000 and is more of an architectural gem than even many major-league fields around the nation.
Shades of Gray
Daniel Nagle didn’t die alone, because in a state prison nobody is ever alone. But the only witnesses to his murder, the first murder of a Texas prison guard by an inmate since 1985, were inmates. If you ask how it happened, that is, how a guard found himself fighting for his life — unarmed,…
Short Cuts
Upcoming events and workshops of interest to the Austin film community
