Querelle
Jean Genet adaptation, an arthouse queer classic, was Fassbinder’s final film
Amadeus: Director’s Cut
Amadeus: Director’s Cut 2002, R, 180 min. D: Milos Forman; with F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce. Forman’s intelligent biopic was a multi-Oscar-winner that pits forgotten composer Salieri (Abraham) against the boy genius Mozart (Hulce).
David Mark Cohen New Works Festival
The sophomore model of the David Mark Cohen New Works Festival at the UT Department of Theatre and Dance is a full10 days of original dances, dramas, solo performances, site-specific productions, and musicals, supplemented by panel discussions, master classes, and open classes having to do with the work presented — 45 events in all.
Food-o-File
Just because it’s the biggest and busiest week on the Texas culinary calendar doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty o’ news to report on, in this week’s “Food-o-File.”
Texas Education Agency Ratings
There are 230 charter schools listed in the state accountability ratings for 2002 — about 3.2% of all schools evaluated. Of these, only 94 were rated by the Texas Education Agency in the same manner as traditional Texas schools. Among those which were rated, here’s how the ratings compare: Two-thirds of all Texas public schools…
Naked City
The City Council held its first public hearing last week on superduplexes — structures big enough to house a dozen or more people but which can legally be built with single-family zoning. City staff listed key concerns including overcrowding, the scale of the buildings, parking and traffic, and the ability of developers to avoid stricter…
A Man Apart
A Man Apart 2003, R, 109 min. Directed by F. Gary Gray, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Vin Diesel, Larenz Tate, Steve Eastin, Timothy Olyphant, Jacqueline Obradors, Geno Silva, Juan Fernandez. With his preternaturally stoic expression — a look that falls just shy of seething even when he’s surrounded by puppy dogs, birthday…
Articulations
Naughty Austin makes a new home for itself on the Eastside, and Katie Pearl and Lisa D’Amour return to the Grove on Lamar.
Life Worth Livin’
Looking for a way out with Jay, Jeff, and the gang
More Charter School Stats
There are 230 charter schools listed in the state accountability ratings for 2002. Of these, only 94 were rated in the same manner as typical Texas schools. Exemplary: 15 Recognized: 9 Acceptable: 31 Low Performing: 39 Another 24 were not rated because they are new (16), have insufficient data (seven), or in one case, serve…
Naked City
Last week the Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee considered SB 1111, authored by Dallas Democrat Royce West, which would allow Dallas Co. voters to levy a new local car rental and hotel tax to build a massive new football stadium fondly desired by the Dallas Cowboys. There was the usual unquestioned blather about private-public partnerships, economic…
What a Girl Wants
What a Girl Wants 2003, PG, 100 min. Directed by Dennie Gordon, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston, Tom Harper, Anna Chancellor, Jonathan Pryce, Eileen Atkins, Oliver James. Cut from the same chirpy cloth as Melissa Joan Hart, Amanda Bynes appears to be following the career path of…
Exhibitionism
The Zachary Scott Theatre Center’s production of Terrence McNally’s Tony-award winning Love! Valour! Compassion! may last three hours, but it captured every second of my attention, weaving themes of family and forgiveness into a moving experience.
Phases and Stages
AC/DCHigh Voltage (Epic)AC/DCDirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Epic)AC/DCHighway to Hell (Epic)AC/DCBack in Black (Epic)AC/DCLive (Epic) When Olivia Newton-John was Australia’s biggest musical export, AC/DC rolled into the U.S. on Angus and Malcolm Young’s thunderous hit-and-run guitar attack, bon vivant badass Bon Scott’s leering vocals, and raunchy odes such as “She’s Got Balls,” predecessor to later…
City Hall: Yes, Austin, Barton Springs Is Still Safe
One more time: City, state, and federal experts refute rash Statesman claims about Barton Springs pollution
Naked City
Wal-Mart wants to conquer the Edwards Aquifer with one of its famously huge Supercenters on nearly 30 acres of land in the sensitive recharge zone. The property, at the northeast corner of MoPac and Slaughter Lane, comes with the benefit of zoning already in place, and it’s exempt from the Save Our Springs Ordinance because…
Spun
Spun 2002, NR, 101 min. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Patrick Fugit, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, Peter Stormare, Alexis Arquette, Chloe Hunter, Eric Roberts. Drive. Wait. Score. Pop. Repeat. Being a speed freak is hard work. Repetitive and endless and tiring. And funny?…
Exhibitionism
When he wrote Saved or Destroyed in 1994, playwright Harry Kondoleon knew he was dying, and with its faithful rendering of his dreams and truths, the Mainline Theater Project keep Kondoleon’s beautiful creation alive.
Phases and Stages
The JamThe Complete Jam (Universal Chronicles/Interscope) It’s been said that the Jam was too quintessentially British for American audiences. Another explanation is that U.S. audiences didn’t “get” them because they never saw the power-pop trio play live (they only performed three times on U.S. television). These theorems are supported by the fact that when MTV…
(Circle) C You in Court!
State District Judge Lora Livingston will hear arguments Tuesday in a case that could ultimately alter the way the Circle C Homeowners Association does business. Or, it could be business as usual for the tightly controlled and largely secretive CCHOA board of directors, which oversees a $1 million budget drawn from homeowners’ membership fees. Austin…
Naked City
With a stay still in force from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Drug Enforcement Administration on March 21 did an end-run around the court and the nation’s hemp industries, announcing a “final” rule banning the sale of foods containing hemp seed or oil. “In some cases … [a] controlled substance may have…
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham 2003, PG-13, 112 min. D: Gurinder Chadha; with Parminder K. Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. Soccer’s a tough sell in the States. Unlike the rest of the world (where “football” is a life staple on a par with oxygen and gravity), the most natural sport known to man has, somehow, failed…
Exhibitionism
The return performance by the magnificent Paul Badura-Skoda with A. Mozart Fest was like witnessing a breathtaking conversation between a master craftsman and some mysterious presence, an unseen force that attends the pianist’s graceful execution of some of the world’s loveliest music.
Phases and Stages
Kentucky Mountain Music(Yazoo) This 7-CD box set is billed as a companion to The Music of Kentucky, Vols. 1 & 2, issued by Yazoo in 1995. It contains studio recordings and Library of Congress selections cut in the Twenties and Thirties and in view of the richness and variety of its contents, becomes an instant…
Mental Health Care Meltdown: Is There Room for Hope?
Austin police and mental health advocates make recommendations for patching Travis County’s tattered safety net.
Naked City
Peace activist Doug Foxvog, who lives in the Barrington Oaks neighborhood in Northwest Austin, says that over the weekend his house once again became the target of pro-war activists who don’t seem to believe property rights apply to opponents of the Iraq war. His house was egged for the second time. The peace flag flying…
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie 2003, R, 115 min. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, Narrated by , Voices by Steven Jay Blum, Beau Billingslea, Wendee Lee, Mellisa Fahn, Daran Norris, Jennifer Hale, Starring . Viewers who aren’t familiar with this Japanese anime series (which is shown stateside on the Cartoon Network) will have little trouble jumping into…
News/Print
Don’t forget to take your bilberry extract.
Phases and Stages
The CleanAnthology (Merge) New Zealand will never get old. It’s a natural wonder: mystical, mysterious. Just like the Clean, founding fathers of New Zealand’s revered music scene. Getaway (2001) was the latest installment of a career that began in 1981 with “Tally Ho,” recorded for a meager $60. “Tally Ho” was also ground zero for…
Key Court Rulings Expected in T.A.B. Case
The Texas Association of Business’s legal future rests in the hand of two Travis Co. judges.
Capitol Chronicle
Tort Deform gives business the gold mine, the rest of us the shaft.
Phone Booth
Phone Booth 2003, R, 81 min. Directed by Joel Schumacher, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell, Katie Holmes, Paula Jai Parker, Arian Waring Ash, Tia Texada, John Enos III, Richard T. Jones. Phone Booth boasts a nifty gimmick: shoot almost an entire film (albeit a brief…
Page Two
The war in Iraq has diverted our attention from other important matters, including a truly destructive proposed federal budget, mirrored by Texas’ very own fiscal abyss.
Phases and Stages
TurbonegroAss Cobra (Burning Heart)TurbonegroApocalypse Dudes (Burning Heart) This is some ugly shit, no question about it. Turbonegro came blasting out of Norway in the early Nineties clad in classic homoerotic rough-trade accoutrements: denim, leather, sailor caps, biker gear and mustaches, lipstick and make-up smeared on their faces, $10-hooker style. Their sound brought together metal, glam,…
A Wider War On GOP Bucks
More allegations of campaign finance violations were levied this week in connection with last year’s Republican victories at the polls. On Monday, Texans for Public Justice, a nonprofit group that tracks money in politics, asked Travis Co. District Attorney Ronnie Earle to investigate apparent discrepancies in campaign records filed by Texans for a Republican Majority.…
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large
Proudly “successful” businessman Brad Meltzer aims to cut to the chase in the mayor’s race.
DysFunKtional Family
DysFunKtional Family 2003, R, 84 min. Directed by George Gallo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Eddie Griffin. This is not, as the title suggests, some sort of narrative comedy. This is instead an 84-minute stand-up performance film from comic Griffin that alternates between his onstage routines and cutaway sequences that involve his truly…
Letters at 3AM
Thoughts on the war’s explosions of bombs, dreams, and preconceptions.
Phases and Stages
Sonic YouthDirty Deluxe Edition (Geffen/Universal) Smash the PMRC. “I believe Anita Hill.” The Year Punk Broke. Sassy magazine. Produced and mixed by Butch Vig and Andy Wallace only months after their earth-shaking work with Nirvana in 1992, Sonic Youth’s Dirty was the soundtrack to an era. It was the only time NYC’s gods of art-rock…
Naked City
Quote of the Week: “I come to support this bill and keep God’s team in Dallas County.” — Dallas Co. Judge Margaret Keliher, testifying on behalf of a tax bill to create a new stadium for the Cowboys. See God Wears Silver and Blue Actually, God is smiling on the Texas Tower this week, as…
The Hightower Report
George whacks education aid for military families; and his war is just plain crazy.
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Caffeine is altered very little by the coffee-bean roasting process.Neil Young played backup guitar for and was roommates with Rick “Super Freak” James back in Toronto in the mid-1960s. The band was called the Mynah Birds, and they even recorded an album (never released) on Motown.In order of size from smallest to biggest: squads, platoons,…
Phases and Stages
Delaney & Bonnie and FriendsD&B Together (Columbia /Legacy) Mississippi’s Delaney Bramlett and ex-Ikette Bonnie Lynn O’Farrell were well-steeped in roots music when they married in the late Sixties. Both Home and Accept No Substitute (1969) layered transcendent gospel with rootsy blues-rock and got the attention of Gram Parsons, who recommended them to George Harrison, who…
Naked City
Fifteen-year-old Reagan High School sophomore Ortralla Mosley was fatally stabbed March 29 in a hallway of the Northeast Austin school — the first on-campus homicide in Austin ISD history. Mosley’s former boyfriend, Marcus McTear, 16, has been charged with first-degree murder and possession of a weapon in a prohibited place. A handful of students and…
The Boys in the Barracks
Texas Documentary Tour present Arthur Dong’s award-winning 1994 documentary about gays in the military, ‘Coming Out Under Fire.’
Second Helpings: Thai Part II
There’s more Thai where that came from, in this week’s “Second Helpings.”
Day Trips
The Warren Skaaren Environmental Learning Center at Westcave Preserve in southwestern Travis County provides an indoor classroom for one of the area’s most unique outdoor educational facilities. Officially opened at ceremonies on March 22, the new building blends into the environment while utilizing low-impact design features. “The plans evolved over time,” says John Ahrns, director…
Phases and Stages
The WhoWho’s Next Deluxe Edition (MCA/Universal Chronicles) Who’s Next just got better. For starters, the original master tapes had been lost for decades, and no CD issue prior to this 2-CD Deluxe Edition used the correct tapes. The packaging features different inside art, with exceptional liner notes that explain the Lifehouse film/album project, which gave…
Naked City
On April 1, a Swisher Co. judge recommended that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacate the convictions of 38 Tulia residents convicted in the town’s now-infamous 1999 drug busts. The appeals court last month ordered an evidentiary hearing for four of the defendants who are still in jail, to determine if the men were…
Cat and Mouse, Confined to a Kiosk
Director Joel Schumacher discusses his new thriller, Phone Booth.
TCB
Austin soldiers on beyond SXSW with hot rods, SPAM, and puking
After a Fashion
STYLE WITH A CAPITAL “C” Here’s a rundown of upcoming events … Last year was the first Style Cup competition, a hairstyling fundraiser for Project Transitions. Full of pageantry and drama, it was one of the best shows I’ve seen in Austin, and it’s baaack. Called the Hair Affair, eight salons (Salon 505, Aziz, Bella,…
Phases and Stages
Sly & the Family StoneThe Essential Sly & the Family Stone (Epic/Legacy) He was once arrested for brandishing a toy pistol at a New York stereo shop, but Sly Stone rarely if ever shot blanks. Incredibly, despite having been a seminal influence on popular music, his groundbreaking, outlandishly talented ensemble has not been anthologized since…
Naked City
The Save Our Springs Alliance will hold a fundraiser from 7 to 11pm, Friday, April 4, at 313 W. Mary in South Austin. Entertainment will include Guy Forsyth, Michael Fracasso, Papa Mali, the Boxcar Preachers, and Bill Passalaqua. The Soup Peddler will provide veggie and venison chili. Tickets are $20 for non-SOS members (good for…
Spirited Anime
Director Shinichiro Watanabe translates his much-loved television series Cowboy Bebop to the big screen.
Chartered Well … and Badly
The experience of charter schools is mixed, at best
To Your Health
I would like to try SAMe for depression. What is good and what is bad about it, and is it safe?
Phases and Stages
Bob Marley & the WailersTrenchtown Rock: The Anthology, 1969-78 (Trojan)Dennis BrownThe Promised Land, 1977-79 (Blood & Fire) Before Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston exploded onto the international scene in 1973 with Island Records’ Catch a Fire, they were prolific recording artists in Jamaica. While much of their pre-Island output has long been available,…
Naked City
On March 29 — curiously enough, the day after the business-friendly tort-reform package (see “Capitol Chronicle”) passed the Texas House — Appropriations Committee Chair Talmadge Heflin, R-Houston, and Health and Human Services Subcommittee Chair Arlene Wohlgemuth, R-Burleson, announced they had discovered $2.75 billion in new money for health and human services programs. In principle, the…
20 Questions
Hours of addictive aggravation
Renaissance (and Baroque) Man
As a curator for UT’s Blanton Museum of Art, Jonathan Bober played a pivotal role in securing the Suida-Manning and Steinberg art collections, thereby giving some of the world’s great art a home in Austin.
About AIDS
New Drug Offers Exciting Option for Some HIVers The most revolutionary new anti-HIV drug development since 1995 passed FDA muster March 13 with the approval of Fuzeon, offering added hope for some HIV+ people whose virus has already become resistant to the existing drugs. Roche/Trimeris’ Fuzeon (FEW-zee-on), also known experimentally as T-20 or generically as…
Phases and Stages
Ice CubeAmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (Priority/EMI)Ice CubeDeath Certificate (Priority/EMI)Ice CubeThe Predator (Priority/EMI)Ice CubeLethal Injection (Priority/EMI) Before Barbershop and days prior to Friday, O’Shea Jackson became Ice Cube, one ultrabad mofo from the mean streets of L.A.’s South Central. Shooting Straight Outta Compton in the early Eighties as a volatile frontman of N.W.A, Ice Cube crafted controversial-caliber…
Naked City
Using the Stevie Ray statue as his pulpit, mayoral candidate Max Nofziger focused his campaign attentions Tuesday on a host of landmarks — including the CSC complex, the Intel carcass, the controversial Sixth + Lamar site, the unfinished Pfluger Bridge, and the even-less-finished new City Hall — of the Smart Growth era he hopes to…
Short Cuts
Tim League and Harry Knowles team up to screen good movies for good causes.
Seeing What Jonathan Sees
Looking at a work of art with Jonathan Bober is like putting on night-vision goggles: You use your eyes in a whole new way, seeing things you never imagined you could. Bober can identify everything — everything! — that is artistically significant in a print or painting and point it out in such a way…
True to Its Own Terroir
Can Saveur magazine save the soul of the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival?
Who Can Vouch for the Charters?
The state’s freewheeling experiment with charter schools gets a poor grade.
Naked City
Texans for Peace founder Charlie Jackson hopes to head back to Iraq soon to join on-the-ground efforts to promote peace in the midst of war. Jackson visited Iraq in January and had expected to return two weeks ago but didn’t have enough funds for the trip. He also suspected that he wouldn’t be able to…
TV Eye
How to resolve conflict? Japanese import Iron Chef has the right idea.
Prince of Prints
Leo Steinberg didn’t set out to amass a world-renowned collection of prints. He started buying them for himself because they were important to him. The Russian-born academic, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1945, not only loved them individually for their imagery and artistic value, he believed they were important as an art form and…
‘Saveur’ Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival Event Schedule
If you’ve got the money, you’ve got a great time in store.
Austin’s Charter Schools
School Started 2002 TEA Rating NYOS Charter School 1998 Exemplary American Youthworks 1996 Acceptable Star Charter School 1998 Acceptable Eden Park Academy 1998 Needs Peer Review McCullough Academy of Excellence 2000 Low-Performing Texas Academy of Excellence 1996 Low-Performing Texas Empowerment Academy 1998 Low-Performing Austin Can Academy 2002 Not Yet Rated Cedars International Academy 2001 Not…
Naked City
On Monday, the Austin ISD board of trustees, as expected, voted to approve Superintendent Pat Forgione’s recommended budget cuts, including a financial emergency “reduction in force” — the effective elimination of over 400 full-time campus-level positions. Combined with previously approved cuts in central administration, about 550 positions will be axed, including special-area teachers (art, music,…
Video Reviews
Thirty years ago, Terrence Malick’s magnificent debut film Badlands proved that with every bit of genius comes a bit of madness as well.
Fusion Culture
The 21-century fusion palette of Shen Wei Dance Arts spans countries and centuries, from traditional Chinese opera and Tibetan Buddhist chants to modern Japanese Butoh and 16th-century English music.
Hill Country Happenings
As the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival approaches, Virginia B. Wood sets the table.
Comparing Texas Charters and Non-Charters
About one in 80 public school students in Texas attends a charter school. The charters serve a higher-than-average proportion of at-risk and minority children, but they also fail them at an even higher rate. Perhaps that’s because teachers at charter schools tend to be less experienced, less qualified, and have three times the turnover rate.…
Naked City
On March 26, the city of Austin and the Austin Police Association finally — or at least partially — resolved their dispute over how to conduct an independent investigation when one is called for by Austin’s police-oversight citizen review panel. Such a probe is pending into last year’s shooting death of Sophia King, but the…
Head of State
Head of State 2003, PG-13, 95 min. Directed by Chris Rock, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Dylan Baker, Nick Searcy, Robin Givens, Tamala Jones, Tracy Morgan, Lynn Whitfield. On stage, Chris Rock is a force to be reckoned with, a shrewd and sharp-tongued stand-up comic with real balls. So…
