QT5
QT5 NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . QT5 is the fifth go-round for this unique, only-in-Austin film festival in which Quentin Tarantino programs and presents 10 days of film screenings culled from his personal archives. The selections are as wide-ranging and as ungovernable as the man who chose them.…
The Hunger
The Hunger 1983, R, 97 min. D: Tony Scott; with Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon. Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie play vampires here, although director Tony Scott keeps the movie’s emphasis on stylish vamp – for instance, that bedroom sex romp between Deneuve and Sarandon.
Fellini Satyricon
Fellini Satyricon 1970, R, 129 min. Directed by Federico Fellini, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born, Capucine, Salvo Randone. Visually stunning and sensationalistic film is Italian master Fellini’s take on the decline of pagan Rome. Filled to the brim with cautionary sights of almost-surrealistic debauchery and depravity, the…
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 1986, PG-13, 103 min. D: John Hughes; with Matthew Broderick. When people think fondly of John Hughes, it’s movies like Ferris Bueller that they’re thinking of. This one’s drenched in Eighties-style teen spirit. Matthew Broderick plays a kid who ditches high school for the day. The movie follows his adventure and…
Pretty in Pink
Pretty in Pink 1986, PG-13, 96 min. D: Howard Deutch; with Molly Ringwald. In this John Hughes-written and -produced teen tale, Ringwald plays a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who doesn’t know what to do when asked out by a rich hunk. Stanton plays her dad, while a host of Brat-Packy types…
Exhibitionism
With The World Goes ‘Round, director Dave Steakley has crafted a gem of a show, one that celebrates the musical team of John Kander and Fred Ebb with the panache and rich feeling of a beautifully crafted, sublimely entertaining musical of old, that makes us want us to come to the cabaret.
Dining del Lago
For years, eating out near Lake Travis was pretty strictly limited to burger joints, Tex-Mex places, fish shacks, and typical Texas roadside cafes. The update to our lakeside dining guide illustrates that all that may be steadily changing.
Economics From the Bottom Up
A profile of Accion Texas, CDC, and other microlenders
On the Edge
On the Edge 2001, R, 90 min. Directed by John Carney, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Stephen Rea, Tricia Vessey, Jonathan Jackson, Cillian Murphy. It’s possible that all you ever need to know about On the Edge is that at one point its working title was The Smiling Suicide Club. That, and also…
The Joys of Meanness
Scott Blackwood’s initiation into the writing life
Dining del Lago
Cafe Bleu 8714 Lime Creek Rd., 401-6660 Mon-Fri, 4pm-midnight; Sat-Sun, noon-1am; live music, Thu-Sat Cafe Bleu has been generating talk all summer. Longtime Austin restaurant regular Jeff Currington and his partners have created a Mediterranean getaway on the northeast shores of Lake Travis, and it’s very much worth a visit. That’s a good thing because…
Accion and CDC: Brief Profile
Both Accion and the Austin CDC invest in small-scale businesses by lending capital from private sources — banks, corporations, and foundations — along with government grants. But they specialize in different kinds of loans. Accion offers smaller loans and will invest in start-up enterprises. The Austin CDC emphasizes job creation and neighborhood revitalization in poor…
The Crimson Rivers
The Crimson Rivers 2000, R, 106 min. Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jean Reno, Vincent Cassel, Nadia Farès, Olivier Morel, Dominique Sanda. Rivers of blood snake through this French thriller which is set in the Alpine glaciers. Aiming for something along the lines of The Silence of the Lambs…
Postscripts
The story behind Jim Bob McMillan’s departure from the Writers’ League of Texas
Dining del Lago
The Vineyard 900 S. RR 620, A-106, 402-9855 Mon-Sat, 11:30am-3:30pm; 5-11pm; Sun, 11:30am-3:30pm The month-old Vineyard restaurant is a lovely, comfortable room that belies its shopping-center location. The stained and polished cement floors gleam and the ceiling is covered with billowing fabric that creates the illusion of cool, sheltering tents in a Mediterranean oasis. Patrons…
Naked City
A roundup of local news, rumors, and factoids from around Austin
American Pie 2
American Pie 2 2001, R, 100 min. Directed by James B. Rogers, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Mena Suvari, Tara Reid, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Seann William Scott, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Chris Klein, Eugene Levy. As everyone knows, it just wouldn’t be summer without a teen sex farce, and this…
In Person
What happened when Mark Danielewski and his rock star sister POE showed up at a branch of the Dallas Public Library
Dining del Lago
Lakeside Dining Guide 1. HEB Grocery, northwest corner Hwy. 71 W. and Bee Caves Road (see “Liquid Assets”). 2. Calame’s Canyonside Dining, 3595 S. RR 620, 263-4205: Calame’s is a comfortable dinner house with a spectacular second-story view of the lake to the west, a reliable Sunday brunch, and Mystery Dinner parties by reservation. 3.…
Naked City
Bringing Instant Runoff Voting to Austin may not be so instant, and HEB tries to Clean itself of petitioners.
Brother
Brother 2000, R, 117 min. Directed by Takeshi Kitano, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Beat Takeshi, Omar Epps, Claude Maki, Masaya Kato, Susumu Terajima. Takeshi “Beat” Kitano’s first U.S.-shot film is, like its director, a tough cookie to crack. Part lyrical gangster drama, part new jack crime-family saga, and part traditional Japanese yakuza…
In Person
In a fast-paced two days late last month at the Red Lion Inn, the most successful writers conference in the Writers’ League history saw some 200-plus writers get the hard-knock world of real publishing described to them gently but firmly by a dozen agents and editors from both coasts.
Food-o-File
A prominent local restaurateur has taken to the radio, complaining about all the gloom and doom being reported in the newspapers and then a reader e-mailed last week to say he was tired of reading about “dot-com failures” and their impact on Austin’s restaurant scene. Well, boys, all I can say in my defense is…
Naked City
The ban on big events at Auditorium Shores turns out to be just temporary.
Osmosis Jones
Osmosis Jones 2001, PG, 83 min. Directed by Bobby Farrelly, Peter, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Brandy Norwood, William Shatner, Laurence Fishburne, David Hyde Pierce, Chris Rock, Molly Shannon, Chris Elliott, Bill Murray. There are certain mysteries of the universe that I will never truly understand: the big bang theory, circuit breakers, the…
Readings
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall Norton, 423 pp., $24.95 It’s no surprise that half of the people saying nice things about The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint on its back jacket describe it as “Dickensian.” If there’s a recently published novel that is more Dickensian than The Miracle Life of Edgar…
Liquid Assets
Cafe Bleu 8714 Lime Creek Rd., 401-6660 Here’s a real winner. The best food that you can access by boat and the most reasonably priced wine list in Central Texas. One of the owners is a Frenchman who has declared “no American wines on the list.” Clearer heads prevailed, and there are a few, well-chosen…
Naked City
The city tightens its belt; the road widening that never was
Rush Hour Two
Rush Hour Two 2001, PG-13, 100 min. Directed by Brett Ratner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Alan King, Harris Yulin, John Lone, Zhang Ziyi, Roselyn Sanchez, Don Cheadle, Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan. Summertime popcorn pictures don’t get much goofier than this silly sequel, which is everything you’d expect and nothing you wouldn’t –…
Readings
Billy Ray’s Farm Essays From a Place Called Tula by Larry Brown Algonquin, 205 pp., $22.95 These are quite literally epistles from Tula — the tiny Mississippi hamlet of the subtitle — where novelist Brown (Fay and Joe) lives and writes. The rural rules of such a place apply whether handling a gun, caring for…
Playing the Violin
Mr. Sinus Theater’s Jerm Pollet is also a musician!
Naked City
A performance artist is arrested for being “indecent” at the Capitol. Why can’t we arrest legislators for that?
The Others
The Others 2001, PG-13, 105 min. Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan, Elaine Cassidy, Eric Sykes, Alakina Mann, James Bentley. I’m tempted to call The Others the best haunted house film since Robert Wise’s 1963 masterstroke The Haunting. In its wonderful and subtle use…
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Jerm Reviewed
Jerm PolletEvery Song Is a Mating Call Not unlike the picture of a stuffed monkey wearing a cowboy hat inside the CD booklet to Every Song Is a Mating Call, Jerm Pollet plays jack-of-all-trades with sweeping panache. From Mr. Sinus Theatre to bands like Gal’s Panic, Missile Command, and Tall, Dark, & Lonesome, New York…
Naked City
The Save Barton Creek Association tries to force the TNRCC to listen.
Page Two
How the city serves the public and the death of Rob Jacks
Spit Out the Seeds
Lucinda Williams bares all
The Hightower Lowdown
America craves campaign finance reform, GM buys its version of history, and a corporate butthead gets ousted.
Public Notice
Our weekly calendar of activist and volunteer events and fundraisers
Eye to Eye
David Byrne gets sincere
The Sensational Saga of Mr. Sinus
Picking up where Mystery Science Theater 3000 left off, Mr. Sinus Theater 3000 skewers the movies of our childhood to sold-out crowds at the Alamo Drafthouse.
About AIDS
Heavy lies the condom
Si*Sé Reviewed
Si*Sé(Luaka Bop) Whether scouting exotic locales for world-class musical talent (Césaria Évora, Susana Baca, Waldemar Bastos), or beating the bushes closer to home for radio-friendly eccentrics (Jim White, Geggy Tah, King Chango), David Bryne’s Luaka Bop label skanks to its own universal beat (Cornershop, Zap Mama, Bloque). Same goes for Si*Sé. The NYC crew, anchored…
Private Dancers
Austin — The men of Mr. Sinus — Jerm Pollet, Owen Egerton, and John Erler — gathered in the screening room of Mr. Erler’s Eastside home. Known for their often-ingenious dissection of bad cinema, the comedy trio had agreed to watch a terrible movie, a truly vile piece of crap chosen by the author, and…
After a Fashion
Our Style Avatar gives the lowdown on the TV Judges’ style (or lack thereof).
Dancing About Architecture
Robbie Jacks is dead, but Auditorium Shores is not. Check back later about the Empanada Parlour.
Mr. Smith Goes to Austin
Writer / director Kevin Smith discusses his new film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
Mr. Smarty Pants
Of prime numbers and meat industry
Live Shots
Sade, India ArieVerizon Wireless Amphitheater, Selma, Texas, July 29 Toward the end of CenTex’s most recent death valley heat wave — 21 days straight of 100-degree heat — that’s when the Quiet Storm hit. In Selma, no less. And make no mistake, despite the local advertising barrage creating the illusion that the outdoor shed, which…
Short Stuff: The Arbor Theatre Unspools a New Short Film Program
There was a time not too terribly long ago that going to the movies meant just that: movies, a plurality of film(s) that implied not just the collective, multiscreen theatre experience of current multiplexes but also the likelihood of catching a series of short subjects — newsreels, cartoons, previews — before the advertised feature began.…
Second Helpings: Chinese, Part Two
More Chinese restaurants in this week’s “Second Helpings,” and a tip on where to find “meaty goodness”
Day Trips
The subterranean magnificence of Carlsbad Caverns
Live Shots
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle & The Dukes Backyard, August 1 Taking nothing away from their talents, the pairing of Mary Chapin Carpenter and Steve Earle seems like an odd one. Sure, they both flirted with country radio at one point, but those days are long past, and differences abound. Carpenter is more a folkie…
Short Cuts
Austin mourns Robbie Jacks.
Blood and Guts and Dirt and Joy
Michael Miller may appear at first meeting to be withdrawn, but he is absolutely present onstage and off, and his willingness to “get dirty” with his characters and continuous challenge to himself to be better make this seemingly reserved actor one of Austin’s best.
To Your Health
I can’t believe that at age 26 I have the same problem as my 63-year-old mother. We both leak urine if we sneeze or laugh. I have two children, and I have heard that this can make a difference. Since I can’t turn back the clock (and these two children are worth the misery), is…
Live Shots
Charlie Burton & the Texas 12-SteppersSaxon Pub, August 3 Charlie Burton has been looking for love in all the wrong places. Unlucky have been HEB, site of “Wishful Thinking,” and Eckerd, where he wanders the aisles ruminating “I Wonder, Is Propecia Right for Me?” (Women’s names and hair-replacement drugs sound more alike every year.) Shopping…
TV Eye
Zen and the art of Samurai cartoonage
Articulations
Austin won’t be the same without cultural legends Steve Barton, John Martin, and Robbie Jacks.
Coach’s Corner
Do we need weather reports to tell us it’s hot in Texas in August? How about to tell us it’s wrong to have China host the Olympics?
Live Shots
The FlatlandersNewport Folk Festival, Newport, Rhode Island, August 4 The Newport Folk Festival has been the site of some very significant happenings in the world of music: Bob Dylan introduced his electric band here (to unabashed disapproval by the dogmatic acoustic crowd), Joan Baez wooed the crowd for years, as did all the Seegers, not…
Bride of the Wind
Bride of the Wind 2001, R, 99 min. Directed by Bruce Beresford, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jonathan Pryce, Sarah Wynter, Vincent Perez, Simon Verhoeven, Dagmar Schwarz, Gregor Seberg. Like the most recent Merchant-Ivory joint The Golden Bowl, this tony biopic begins by backdropping its characters — hot-tempered, cliquish European intellectuals — against…
