Daytrips
For 111 years the Old Blanco County Courthouse has been a central part of the community’s identity. Although parts of the building show the wear of age, the narrow stairs to the second floor still command a quiet elegance. The building has served the community as a bank, newspaper, opera house, school, union hall, and…
Also Playing
Friday: Loblolly, Pato’s Tacos Saturday: Amy Tiven, Jovita’s Sunday: Susanna Sharpe, Oasis Monday: Dirty Oliver, Psychivore, White Rabbit Tuesday: Billy White Trio, Steamboat Wednesday: Recliners, Stubb’s Thursday: I Mother Earth, Tonic, Liberty Lunch
Tin Cup
Tin Cup 1996, R, 130 min. Directed by Ron Shelton, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, Linda Hart. Fore! Loath as I am to use even one golf metaphor, etiquette does require that I warn you. You’re about to get bonked on the head with a…
Page Two
I can’t imagine what the Tarantino Film Festival must have been like for those who braved the heart of it; my trip along its outer fringes was impressive enough. During the 10-day festival at the Dobie, Tarantino showed more than 30 films from his own collection. The Festival included double bills, kiddie shows, midnighters, special…
cornering the bagel market
Lee Wallace begins his business day at Hot Jumbo Bagels when most people are getting intimate with their REM cycles, arriving at two in the morning to load his truck for deliveries to grocery stores and restaurants all over town. Long before it ceased being the only freestanding bagel deli in town, Hot Jumbo cultivated…
Kansas City
Kansas City 1996, R, 110 min. Directed by Robert Altman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, Michael Murphy, Dermot Mulroney, Brooke Smith, Steve Buscemi, Jane Adams. The indefatigable Robert Altman is back with a new movie Kansas City that once again, like Nashville and The Player before…
Public Notice
Not Home Free Yet Just a reminder about tonight’s Benefit Reading for Lars Eighner, 7-9pm Thursday, Aug. 15, at Book Stop Central Park. As detailed in last week’s issue, Eighner, Austin’s most acclaimed formerly homeless person and author of Travels With Lizbeth, is again teetering on the brink of homelessness due to chronic and debilitating…
The Public as Afterthought
In the beginning, Mayor Bruce Todd altered the structure of city government. On the eighth day, he informed the public. Well, perhaps the divine analogy is a bit of a stretch, though Todd would probably run for the office of God if it ever became available. The chronology of the example, however, seems appropriate, considering…
The Fan
The Fan 1996, R, 115 min. Directed by Tony Scott, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin, John Leguizamo, Benicio Del Toro, Patti D’Arbanville-Quinn, Chris Mulkey. Try though he might, all the dreamy angles and soft-focus rain spatter in Tony Scott’s (True Romance, Top Gun) considerable bag of…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
During one point of World War II, the U.S. Army planned to bomb Japan with bats. Bulova created the first watch torture-test TV commercial in the 1950s. Soon after it dropped the concept, Timex stole the idea. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Council, an average of 111 people died each day in motor…
Frayed Webbing
Surfing the World Wide Web makes me feel like a demented child running amok in a candy store. The reptile cortex seems to take over, as the ease of jumping from one link to another fosters a heedless momentum that discourages stopping to savor delectable chunks of information. Fortunately, there aren’t too many of them.…
Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud
A hard-working woman with a slacker spouse accepts a no-strings-attached job from an older man, which grows into a deep friendship.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Writer
Three articles crossed my messy desk recently about how tough it is to be a writer — an “alternative” writer, a “Texas” writer, and some other kind of writer. (“Serious,” I think, was the designation.) How the corporate press prefers hacks, academia rewards jargon, poets are impoverished, publishers hype the facile, and cyber-barons call us…
Naked City
Jon Murray, the former president of American Atheists, along with his mother, Madalyn Murray O’Hair and his niece, Robin Murray, are still missing. But there is mounting evidence that the atheists’ disappearance was carefully planned, and that they cashed out their chips before leaving. John MacCormack of the San Antonio Express News reported on Sunday…
Switchblade Sisters
This nifty little movie is full of all the lurid teases, off-the-cuff production values, and trenchant topicality that make exploitation movies the fascinating cultural time capsules they are.
Eve About All
by Cari Marshall “Your work, metaphorically of course, falls between Marlene Dietrich’s legs and the bitter lives of migratory potato pickers.” In 1953, renowned photographer Robert Capa made this all-encompassing statement to Eve Arnold about her burgeoning photography career; more than four decades later, Capa’s words continue to best summarize Arnold’s work. Her innate versatility…
Menu Meltdown
Cafe Armageddon 2015 Manor Rd., 478-4857 Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm; Fri, 11am-Midnight; Sat, 9am-Midnight; Sun, 9am-10pm The good and the not-so-good are battling it out at Cafe Armageddon, the new Eastside eatery that promises diners “eclectic cuisine in a casual, nuclear age atmosphere.” Right on target when it comes to casual, Cafe Armageddon is small and uncluttered,…
If They Can Make It There…
Eleven Texas films have been chosen to be showcased at this year’s Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM) sponsored by the Independent Film Project (IFP) in New York City, September 15-22 at the Angelika Film Center. And six of those movies are straight from Austin. The IFFM is a marketing tool for independent filmmakers, a conference…
Emma
Emma 1996, PG, 120 min. Directed by Douglas McGrath, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette, Jeremy Northam, Alan Cumming, Ewan McGregor, Greta Scacchi, Juliet Stevenson, Polly Walker, Sophie Thompson, James Cosmo. I must confess that the only writing of Jane Austen I’ve ever read is the first 30 pages of…
Articulations
Well, the RATs are gone from our fair city, but like all good rodents, they’ve left a little something for us to remember them by — in this case, a piece of guerrilla art on the Drag. These particular savvy scavengers are actually theatre artists, mostly with smaller, poorer independent companies around the country, who…
Food-o-File
While local restaurant owners quietly celebrated the end of the two-week Olympic seige, their counterparts in the food-delivery business hated to see it end. “The Olympics gave our sales a big boost,” reports local Take-Out Taxi franchise owner Chris Marrus. Staff operators were able to identify commercial breaks or dull events by the volume of…
The Envelope, Please
Just announced are the first-ever grant recipients of the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund (TFPF). Grant money equaling a total of $30,000 has been awarded to 11 Texas film and video makers in amounts of up to $5,000. Establishing the Fund has been the dream of filmmaker Richard Linklater, who decided to take matters into his…
Bard Choices
Ah, Shakespeare. He stands at the apex of the theatre, recognized across the globe as the supreme dramatist for all time. It’s a given now, 400 years after the Bard’s birth, that his works transcend the ages, that they speak to audiences today as profoundly as they did to the ones in Elizabethan times. That’s…
El Rey Mexican Food
4109 S. Capitol of Texas Hwy in Brodie Oaks Shopping Center, 443-1911 Mon-Thu, 11am-9:30pm, `til 10:30pm on Friday; Sat, 9am-10:30pm; Sun, 9am-9:30pm By now it’s fairly common for famous musicians to have a favorite Austin hot sauce. The late Stevie Ray Vaughan was said to have a taste for the selections at the legendary Seis…
Take Three
While the Hollywood machine cranks out an endless stream of big-budget blockbusters for summertime consumption, several Austin independent filmmakers also are laboring on projects that are comparatively low on cost but high on aspirations. Currently, a half-dozen or so films are in the pre- to post-production stages. By now, the game plan is familiar to…
East Coast Aesthetic & Glass Invitational
Phillip E. Wade & Various Artists Lyons Matrix Gallery through September 13 I love an artist with a sense of humor. In the too-pensive and sober world of art, it’s nice to get a chuckle out of a painting. Or, as here, a few chuckles out of a collection of works. Phillip Wade’s acrylics nicely…
Dancing About Architecture
Well, Peg Miller wasn’t kidding when she said the new location for Chicago House would be a surprise; it’s going to be located at the Austin Music Hall. Gone are the times when her best acts would get too big for the former Sixth Street club. “Now,” says Miller, “I’ve got so much room it’ll…
If They Can Make It There…
Eleven Texas films have been chosen to be showcased at this year’s Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM) sponsored by the Independent Film Project (IFP) in New York City, September 15-22 at the Angelika Film Center. And six of those movies are straight from Austin. The IFFM is a marketing tool for independent filmmakers, a conference…
Many Voices
San Antonio’s King William neighborhood is an idyllic, comfortable pocket at the foot of the city’s downtown. The San Antonio River winds lazily through the middle of it, its multi-racial inhabitants live in old, cared-for houses with lush yards and incredible character. At first glance, it seems too cozy to sustain any kind of frenzy.…
Live Shots
JUNIOR BROWN, ROBERT EARL KEEN Aqua Fest, Auditorium Shores, July 30 Everything you know is wrong. Who knew that nugget of wisdom from U2’s Zoo TV tour would describe the tale of two Texans making their way in the big, bad world of country music? First up, you have Junior Brown, the urbane guitar wizard,…
The Envelope, Please
Just announced are the first-ever grant recipients of the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund (TFPF). Grant money equaling a total of $30,000 has been awarded to 11 Texas film and video makers in amounts of up to $5,000. Establishing the Fund has been the dream of filmmaker Richard Linklater, who decided to take matters into his…
Warm Baths
Never in a Hurry by Naomi Shihab Nye Ingram Book Co., $16.95 hard The most unusual soundbite from Never in a Hurry’s cover blurbs comes from Albert Goldbarth, who likens Nye’s writing to a “warm bath.” Nye doesn’t mind the analogy (“I like warm baths,” she says with typical cheerfulness), but Goldbarth’s phrase implies a…
Screened and Searched
It was 5:25am, July 27, when I heard about the bomb blast at the Olympics. We’d been traveling and I got in my truck to drive home and heard the news on the radio. My immediate thoughts — when I realized the explosion had been in Centennial Park during a rock concert — were, “Oh…
Scan Lines
D: Paul Verhoeven; with Elizabeth Berkeley, Kyle McLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Alan Rachins. VHS Home Video Encore Movies & Music, 8820 Burnet No director who ever set out to deliberately make a bad movie made a good bad movie — it’s always those with loftier aspirations that trip and stumble face-first. Enter for bad-movie…
Post Scripts
* THU, AUG 15: Lars Eighner’s Travels with Lizbeth may have an unhappy sequel, unless his many Austin fans pitch in to help. Eighner’s novel, as you probably know, chronicled his struggle with homelessness on the streets of Austin and California. Largely due to the success of that book, Eighner was able to put a…
Things to Do in Denver
I’m gonna tell you as much as I remember about my trip to Atlanta. First of all, I got up early Thursday morning and did my hotel in-room exercises. Got all energetic thinkin’ about it. Got Gerald up, he drove me to the airport in Denver. Got on the plane — it was a real…
Shortcuts
Experimental filmmaker Bill Daniel says of his traveling mini-fest, Seven Underground Films Tour 13 Cities in 13 Days in One `65 Chevy Van, “I think it’s kind of a deal for filmmakers who wish they were touring rock stars instead.” Daniel (brother of local cinematographer Lee Daniel) will be presenting the short films in person…
Hearth and Soul
Dream Home I think I’m such a hardened cynic, certain nothing will surprise a tough cookie like myself. My first glimmer of political awareness flickered on during Watergate, illuminating nothing but big lies, so I don’t believe a thing a politician says. When my boyfriend slept with my best friend when I was in the…
The Big Pow Wow
It seems there’s one thing that all fine Americans and people everywhere around the world have in common: the need to have a title. The Derailers are no exception. Individually and collectively we’ve worn a lot of hats, but the title given to us for our participation in the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games, was…
Fun
by Naomi Shihab Nye Places designed for fun made her feel particularly glum. Motto clipped to her refrigerator door. Visitors would ask, Where did you get that? I made it up. They laughed. They copied it into their checkbooks. They said they felt that way too. Then who were all these other people, clogging highways…
Coach’s Corner
So I say to Floyd, I say, “Floyd, my boy.” Floyd, in case you don’t know, is a large dog. I say, “Son, I’ve been in every so-called arm-pit in this country. I’ve been to Lincoln, Nebraska… Marquette, Michigan …and Detroit. I’ve been to Norman, Oklahoma… hell, I’ve been all through Oklahoma. I’ve even been…
Fear of Flying
Saturday, July 27, 1996, Chicago: I hear the news of the Centennial Olympic Park bomb while waiting at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, en route to the Southeast to play a couple of dates before hitting our gig at this very park. Still stunned by the news of the downed TWA Flight 800 and the Valuejet crash…
Commencement Exercises
This is too good a story not to share. Seven years ago, Jean-Louis DeHoux, chef/owner of the Belgian Restaurant, invited Belgian Culinary Institute instructor Christian Echterbille to visit his restaurant and develop some recipes. Echterbille took the resulting recipes home and taught them to his students, instilling in them an interest in the cuisines of…
Tell us what’s it like to be a young gay or bisexual man today — and earn up to $30
If you are a gay or bisexual man, you may be approached in the next 2-3 months by someone asking you to fill out a survey asking what it’s like being a young gay or bisexual man today. You will be told that: * The Young Men’s Survey is a major study examining how gay…
Olympic Diaries
The use of a grenade on the cover of the Chronicle this week is ironic. Ironic because it should not be an image that ties in so well with the Olympics Diaries presented herein. Certainly, when we asked the five Austin acts represented here — Don Walser, Tish Hinojosa, Asleep at the Wheel, the Derailers,…
Original Gangstas.preview
Original Gangstas.preview R, 99 min. Directed by Larry Cohen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Paul Winfield, Isabel Sanford, Ron O’Neal, Richard Roundtree, Dru Down, Shyheim, Luniz, Charles Napier, Wings Hauser, Scarface, Bushwick Bill. Not reviewed at press time. What a dump! No, not the movie; I haven’t…
Benefits
Sunday, 18 The Lounge Show Goes Live to benefit 91.7 KO.OP Community Radio Station, at Carousel Lounge, 1110 E. 52nd, 7pm. $4. 472-1369. Silent & Live Auctions benefit Tri-Angel Unlimited, Community Empowerment Co-op, at Waterloo Brewing Co., Fourth & Guadalupe, 5-8pm. 494-0760. Monday, 19 The “Cool to Collaborate” Golf Tournament to benefit Tri-Angel Unlimited, Community…
Walser’s March
Well, I have some good news and some bad news concerning our trip to Atlanta. The bad news is, there was a bomb that exploded right in front of the stage where the Pure Texas Band (Scott Walls on steel guitar, Skinny Don Keeling on bass, Howard Kalish on fiddle, guitar, and harmonica, and Phillip…
Alaska
Alaska 1996, PG, 108 min. Directed by Fraser C. Heston, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Thora Birch, Vincent Kartheiser, Dirk Benedict, Charlton Heston, Duncan Fraser, Gordon Tootoosis. If you can manage to overlook some annoying gaps in logic and the relentless bombast of the ever-present musical score, Alaska is a pretty decent kids’…
