Under Heaven
Under Heaven R, 115 min. Directed by Meg Richman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Joely Richardson, Aden Young, Molly Parker, Kevin Phillip, Krisha Fairchild. Not reviewed at press time. Meg Richman’s debut film made its Austin premiere at the 1998 SXSW Film Festival after screening at Sundance. Loosely based on Henry James’ The…
Page Two
The question, for now at least, really is not whether or not Lacresha Murray is guilty. The question is, was she treated fairly? The medical examiner, the police, the district attorney – they all work for Lacresha Murray; did they do right by her? Read Jordan Smith’s exhaustive piece on the case this issue. It…
Chamber Balks on Bonds
A lot of factors played a role in the Daryl Slusher, Kirk Watson, Bill Spelman push to shift more of the bond package funding into public works and transportation. But the major outside factor was an attempt by the Slusher/Spelman/Watson trio to lobby for the endorsement of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. The chamber…
Buffalo ’66
Buffalo ’66 1998, R, 120 min. Directed by Vincent Gallo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara, Anjelica Huston, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Corrigan, Rosanna Arquette, Jan-Michael Vincent. “Indie! Indie! Indie!��� is the unspoken mantra behind enfant terrible Gallo’s directorial debut (he was previously seen in Palookaville as well as…
Public Notice
Nothing prurrrrrr-ient here… So Mayor Kirk Watson is the Great Mediator, eh? Well, we’ll see about that. We’ll see how long he can keep smooth the fur of the most finicky, prissy, picky curmudgeon of them all. El Kirk will personally welcome Morris the Cat, Fri, Aug 7, 1pm at the huge new HEB at…
Justice Denied?
“Our responsibility is to help Lacresha heal not by blaming everybody else for what she did, but by helping her accept responsibility for what she did. Accepting responsibility is the beginning of healing.” – District Attorney Ronnie Earle, August 1996 Lacresha Murray’s grandparents, Shirley and R. L. Murray, believe she is innocent. photograph by Jana…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
A toaster oven uses about as much power as a motor boat. The expression “chaise lounge” is not French (not good French anyway). The expression in French is “chaise longue” or “long chair.” The American habit of lounging apparently led to the transposition of letters. If built today, the Empire State Building would cost over…
Libertarians on TV
“I don’t care if it’s Bill Clinton or Governor Bush, they’re all elitist filth if you ask me.” –Alex Jones photograph by Jana Birchum So, you want to do a story on the crazy guys?” Alex Jones is not ignorant of what people are saying about him. They’re whispering behind his back – well, no,…
The Keepers of Your Silence II
illustration by Jason Stout America declared her independence by breaking an ancient silence � an ancient taboo. At the time, Europe was a continent of state-enforced religions, where royalty’s word was all and all other words could be crushed by law. (Taboo is always a matter of enforced silence.) The United States was the first…
Naked City
Five alleged gang members suspected of pushing crack cocaine and wreaking havoc in a north Austin neighborhood made history last week as targets of Texas’ first gang injunction. District Court Judge Wilford Flowers granted the injunction sought by the District Attorney’s office. The order prohibits the five from interacting with each other, or with fellow…
Food-O-File
The second annual SIMS Supper is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, August 11. Several local restaurants have agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds from meals sold that day to benefit the nonprofit SIMS Foundation (263-2281). The foundation and the event are named for former Pariah bassist Sims Ellison, who took his own life…
She Believes
by Jordan Smith photograph by Jana Birchumn On a warm July morning two years ago, Barbara Taft was on the Leander express bus headed to her job in downtown Austin when her life took a dramatic turn. On this day she had forgotten to bring a book with her to read on the bus so…
Articulations
This is your last weekend to go journeying across the cosmos with the Johnson/Long Dance Company (see the “Exhibitionism” arts page this issue for Robi Polgar’s review of J/LDC’s Atlas of the Universe), but it’s far from your last chance to go crossing frontiers with this pioneering dance/theatre troupe. Company co-founder Andrew Long reports that…
Cooking in Heels
Women have reigned over most kitchens since time began. But when cooking turned into a respectable “profession,” hot stoves became the province of men. As recently as 40 years ago, top restaurants knocked a woman’s work, unless it was to toss salads or plate pastries. Only in the last few decades have women reclaimed their…
Drive Time
Willie Nelson, at a 1994 Austin City Limits, joins old friends on ACL this week. I could have run a picture of Mick Jagger, ya know. Lucinda Williams had just walked off the Austin City Limits stage after rehearsal for the evening’s taping. Producer Terry Lickona was waiting with a grin on his face, and…
Exhibitionism
Movements Gallery, through August 15 Running time: 1 hr For one night, put off Club DeVille. Don’t meet at Caucus Club or Continental or any of those swank haunts of the warehouse district. Pack your cigarette case and your dancing shoes, and hoof it to Sixth Street, ’cause the cool kids are puttin’ on a…
Austin Women Chefs Grow in Number
When the results of the Chronicle’s 1997 Restaurant Poll were tabulated last fall, several women had received votes in the category of “Best Chef.” Although women have been creating food businesses and working in Austin kitchens for more than 20 years, 1997 was the first year that Chronicle readers seemed to take notice. The percentage…
Scanlines
D: Amy Heckerling (1995) with Alicia Silverstone, Dan Hedaya, Stacey Dash, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Wallace Shawn Like, there are three videos in this section and you thought we’d put Ernest Borgnine’s mug here? As if! Alicia Silverstone is irresistibly charming in Clueless. Intense moments on foggy moors, decadent period costumes and stilted banter characterize…
It Was a Very Good Year
photograph by Bret Brookshire Some years in a life stand out from the rest. They may be distinguished by some monumental change that alters one’s path in life: a shift in careers, a move to a new city, a wedding. Or they may be marked by an especially vivid experience that sticks in the memory,…
Dancing About Architecture
As one might’ve guessed, this was a big week for Lucinda Williams – and for her fans – starting from the moment she arrived in Austin last Monday and began rummaging through South Austin thrift stores with a vengeance. This alone gave her precious little spare time, most of which was spent either by the…
Shortcuts
Reel Women is hosting a fundraiser on Saturday, August 8, 7pm-midnight, at the East 13th Street Heritage House (one block east of I-35). Entertainment includes the Latin soul of Oh Frankie! and Las Locos, door prizes, and tarot readings. Food and drink will be provided. Admission is $5 per person and all proceeds benefit the…
Texas Tropes
photograph by John Anderson In the 1995 film Search & Destroy there is a brief scene that’s set in Dallas; Don Graham, the president of the Texas Institute of Letters, English professor at the University of Texas, and author, is probably aware of the film for that reason alone, even though the film’s subject is…
Bombs Not Bullets
DJ Sista Stroke photograph by Bruce Dye Summer ’98 may well go down in Austin’s musical history books as the moment when local hip-hop artists and artisans finally, grudgingly, got their due. Then again, maybe not. The Austin hip-hop scene has been short of performance venues for as long as anyone in the local scene…
Holograms of a Different Stripe
Like most non-MIT Media Lab grads, my experience with perceived holography has until now been limited to Princess Leia’s supplicative shout-out to Obi Wan, courtesy of George Lucas, and a few moldering, grooved trinkets scavenged from boxes of stale Cracker-Jack (one of which – I kid you not – portrayed a disturbing vision of a…
Can Don Graham Say That?
People read Don Graham for any number of reasons: to laugh, to disagree, to gain insight. For whatever reason, all Don Graham readers know he gets to the point, and quickly. Here are some choice quotes from Giant Country: Essays on Texas. The year Graves took his canoe down the Brazos [1957], Jack Kerouac published…
Live Shots
LAUREL AITKEN & THE NEW YORK SKA-JAZZ ENSEMBLE Liberty Lunch, July 27 Dave Alvin at the Continental Club Friday, July 24 photograph by John Carrico It sure seems like a great idea: old-school ska all-stars playing jazz tunes to ska rhythms, then backing up the Godfather of Ska, Laurel Aitken. The combination of culturally rich…
Whatever
Whatever 1998, R, 112 min. Directed by Susan Skoog, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Liza Weil, Chad Morgan, Frederic Forrest, Kathryn Rossiter, Marc Riffon, Dan Montano, John G. Connolly. Troubled suburban teenhood – it’s rich narrative subject matter at least as old as the movies. It’s hard to add much that’s new to…
Giant Country
Don Graham’s book of essays, Giant Country: Essays on Texas (TCU Press, $22.50 hard) is as welcome as a couple thousand extra BTU’s and a tray of margaritas in the midst of the blast-furnace heat of the most miserable summer in memory. With his finely tuned sense of what it means to be Texan inside…
Recommended
Friday: Daniel Johnston, Kathy McCarty, Cactus Cafe; Rubinchik’s Orkestyr, Central Market Saturday: Joe Ely, Antone’s Sunday: Grover Washington, Jr., La Zona Rosa Monday: Unsane, Speedealer, Emo’s Tuesday: MC Overlord, Steamboat Wednesday: Brown Wh�rnet, Zulu as Kono, Squat Thrust, Flamingo Cantina Thursday: Squirrel Nut Zippers, Backyard
O Amor Natural
Recently unearthed erotic poetry of Carlos Drummond de Andrade is used by the filmmaker as an opening gambit for frank conversations about love and sex with random Brazilians.
Postscripts
Denison’s Dollars About a month and a half ago the Chronicle’s “Dancing About Architecture” column covered a civil case brought against Liberty Lunch and the Jesus Lizard by Austin resident Melissa Slepekis (Vol. 17, Nos. 41 & 42). Slepekis attended a May 1996 Lizard gig at Liberty Lunch and alleged that Lizard frontman David Yow…
Road Shows
AUGUST FRI 7 Elton John, Frank Erwin Center FRI 7 Blue Rags, Electric Lounge FRI 7 Los Skarnales, The Suspects, Emo’s FRI 7 Dread Zeppelin, Liberty Lunch FRI 7 Kim Lenz & her Jaguars, Speakeasy FRI 7 Alex Coke, Elephant Room FRI 7, SAT 8, Greyboy All-Stars, The Mercury SAT 8 Martin Zeller, Blue Rags,…
Snake Eyes
Snake Eyes 1998, R, 99 min. Directed by Brian De Palma, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, John Heard, Carla Gugino, Stan Shaw, Michael Rispoli, David Anthony, Kevin Dunn. Snake Eyes is a gamble, a chancy proposition. Confined to a single setting –a sprawling Atlantic City sports arena/casino — and…
About AIDS
There have been such advances in treatment for HIV disease and AIDS in the last two years that keeping up with the latest information is a challenge, but on Thursday, August 20, one of the nation’s foremost authorities will address a community forum in Austin. Martin Delaney, director of Project Inform, will discuss information presented…
Trunk Full of Funk
In the world of hip-hop,SoundScan ain’t shit. Not only does Billboard’s high-tech sales accounting system miss the majority of mom ‘n’ pop record stores around the country, it also fails to document trunk sales, perhaps the single most valuable marketing vehicle for hip-hop’s up-and-comers. The trunk technique, born on the West Coast and perfected by…
Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later
Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later 1998, R, 83 min. Directed by Steve Miner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Adam Arkin, Josh Hartnett, Janet Leigh, Jodi Lynn O’Keefe, Adam Hann-Byrd, LL Cool J, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Has it really been 20 years already? It seems like only yesterday good-girl babysitter Laurie Strode…
Benefits
SUN 9 PETelethon to benefit SPCA of Austin & Travis Co., on KEYE-42, CBS affiliate, noon-6pm. 491-9995. TUE 11 SIMS Supper & Live Music Event to benefit SIMS Foundation, at a variety of local restaurants and venues. 263-2281. WED 12 Buck Owens B’day Bash to benefit Travis County Children’s Advocacy, at The Continental Club, 7pm.…
A Day of Dickering
by Jenny Staff and Mike Clark-Madison At its marathon work session on Wednesday, August 5, the City Council was supposed to exchange one protracted headache – authorizing the lineup for the September mega-bond election – for another, the annual Long March toward adopting a new city budget. But as the day wore on, it appeared…
Marie Baie Des Anges
Marie Baie Des Anges 1997, R, 90 min. Directed by Manuel Pradal, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Vahina Giocante, Frederic Malgras, Amira Casar, David Kilner, Jamie Harris, Frederic Westerman, Nicolas Welbers, Swan Carpio. Tout le monde loves a good pout, and Marie Baie Des Anges does not disappoint. Neither the adolescent strutting of…
Coach’s Corner
For the past two weeks, The Coach has been out of touch with all his high-tech gizmos and devices, the sum of which keeps him in touch with the world. Though he fancies himself an old-fashioned sort of fellow, the lack of telephones and thus, more importantly, the uselessness of the modem (cutting him off…
Proposed Changes in The Citizens Bond Advisory Committee Spending Plan
All figures in thousands The Slusher/Spelman/Watson proposal includes some reorganization and redistribution of projects which is not reflected here. Both council options now involve funding some projects with money from the operating fund, rather than with a bond issue; these figures reflect total funding. Citizens Committee Griffith Plan Slusher Plan Changes Slusher Plan Changes Public…
The Negotiator
The Negotiator 1998, R, 141 min. Directed by F. Gary Gray, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, J.t. Walsh, Regina Taylor. Another solid, cerebral actioner by Gray (Set It Off) that makes the most of black-male-rage icon Jackson and an equally impressive (if…
Day Trips
The Crossing in Bastrop re-creates a small settlement on the Colorado River with good food, shopping, and lodging together in a scenic location with artifacts of happy junk collectors. photograph by Gerald E. McLeod The Crossing on the Colorado River in downtown Bastrop is the newest old part of the historic town. Nine buildings moved…
The September Bond Election: Three Proposals
Total of Bonds on the Ballot Projects to Be Funded with Cash Total of Proposed Capital Projects Citizens Bond Advisory Committee $334,721,000 0 $334,721,000 Slusher/Spelman/Watson $335,243,000 $51,850,000 $387,093,000 Griffith/Garcia/Lewis $349,812,000 $51,204,000 $401,016,000
Safe Men
A talentless singing duo become even less-talented safecrackers in this inspired comedy.
