Jules and Jim
Jules and Jim 1961, NR, 104 min. Directed by François Truffaut, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre. In this enduringly transcendent love story, Truffaut traces the relationships between three lovers and friends over the years. Moreau dominates every fragment of the movie with her magisterial eroticism. The film…
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange 1971, R, 137 min. D: Stanley Kubrick; with Malcolm McDowell. Now that all is said and done, it’s clear that A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey will be Stanley Kubrick’s lasting artistic legacy, not his “penultimate” movie of last summer, Eyes Wide Shut. Pulled from theatrical circulation for most of…
The Brandon Teena Story
The Brandon Teena Story 1998, NR, 90 min. Directed by Susan Muska And Greta Olafsdottir, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) presents this acclaimed documentary that focuses on the same news story that forms the basis of the soon-to-be-released movie Boys Don’t Cry. The…
Pigs and Battleships
Pigs and Battleships 1961, NR, 108 min. Directed by Shohei Imamura, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Hiroyuki Nagato, Tetsuro Tambo. The Austin Film Society series examines the films of Japanese director Shohei Imamura, one of the most important ñ and least internationally known ñ post-war filmmakers. Pigs and Battleships, a film of “extravagant…
Kiss Triple Feature
Kiss Triple Feature NR. Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, Detroit Rock City, and a live performance by Texas’ premiere KISS cover band, Rip and Destroy, featuring Mike Henry (former owner of the now defunct Electric Lounge) constitutes this Alamo triple feature. @Alamo…
The 400 Blows
Truffaut’s first and perhaps most affecting feature, The 400 Blows, tells the story of a young boy and his petty crimes and mischief. The freeze frame that concludes the movie is one of the most quoted images in the history of cinema.
All the President’s Men
All the President’s Men 1976, PG, 138 min. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards. The TeIt’s the movie that inspired a generation of students to apply to journalism school because of its glorification of news reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Drawn from…
Straw Dogs
Straw Dogs 1971, R, 118 min. Directed by Sam Peckinpah, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.p. Mckenna, Peter Arne, David Warner. This eight-part film series dedicated to a reassessment of Sam Peckinpah’s career is curated by local access TV’s Show With No Name and runs through Dec.…
Collectivos: Seeds Of Our Ancestors
Santa Cruz Center for Culture October 22-24 Have you noticed the increasing number of “fests” dominating Austin’s dance calendar lately? January kicked off the year with Chris Valentine’s Austin Dance Fest, a compilation of local dance artists; April hosted Charles Santos’ Austin Festival of Dance, a fundraiser for AIDS Services of Austin; August delivered Pro…
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests. This week�s list of bestsellers is from Resistencia Bookstore, 603 W. Live Oak.
Perfect Pairings
Brio Vista and Mirabelle recently received an Award of Excellence from The Wine Spectator. See how well they fare on the elusive marriage between their menus and their wine lists.
Record Reviews
The Jive Bombers Hit the Deck, It’s the Jive Bombers (Texas Jamboree) Local jump and jive six piece the Jive Bombers throw their collective hat into the post-WWII swing ring with 15 cuts of rolling dance fuel. Clocking in at three-quarters of an hour, about half of this debut’s tracks were penned by the band,…
Record Reviews
Blue Noise BandMulti-Purpose (Aerosol) Chameleon-like in character, Austin’s Blue Noise Band skitters about from reference point to reference point, never quite letting you in on their overriding motive. Just when you think they’re about to pitch woo in the direction of the brunch crowd, this local avant-jazz quartet throws in some heinous kink that’s guaranteed…
Council Watch
Several prospective candidates are expressing an interest in running for the council seat Gus Garcia is vacating
Body Shots
Body Shots 1999, R, 102 min. Directed by Michael Cristofer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ron Livingston, Tara Reid, Amanda Peet, Jerry O’Connell, Sean Patrick Flanery. “Sex without love equals violence.” That’s the bleak thesis lashing around at the bottom of this murky feature, an indictment of frat-boy hedonism in which beautiful twentysomethings…
Music of the Heart
Music of the Heart 1999, PG, 124 min. Directed by Wes Craven, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kieran Culkin, Charlie Hofheimer, Jay O. Sanders, Josh Pais, Gloria Estefan, Cloris Leachman, Angela Bassett, Aidan Quinn, Meryl Streep. In yet another sign that the End Times are upon us, Craven, a director more known for…
Articulations
Robert Faires gets goosebumps from his first visit to the new Flatbed World Headquarters.
Off the Bookshelf
Short reviews of recently published books.
Wines of Spain
Wines of Spain, a trade group, recently hosted a tasting in Austin of Rioja wines.
Record Reviews
Brobdingnagian BardsMarked by Great Size (Mage) Since the Brobdingnagian Bards are one of those acts that conveniently skirt categorization, let’s just call them “Celtic lo-fi.” The autoharp-and-recorder (and occasionally mandolin) duo of Marc Gunn and Andrew McKee is most often found on UT’s South Mall weekdays, noon-1pm, but perform just as regularly at coffeehouses, pubs,…
Record Reviews
LeftyEverybody Loves a Hero (Wish Wash Communications) Funky electronic skiffle, Lefty is the sort of eerie, one-off project that arrives full blown from parties intent on capturing the gloomy magic of late-night noodling. This is unclassifiable, almost avant-noise rock with spooky electronic overtones, switching from manic, synthesized walls of sound to quiet, almost languid passages…
Media Clips
The Austin American-Statesman accuses the Texas Department of Public Safety of witholding public information on the Waco siege; KOOP founder Jim Ellinger gets shut out of the radio station’s building.
Now & Then: From Frosh to Seniors
Now & Then: From Frosh to Seniors 1999, NR, 87 min. Directed by Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . So it’s a quarter to midnight and you’re alone in your sepulchral law office, grimly making up the billable-hours deficit you incurred during your biennial vacation. And then it hits…
Exhibitionism
Contemporary Art from Cuba: No Need to Be AmericanAustin Museum of Art — Downtown, through November 7 Any teacher will tell you, I think, that they learn from the students they teach. Certainly my recent experience leading a two-session workshop on art criticism for the Austin Museum of Art proved instructive. Looking at art through…
Off the Bookshelf
Short reviews of recently published books.
Food-o-File
The Culinary Academy of Austin has joined forces with Reuben’s Wine & Spirits to highlight the various world cuisines – find out how to participate; Mezzaluna celebrates 10 years of business; and an Organic Update..
Record Reviews
The Loy Sisters Band Where We Belong (SpiNSight) The Loy Sisters, Sarah and Rachel (ages 16 and 18) list among their influences Sarah McLachlan and the Indigo Girls, so it’s no surprise that at times, the two sound like two McLachlans overdubbed on top of each other. Their debut mixes jazzy tracks, pop-rock numbers, South…
Record Reviews
ST 37I Love to Talk, If There’s Anything to Talk About (Emperor Jones) Boyoboy, do ST 37 ever live up to the title of this one! With the opening “Acetone,” a slice of Sixties Texas punk as heard through an air vent, the chatter begins, which in this case is a redneck voice spouting homilies…
Eat Him Up
Reviews of the Italian horror maven’s Cat in the Brain, The Beyond, Gates of Hell, and Zombie
The Straight Story
David Lynch takes the long road to a strange story of brotherly love
Exhibitionism
Cosi Fan Tutte: Doin’ What Comes NaturallyMcCullough Theatre, through October 31 Running Time: 2 hrs, 45 min There is something about sexual shenanigans and Mozart. Don’t take love too seriously, he seems to be saying with his buoyant music and his characters’ whimsical stage antics. Wait until November for the darker side of humanity’s preoccupation…
Off the Bookshelf
Short reviews of recently published books.
Things That Go Bump
Young writer Eli Kooris spends the night in a haunted photography shop to see what he can scare up.
Record Reviews
Sarah Elizabeth Campbell & the BannedLive Sarah Elizabeth Campbell’s backup outfit is so catchily punned, it’s a little perplexing that the second and third songs on this KUT LiveSet are titled “The Rain Song” and “The Car Song” — especially since Campbell penned both (plus set opener “Bluesville”) with noted Nashville wordsmith Gwil Owen. Obviously,…
Record Reviews
ZZ TopXXX (RCA) Thirty long years after this little ol’ three-headed beast sprang from the Houston topsoil (hence the beer ‘n’ sex soaked album title, according to one Billy F. Gibbons), ZZ Top is still the meanest, grittiest, most lowdown critter this state’s hard soil has produced. Couldn’t get rid of it if you tried.…
Lucio Fulci Festival Schedule
Lucio Fulci Festival Schedule All screenings are at the Alamo Drafthouse, 409 Colorado, at midnight. Tickets are $10/night (available 30 minutes before showtime) and $25/festival pass (available in advance). Shows are 18 and up. For more information, call 867-1839 or log onto http://www.drafthouse.com. Thu, Oct 28: The Beyond Fri, Oct 29: Gates of Hell Sat,…
Exhibitionism
Obsessively Sam: Surreal Real WorldThe Vortex, through November 5 The set is college-house trashed — Whataburger boxes and old newspapers adorn every square inch of floor space; a beat-up chair and couch hover around a perpetually on TV. As unto a twisted and actually entertaining version of MTV’s Real World, Obsessively Sam (written and directed…
Page Two
The history of the intermittent Halloween mask covers and of burgeoning staff dinners.
Urban Legends: The Psychology of Fear
A teenage couple is making out in a car on the side of the road late one night when they hear over the radio that a dangerous convict has escaped from prison and is loose in the area. He is a violent, brutal murderer and is distinguished by a hook which serves as a hand.…
Record Reviews
Seaman’s Quartet(Herkemer) On their eponymous debut, Seaman’s Quartet present 11 eloquent, polished songs about the sweet ache of love and the heart’s eternal hope. Seaman’s Quartet — quintet, really — features Larry Seaman, veteran of Austin’s music scene since he headed one of the best local bands of the punk/ new wave era, Standing Waves.…
Eve of Destruction?
The City plans for a big New Year’s Eve party downtown while East Sixth Street merchants complain of threat of competition
The Gates of Hell
D: Lucio Fulci (1980); with Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo de Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi. (92 minutes) “I am Bob’s head. See Bob’s head punctured by a power drill. Go, drill, go. Poor Bob.” That enduring scene — one of many in this cornucopia of dross personages — makes this a perennial Fulci fave, bracketed as…
Sugar Town
Sugar Town 1999, R, 93 min. Directed by Kurt Voss, Allison Anders, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Vincent Berry, Martin Kemp, Beverly D’Angelo, Lumi Cavazos, Lucinda Jenney, John Doe, Michael Des Barres, John Taylor, Jade Gordon, Larry Klein, Rosanna Arquette, Ally Sheedy. Cross some Robert Altman with a little bit of All About…
Postscripts
The hall of mirrors that is J.H. Hatfield’s Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President and upcoming appearances in Austin by Nathan Englander (For the Relief of Unbearable Urges).
Page Two: The Bar Witch Project
Carole Keeton Rylander Halloween mask instructions
Austin Ghost Tours
It’s a warm, fall afternoon in Oakwood Cemetery. Jeanine Plumer is walking through a forest of headstones, stepping from shadow to shadow, avoiding the intensity of the sun. She stops at one point and bends down, brushing away dry, dead leaves. “Look at this one,” she says, pointing to a small white stone, perpendicular to…
Record Reviews
Jerry Jeff Walker Gypsy Songman (Tried & True) Jerry Jeff Walker splits people into two camps: ones who love the Texas Raconteur routine, and those who don’t, and never the twain shall meet. Walker released this CD as a companion piece for his upcoming autobiography by the same name, and with sidemen like John Inmon,…
We’re Having a Party …
… A city-sanctioned New Year’s Eve party — A2K — with headliners Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Kelly Willis, and Shawn Colvin. For more info, see http://www.austin2K.org Street Closures —- —- —- Streets will be blocked off to traffic between Lavaca and I-35, from Second to 11th Streets; barricades go up at 5pm Friday, Dec.…
Cat in the Brain
D: Lucio Fulci (1990); with Fulci, David L. Thompson, Jeoffrey Kennedy, Malisa Longo. (87 minutes) Okay, so you’re an aging Italian horror director, and you need to bust out another movie but don’t have a lot of time or money with which to do it. Solution? Feature yourself as the star, playing a director who…
The Gambler
The Gambler 1997, NR, 97 min. Directed by Károly Makk, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Michael Gambon, Jodhi May, Luise Rainer, Dominic West, Polly Walker, William Houston, Thom Jansen. The life and writing of Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky is artfully merged in this film adaptation of his short 1866 novel The Gambler. A…
Town and Country
Reviews of books by and about Texans in this week’s Books section.
Public Notice
It’s time for scary season, the season that has us examining our obsession with the nevermore, puts us in touch with our mortality, and brings us that much closer to our maker (and some of us to Maker’s Mark, but that’s another story — ).
Fashion Gets Grave
Austin’s Caskets by Design can insure that death will become you.
Record Reviews
Lee Roy Parnell Hits and Highways Ahead (Arista) Despite the fact that he doesn’ t fit the mold of your standard Hot New Country artist out of Nashville, Lee Roy Parnell has had a successful career in country music. Hits and Highways Ahead is a collection of his best-known songs (with the now-standard couple of…
Who Pays the Bills?
While Austin’s New Year’s Eve extravaganza carries the city’s name and blessings, the job of doling out the funds to pay for the downtown party falls on the Austin Community Foundation, a 22-year-old nonprofit administrator of a slew of charitable individual and corporate funds. “We serve as a connector between the givers and the recipients,”…
The Beyond
aka Seven Doors of Death D: Lucio Fulci (1981); with Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Sarah Keller, Antoine Saint-John. (87 minutes) When a moldering New Orleans hotel is inherited by a young woman, it turns out that there’s a nasty surprise in the cellar, in the form of a doorway to hell. Oops. Soon there are…
Rosie
Rosie 1998, NR, 97 min. Directed by Patrice Toye, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dirk Roofthooft, Frank Vercruyssen, Sara De Roos, Aranka Coppens. Of all the troubling ideas suggested by Belgian director Toye’s debut feature, here’s the one that really hits you like a cold chisel between the eyes: Much of the world’s…
Book Reviews
Whompyjawed by Mitch Cullin The Permanent Press, 190 pp., $22 There’s an idea in Texas lit that contemporary fiction about Texas must address the role its cities play in shaping the modern ethos of the state. But why? If it’s the idea that fictional consideration of modern urban life in Texas should be expanded at…
Mr. Smarty Pants
Haunting facts for Halloween season.
Over the 8 Ball
Anna Hanks consults one of the world’s most enduring toy fortune tellers just in time for Halloween.
Record Reviews
Bad Livers Dust on the Bible (Quarterstick)Barnes, Hokkanen & RubinAka the Mad Cat Trio (Lumpydisc) As Sugar Hill prepares for a new Bad Livers’ full-length next spring, Blood and Mood, two recent releases from the Austin-generated duo of Mark Rubin and Danny Barnes serve as handsome bookends to the decade-long lifespan of a band whose…
Man of the Hour
Superintendent Pat Forgione discusses his goals for AISD in a Q&A interview with reporter Kevin Fullerton.
Zombie
D: Lucio Fulci (1979); with Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver. (91 minutes) Released two years after Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (and in Italy as Zombi 2), this crimson, humid tale of — what else? — zombies on the loose on a deserted island, and later, New York City, stars Tisa Farrow…
Lucie Aubrac
Lucie Aubrac 1997, R, 116 min. Directed by Claude Berri, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Marie Pillet, Jean Martin, Bernard Verley, Heino Ferch, Eric Boucher, Jean-Roger Milo, Patrice Chereau, Daniel Auteil, Carole Bouquet. Germinal director Berri teams again with his Jean de Florette star Auteil and That Obscure Object of Desire’s Bouquet for…
Book Reviews
Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections at Sixty and Beyond by Larry McMurtry Simon & Schuster, 208 pp., $21 Earlier this year when Larry McMurtry, Texas’ preeminent novelist for almost 40 years, published his 23rd novel, Duane’s Depressed, which wrapped up the Thalia trilogy that began with The Last Picture Show (1966) and continued…
After a Fashion
Austin’s boutiques make our style avatar proud at Club DeVille’s semi-annual fashion show.
The Composer’s Roots
A look at the career of a premier jazz pianist, Dallas-born Cedar Walton
Record Reviews
Bradley Jaye Williams Tex-Mex Gumbo (Lazy SOB/Bismeaux) Bradley Jaye Williams has developed a reputation as one of the finest accordion players in Texas through his work as leader of both Los Pinkys and the Gulf Coast Playboys. Reflecting his diverse ability and taste, Tex-Mex Gumbo is the perfect title for his first solo effort. Where…
Election Endorsements
On Nov. 2, voters will be asked to approve a tax increase for Austin Community College and 17 constitutional amendments. The Chronicle�s endorsements and an explanation of the amendments.
Pigs, Pimps, and Pornographers
A look at this prolific, political Japanese filmmaker
Bats
Bats 1999, PG-13, 90 min. Directed by Louis Morneau, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Dina Meyer, Bob Gunton, Leon, Carlos Jacott, James Sie. If there’s one thing Austinites know, it’s that the bat is a cute little sucker whose most annoying trait is his mountainous guano output. For this reason…
Book Reviews
Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation: A Memoir John Phillip Santos Viking, 284 pp., $24.95 “It sometimes seems as if the Mexicans are to forgetting what the Jews are to remembering. We have made forgetting a sacramental obligation,” John Phillip Santos writes in his memoir, Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation.…
Day Trips
There is an immense, hairy creature lurking in the woods outside of the small Texas town of Hamilton, and no, it’s not your brother-in-law.
The Education of a Lifetime
A look at UT’s Performing Arts Center and the process by which they bring the biggest names in jazz to Austin.
Record Reviews
Bryan Duckworth Begin the Seguin (Duckway) The “Pecan Boogie,” according to the liner notes on Begin the Seguin, “is not intended for pregnant women, small children, those under a doctor’s care for vertigo or puny heart, the mathematically challenged or Baptists.” Right off the bat, that should tell you something about fiddler Brian Duckworth’s approach.…
Naked City
It’s just not an election without the traditional ploys of Austin’s suburban detractors in the Circle C Homeowners Association. Led by steering committee chair Ken Rigsbee, the group is opposing Austin Community College’s request for more money via a property tax increase — 5¢ per $100 valuation over the next four years. Voters go to…
Shohei Imamura Festival
Shohei Imamura Festival All films screen on Tuesdays at the Alamo Drafthouse, 409 Colorado, as part of the Austin Film Society’s Free Cinema series. Admission is free. Nov 2, 7pm Vengeance Is Mine Nov 9, 7pm Pigs and Battleships Nov 16, 7pm The Pornographers Nov 23, 7pm The Insect Woman Nov 30, 6:30pm Intentions of…
Book Reviews
Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson Crown, 323 pp., $25 At the beginning of the 20th century, Galveston was one of the biggest ports in the South, expecting nothing less than continued prosperity from the bounty of the sea. After the hurricane of September 8, 1900…
Coach’s Corner
Cornhuskers vs. Longhorns: don’t try this at home.
Dancing About Architecture
George Jones comes to Austin and everyone gets arrested in the melee. Meanwhile, Matthew McConaughey gets naked and busted, and Austin’s answer to Santana, Vallejo, signs with Gloria Estefan’s Sony imprint. Maybe K-NACK, a local alt.rock station from earlier this decade, can play them online as the station returns — on the Internet.
Record Reviews
The Claymores At first, The Claymores’ debut comes across like the progeny of Uncle Tupelo. After several listens, the same. Not unlike Son Volt or Wilco, but with more drinking references. Melodic and foot tappin’, but not too deep. The local trio of drummer Sean Okeefe, Gregg Yows on vocals and guitar, and Mike McAnally…
Naked City
AISD creates dropout prevention task force
Maverick Outsider
Avant-garde artist Willie Varela discusses politics, the nature of personal work, a career on the fringes, and what it’s like to be a Chicano filmmaker.
Book Reviews
LBJ: A Life by Irwin Unger and Debi Unger John Wiley & Sons, 586 pp., $30 Normally, a book with a page count coming in just shy of 600 pages would not be lauded for its brevity and compactness, but when the subject is a giant like Lyndon Johnson, an exception is warranted. Aside from…
About AIDS
The OZ Parties for HIV+ singles is celebrating with a One Year Anniversary Party, having hosted more than 200 guests in the past year! The festivities will be Saturday evening, November 13, 5-9pm at The Forum, 408 S. Congress. The party is planned for the rooftop patio but will relocate to the downstairs back bar…
Record Reviews
Sixteen DeluxeThe Moonman Is Blue (Sugar Fix) Mankind has still not understood time. Does the theory of relativity really explain how one moment can last a lifetime? How a lifetime can seem like minutes? The way 2:45 on a beat-up vinyl 45 can stop time? Afraid not. Can scientists explain why the boys and girls…
Record Reviews
Bobby Horton vs. Derek Peterson14 Jawbreakin’ Hits! (Texas Jamboree) Where’s Don King when you need him? Instead of a “Thrilla in Manila” or “Rumble in the Jungle,” this musical pairing is “Mental at the Continental,” or “Raisin’ Hell at the Carousel.” How ’bout “Action at the Saxon”? You get the idea. Here’s the blow-by-blow from…
Naked City
Hays County residents protest new road plan
Short Cuts
News from the Cinemaker Co-op, the Austin Film Society, Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Landmark Theatres, and SXSW 2000.
Book Reviews
Haley, Texas, 1959: Two Novellas of Texas by Donley Watt Cinco Puntos Press, 192 pp., $21.95 Donley Watt hails from the East Texas town of Athens; his two new powerful novellas, both set in the 1950s, are filled with an atmosphere of dread and guilt that stems from the violence, racism, and religiosity prevalent in…
Letters at 3AM
What does this so-called “boom” mean to most Americans?
Record Reviews
Drums and TubaFlatheads and Spoonies (My Pal God) It’s about time someone stepped up to the plate and offered Drums and Tuba a primo film scoring gig. Their latest LP would be perfect for a grainy, arthouse take on an action movie that deals in photorealism instead of boffo explosives. As such, Flatheads and Spoonies…
Record Reviews
Blaze a Blaze: Volume Too Blaze Foley must surely now hold the record for the most tribute albums devoted to an Austin artist who never got famous, and he’s not even through being fêted — this is supposed to be the second in a series of three. The late songwriter certainly merits the honor, though:…
Naked City
The General Accounting Office reveals that the Federal Trade Commission rarely punishes delinquent funeral homes.
Video Reviews
October Sky D: Joe Johnston (1999); with Laura Dern, Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper. You wouldn’t think that a film about rocket science could be an effective tearjerker, but October Sky works well on several fronts. Perhaps its biggest asset is that it’s based on a true story (see the autobiography Rocket Boys by NASA scientist…
Second Helpings: Simply Seafood
Tasty, bite-sized restaurant listings compiled from new and previous reviews, guides, and poll results. This week�s entries were compiled by Mick Vann.
Books Reviews
A Cowtown Chronicle: William D. Barney Poetry by William D. Barney Browder Springs Books, 97 pp., $12.95 (paper) William D. Barney is a legend among modern Texas poets. He was awarded the Robert Frost Memorial Award in 1962 from the great Frost himself. Fittingly, as a modernist, Barney is a retired postal worker, former Texas…
On the Pork Trail
Noel Coward once declared that “Any part of the piggy / Is quite all right with me” but we found five pork dishes at Austin restaurants that are more alright than others.
Record Reviews
Cyrus Rego(Emperor Jones) The six-string bass that Eddie Robert wields for Austin quartet Paul Newman is only the beginning of the lush musical atmosphere he creates as Cyrus Rego on his first solo release. Robert does everything here, adding simple guitar phrases and cascading keyboards as well as standard bass and a smattering of high,…
Record Reviews
Jack Ingram Hey You (Lucky Dog) There sure are a lot of singer-songwriters from the Hill Country. Robert Earl Keen, Owen Temple, Jack Ingram, they all kind of start running together after awhile. Ingram’s latest offering isn’t bad, but where’s the beef? There are good songs on here, good melodies and thoughtful lyrics, but the…
Naked City
Capital Metro agrees on a blueprint for light rail
Video Reviews
Point Blank D: John Boorman (1967); with Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, John Vernon, Carroll O’Connor, Keenan Wynn, James B. Sikking, Lloyd Bochner, Sharon Acker. During a heist at the old Alcatraz penitentiary, Walker (Marvin) is double-crossed by his partner Mal Reese (Vernon). Reese shoots Walker in a cell and leaves him for dead, making off…
Three for the Barre
With a serious amount of movement taking place on the Austin dance scene, the Chronicle asked three of its dance critics to review recent programs by Ballet Austin, Tapestry Dance Company, and the Latino dance festival Collectivos.
Book Reviews
Collected Poems 1920-1954by Eugenio Montale translated by Jonathan Galassi Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 600 pp., $40 For lovers of poetry and Italian literature, Jonathan Galassi’s elegant, admirable translations of the Nobel Laureate Eugenio Montale’s first three classic volumes, gathered together in Collected Poems 1920-1954, comes as an indispensable, welcome gift, especially since the glimmering, supple,…
Sizzling Slices of Smack
Resistance (to bacon) is futile.
Record Reviews
Bloo(Whirling Pool) Say what you will about the global electronica free-for-all, but Austin’s own little semi-secret clique of knobbies and circuit manglers is, frankly, far more interesting and than 90% of the traveling Euro-heroes we’ve had slink through town in the past couple of years. Not exactly what you’d call Oakenfold wannabes, local acts such…
Record Reviews
Blue CartoonDowntown Shangri-La (Aardvark) If ever an album cover was designed to attract a target audience, Downtown Shangri-La has one: the gorgeous painting looks for all the world as though the band stole it from the poor artist when he was en route to Justin Hayward’s house with it. As far as the music, Blue…
Naked City
The George W. Bush campaign juggernaut continues to rake in the dough. And while the big numbers from his latest financial report — $20.1 million raised, $12.7 million spent, with $37.7 million cash in the bank — have been widely reported, the report also shows that Bush continues to make a big push in California,…
Video Reviews
Prime CutD: Michael Ritchie (1972); with Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, Sissy Spacek, Angel Tompkins, Gregory Walcott. It’s never a good idea to think too hard about what’s really in a hot dog. A gangster is delivered back to his hometown in the form of a package of weenies from Mary Ann’s Meats in Kansas City,…
Bringing Out the Dead
Bringing Out the Dead 1999, R, 120 min. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, Tom Sizemore, Ving Rhames, John Goodman, Marc Anthony, Cliff Curtis. Even a miscue from Martin Scorsese is generally far superior to most of his contemporaries’ finest hours, and though Bringing Out the…
The Best of Tapestry
Paramount Theatre, October 22-23 There were many wonderful moments in Tapestry’s 10th anniversary program: the rhythmic interplay between two competing groups in Anacruces (1990), booty-scooting chairs to the playful Latin rhythms of Astrud Gilberto in Musical Chairs (1994), synchronized obsessive-compulsive itching behavior in Strung Out (1992), and dancers as surprise fountains squirting water from their…
In Person
Gregg Cantrell is a historian, a professor at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. Several years ago, he was asked to serve on a committee of people orchestrating the bicentennial celebration of Sam Houston’s birth. In the course of fulfilling that duty, he discovered that no less than four biographies of the fabled first president of the…
Country Living’s Handmade Halloween: Ideas for a Happy, Haunted Celebration
Six-year-old Rosalind Faires gives the low-down on a new book filled with Halloween project ideas.
Record Reviews
The StandardsBetween the Ditches (Abel) Could it be? A band with enough jive and sneer to sink the Flametrick Subs? Like their Black Cat brethren, the Standards prowl the back alleys of River City with reverb-drenched swagger, genuflecting at the altar of the Blue Moon Boys while singer Dana Shepard’s voice drips with enough sarcasm…
Record Reviews
Terry Bowness(Aardvark) A local pianist/composer who currently works with drummer Ernie Durawa in Los Jazz Vatos, Terry Bowness, with the help of co-producer Mitch Watkins, has delivered as cogent an Austin jazz introduction as any heard in recent years. He’s aligned himself with a cadre of fine local guitarists including Watkins, Glen Rexach, Clay Moore,…
Naked City
Bush sinks a fortune into presidential election campaign in California
TV Eye
Chick dramas: we just don’t get it; also, what to watch this witching weekend
The Best Man
Malcolm D. Lee, cousin of Spike, hits emotional pay dirt in this men’s-eye-view of marriage, fidelity, and love. ? Marc Savlov.
