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The Luv Doc: Advice on Advice

Dear Luv Doc, My gal pal is dating a horrible guy that is consistently mean and rude to her. She calls it quits, then takes him back, and though she asks for my advice, she never takes it (dump him!). What should I do? Butt out? – Over it First of all, whatever I say,…

by The Luv Doc

The Pyramid

A team of U.S. archeologists becomes lost and hunted in the labyrinthine catacombs of a buried pyramid.

by William Goss

Point and Shoot

This documentary follows an American man’s motorcycle trip through Northern Africa and the Middle East, during which he takes up arms against Moammar Gadhafi in Libya.

by Louis Black

Wild

Reese Witherspoon stars as Cheryl Strayed in this autobiographical trek of expiation.

by Kimberley Jones

Top Five

Chris Rock is on a roll with this funny yet pointed comedy, which he wrote and directed, and also stars in.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Lingaa (Tamil)

Lingaa (Tamil) 2014, NR, 174 min. Directed by K.S. Ravikumar, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Rajinikanth, Jagapati Babu, Anushka Shetty, Sonakshi Sinha. Not reviewed at press time. In Tamil and Telugu.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Lingaa (Telugu)

Lingaa (Telugu) 2014, NR, 174 min. Directed by K.S. Ravikumar, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Rajinikanth, Jagapati Babu, Anushka Shetty, Sonakshi Sinha. Not reviewed at press time. In Tamil and Telugu.

by Marjorie Baumgarten

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Americans ordered more than 200 million gluten-free meals in restaurants last year. You can now obtain gluten-free communion wafers. The United States’ three main power grids – one for the eastern U.S., one for the west, and one serving most of Texas – include more than 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. That’s enough to…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Box Sets

Bob Dylan & The Band The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 (Columbia Legacy) The mass of informal home recordings Bob Dylan cut with the Band in the spring and summer of 1967 remains one of rock & roll’s most mythologized caches. The Basement Tapes’ powerful mystique first manifested on the genre’s bootleg…

by Scott Schinder

Hornography

Now that the regular season is over and college football is set to stagger through its bowl games, Texas fans are left looking forward to a ceremonial nightcap to the season, and wondering about their future in a conference that can’t figure out a way to declare a singular victor. Texas will take on Bret…

by Eric Sollenberger

Box Sets

Wilco Alpha Mike Foxtrot (Nonesuch) In 1994, with grunge in full dirge and Uncle Tupelo broken up, Wilco led alt.country into the mainstream. Today, the Chicago outfit observes its 20th anniversary with a rarities collection sourced from its audio archive. The 4-CD set features outtakes and live tracks, complete with throwback photos and Jeff Tweedy’s…

by Neph Basedow

Soccer Watch

The United Soccer Leagues Annual General Meet­ing got underway Wednesday in Florida, with the Austin Aztex up for a couple of awards, and expecting to confirm some details about their first year in USL PRO. The Aztex “leaked” some of that info at a Supporters Union kick-off event Sunday: They’ll likely be in a division…

by Nick Barbaro

Live Feed

Jason Phelps turns to his theatrical past to nourish the present with a Feast of My Heart

by Robert Faires

Box Sets

George Harrison The Apple Years 1968-75 (Ume/Apple) The Quiet Beatle might have inspired alternate modifiers in the waning days of the Fab Four and into the first half of his solo career. Dour, divine, depressed, the Liverpudlian of The Apple Years 1968-75 wears many moods between Krishna rock and “Ding Dong, Ding Dong” roll. George…

by Raoul Hernandez

Box Sets

Bedhead 1992-1998 (Numero Group) Six short years Bedhead recorded, 1992-1998, which strikes as incongruent considering the Dallas quintet’s influence, particularly in Texas as a cornerstone of Austin’s Trance Syndicate label. Unassuming simplicity centers Matt and Bubba Kadane’s musical precision and minimalism, whose intimacy envelopes a post-rock shoegazing blur of guitars. Remastering the studio catalog as…

by Doug Freeman

Help Desk

🙁 Help! My roommate recently discovered Airbnb and has been going a little nuts, staying at her boyfriend’s and renting her room out at least one weekend a month. This Christmas, she’ll cover her entire December rent and utilities by letting a Canadian couple stay here for a week. I get that the bedroom is…

by Michael Agresta

Box Sets

Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972 (Rhino) Much of the Magic Band’s legacy has been unfortunately cloistered. Considering the fiery, rubbery blues of 1967 debut Safe as Milk and the sprawling, transcendent Trout Mask Replica, it’s hard to say why that is. People forget that Captain Beefheart’s recording career…

by Luke Winkie

Box Sets

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground: 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (Polydor/Universal Music Enterprises) As chronicled in David Fricke’s liner notes, when Lou Reed convened drummer Moe Tuckers and guitarist Sterling Morrison in September 1968 to fire fellow founding member John Cale, who was absent, the New York art rockers were hardly the legends of…

by Tim Stegall

Box Sets

Smashing Pumpkins Adore: Super Deluxe Edition (Virgin/Universal) The Chicagoans’ fourth effort, Adore, marked a grand leap for Smashing Pumpkins. Their only release as a trio following the (temporary) firing of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, the album drastically shifted style from commanding guitar rock to poetic folktronica. Met with underwhelming response, the 1998 disc now proves the…

by Neph Basedow

Box Sets

Joni Mitchell Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced (Rhino) Idiosyncratic singer-songwriters seem resistant to career-spanning box sets. Of those never anthologized, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and Steve Earle come to mind. Love Has Many Faces, a 4-CD set curated by Joni Mitchell, allows us to cross her off that…

by Jim Caligiuri

Headlines

Early Voting in the municipal, AISD, and ACC run-offs continues through tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 12). As of Tuesday, 30,207 people (6.1% of registered voters) had voted; election day is Tuesday, Dec. 16. The last waltz of the at-large, seven-member City Council takes place today (Dec. 11), with a paltry 231 Items on the agenda, perhaps…

by Chronicle Staff

Box Sets

Uncompromising Expression: 75 Years of the Finest in Jazz (Blue Note) Instead of another well-worn hits collection, this wonderfully diverse compilation of 75 singles, originally issued as 78s or 45s, covers the extraordinary history of premier jazz label Blue Note from its debut release, 1939’s “Melancholy” by pianist Meade Lux Lewis, right up to last…

by Jay Trachtenberg

Box Sets

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble The Complete Epic Recordings Collection (Epic/Legacy) Since Stevie Ray Vaughan’s untimely death in 1990, a constant stream of releases and re-releases have kept the money train rolling. These 12 CDs encompass four studio albums and six live sets. That’s Texas Flood (1983), Couldn’t Stand the Weather (1984), Soul to…

by Jim Caligiuri

Oops!

“Iraqis Find a Home in Austin,” Dec. 5, incorrectly stated that Caritas Resettlement Specialist Zaid Yassin had a caseload of 150 clients. It is Employment Specialist Ghassan Amdeen who has 150 clients. “Who’s Afraid of Accountability?,” Dec. 5, incorrectly listed Heriberto Mendoza as one of the eight painters who claim they’re owed unpaid overtime for…

by Chronicle Staff

Quote of the Week

“Debasing our country’s values did not make us safer; it only weakened us and our ability to be an unassailable voice for justice and human rights.” – U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, in response to the U.S. Senate investigation into the CIA’s “anti-terrorism” torture methods

by Chronicle Staff

Barbara’s Fire

Attorney, teacher, and veteran fighter for freedom, Barbara Hines retires from a career mentoring students

by Tony Cantú

Chronicle Endorsements

Here are the Chronicle editorial board’s endorsements for the Dec. 16 run-off election. See more info at austinchronicle.com/elections. Austin City Council Mayor: Mike Martinez Entering the run-off, we’re aware that Martinez faces an uphill battle: He was behind 37-30% in the first round, his broadest support appears to be in lower-turnout districts, and the only…

by Chronicle Staff

Dec. 16 Run-Off Election

Early Voting: Dec. 1-12 Election Day: Tuesday, Dec. 16 Early voting: You may vote at any early voting location in the county in which you are registered. Election Day: You may vote at any precinct polling place in Travis County. VOTER ID: Texas law requires registered voters to show a current photo ID issued by…

by Chronicle Staff

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