Exhibitionism
Paramount Theatre, through December 31 Running Time: 2 hr, 10 min At any other time of year, saying that I’d seen Andra Mitrovich croon, “I love the nightlife, I love to boogie” while preening about the stage in a kelly-green wig topped by a two-foot tree might lead some folks to suspect that either I’ve…
And a Happy New Year!
Diana, Princess of Wales “TV Eye” was grateful for many things in 1997 but it was primarily thrilled by the feedback from readers. Correspondence with readers is always a pleasure, and I took a perverse joy in finding company with other cartoon-watching adults. I was astounded to find out how many other readers think The…
Deconstructing Harry
Deconstructing Harry 1997, R, 95 min. Directed by Woody Allen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Woody Allen, Caroline Aaron, Kirstie Alley, Bob Balaban, Richard Benjamin, Eric Bogosian, Billy Crystal, Judy Davis, Hazelle Goodman, Mariel Hemingway, Amy Irving, Julie Kavner, Eric Lloyd, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobey Maguire, Demi Moore, Elisabeth Shue, Stanley Tucci, Robin Williams.…
Mister Smarty Pants Knows
The cholesterol level of the average American is 205 mg/dL, down from 220 about 30 years ago. Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are hoping that pictures of the Earth’s magnetic field taken from a pair of satellites will soon improve weather forecasts and give better warning of electrical storms. Some…
Dyed-in-the-Wool Fan
Tartan Day is a national holiday in Scotland, commemorating the deaths of Scottish Army soldiers under the command of Prince Charles Stuart at the Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746. Most of the valiant Highlanders were slaughtered and their second attempt to restore the Stuarts to the throne of Scotland failed. The holiday had…
Scanlines
D. Phil Tucker (1953) Grade-Z nonsense about a man in an ape suit wearing a diving helmet and battling post-nuclear-war humans. Watch for his war-surplus radio, which emits bubbles while in use. Originally in 3-D. The Flesh Eaters D. Jack Curtis (1964) Plane crash survivors (including an ex-Nazi) fall prey to parasites that dine on…
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting 1997, R, 126 min. Directed by Gus Van Sant, Starring Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgard, Minnie Driver. Will Hunting (Damon) is a “Southie” — a twentysomething kid from the rough-and-tumble neighborhoods of South Boston. By day he works construction with his best friend Chuckie (Affleck) and by night he…
Food-O-File
While the rest of us were hanging stockings by the chimney with care, Threadgill’s owners Eddie and Sandra Wilson were departing on a trip that has to be a major contender for Most Exotic Holiday Excursion. The intrepid twosome flew out of Austin on Sunday, December 21, en route to Auckland, New Zealand to visit…
Habibi
(by Naomi Shihab Nye, Simon & Schuster, $16 hard) Habibi, means “darling” in Arabic, and is the story of a Arab-American 14-year-old named Liyana whose family moves from St. Louis, Missouri to Israel, her father’s original home. Her adjustment to her new life includes new relatives, a new school, and experiences unlike any she had…
ShortCuts
Ooh boy, the Chronicle is shutting down operations for the holiday week so that we can all get away from here and enjoy some guilt-free, quality vacation time. So, what am I planning on doing while on liberty? I’ll be sticking around town to indulge in my own version of the busman’s holiday. Temporarily cut…
Be Like Julia
The conclusion of one year and the rapidly ensuing birth of another puts me in a mood that is both reflective and anticipatory. When I began writing several years ago, I gave myself 10 years to develop a career in which writing would provide financial support and I could cook for recreation rather than profit.…
Postscripts
In January, Book People will begin remodeling its third floor until, sometime in March, all of the third floor except for the author reading area becomes Whole Foods’ space. Why the loss of the third-floor bookshelf space? Book People CEO Phillip Sansone says that the move is a defensive one, that when “you’re virtually surrounded”…
Cinema du Fromage
Alien alert in the headlines from Edward D. Wood, Jr.’s Plan 9 From Outer Space. Show of hands, please; how many of you have heard of director Edward D. Wood, Jr.? Just as I thought, almost everyone. Chances are you’re familiar with him because some snide, condescending movie critic once deemed him “the world’s worst…
The Hugh Beaumont Experience
photograph by Bruce Dye Maybe Mark Pratz’s daughter, Sarah, has been the biggest beneficiary of the clubowner’s good common sense. Despite the fact that Pratz the elder has been booking Liberty Lunch basically forever and has been in the rock & roll business for the entirety of his 17-year-old daughter’s life, he has managed to…
No Prozac for the Wicked
Like God and the Devil, – – writer Donald E. Westlake has many names and sometimes seems to be everywhere all at once. In the field of crime literature, Westlake has few peers, a legion of admirers, and innumerable imitators. Since the 1960 publication of his smash debut The Mercenaries, he’s written more than 70…
Websites from Hell
It’s three-thirty in the morning on a Friday night. The clubs are shut up tight until tomorrow, your roommate’s asleep, and the last swallow of the last Shiner in the house is five seconds in the past. You’ve got a choice here: You can do the sensible thing and crash head-first into your bed, pull…
Lifelong Loves
photograph by Bruce Dye “All right ladies and gentlemen, at this time I’d like to welcome y’all to the Broken Spoke, the last of the true Texas dance halls and damn sure proud of it. All right! We ain’t fancy, but we are darn sure country and the good news is we ain’t changin’ nothin’.…
Happy Holidays… and Thanks for Your Many Gifts All Year
At this time of the year we are bombarded by messages and news coverage supposedly related to the joyous religious events of Christ’s birth. Unfortunately, for many people this Merry Christmas-ing often seems hollow, as we are swamped by crass commercialism and phony sentiment. For those of us working in AIDS services, however, the season…
When the Ball Drops
compiled by Julie Weaver illustration by Lisa Kirkpatrick My only resolution this New Year’s is that I’m not making any damn resolutions. They only last a couple of weeks anyway, and then I just end up feeling bad that I’ve broken another set of promises. So forget it — there are plenty of other things…
Picture Perfect
Leslie, Sean and Danny Crooks photograph by Bruce Dye That Danny Crooks, Steamboat’s infamously outspoken owner, has a lot to say about his family and their life in the club business isn’t surprising. Danny Crooks has a lot to say about virtually everything. On the other hand, if a picture really is worth a thousand…
Quitting Time
My New Year’s Resolution? Be a better quitter. I have a tendency to hold onto things for a long time. I keep my cars over a decade on average. I keep my husbands — at least the first one — for sixteen years and counting. I still have a ceramic cup I painted a rabbit…
The Smart Ass & the Smart Guy, the Redneck & the Jock
illustration by Jason Stout There is a tiny mobile home sitting quietly on the corner of a dark country road somewhere near the tiny town of Conroe, Texas. It is painted bright yellow, and seated on the dilapidated porch between two rusty reclining chairs is a dingy mutt of a dog; a small cloud of…
The Littlest Lunachick
Brittany and Eric Hartman photograph by Bruce Dye The last time the Lunachicks visited Emo’s, they brought with them tornados — a furious, torrential storm that battered Austin and surrounding areas, leaving people dead and property destroyed. You remember. Nine months later, the foursome’s return to the local club has brought winter — an icy…
Coach’s Corner
Looking back, I can’t honestly say what started me down this Hell’s Highway. Was it the sarcastic goading of the food critic? Was it because all my friends took afternoons off, so I was left by myself in an empty office (where I stayed busy answering the odd phone call) trying to convince myself I…
Benefits
TUE 30 Evening of Poetry w/Thom the World Poet & Albert Huffstickler to benefit poet Pasha’s medical expenses, at Ruta Maya, Fourth & Lavaca, 6:30pm. 472-9637. WED 31 New Year’s Eve Extravaganza to benefit AIDS Services of Austin and ALLGO/Informe SIDA, at Four Seasons Hotel, 98 San Jacinto. Cost is $75. 451-2273. THU 8 Elvis…
Dancing About Architecture
Sorry to inform you, but the contest for best holiday vacation this year has already been won — by the members of that wild and wooly supergroup P, who just returned from a pair of gigs in Vienna. The foursome (Johnny Depp, Gibby Haynes, Bill Carter, and Sal Jenco — plus a couple of L.A.…
Day Trips
photograph by Gerald E. McLeod Whale watching from a kayak along the coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island can be described in one word — awesome. I was in the backseat of a two-person kayak in strait between the mainland and northern Vancouver Island chasing a pod of six or seven orca whales when the dorsal…
Crossing Paths
Martian, Paul and Sasha Sessums photograph byBruce Dye Think of the phrase “family establishment” and the first picture that pops into your mind isn’t likely to be the Black Cat Lounge nightclub on Sixth Street. Home over the years to crowds of skinheads, SHARPS (anti-racist skinheads), bikers, college students, tourists, and musicians, it wouldn’t be…
Recommended
Wednesday 24: Jon Blondell Duo, Gilligan’s Thursday 25: Merry Christmas! Friday 26: W.C. Clark, Speakeasy Saturday 27: Jimmie Vaughan, Antone’s Sunday 28: Scott Sherwood, Elephant Room Monday 29: Joe Ely, La Zona Rosa Tuesday 30: Dead Flowers, Punchy, Hole in the Wall Wednesday 31: Seth Walker, B-Side; SSIK, Back Room Thursday 1: Dead End Cruisers,…
Page Two
It is not uncommon to hear Pulp Fiction dismissed, even by some who like it, as being a film filled with cinematic flash and intense pop culture style but one that is ultimately about nothing. Equally, the charge is made that it is a mindless, pro-violence celebration, both cynical and amoral. Pulp Fiction seems to…
Children of the Night
Since time immemorial, they — the dreaded “they” — have said rock & roll was bad for you. Whether it was Elvis Presley or Ozzy Osbourne, nothing good was ever gonna come out of it. And not just rock & roll. All of it, the arts in general. Somehow, being exposed to creativity was gonna…
Record Reviews
THE GEEZINSLAWS Geezinslaw Christmas Double (Step One) This two-song Yuletide sampler CD finds Sammy Allred and friends stripping down to a less caustic shade of country-fresh sarcasm for the holidays. While “Lighten Up It’s Christmas” won’t make you laugh out loud like “Help, I’m White and I Can’t Get Down,” the sentiment does exude a…
Public Notice
The Nature of Giving Slate online magazine (http://www.slate.com) offers some interesting insight regarding the nature of “giving” in America. The webzine compiles and maintains an updated list of the most generous charity donors (…use their webpage search engine and type in: “The Slate 60”) and the nature of their public gifts. While charity giving may…
Jackie Brown
Based on Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch, this is a fairly straight-ahead, Seventies-styled caper film.
Road Shows
December SAT 27 Hot Club of Cowtown, Continental Club MON 29 Koko Taylor, Antone’s TUE 30 Dr. John, Antone’s TUE 30 Dead Flowers, Hole in the Wall WED 31 Cookie & the Cupcakes (memorial), Continental Club WED 31 Fred Eaglesmith, Austin Music Hall WED 31 New Bomb Turks, Sons of Hercules, Emo’s WED 31 Hamell…
Austin Knows Best
illustration by Doug Potter Several of my neighbors said they felt a cold chill right about noon on Friday,” jokes Ken Rigsbee, foreman of the Circle C Homeowners Association committee on annexation. High noon on Friday was the hour Austin’s annexation of the four Circle C municipal utility districts (MUDs) took effect, and it will…
Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo 1997, PG, 87 min. Directed by Stanley Tong, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Leslie Nielsen, Kelly Lynch, Ernie Hudson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Nick Chinlund, Malcolm Mcdowell, Miguel Ferrer. I know I’ll go to heaven when I die because I’ve already been to Mr. Magoo. From the director of Jackie Chan’s Supercop and…
Paying Doctor
Dr. Celia Neavel, director of adolescent health services at the People’s Health Clinic photograph by Jana Birchum It’s the first day of Thanksgiving vacation, and Travis High School students Matthew and Cheryl are going browsing at the mall — at least, that’s what they’ve told Cheryl’s family. In fact, they have a less carefree morning…
Naked City
City Council last week gave Matt Kreisle’s Heritage Society a $90,000 Christmas bonus to go toward developing a “community values-based plan” for downtown. The project will be housed in a Congress Avenue storefront that will enable we the people to drop in and share opinions on retooling downtown. One of the goals is to develop…
As Good as It Gets
Nicholson and Hunt both won Oscars for their respective roles as a rude and obsessive-compulsive writer and the waitress who grows to love him.
Rental Health Worries
Alfred Dotson, president of the Pecan Springs/Springdale Neighborhood Association photograph by John Anderson At the beginning of the month, right before the Austin City Council about-faced and deep-sixed the controversial Tannehill Apartments, Councilmember Jackie Goodman — laying the groundwork for her abstention from voting — decried how Tannehill had degenerated from a brand-new-day idea into…
Waste Wars
Solid Waste Advisory Commission member Gail Vittori questions the city’s decision to pursue a 30-year contract. photograph by Brian Easley When it comes to dealing with its garbage, Austin doesn’t have a stellar history. Nine years ago, the city council very nearly agreed to a long-term deal that would have required the city to burn…
The Beaumarchais Scoundrel
The Beaumarchais Scoundrel 1996, NR, 100 min. Directed by Edouard Molinaro, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Fabrice Luchini, Sandrine Kiberlain, Manuel Blanc, Michel Blanc, Michel Serrault. As portrayed in yet another costume drama from France, Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais — late 18th-century French playwright, wit, magistrate, spy, war merchant — is less…
Articulations
In our haste last week to welcome the Austin Symphony Orchestra`s brand-new music director, Peter Bay, we neglected to make note of another personnel change at the symphony made simultaneously with the hiring of Bay: Timothy Muffitt, the ASO’s Assistant Conductor for the past two years, was promoted to Associate Conductor. Judging from the symphony’s…
Residential Curbside Collection
Over the past six years, the amount of waste being diverted through recycling and a new yard trimmings program has almost tripled, while the total tonnage going to landfills has actually decreased by 12%. Residential Households Garbage (in tons) Curbside Recycling Yard Waste TOTAL TONS Diversion Rate FY 91-92 112,400 128,333 90.2% 13,899 9.8% 0%…
The Postman
The Postman 1997, R, 180 min. Directed by Kevin Costner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kevin Costner, Larenz Tate, Will Patton, Olivia Williams, James Russo, Tom Petty. Kevin Costner tends to arouse in me the same protective instincts as the sweet old geezer who audits a modern lit class and draws smirks from…
Austin Art All Over
Holidays are always about travel. After an East Coast visit with my parents on Thanksgiving, I took some time to visit galleries in New York, where the city’s sidewalks (busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style) were not to be believed. Extravagant Christmas displays, including Rockefeller Center’s enormous tree, drew thousands to Fifth Avenue at all…
The Players
BFI Waste Systems Ownership: Public, NY Stock Exchange symbol BFI 1996 revenues: $5.8 billion Employees: 26,000 in North America Headquarters: Houston In Austin market since 1982 Landfill: 9912 Giles Road (1) Recycling Facility: 4712 Bolm Rd. (2) Waste Management, Inc. Local subsidiaries: Longhorn Disposal/Austin Community Landfill, Inc. Ownership: Public, NYSE symbol WMX 1996 revenues: $9.18…
An American Werewolf in Paris
An American Werewolf in Paris 1997, R, 98 min. Directed by Anthony Waller, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Tom Everett Scott, Julie Delpy, Phil Buckman, Vince Vieluf. In horror terms, 16 years is a dang nigh unprecedented span between an original movie and a sequel. There must have been–what? — seven or eight…
