The Wild Party
The Wild Party 1929, NR, 110 min. Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Clara Bow, Frederic March, Shirley O’Hara, Marceline Day. The final film in this AFS series, The Wild Party is a curio by any standard. Starring “It” Girl Clara Bow in her first talkie, the film is also…
La Pasión Según Berenice
La Pasión Según Berenice 1976, NR, 99 min. Directed by Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Pedro Armendariz Jr., Martha Navarro, Blanca Torres, Emma Roldán. Berenice, who has been facially scarred by the fire that also took her husband’s life, moves in with her money-lending godmother in a provincial Mexican town.…
Dark Blue World
Dark Blue World 2001, R, 119 min. Directed by Jan Sverák, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Linda Rybov, Lukás Kantor, Charles Dance, David Novotny, Oldrich Kaiser, Tara Fitzgerald, Krystof Hádek, Ondrej Vetchy. Like many Czech filmmakers — émigré countryman Milos Forman springs to mind first — director Jan Sverák looks at politics through…
After a Fashion
Your Style Avatar travels the www-dot-ether for fabulous fashionable foibles, brings it home with Mega’s Miss Kitty, and remembers iconic designer Pauline Trigere.
Phases and Stages
Peter KeaneMilton Street (Broken White) The art of understatement is arrived at through time and effort, and Austin’s Peter Keane demonstrates an ease and skill with a guitar and a microphone that marks the best and most seasoned of performers. Backed by Charlie Larkey on upright bass and Richard White on drums, Keane has developed…
Naked City
Could Austin soon face its largest citizen uprising since the SOS battle? Perhaps, and this time the issue is neighborhood planning. At noon on Monday, Feb. 25, representatives of neighborhood associations from across the city who are frustrated with the city’s planning process will hold a press conference on the steps of City Hall (124…
The Climb
The Climb 2002, PG, 99 min. Directed by John Schmidt, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Christian Stevens, David Stuart, Kyli Santiago, Clifton Davis, Todd Bridges, Dabney Coleman, Ned Vaughn, Jason George. This well-intentioned drama, produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, leaves no cliché unturned as it charts the path of a cocky…
To Your Health
I know acne is not life-threatening, but it makes my life miserable. I am considering AccutaneTM treatment but I’m open to other suggestions.
Phases and Stages
Victrola Former Barkers bite Alice Spencer has a howl on her, no doubt about it. Her finger-wagging delivery of ale hall standards “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” Kurt Weil’s “Alabama Song,” and Cole Porter closer “In the Still of the Night” have Spencer’s hair smelling of a long evening down at the speakeasy. Unfortunately, ol’ timey…
Capitol Chronicle
Will Victor Morales’ pickup take him to the U.S. Senate this time?
Second Helpings: Water’s Edge
Satay, Java Noodles, Saba Blue Water Cafe, Bistro 88, Habana, Gilligan’s, Cafe Josie, Bahama Breeze
About AIDS
Going to the Hospital? Watch Your Meds! The Journal of AIDS recently had eye-opening information for AIDS patients going to the hospital: Anti-HIV medicines were prescribed or administered incorrectly a substantial percentage of the time at the hospital studied. Even for physicians who routinely treat HIV/AIDS, the complexity of the therapies is challenging. In the…
Phases and Stages
D:FusePeople (V2) D:Fuse has been poised for greatness so long it’s a wonder his legs haven’t buckled. While the rest of the Austin DJ scene reels from the feds’ war on fun, D:Fuse has quietly solidified an international rep that’s scored him a monthly residency in San Francisco and slots on UK monster events like…
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large
Some brave suggestions on the city budget from someone whose job isn’t subject to voter opinion.
Words on the Wall
The Mexic-Arte Museum exhibition “Brazilian Visual Poetry” is an ambitious attempt to trace a history of visual poetry among Brazilian artists since the Fifties, but the show feels fragmentary, defining poetry in the broadest of terms and presenting the work in an inconsistent manner.
Coach’s Corner
When even the duffers at the muni golf course are talking about the Olympics, you know the ratings are through the roof.
Clouds Over Dripping Springs
As the pressure for growth continues, Dripping Springs residents question the role of city government insiders
The Hightower Lowdown
George W. wants you to get a job, but won’t pay for training; and, like his father, he’s trying to get us into another oil war; also, drug companies use cash to get your doctor’s recommendation.
Articulations
Ships coming in for Scott Thompson and Richard Byron, who get to stage Dames at Sea at the Goodspeed Opera House, and for Lynn C. Miller and Laura Furman, who will have their play Passenger on the Ship of Fools performed by legendary actress Irene Worth.
Unsung Heroes
Chefs get the credit; sous chefs get dinner on the table.
Baker and the Benney Tract
Dripping Springs economic development, the city attorney, and the Benney Tract
The Exorcist
Mexican filmmaker Jaime Hermosillo thrusts his personal life into the public domain of cinema.
Exhibitionism
Teatro Humanidad’s production of Evelina Fernandez’s play Luminarias has a hip, urban style and flair, but more importantly, it has characters who are individuals, distinct personalities who draw us into their lives with the feelings and thoughts they express.
How It All Began: A Brief History of the Kitchen Brigade
The next time a restaurant kitchen delivers a complex meal to the dining room, deftly timed and executed, consider the fact that this military precision is no accident. The traditional system of kitchen structure — the brigade led by the chef — has venerable roots in European military organizations. From the 14th century on, traveling…
PARD in Heat Over Dog Park
It was around 5:45pm on a dusky Thursday afternoon — just a week or so before Parks and Recreation Dept. officers stopped Old West Austin neighborhood resident Asher Garber for walking his dogs Abby and Lopez without a leash in West Austin Park, and arrested him for not providing identification. Garber and several other dog…
Sexuality, Hypocrisy, and Obsession: The Films of Jaime Humberto Hermosillo
Hermosillo retrospective schedule
Exhibitionism
In its staging of Judith Thompson’s play Lion in the Streets, the tale of a ghostly girl who wanders the streets searching for her life, Kia Productions mines some deep material, with a passionate cast that takes the work to the edge — and sometimes, unfortunately, too far over it.
Food-o-file
Upcoming culinary events in Austin.
Bush’s Dirty Plan for Clean Skies
Bush’s plan to “reduce” emissions could actually mean more air pollution.
New in Print
The Animator’s Survival Kitby Richard Williams Faber and Faber, 352 pp., $30 (paper) As anyone who ever created a primitive flip book in the margins of a junior high textbook can attest, creating animation is a gas … and is hard as hell to get right. Making figures move just by altering a drawing ever…
Exhibitionism
There are moments of magic in Shard Live Performance Collective production of Giants Have Us in Their Books, Jose Rivera’s five-play take on human vices and virtues, but they are few and far between in an evening filled with urban and suburban angst, folly, and outright nastiness.
Songwriters and Spirit Chasers
Resentments Jon Dee Graham and Stephen Bruton go mano a mano about their new albums.
Welcome to the Primaries
The Chronicle tells you what this year’s state primary candidates are all about: Money, media, and dos Morales-es.
SXSW Film 2002
(March 12-16) continues to rack up mad indie cred with a deluge of new arrivals to their ever-expanding list of films, including Danny Glover’s directorial debut Just a Dream; Y Tu Mama Tambien, the highest grossing Mexican film in history and the fourth film from Alfonso Cuaron (Great Expectations, A Little Princess); and Texas, a…
True Crime and Punishment
True crime writer Suzy Spencer interviews fellow true crime writer Vanessa Leggett about how she snatched the record for the longest contempt of court imprisonment of a journalist in United States history.
Mambo’s Mojo
AC: Talk to me about Mambo John Treanor, who died last year and was an integral part of the Resentments. JDG: I miss him terribly. TSB: I miss him now more than ever. On that song, “Just a Dream” [from Spirit World], the last verse is about Mambo. I wrote it the day he died.…
Democratic and Republican Joint Primary: March 12, 2002
The joint primary election allows the Republican and Democratic parties to nominate candidates to represent their parties in the November election. (Other parties, e.g. Libertarian Party or Green Party, generally nominate candidates in conference or at a convention, and do not appear on the primary ballots.) You can vote in either the Republican or the…
Short Cuts
The Alamo Drafthouse goes kung fu fighting with live dubbing and a new Golden Arm Trio score.
John Steinbeck: The Centennial
The HRC is throwing a party for John Steinbeck’s centennial.
Dancing About Architecture
An ode to Waylon Jennings, even as SXSW O2 builds to a boil.
Contested Races
Numerous races in the Democratic and Republican Party primaries feature uncontested candidates. Listed here are the races (excluding precinct chairs) which include at least two candidates.Democratic Primary Ballot Contested RacesU.S. Senator Gene Kelly Ed Cunningham Victor Morales Ken Bentsen Ron Kirk U.S. Representative, District 10 Lloyd Doggett Jennifer Gale Governor Tony Sanchez Dan Morales John…
TV Eye
What’s so funny about being fat? Lots, if you’re Jiminy Glick.
A Botched Metamorphosis
Marc Estrin had the idea (which some kind friend should have talked him out of) that he could bootstrap his novel Insect Dreams: The Half Life of Gregor Samsa (BlueHen Books, $26.95) onto Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, the man who, after a night filled with anxious dreams, woke up to find himself transformed into a cockroach…
A Beat Apart
“I’ve always felt that blues, rock & roll, and country are just about a beat apart.” Thus reads the introductory quote on www.waylon.com, the Web site for a good ol’ boy who was so well known he didn’t even need to use his full name in the URL. Littlefield, Texas, native Waylon Jennings, who passed…
Endorsements
The Chronicle issues primary election endorsements only in contested races, and more particularly in those races where we believe our opinion may serve our readers and make a difference. We urge all our readers to vote in the primary of their choice. Early voting in Travis County begins Saturday, Feb. 23, continuing through March 8…
Video Reviews
Herzog’s film is an impossible, epic vision of death and despair and hideous beauty in a faraway place, and one of the most visceral depictions of self-manufactured doom ever seen.
John Q.
John Q. 2002, PG-13, 112 min. Directed by Nick Cassavetes, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, Kimberly Elise, Ray Liotta, Anne Heche, James Woods, Eddie Griffin, Shawn Hatosy, Daniel E. Smith. John Q. is a rabble-rouser that takes a swing at several American institutions with a populist fury seldom seen…
Recommended
Eric Schlosser, the man who makes McDonald’s executives double over in agony, will be at BookPeople on Monday, February 25 at 7pm to talk about his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (HarperCollins, $13.95), which is new in paperback… The Michener Center and the HRC are bringing Booker Prize-winning author…
I’ze on the Prize
While we’re on the subject of special events and admissions, I should mention that tickets for the 2001-02 Austin Music Awards go on sale Monday, Feb. 25, at Star Tickets (469-SHOW). Tickets will be $20 advance and $25 at the door, and this year’s lineup oughta be a humdinger. Onstage at the Austin Music Hall…
Naked City
Austin Community College has experienced more drama in a week than a theatre critic. On Thursday, the board of trustees decided to reinstate the college’s reduced tuition pilot program for the shortened spring semester, despite ACC President Richard Fonté’s decision to can the deal a week earlier — he now says that was a mistake.…
Donnie Darko
This unnerving, electrifying film provides a unique take on the teen psyche in modern suburbia.
All in the Family
Big mouths, dirty mouths, diseased mouths. What goes into them and what comes out. As you might expect from an Italian-American raised in Brooklyn and Queens, Nicholas Montemarano’s modest debut for lit-fic purveyor Context Books hums and buzzes and occasionally shrieks with the kind of dialogue that makes you think he was taking dictation. In…
A Crash Course in Brain Salad Surgery
In what should be a welcome change for those musicians who can’t afford a coveted badge, SXSW has given new and special powers to the wristband this year. For the first time, band members who receive wristbands for the SXSW music festival will be allowed to attend any and all of the SXSW Wednesday panels,…
Naked City
A water supply company’s third unsuccessful attempt to draw more water from the Edwards Aquifer may result in a lawsuit against the conservation district that has consistently denied the request. A legal challenge would be a logical step for the Creedmoor-Maha Water Supply Corp., after exhausting its avenues for appeal through the Barton Springs Edwards…
Dragonfly
Dragonfly 2002, PG-13, 105 min. Directed by Tom Shadyac, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kevin Costner, Joe Morton, Ron Rifkin, Linda Hunt, Susanna Thompson, Jacob Vargas, Kathy Bates. “ … starring Kevin Costner.” Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it these days, does it? One of the more startling examples of a…
Letters at 3AM
War movies are back … but they don’t make them like they used to.
Phases and Stages
Stephen BrutonSpirit World (New West) Stephen Bruton may be the most cosmopolitan singing-songwriting guitarist since another Fort Worth apprentice, Boz Scaggs, shuffled into the big time back in the Seventies. It’s a combination of things: Bruton’s barroom drawl and the philosophically resigned wonderment of his lyrics. A rhythm team — Austin’s Brannen Temple and Yoggie…
Naked City
San Francisco’s Catellus Development Co. got its first taste of neighborhood life — and politics — in Austin at a pair of getting-to-know-you meetings it held last week with folks around and involved in the Mueller Airport redevelopment project, for which Catellus is competing to be the master developer. Of greatest interest to the neighbors,…
The Fluffer
The Fluffer 2001, NR, 94 min. Directed by Richard Glatzer, Wash West, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Debbie Harry, Guinevere Turner, Tim Bagley, Richard Riehle, Roxanne Day, Taylor Negron, Scott Gurney, Michael Cunio. Despite a title that – for the less jaded among us, at least – recalls one of Bambi’s perky forest…
Mr. Smarty Pants
The favorite food of Shaggy (of Scooby Doo fame) is chocolate-covered corn on the cob.Oxford University experimental psychology researchers have concluded that insomniacs who count sheep are likely to stay awake for longer than those who do nothing at all.The largest prime number discovered to date is -2 to the 13,466,917th power minus 1; it…
Phases and Stages
Gimme five. Five guitarists, that is. And start with the youngest, please. While Jake Andrews’ self-titled sophomore release for TMG-Antone’s isn’t quite the soulful triumph that 1999’s Time to Burn was, it’s clear Andrews is doing just what a young guitarslinger should: exploring the rock horizon of music. Because Andrews grew up with the blues…
Naked City
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards has issued yet another warning to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Problems at the county’s three jails must be fixed immediately, the commission admonished, or the county will face commission-ordered remedies. The County Jail, the Central Booking facility, and the Del Valle Jail have failed three consecutive “unannounced” inspections…
Queen of the Damned
Queen of the Damned 2002, R, 101 min. Directed by Michael Rymer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Bruce Spence, Christian Manon, Lena Olin, Paul McGann, Aaliyah, Marguerite Moreau, Vincent Perez, Stuart Townsend. The unofficial sequel to 1994’s Interview With the Vampire isn’t really a sequel at all, a fact the producers studiously note…
Daytrips
Nokona ball gloves carry on the proud tradition of fine leather goods produced by the skilled hands of the residents in the small North Texas town of Nocona. The 75-year-old, family-owned business is one of the last American factories still making softball and baseball gloves. The Texas-made gloves are a work of art that promise…
Phases and Stages
Nathan HamiltonAll for Love and Wages (Steppin’ Stone) Some singer-songwriters take the world by storm with their first album. They seem to emerge fully formed, with fresh ideas and a different way of looking at the human condition. Others, take a bit longer to figure the whole thing out. On his second release All for…
Naked City
Winner of this month’s Rhetorical Excess Award is an op-ed issued by Jeff Judson of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in support of Gov. Rick Perry’s new transportation plan. Judson calls Perry’s “Trans Texas” proposal to criss-cross the state with massive toll road and railroad corridors “visionary,” but hardly stops there. It “might be the…
