New Austin Film and Video, Part Two: Transmedia
New Austin Film and Video, Part Two: Transmedia NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . New Austin Film and Video, Part 2: Transmedia includes three large-scale works that blur the boundaries between installation art and film and video. Featured artists include Gabel Karsten, Spencer Parsons, and Luke Savisky.
Guardian of Hell
Guardian of Hell 1980, R, 88 min. Directed by Bruno Mattei, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Franca Stoppi, Carlo De Mejo, Francesca Carmeno, Susan Forget. The devil made them do it. Nuns in a convent lust after the abbot. Check out this director on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and you’ll discover that’s…
Laughing Boy
Laughing Boy 2000, NR, 83 min. Directed by Brazil Joseph Grisaffi, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Brazil Joseph Grisaffi, Anne Quackenbush, Therese Kotara, Michael Gray, Bob Gebert, Bryan Lee Mcglothin, Robin Craig, Tiffany Grant. This comedy, which also stars the director, is adapted from a play by George Douglas Lee. The Houston-made film…
Cicadas
Cicadas 2000, NR, 93 min. Directed by Kat Candler, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Brandon Howe, Lindsay Broockman, Bryan Chafin, Paul Conrad, Don Cass. This locally made digital feature about the pain of the teenage years has won numerous awards, including the Audience Award at the 2000 Austin Film Festival. It will screen…
Fluxus Films
Fluxus Films NR, 40 min. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This collection of short films features works by members of Fluxus, an irreverent art movement of the Sixties. Included titles: “Entry-Exit” by George Brecht; “Eyeblink” by Peter Moore; “Artype” and “10 Feet” by George Maciunas; “Opus 74 Version 2″…
The Conformist
The Conformist 1971, R, 115 min. Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Dominique Sanda, Pierre Clementi, Pasquale Fortunato. Marcello Clerici is the perfect Fascist, because all he’s ever wanted to be (ever since a childhood incident that he can’t quite remember) is normal and safe. He’s…
The Decalogue: Vol. One (Parts Nine & Ten)
The Decalogue: Vol. One (Parts Nine & Ten) NR, 115 min. Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ewa Blaszczyk, Piotr Machalica, Zbigniew Zamacowski, Jerzy Stuhr. The Decalogue (1988-89) is late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s widely acclaimed 10-part series (which originally aired in 10 separate hourlong segments on Polish television and…
Articulations
The past few weeks have seen the passing of Johnny Torrez, Dana Ravel, and Clarence Brisco, three individuals all distinguished by their support of and advocacy of artists besides themselves.
Food-o-File
How to celebrate Mardi Gras in Austin, as well as Austin’s culinary news
Live Shots
Death Cab for CutieEmo’s, February 13 There were so many doe-eyed faces lined up outside Emo’s, you might have mistaken this for the much-anticipated Weezer show. But no, this wasn’t a sunny, “Buddy Holly”-type evening. The dreary pea soup in the air branded this night with an unmistakably Pacific Northwest feel. Fitting, then, that the…
The Chord That Binds: The George Washington Score
How Austin musicians Michael Linnen and David Wingo collaborated on the George Washington score
Things They Used to Do
Dick Holland assesses two Texas journalists, Gary Cartwright and Jan Reid, whose new collections of articles possess a cautionary wisdom, the kind you acquire when you court danger and danger provides you with a keen view of what lies beyond.
Second Helpings: Everyday Italian
The weekly Chronicle feature “Second Helpings” offers readers the opportunity to sample tasty, bite-sized restaurant listings compiled from new and previous reviews, guides, and poll results. This week’s entries were update from an original publication date of 8/6/99 by Chronicle Cuisines writer Rachel Feit. When you need quick, reliable information about Austin eateries, check here.
Live Shots
Palaxy TracksRed Eyed Fly, February 15 On a rainy Thursday evening, as the storm blew in after midnight, you still couldn’t find a decent parking space in the Sixth Street/Red River corridor. Who the hell was out on a night like this? Thirty or so people in the Red Eyed Fly’s new lodge, that’s who.…
Short Cuts
How to purchase a SXSW Film 2001 screening pass, and other news and events of interest to local filmmakers.
Postscripts
Why dull people make witty writers and other mysteries in this week’s Postscripts.
Second Helpings
Cafe Spiazzo 3663 Bee Caves Rd., Ste. 3A, 328-4858 Sun-Thu, 11am-9pm; Fri-Sat, 11am -10pm 5416 Parkcrest Dr. 459-9960 Sun-Thu, 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm Fun, festive, Italian food with a Southwestern flair. Cafe Spiazzo serves eclectic pastas such as black pepper linguine with clam sauce, or seafood with ancho-honey-lime-marsala sauce over jalapeño fettucine. The restaurant also features…
Live Shots
George Clinton/GuruAustin Music Hall/The Mercury, February 16 It started off small — and early. About 8:40pm on a cold, cold winter’s night. The small, freezing line outside met with a relatively small, warm crowd inside the cavernous Austin Music Hall, and when three guitarists, one of them wearing nothing but a large, white diaper, appeared…
Video Reviews
Everything you ever wanted to know about GWTW — in one work
Readings
The Magic Kingdom by Stanley Elkin Dalkey Archive Press, 317 pp., $12.95 (paper) The premise of The Magic Kingdom sounds like a three-hankie weepie begging a maudlin soundtrack: Seven terminally ill children are flown from London to Disney World on a “last hurrah” dream vacation. Will you believe that it’s actually quite funny? In other,…
Second Helpings
Brick Oven 1608 W. 35th, 453-4330 Tue-Fri, 11am-2pm, 5-10pm; Sat, 5-10pm; Sun, 5-9pm Like a neighborhood-style pizzeria, the Brick Oven on 35th Street serves homestyle, thin-crust pizzas and pastas with a personal touch. Red sauces dominate the pastas, while most pizzas also tend toward the traditional, with the notable exception of chipotle pesto chicken pizza.…
Live Shots
Second Annual Yoko Ono Birthday Tribute Hoot Gaby & Mo’s, February 17 Yes, you read that right, the show in question was a tribute to the music and art of Yoko Ono, and not only that, it was the second one the club has done in two years. Interpreting Ono can be tricky, since her…
Video Reviews
Films made about computers and their impact on our society fall into two categories: hit or miss. Hackers is the latter.
Readings
Rides of the Midway A Novel by Lee Durkee Norton, 320 pp., $25.95 If you ever see Noel Weatherspoon trudging down the street, just cross quickly to the other side. The kid’s got issues. Bad luck. Crises, even. Lee Durkee’s teenage protagonist in Rides of the Midway is a guilt-ravaged mercy-killer, a dipsomaniacal dope fiend…
Second Helpings
Brick Oven 1209 Red River, 477-7006 Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm; Sun, 5-10pm 10710 Research Blvd., 345-6181 Sun-Thu, 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm 11200 Lakeline Mall Dr., 335-5445 Mon-Thu, 11am-9:30pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-10pm; Sun, 11:30am-8pm Not to be confused with the Brick Oven at 35th Street, these three restaurants are under different management, but maintain similar menus. All three…
Double Jeopardy
The state of Texas jailed Cuban exile Carlos Lavernia for 16 years for a crime he did not commit. Now the INS might send him back to Cuba.
TV Eye
Why is it that female protagonists on network TV always need a man?
Readings
God Save the Sweet Potato Queens by Jill Conner Browne Three Rivers Press, 260 pp., $12.95 (paper) Jill Conner Browne’s The Sweet Potato Queens’ Book of Love, which hit shelves in 1999 and has undergone 13 reprints, touted itself as a “Fallen Southern Belle’s Look at Love, Life, Men, Marriage, and Being Prepared,” and it…
Second Helpings
Basil’s 900 W. 10th, 477-5576 Sun-Thu, 6-10pm; Fri-Sat, 6-10:30pm Essential Italian food without compromise to fusion-fashion, Basil’s does it the old-country way. This upscale restaurant offers well-prepared traditional dishes such as chicken saltimbocca, veal marsala, and beef tenderloin with port and gorgonzola. Their wine list is extensive, offering an impressive selection of Italian wines. Homemade…
New Forensics, New Laws
Was the injustice dealt Carlos Lavernia 16 years ago the tip of the iceberg on wrongful convictions? We may find out soon enough if state lawmakers approve legislation establishing procedures for post-conviction DNA testing of inmates serving time for sexual assault and murder. Several bills filed this session on both sides of the political fence…
Readings
Monuments by Clay Reynolds Texas Tech University Press, 382 pp., $29.95 In all three novels of his Sandhill Chronicles — set in imaginary Agatite, Texas — Clay Reynolds pokes around in the underbelly of life in a small town. Throughout his first book, The Vigil, a subtle but chilling sense of evil permeates the banal…
Second Helpings
Pavarotti’s Italian Grill & Seafood Restaurant 3300 Anderson Ln., Ste. 303, 420-0070 Lunch, Mon-Fri, 11am -3pm; Dinner, Mon-Sat, 4:30-10pm An extensive menu offers old favorites such as cannelloni, eggplant parmigiana, and fettucine alfredo. But Pavarotti’s also serves a wide range of meat and seafood dishes made with carefully prepared sauces. Veal and seafood figure prominently…
Who You Gonna Call?
Small Texas towns look to Austin and Washington to jump-start economic development
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Second Helpings
Gino’s Italian Grill 730 West Stassney Ln., 326-4466 Kitchen is open Mon-Sat, 3-11pm; club is open 3pm-2am; closed Sundays Cozy, traditional-style Italian food is offered at this South Austin neighborhood restaurant. Homemade bread, eggplant parmigiana, ravioli, and manicotti feature prominently among chef/owner Greg Lawson’s family recipes. Chronicle readers picked Gino’s in 1994 for the best…
Naked City
Unable to persuade the Lege to pass a voucher bill in 1999, Christian conservative James Leininger put up $45 million for a private voucher program in San Antonio’s Edgewood I.S.D. The San Antonio millionaire provides tuition for students to attend parochial schools competing with Edgewood. There’s no transfer of tax dollars from public to private…
3000 Miles to Graceland
3000 Miles to Graceland 2001, R, 120 min. Directed by Demian Lichtenstein, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell, Christian Slater, David Arquette, Jon Lovitz, Howie Long, Courteney Cox, Bokeem Woodbine, David Kaye, Kevin Pollak. Like great sex, a truly great action film leaves you feeling shaken and stirred. The Wild…
Page Two
Heralding the techno-cultural explosion known as SXSW.
Second Helpings
Italian Gardens Hill Country 14611 FM 1325, 388-1062 Mon-Thu, 11am-2pm, 5-9pm; Fri, 11am-2pm, 5-10pm; Sat, 5-10pm; closed Sundays Since 1966 the quirky Italian Gardens has been pleasing neighborhood folks with their consistent cuisine and reasonably priced food. Chronicle critics voted it best Brooklyn-style Italian in 1996. Chicken cacciatore, eggplant parmigiana, lasagnas, and other pastas are…
Naked City
Local news this week in Austin.
George Washington
Green’s debut feature is a sublime tone poem about adolescence
Public Notice
This week’s Public Notice takes a trip down memory lane and barfs all over its prom date, as we explore Eighties revisionism.
Second Helpings
Spaghetti Warehouse 117 W. 4th St., 476-4059 Sun-Thu, 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm Don’t feel like cooking? Well, pack the kids in the minivan and head over to Spaghetti Warehouse. Guaranteed to please the little people with plenty of the kitsch they like to look at and plenty of food they like to eat. Entertain them while…
Naked City
The James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act wins approval at a House committee hearing, after several hours of emotional testimony.
Monkeybone
Monkeybone 2001, PG-13, 82 min. Directed by Henry Selick, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Megan Mullally, Dave Foley, Chris Kattan, Whoopi Goldberg, Rose Mcgowan, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Fraser. Monkeybone’s premise — an artist thrust into the midst of his own art — isn’t the most original gig around, but…
After a Fashion
Guest reporter (and Blackmail owner) Gail Chovan brings news of the bountiful Mens Fashion Week in Paris.
Mini-Review
The French Kitchen Cooking School Forget about the towering toque. Forget about Michelin stars and formal trappings of a session at Cordon Bleu. When I went to France for a short stint at cooking school, my first “assignment” involved a stout, four-pronged pitchfork and the simple essence of French country cuisine. As dusk approached, Captain…
Naked City
Elliott Naishtat is the sole source for a French magazine’s article on George W. Bush, which concludes that his chief failure is not of the body or mind, but of the heart.
Taboo
Taboo 1999, NR, 100 min. Directed by Nagisa Oshima, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Yoichi Sai, Shinji Takeda, Tadanoby Asano, Ryuhei Matsuda, Takeshi “beat” Kitano. With 1976’s outré love story In the Realm of the Senses, mercurial Japanese writer-director Nagisa Oshima cemented his international reputation as a provocateur and arthouse darling. Last year’s…
Mr. Smarty Pants
Virtual wheatgrass shots for your gray matter smoothie.
Will Travel for Food
Last October, when I signed on to attend the Southern Foodways Symposium in Oxford, Miss., an annual gathering of Southern food enthusiasts — writers, historians, chefs, and passionate amateurs — I really didn’t know what to expect. All I knew about Oxford was that it was the home of William Faulkner and Ole Miss. About…
Naked City
The city of Austin is ready to publish its request for proposals for a master developer for Mueller, and a dozen or two potential builders are already lining up to answer the call.
Day Trips
Bacterial assault on Hill Country wineries.
Will Travel for Food
So here’s the skinny about the Southern Foodways Alliance. It was founded in 1997 and is a part of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss. Its mission is “to celebrate, preserve and promote the diverse food cultures of the American South.” Its members include “cookbook authors…
Naked City
The council votes 6-1, with Daryl Slusher opposed, to re-form the board of the First Step Corporation, the entity charged with distributing scholarship funds in the infamous Cedar Avenue settlement.
What a Piece of Work Is Woman!
After four centuries of being berated, belittled, betrayed, bullied, battered, and butchered by the men in Shakespeare’s plays, the women have had enough. They’re ready to speak out, to give Will a piece of their minds. And in playwright Susan Kelso’s Roses and Thistles, they do just that.
About AIDS
Pushing Testing.
Bleeding Kansas
One-string gas-tank basses and the people who play them.
The Hightower Lowdown
A lobbyist “volunteers” for Bush, the WTO plays peek-a-boo in Qatar, and China represses independent unions
The Commissioner Has Left the Building
Johnny Torrez was one of the first Austin comics to work on a professional level, and every local comic who ever made a living in the business credits the self-proclaimed “Commissioner of Comedy” as an early influence and inspiration. On Valentine’s Day, the Commissioner died. Here’s how he is remembered.
Coach’s Corner
Like Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day, the UTmen’s basketball team is doomed to repeat its failures anew each year, and it seems to come as a total shock each time.
Ace in the Hole
Who is Clay Blaker and why are all these famous people recording his songs?
Turn Out the Lights …
The Lege Has Barely Begun, and the Official Accountants Say We’re Broke
Honoring Johnny
In honor of Johnny Torrez, who passed away on Feb. 14, 2001, we asked local comedians to tell us their favorite joke from the vast arsenal of the “Commissioner of Comedy.” Kerry Awn “You know what I like in a woman? … Me!” Angela Davis “At the store they asked me, ‘Do you want paper…
Got to Have Kaya Now …
Restaurants, like people, have distinct personalities, MM Pack writes. The persona that Kaya Blue presents is that of a hip young traveler, back in town after multinational adventures — exuberant and uninhibited, full of ideas and enthusiasm, well-grounded in the basics, but forever changed by the trip.
Dancing About Architecture
SXSW wristbands go on sale with the news that Dr. Demento will be attending this year’s festival. Also, the passing of the Victory Grill’s Johnny Holmes, and the expansion of Emo’s.
Fighting Words
David Gordon Green’s been pissing people off. To be frank, the kid’s got a mouth on him. It’s not a particularly uncommon quality, especially for a 25-year-old — we’ve all got opinions, right? Of course, most people’s opinions don’t get prominently displayed in The New York Times, which recently quoted Green saying that Denzel Washington’s…
