Wings
Wings 1927, NR, 139 min. Directed by William A. Wellman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gary Cooper, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Arlen, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Clara Bow. This 1927 movie was the winner of the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Wings was also filmed partially on location in San Antonio. The silent classic…
Darby O’Gill and the Little People
Darby O’Gill and the Little People 1959, G, 90 min. Directed by Robert Stevenson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery, Jimmy O’Dea. No one believes a man known for spinning tales full of blarney when he indeed befriends the king of the leprechauns. Director Stevenson’s career is highlighted…
Feminist Values Forum (Angela Davis Segment)
Feminist Values Forum (Angela Davis Segment) NR, 60 min. Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This video documents a speech given by Angela Davis at one of a series of conferences offered by the Foundation for a Compassionate Society as a followup to the 1995 Fourth World Women’s Conference in…
Articulations
UT-Austin Professor of Cello Phyllis Young is honored with a lifetime achievement award, and visionary director Anne Bogart comes to town to teach a master class.
Food-o-File
South Austin taco news and other culinary updates in this week’s “Food-o-File.”
Rocky Road for Cypress
A controversial Dripping Springs development proposal is facing new challenges in the new year.
New on DVD: “The Stunt Man”
The 1980 forgotten gem The Stunt Man gets a new DVD box set release.
Exhibitionism
Accounts of the death of irony since last September 11th have been greatly exaggerated, and in her showing of work at Gallery 1313, artist Abby Levine provides three-dimensional proof that it is still a powerful way to communicate and process ideas about life, death, and pop culture in America.
Elevation
Taking stock of music DVDs
Simpler Justice
The Justice for All anti-abortion display will return to UT-Austin this semester but on a smaller scale.
Short Cuts
Blue Mondays and a Gay Sunday
Exhibitionism
In the Austin Playhouse production of The Seagull, actors Christa Kimlicko Jones and David Stahl create a splendid tension between their characters and between art and life, but most of the rest of the production rolls by languidly, as just another visit with a crew of Chekhov’s discontented Russians.
Dancing About Architecture
Our resident Marshmallow Peep relates the news and hearsay in and around the Live Music Capital…
Sparks to City: Pipe Down
City Council ponders its next move after a judge warns the city about pressing Longhorn Pipeline into local compliance.
Video Reviews
There are hints of a meaty complexity to Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons beyond its doomed-love motif, but the 88-minutes-long film, while striking, is too brief to really explore all that it hints at.
The Great American Drug Book
How Robert Sabbag set out to write the Great American Novel but ended up becoming the nation’s best chronicler of the drug trade.
Long Live the Emperor
King Coffey’s Trance Syndicate may be dead, but its sister label Emperor Jones is still going strong, and sole staffer Craig Stewart has announced a number of upcoming releases. Here’s a list of the current 2002 roster to expect between now and May: Alastair Galbraith/Matt DeGennaro, Long Wires in Dark Museums Vol. 1 Thuja, Ghost…
TNRCC, EPA Follow Suit
The EPA and TNRCC jump on environmentalists’ bandwagon by accusing Alcoa of violating the Clean Air Act.
TV Eye
Buffy on DVD
Postscripts
The last time we heard about Karla Faye Tucker, she was being executed; now, almost four years later, there’s a new novel about her. Or about someone very like her. And Beverly Lowry’s classic Crossed Over, a memoir about getting to know Karla Faye Tucker, gets a reissue.
Long Live the Queen
Following last week’s announcement that Lucinda Williams had received Grammy nominations in four different genre categories comes the news that another quadruple nominee from her label Lost Highway also involved the lovely Lu. Seems that Rolling Stones riffmeister Keith Richards heard Williams’ version of “Cold Cold Heart” from the four-time nominated Hank Williams tribute album…
CSC-U-L8R
CSC changes its plans, and the city has to pay $4 million … for its own land
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Brotherhood of the Wolf 2001, R, 142 min. Directed by Christophe Gans, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jérémie Renier, Emilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Jean-François Stévenin, Mark Dacascos, Samuel Le Bihan. Finally! The world’s first historical romance-cum-horror movie-cum-chopsocky papal conspiracy epic! Films this schizophrenic come along once in a, um, blue moon,…
Page Two
And so, the development wars flare up again. The letters below represent just the tip of the iceberg of discontent after the City Council tentatively okayed maximum-density condo/apartment zoning for the “Villas on Guadalupe” project on the Drag just south of 29th Street. To the surprise of many, it was Daryl Slusher and Jackie Goodman…
Phases and Stages
Jon Dee GrahamHooray for the Moon (New West) Jon Dee Graham has seen it all, all he wants to see at least, enough to fill Hooray for the Moon with 11 tender-hearted ballads and soul-searching rock. If his first solo album, 1997’s Escape From Monster Island, bookended his second, ’99’s Summerland, his third effort slots…
A Way Out of the Desert?
Sanchez and Morales hustle for the AFL-CIO.
The Business of Strangers
The Business of Strangers 2001, R, 83 min. Directed by Patrick Stettner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Stockard Channing, Julia Stiles, Frederick Weller. Middle-aged executive Julie Styron (Channing) takes a limo to her business pitch, sporting Prada and pumps and firing off edgy retorts on her cell. Her administrative assistant Paula (Stiles) cabs…
Mr. Smarty Pants
Snake soup is a delicacy in China.Author Arthur C. Clarke predicts that in 2023, scientists will clone dinosaurs from fragments of DNA and a dinosaur zoo will open in Florida.T.S. Eliot is said to have read a mystery novel each night before nodding off to sleep.The Rubik’s Cube can be twisted and turned into 43,252,003,274,489,856,000…
Phases and Stages
Willie NelsonThe Great Divide (Lost Highway) At this stage in his career, Willie Nelson can do anything he wants without worrying what anyone might think, and The Great Divide is obvious proof. A mishmash of exasperating songs and worthless duets, the Texas outlaw’s latest collection is one overproduced mess after another. The world probably would…
Naked City
At its Jan. 24 meeting, the Austin Independent School District plans to hear a proposal from Edison Schools Inc. — a private, for-profit school management company that hopes to manage as many as 15 East Austin schools. Edison, which currently runs 136 schools in 23 states, has received mixed reviews across the country. Rev. Sterling…
Day Trips
Fort Griffin once served as a lonely military outpost on the Texas frontier.
Phases and Stages
The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes by Willie Nelson Random House, 202 pp., $21.95 In some circles, this book is being talked up as Willie Nelson’s autobiography. If to you “autobiography” means detailed recollections that follow a chronological order, then an autobiography this ain’t. Instead, The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes…
Naked City
Expelling Mold From School Early voting started this week for the Austin Independent School District’s “health and safety bond” election, a nearly $50 million package primarily targeted toward cleaning up and heading off that plague du jour, mold infestation, at dozens of Austin schools. Feb. 2 is officially election day, but you can vote earlier…
After a Fashion
Who called LouAnn? Who dined with Gwyneth? “Walk this way” and find out!
Phases and Stages
Jello Biafra@La Zona RosaJanuary 12 During the intermission of Jello Biafra’s four-hour spoken word performance, a fellow spectator remarked that Biafra was essentially the left-wing counterpart of Rush Limbaugh. After the initial absurdity of the comparison wore off, it made sense. Both combine politics and entertainment to create an incendiary tent revival atmosphere in which…
Naked City
More Crime = More Cops — or Not On Tuesday, Police Chief Stan Knee released the Austin Police Dept.’s preliminary crime statistics for 2001. Compared to 2000 figures, murders and rapes reportedly decreased from 33 to 28 and from 233 to 215, respectively. And there were 76 traffic deaths in 2001, down by one from…
To Your Health
I want to do everything right for my baby, due in March 2002, so I plan to breast-feed. How long should I give my baby breast milk only? What advantages do breast-fed babies
Phases and Stages
FugaziThe Argument (Dischord) Punk rock is a formula. All the greats (Pistols, Ramones, Minor Threat) put out just one album, usually multiple times. The formula got stale a long time ago. Born out of the ashes of Minor Threat and the D.C. hardcore scene, Fugazi has served notice of punk’s obsolescence on a regular basis…
Naked City
A Taste of Hemp Earlier this month, the Hemp Industries Association asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California to eliminate the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Oct. 2001 “interpretive rule,” which effectively creates a new ban on hemp oil and hemp-seed food products. The new DEA rule asserts that because hemp food products contain…
Chop Suey
Chop Suey 2001, NR, 98 min. Directed by Bruce Weber, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Hoots The Poodle, Christian Fletcher, Teri Shepherd, Peter Johnson. A more apt culinary title for this concoction from photographer Bruce Weber might be Goulash or Mulligan Stew, given the mishmash of ingredients that he’s thrown together here. More…
About AIDS
It’s been predicted, even amid optimism over the near-miraculous “AIDS drug cocktail”; it’s been spotted, localized here and there. However, national statistics now confirm the honeymoon is over: AIDS cases are creeping back up. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data show that, after seven years of decline, the number of U.S. AIDS cases reported during…
Phases and Stages
Shelby Lynne Love, Shelby (Island) After a failed attempt as a Nashville-style country artist, Shelby Lynne released I Am Shelby Lynne two years ago. A near-perfect blend of rock and soul that “reinvented” her, the album garnered loads of much-deserved attention and led to Lynne winning a Grammy for Best New Artist. How one follows…
Naked City
Full Plate for Council The City Council’s most important act of the week may happen behind closed doors in executive session, when they “discuss the separation and transition of City Manager Jesus Garza, and the appointment and employment of an acting City Manager.” Under the current scenario, Garza won’t leave his post until April 30.…
Black Hawk Down
Black Hawk Down 2001, R, 143 min. Directed by Ridley Scott, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Sam Shepard, Ewen Bremner, William Fichtner, Ron Eldard, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Piven, Orlando Bloom. Ridley Scott’s newest about the disastrous 1993 raid in Mogadishu, Somalia, that left 18 U.S. servicemen dead,…
Coach’s Corner
Mack Brown or Rick Barnes jump to the pros? Not likely, when just the hint of a threat will get them a fat renegotiated contract.
Raped by the Players
A lawsuit against an Austin dot-com firm reveals a world of fast times.
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large: You Kids Play Nice!
The idea of combining Austin and Travis County’s governments seems like a good one, but never seems to gain any momentum.
Snow Dogs
Snow Dogs 2002, PG, 99 min. Directed by Brian Levant, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Graham Greene, M. Emmet Walsh, Joanna Bacalso, Nichelle Nichols, Sisqó, James Coburn, Cuba Gooding Jr.. The marketing weasels over at Disney deserve to have their beady little eyes gouged out with flaming icicles for the fast one they’ve…
Capece v. NaviSite Inc.: A Chronology
A chronology of the Capece case
The Hightower Lowdown
Tom Daschle goes whoring for gold; SBC changes the rules; Rudy Giuliani tries to steal home — playing against the taxpayers.
Second Helpings: Asian Buffets
Asian buffets in this week’s “Second Helpings”
Eastside Oases
Cafe Mundi 1704 E. Fifth, 236-8634 Monday, 8am-5pm; Tuesday-Thursday, 8am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 8am-11pm; Sunday, 9am-3pmwww.cafemundi.com I always have mixed feelings when it comes to writing about “secret” places like Cafe Mundi. While it’s presumptuous to conclude that my Eastside lunch hideaway will be transformed by the hungry masses simply because of my praise for it here,…
NaviSite in a Nutshell
A capsule description of NaviSite Inc.
Cleared for Blast-Off
Locally owned and operated music site Blastro.com defies the Web bust with booming business and booming beats.
Sexy Beast
With a bold new take on Andre Previn’s operatic adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, Austin Lyric Opera has a remarkable opportunity to lead the operatic pack and show the world the stuff it’s made of.
Eastside Oases
Azul 1808 E. Cesar Chavez, 457-9074 Monday-Friday, 7am-3pm; Saturday, 8am-3pm A few years ago, Azul owners Mark Vera and Margaret Tindall began transforming a dilapidated and barren piece of real estate in East Austin into a quirky property that they hoped to live in. The property had been in Mark’s family for years but was…
Social Responsibility
A New York sexual harassment case bears similarities to the NaviSite case.
The Beauty of the Beast
Austin’s IMAX theatre opts not to screen the newly remastered Disney film.
Hey, Yo! Young Lovers
Rome & Jewels is choreographer Rennie Harris’ new hip-hop version of the Romeo and Juliet story, set in the streets of Philly where the Caps and the Monster Qs fight for control.
Eastside Oases
A Cook’s Tour Tuesdays, 9:30pm & 12:30am Television Food Network (cable channel 32) In their continuous pursuit for new programming ideas, the folks at the Television Food Network have come up with a new slate of shows under the banner “Taste the Adventure.” These shows feature chefs as hosts and are part cooking show, part…
Only Women Pay
San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District gets slapped with a Title IX suit.
“Sick’-Figure Drawings: Spike & Mike’s 2002 Fest
Spike & Mike are back with an even dirtier and more deviant show than ever before.
