Monsieur Hire
Monsieur Hire 1989, PG-13, 88 min. Directed by Patrice Leconte, Starring Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, Eric Berenger. A Peeping Tom falls in love with the object of his observation, a woman who may have been involved in a murder. But because the fat, balding, asocial peeper is such a weirdo, he instead comes…
Painters Painting
Painters Painting 1972, NR, 116 min. Directed by Emile de Antonio. In conjunction with its current exhibit “Painting Explosion: 1958-1963,” the Blanton is showing this classic film by Emil de Antonio, which has always been regarded as one of the best films about the art and practice of painting. A friend of many of the…
Caged Fury
Caged Fury 1984, R, 98 min. Directed by Cirio H. Santiago, Starring Bernadette Williams, Jennifer Lanem. In this Filipino women-in-prison film, the captives are also subjected to shock treatments and then loaded with TNT and sent out as human time bombs.
Some Nudity Required
Some Nudity Required NR, 82 min. Directed by Odette Springer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Not reviewed at press time. Director Odette Springer is the former music supervisor for Roger Corman’s Concorde/New Horizons Pictures. She made this documentary to explore how she went “from Beethoven to B movies.” Questioning her own involvement…
Hideous Kinky
Hideous Kinky 1999, R, 99 min. Directed by Gillies MacKinnon, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kate Winslet, Said Taghmaoui, Bella Riza, Carrie Mullan, Pierre Clementi, Abigail Cruttenden, Ahmed Boulane, Amidou, Sira Stampe. To my immense disappointment, MacKinnon’s title is grossly misleading: There is nothing particularly hideous nor kinky about Hideous Kinky. The phrase…
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls 1995, PG-13, 91 min. Directed by Steve Oedekerk, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jim Carrey, Ian McNeice, Simon Callow, Maynard Eziashi, Bob Gunton. When speaking critically about any of Jim Carrey’s films, there’s only one burning question that really needs to be asked: “Is it funny?” Keeping this…
Ernesto “Che” Guevara: The Bolivian Diary
Ernesto “Che” Guevara: The Bolivian Diary NR, 94 min. Directed by Richard Dindo, Narrated by Judith Burnett, Voices by , Starring Robert Kramer. Not reviewed at press time. Che Guevara, the handsome, bearded, and bereted Sixties poster boy for the radical left, is coming into vogue again with a spate of new biographical books and…
Jerusalem
Jerusalem 1996, PG-13, 166 min. Directed by Bille August, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ulf Friberg, Annika Borg, Pernilla August, Maria Bonnevie, Sven-Bertil Taube, Olympia Dukakis. As with the religious pilgrims who are the focus of this somber, meandering 166-minute film, rewards await those who can tough out the journey. Familiarity with the…
Dogtown and Z-Boys
Engrossing, definitive documentary on the birth of Southern California’s outlaw skateboarding culture.
The Gleaners and I
Varda’s wonderful documentary is a digital meditation on the ancient French tradition of gleaning, or gathering what’s left on the ground when the harvest is finished, and how it fits into such contemporary themes as the wastefulness of society.
Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes 1968, G, 112 min. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Charlton Heston, Kim Hunter, Roddy McDowall. This classic sci-fi ape picture leaves its imitators and sequels in the dust.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 2001, PG-13, 96 min. Directed by Simon West, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Leslie Phillips, Mark Collie, Chris Barrie, Iain Glen, Noah Taylor, Jon Voight. I knew things were bad when I felt my inner child go out to the lobby to monopolize the Ms.…
SXSW 2000
SXSW 2000 2000, NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . SXSW Film Conference and Festival and SXSW Interactive Festival both get underway this week. The Film Conference begins on Friday, March 9, while the Interactive Festival begins on Saturday, March 10. Both conferences conclude on Tuesday, March 13, and take…
The Big Tease
The Big Tease 2000, R, 86 min. Directed by Kevin Allen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Craig Ferguson, Frances Fisher, Mary McCormack, David Rasche, Chris Langham, Donal Logue, Larry Miller. Not reviewed at press time. Press materials for this Scottish comedy describe the story as “Rocky in curlers,” while The Los Angeles Times…
Better Living Through Circuitry
Better Living Through Circuitry 1999, NR, 85 min. Directed by Jon Reiss, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Scanner, Frankie Bones, DJ Spooky, Roni Size, Genesis P-Orridge, The Crystal Method, Moby. What is it about Genesis P-Orridge that documentarians find so appealing? This is the second feature-length doc I’ve reviewed in which the colorful…
Windowfilm
Windowfilm Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . In this weekly series of live film projection art, spectators can catch an evolving presentation of a continuous loop of film that mixes original and found footage that is projected and simultaneously edited onto the Cinemaker Co-op’s second-floor office window. Viewers are invited…
Class Action
Class Action 1991. Directed by Michael Apted, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Joanna Merlin. It’s easy to make a lousy courtroom drama, but this isn’t one of them, thankfully. Director Apted (well known for his documentary 28-Up and Sting’s Bring on the Night concert film) has somehow managed…
Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac 1990, PG, 138 min. D: Jean-Paul Rappeneau; with Gerard Depardieu. This is a good adaptation of the 19th century play, brimming with energetic performances and detailed set decor. Depardieu as Cyrano is intoxicating to watch. If Steve Martin and Fred Schepisi hadn’t created such a refreshing update of the Cyrano story just…
The Silence of the Lambs
The collaborative effort of Demme, Foster, Hopkins, and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto results in something very special to anyone who loves to be scared and challenged by a movie.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze 1991, PG, 88 min. D: Michael Pressman. Their movie last year came out of nowhere to seize the popular imagination of kids all over. Now they’re back with The Secret of the Ooze, which features ecological concerns. The production values are wonderful (due in large…
New Jack City
New Jack City 1991, R, 97 min. Directed by Mario Van Peebles, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Chris Rock, Judd Nelson, Allan Payne, Van Peebles. Van Peebles is well-aware of the legacy he’s been handed. Van Peebles and writers Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper lose their handle on…
The Garden
The Garden 1990, NR, 92 min. Directed by Derek Jarman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Tilda Swinton, Johnny Mills. The film contrasts the story of the Passion of Christ with the persecution of two gay men. Jarman (Caravaggio, The Last of England) was a flamboyantly elegiac filmmaker who also worked from his persepctive…
2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey remains a peerless classic
Strand: Under the Dark Cloth
Strand: Under the Dark Cloth Directed by John Walker, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This documentary on the career of pioneering photographer Paul Strand is the result of eight years of research. In 1990, it won the Canadian equivalent of the Oscar for Best Documentary.
Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in Eighty Days 1956, NR, 167 min. Directed by Michael Anderson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring David Niven, Shirley MacLaine, Cantinflas, Buster Keaton. This 1956 multi-Oscar winner has probably aged badly during the intervening years but its big-screen wonderment is an appropriate kick-off for the Arbor’s weekly 70mm series. The…
Lyrical Nitrate
Lyrical Nitrate Directed by Peter Delpeut, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Rare film footage from the period 1905-1915 was found decomposing in the attic of a Dutch cinema. These fragments from American and European feature and documentary films were meticulously restored and presented in this loving re-exhibition. Lyrical Nitrate will be preceded…
Spirit of ’76
Spirit of ’76 1990, PG-13, 82 min. Directed by Lucas Reiner, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring David Cassidy, Olivia D’Abo, Geoff Hoyle, Leif Garrett. This curio actually played Austin a year or two back in a test run before receiving this current national release. The premise involves some time travellers from the future…
The Indian Runner
The Indian Runner 1991, R, 127 min. Directed by Sean Penn, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Valeria Golino, Patricia Arquette, Charles Bronson, Sandy Dennis, Dennis Hopper. Why is it that some people have hellhounds chewing at their heels their whole sorry lives while other folks can keep the beasts…
Till There Was You
Till There Was You Directed by John Seale, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mark Harmon, Jeroen Krabbe. A sax player trying to find his brother’s murderer finds more than he bargained for.
29th Street
29th Street 1991, R, 101 min. Directed by George Gallo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Danny Aiello, Anthony La Paglia, Lainie Kazan. Dumb luck. That’s what Frank Pesce Jr.’s got lots of. His constant good fortune drives his father (Aiello) nuts and when the New York lottery smiles on him, he becomes a…
White Trash
White Trash Directed by Fred Baker, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jack Betts, Sean Christiansen, John Hartman, Wheaton James, Periel Marr, Brian Patrick, Winnie Thexton. Extremely low-budget and shot in hand-held Hi-8 video which was later blown up to 35mm, White Trash uses a semi-documentary style to tell the story of teenage hustlers.…
Broadway Bill
Broadway Bill 1934, 104 min. Directed by Frank Capra, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Werner Baxter, Myrna Loy. It’s been a long time since this 1934 Capra comedy has been seen anywhere and now this restored movie about a paper box manufacturer who’d rather be at the racetrack is making its way into…
Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective
Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective Directed by John Musker, Ron Clements, Dave Michener, Burny Mattinson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This is the latest of Disney’s re-releases from their animation vaults.
Amazonia: Voices From the Rainforest
Amazonia: Voices From the Rainforest Directed by Monti Aguirre, Glenn Switkes, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This new documentary is a lushly photographed environmentalist study of the people, plants and animals of Brazil’s endangered rainforests. It includes interviews with local inhabitants and rubber-tappers, as well as brief footage of slain union leader…
Tales of the Brothers Quay
Tales of the Brothers Quay 1987. Directed by Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . If you’re familiar with the Brothers’ work, then you don’t need me telling you about this. If you’re not, well, I’m not all that sure I can tell you about it. Five films here, including…
Terminal Bliss
Terminal Bliss Directed by Jordan Alan, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Timothy Owen, Luke Perry, Estee Chandler. Two teenage friends fall in love with the same girl. There’s a plot I haven’t heard before. Also, a first-run release into the Dollar Cinema is not usually a good sign.
Wild Orchid Two: Two Shades of Blue
Wild Orchid Two: Two Shades of Blue Directed by Zalman King, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Wendy Hughes, Tom Skerritt, Robert Davi. Zalman King is setting up a hothouse of Wild Orchids, it seems. To put things in perspective, I must tell you that Wild Orchid 3 is already in the can. But…
Beautiful Dreamers
Beautiful Dreamers 1990. Directed by Michael Ken Harrison, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Colm Feore, Rip Torn, Wendel Meldrum. Harrison’s film is a biographical account about the relationship between Walt Whitman and Dr. Maurice Bucke (who later wrote Walt Whitman the Man), and how it served as the catalyst in Dr. Bucke’s radical…
Feed
Feed 1992, NR, 76 min. Directed by Kevin Rafferty, James Ridgeway, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . At 76 minutes, Feed is a rather brief look at the race for the presidency as seen, mainly, through pirated satellite feeds. Rafferty and Ridgeway (Blood in the Face) have compiled a document that offers a…
A Tale of Springtime
A Tale of Springtime 1990. Directed by Eric Rohmer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Anne Teyssedre, Florence Darel, Hugues Quester, Eloise Bennett, Sophie Robin. In The Big Chill, Jeff Goldblum’s character observes how nobody can get through the day without the benefit of at least one good rationalization. In the world of French…
1492: Conquest of Paradise
1492: Conquest of Paradise 1992, PG-13, 154 min. Directed by Ridley Scott, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gérard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver, Armand Assante, Angela Molina, Fernando Rey, Tcheky Karyo, Frank Langella. With a project with as much baggage as this one, I hardly know where to begin. Columbus began in Spain, crossed the…
On the Town
The Big Apple has rarely been as shiny as in this cheerful 1949 musical – a rare musical to be shot on location in NYC.
Two Much
Two Much PG-13, 118 min. Directed by Fernando Trueba, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Danny Aiello, Joan Cusack, Eli Wallach. Not reviewed at press time. What more do we need to know about this movie than its notorious reputation as the project that brought Melanie Griffith and…
Digging to China
Digging to China 1998, PG, 98 min. Directed by Timothy Hutton, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Evan Rachel Wood, Kevin Bacon, Mary Stuart Masterson, Cathy Moriarty. There’s a lesson to be learned here: Fear whimsy. A tender emotion that seduces like a bright tropical orchid, it also carries a deadly cargo of noxious…
Who’s That Girl?
The Bookslut — aka Jessa Crispin — is getting people excited.
Phases and Stages
BaboonSomething Good Is Going to Happen to You (Last Beat) Hard to believe this is the same band that once sounded like a drill press with an attitude problem. Here Baboon transcends their origins in the early-Nineties North Texas noise crowd (Johnboy, Brutal Juice) with a stunning album, at once tender and tenderizing. Something Good…
The GOP’s Inaugurama
As you’ve probably heard by now, Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst were duly inaugurated Tuesday, just after noon, to the accompaniment of the Texas A&M Fighting Aggie Band (“The Yellow Rose of Texas,” “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” et al.), a deafening squadron of fighter jets, and 19 cannon shots. As…
Short Cuts
War isn’t good for much, except maybe art. Austin’s microcinema community responds.
The Latest in Paper
Touch Wood: Short Storiesby Joe Ashby Porter Turtle Point Press, 192 pp., $15.95 I’m not an enthusiast of the so-called innovative fiction. I far prefer the reality-based fictions of an Alice Munro or a William Trevor to the playful and oddball experiments of a Donald Barthelme. Or perhaps what I mean to say is that…
Phases and Stages
CesnaDownward Mobility (Independent) The good news is that Cesna’s million-dollar modern rock could be on any major label imprint — Interscope, Maverick, Epic. The bad news is that Downward Mobility could be on any major label imprint. Everything is working for the relatively new Austin fourpiece: their handle, their debut’s production and art design, their…
Legislature Gets It Together
The 78th Legislature’s first week was brief and mostly unremarkable. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced his committee appointments, which were more bipartisan than expected, with six Democrats joining nine Republicans as chairs of Senate committees. Still, the biggest plums remain in GOP hands; Amarillo’s Teel Bivins takes over the Finance Committee, Plano’s Florence Shapiro will…
Video Reviews
The young, strong James Coburn was at the absolute height of his own particular cool in The President’s Analyst, a film that warrants second-breath mention behind The Graduate and even Dr. Strangelove as a monumental Sixties improvisational comedy.
The Trials of Henry Kissinger
The Trials of Henry Kissinger 2002, NR, 80 min. Directed by Eugene Jarecki, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . What should we call a man who provides weaponry, cash, and logistical support to radicals scheming to overthrow a democratically elected government? Who arranges abductions and murders? Who encourages nuclear proliferation? Who calls for…
Readings
Kate Cantrill calls Lia Nirgad’s debut one of “heart,” but she also calls it “precious.” Find out why.
Phases and Stages
The American PeopleThought We Could (Plethorazine) Any fan of Austin music knows that if a band counts Hunter Darby among its numbers, it’s a good one. And so it is with American People. Sure, Darby, who also plays in the Wannabes, Shoulders, Dumptruck, and the Diamond Smugglers among others, only plays bass and sings once…
Choir Practice at Sixth + Lamar
They came to bury Smart Growth, not to praise it, at LiveableCity’s community forum on the Sixth + Lamar project Tuesday night. If anyone thought City Hall was still keen to grant $2.1 million in fee-waiver incentives to the project — which is currently slated to contain a Borders Books and Music, right across the…
TV Eye
Looking for love in all the wrong places: namely, on television.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind 2002, R, 113 min. Directed by George Clooney, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sam Rockwell, George Clooney, Rutger Hauer, Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore. You wouldn’t know it from the television ad campaign, which makes Confessions of a Dangerous Mind look like some sort of weird, CIA-assassin vehicle, but…
Readings
Tim Walker reviews Benjamin Hoff’s Hardy Boys tribute, The House on the Point.
Phases and Stages
Tawnya LoRaeThe Bear Claw Incident While Tawnya LoRae’s ex-band, the late, lamented, all-girl Morningwood, really rocked, this decidedly low-key solo effort weaves its own spell with songs that stumble and fall, rise and saunter away. It may just be an Austin thing, however, as LoRae’s sound recalls, at times, the work of songwriters like Will…
Bush Demo Lawsuit Fails
“He’s not our president!” That’s what the demonstrators, organized by the Democracy Coalition, were chanting on April 27, 2001, as they walked from the Bullock Museum over to the Governor’s Mansion to protest an Austin visit by George W. Bush, installed in the White House a couple of months before by the U.S. Supreme Court.…
Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 2003
Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 2003 2003, NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . If you’ve never been to one of Spike & Mike’s Sick & Twisteds, which run for a couple of weeks every year or so at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, here’s what you…
Page Two
The Statesman coverage of Barton Springs pollution is a peculiar version indeed.
Phases and Stages
TorchSounds For Staying Home Sounds for Staying Home arrived with a personally decorated box of scrumptious, homemade cookies that were to die for. Alas, it would have been a delight had the music been as satisfying as the sweets. Not that local vocalist Seela and her combo didn’t give it their all. They certainly deserve…
Venom, Not Water, Flowing at Northridge Acres
For people trying to get expensive help with a serious problem, the Northridge Acres Homeowners Association seems determined to bite the hand that feeds them, but before it has a chance to feed them. The tough-luck subdivision stuck between Austin and Round Rock has fought unsuccessfully for years to acquire what most people take for…
The Hidden Fortress
The Hidden Fortress 1958, NR, 139 min. Directed by Akira Kurosawa, Starring Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki. Mifune plays a loyal samurai general who leads a princess and her fortune back to her homeland with the help of two bumbling aides. Sound familiar? George Lucas gives this Kurosawa classic its props as one of…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Lawrence Welk’s home in Strasburg, N.D., never had running water.Romans didn’t discover pants until they conquered France, and early leg and thigh coverings (“feminalia”) were considered effeminate.Chicken Cacciatore was first made during the Renaissance.Harley Earl designed the Chevrolet Corvette. They are all made in Bowling Green, Ky.Jim Beam recently filled its 9-millionth barrel of bourbon,…
Phases and Stages
Walter T. HiggsJust a Few Miles to Go (Doc Blues)John McVeyGone to Texas (Doc Blues)Jeffrey P. RossMy Pleasure (Doc Blues) With their third offering on the table, Jeffrey P. Ross’ My Pleasure, the recently formed local label Doc Blues makes one thing clear: Blues may not be as hip as it once was, but it…
Every Officer Does His Duty?
And now for a bit of irony provided by the Austin Police Dept. According to an APD press release, on Jan. 5 just after 4am, five-year veteran officer Dewayne Friar heard “suspicious noises” outside his South Austin home. After telling someone else inside the house to call 911, the off-duty Friar went outside to discover…
Intacto
Intacto 2001, NR, 108 min. Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Antonio Dechent, Mónica López, Max Von Sydow, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Eusebio Poncela. Intriguing and stylish, the Spanish film Intacto posits a world where luck is a commodity to be found, nurtured, and occasionally revoked. That luck — the intangible,…
Day Trips
The Central Texas Museum of Automotive History in Rosanky is like a candy counter for those who appreciate fine machinery. The colorful cars are lined up like gumdrops that can be seen but not touched. It’s enough to make your mouth water. You don’t have to be an automobile aficionado to appreciate the rows of…
Phases and Stages
Garreth Broesche Trio(GB3) Does the world really need another take on Thelonious Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser”? And a mandolin-driven version at that? Local bandleader and mando player Garreth Broesche thinks so, as he closes this eponymous disc with that jazz standard. The style here is Left Bank-inflected, carnivalesque, acoustic jazz, rendered by mandolin, string bass,…
Weed Watch
According to her newest Web site, political columnist and neo-leftist gadfly Arianna Huffington has had enough of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s propaganda ads that seek to tie marijuana smokers to terrorists. The ads, which have been running ad nauseam since last year’s Super Bowl, give viewers a 30-second look at…
Darkness Falls
Darkness Falls 2003, PG-13, 85 min. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield, Joshua Anderson, Grant Piro, Andrew Bayly, Sullivan Stapleton, Emily Browning, Lee Cormie. “Call the cops!” one phantasmically beleaguered character howls, eliciting a worrying “The cops are dead!” from sleepyhead hero Kyle Walsh (Kley). Never…
After a Fashion
BELLA-ISIMO In actuality, it was only about six hours over a period of two days, but it felt like a week. And you just about could spend a week at Bella (1221 W. Sixth, 474-5999) luxuriating in their many services. Having been to many salons and spas in town, I found this one of the…
Phases and Stages
George StraitFrank Erwin Center, Jan. 19 Since George Strait turned into country music’s version of Perry Farrell, curating his annual Country Music Festival, the real-life cowboy has opted more and more to stay home on the range outside San Antonio. Sunday was Strait’s first Austin appearance since 1996, and the sold-out arena was ready to…
Naked City
Quote of the Week: “Unless you understand what it was like before Roe v. Wade, it’s hard to understand why we don’t want to go back.” — Austin attorney Sarah Weddington, who won the landmark case guaranteeing a woman’s right to an abortion, which was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court 30 years ago this…
Butt-Numb-a-Thon
Butt-Numb-a-Thon As usual, Harry Knowles’ birthday party o’ film surprises is sold out.
To Your Health
Sometimes when I take my vitamins late at night I have trouble getting to sleep. Why is that and which ones are most likely to do this?
Phases and Stages
Clover & Rachel CarrollTexas Routes In keeping with the title, the art for Texas Routes is a road map of the state. Thematically, then, the album is a rambling journey through the one-stoplight towns and back roads across Texas. Husband and wife Clover and Rachel Carroll play acoustic guitar and standup bass, respectively, with pals…
Naked City
On Tuesday, Austin Independent School District Superintendent Pat Forgione presented his 2003-2004 AISD budget proposal to the AISD board of trustees. The district is trying to find $59 million in savings, the amount of the budget shortfall it expects in next year’s budget. Forgione, calling the paper “a starting point,” has recruited a 28-member task…
Nurses for Sale
Nurses for Sale 1971, R, 78 min. Directed by Rolf Olsen, Starring Curd Jürgens, Heinz Reincke, Johanna Von Koczian. An experimental drug being tested in the third world by four nurses turns out to have heroin-like effects. Where smack and buxom babes go, the mob is sure to follow. (For more on the Something Weird…
Second Helpings: Sushi, Part 1
You say “sushi,” I say “Second Helpings.” “Sushi!” “Second Helpings!”
About AIDS
Bush Plays Politics With Condom Info The Bush administration is playing right-wing politics by omitting or negatively spinning key information on condom use in a revised “fact sheet” recently posted on the CDC’s Web site, after the page had been removed for over a year. It would seem that the Bushites do not want to…
Phases and Stages
Calvin RussellRebel Radio (Free Falls) Back in the mid-Nineties, Calvin Russell had a video on the Austin Music Network that could frighten small children. The only man craggy enough to play him in the movies would be that guy from the Ford pickup commercials, or maybe Sam Elliott. From the sounds of Rebel Radio, it…
Naked City
Joining a legal campaign that’s taken root across the South, the Texas NAACP has filed a class-action suit seeking damages on behalf of the descendants of former Texas slaves. Named as defendants in the suit are Union Pacific, JP Morgan Chase and Co., and WestPoint Stevens Inc., three giants whose corporate predecessors profited from the…
TCB
Austin readies for Super Bowl weekend with roller skates, TV cameras, and a “yuppie makeover”
The Evidence of Things Unseen
Is Bush lying about Iraq? Can he prove that he’s not?
Phases and Stages
Doug StanhopeWord of Mouth DVD (Sacred Cow) “Nothing makes you feel better inside, male or female, than when someone who shouldn’t have fucked you did!” This pearl of wisdom from L.A.-based comedian Doug Stanhope, an honorary Austinite thanks to his work with Bill Hicks collaborator and Sacred Cow maven Kevin Booth, goes a long way…
Naked City
The Austin Parks Foundation needs 50 volunteers for switch grass planting at Guerrero Colorado River Park on Saturday, 8:45am-noon. For info: 477-1566 or gsanders@austinparks.org. The APF also needs volunteers to help produce Austin ParksFest, which will be at Auditorium Shores on Earth Day weekend, April 26-27. For that, e-mail tedsiff@austinparks.org. A demonstration titled “The State…
Let Them Entertain You
The story of Austin Musical Theatre is itself a musical, complete with kids-with-a-dream beginnings, against-all-odds successes, and nail-chewing jams. Well, now comes the big-belting, high-kicking, pull-out-the-stops showstopper: a revue revisiting AMT’s greatest song-and-dance numbers, Celebrate Austin Musical Theatre.
Food on the Fly
Airport food isn’t the same as airline food, especially at Austin-Bergstrom.
Shadows Over Bergstrom
The economic and security changes of the last two years set off ripples at Bergstrom Airport.
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large: The Toxic Agenda
The Statesman’s sensational report on Barton Springs is much less than meets the eye.
All Bodies Dance
The latest production from Johnson / Long Dance Company, I Stuck My Head in the Garden is a 65-minute topsy-turvy of boys and girls in all their confusing combinations and shows the troupe once again smashing the notion that dance belongs to the tall, the thin, and the flat-chested.
Food-o-File
Virginia B. Wood has news from across the land.
Bergstrom 2020 (or thereabouts): The Master Plan
The ABIA Master Plan looks to the future.
The Hightower Report
Our tax dollars outfit military contractors, but not the troops; and our representatives are less than representative.
Articulations
The final exit for actress Patsy Goldwater, a home run for playwright Dan Dietz, a fair for your inner Frankenstein, and a training ground for aspiring critics
Limited Edition
The advent of file-sharing: just deserts for the music industry’s sins against artists and fans alike? Perhaps. Nevertheless, major labels have begun likening file-sharing to terrorism, painting some of their best customers as felons. Although this war dance shows no signs of abating, the industry’s latest salvo against downloading music for free off the Internet…
City vs. Statesman: Futrell Comes Out Swinging at the Springs
City and state experts contest the Statesman’s hair-raising allegations of toxic pollution at Barton Springs.
Packs a Punch
Chances are you’ve seen Powerhouse Animation’s work, whether you know it or not — its portfolio includes Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights, Disney TV’s The Proud Family, and plenty of local TV spots, ad campaigns, and one-off Flash animation projects.
Exhibitionism
States of Grace, the opening program for Sharir + Bustamante Danceworks’ 20th anniversary season, provided an optimistic opening to 2003, with bold and imaginative choreographers presenting creative movement against which the rest of this year’s work will have to be measured.
Phases and Stages
Single Frame AshtrayWetheads Come Running (Already Gone) Funny that one of Austin’s more interesting electro-hip rock outfits comes from the decidedly uncool berg of College Station. Single Frame Ashtray moved to Austin two years ago and have since honed a sound that’s centered on cold, darkwave synth textures and cut with a frenetic rock energy…
Money Makes AISD’s World Go Round
Policy questions at Austin ISD are increasingly being answered by the district’s fiscal crunch.
The Case Against Kissinger
War criminal or elder statesman? Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki makes a case in The Trials of Henry Kissinger.
Exhibitionism
Stuffed to bursting with outrageous characters, broad reactions, and slapstick, The Merry Wives of Windsor as mounted by the Austin Shakespeare Festival and Austin Playhouse is big on big comedy, and the crisp comic work of the cast makes it a sizable pleasure.
Phases and Stages
Fozlur Kill the Wallstreet AbrahamsFozlurFozlur Despite frays in the vestments, Fozlur packs more than enough artistic heft to stand out and be noticed. Their eclectic mix of Brit pop, No Wave, and prog rock tends to spew about in frenzied founts comparable to highly caffeinated diatribes delivered at all-night diners. The Austin quintet’s latest, a…
T.A.B. Tells It to the Jury
A Travis County grand jury may begin hearing testimony this week as part of an ongoing investigation into whether the Texas Association of Business violated election laws in its self-proclaimed “show of muscle” in 24 legislative races. At issue is who paid for that muscle, which T.A.B. brandished in the form of 4 million campaign…
D’OH!
AFS’s “The Fifth Generation: Chinese Films of the Past Two Decades”
