Still Crazy
Still Crazy 1998, R, 95 min. Directed by Brian Gibson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Helena Bergström, Hans Matheson, Rachael Stirling, Juliet Aubrey, Bill Nighy, Timothy Spall, Jimmy Nail, Billy Connolly, Stephen Rea. This ponderous, sporadically amusing take on the old “where are they now?” formula as it applies to aging British rock…
Spike & Mike’s 1999 Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation
Spike & Mike’s 1999 Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation 1999, R, 100 min. Directed by Brian Gibson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Stephen Rea, Billy Connolly, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Bill Nighy, Juliet Aubrey, Rachael Stirling, Hans Matheson, Helena Bergström. That masterful, enigmatically calibrated gauge which is the human sense of humor…
Hilary and Jackie
Hilary and Jackie 1998, R, 121 min. Directed by Anand Tucker, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths, David Morrissey, James Frain. For all its knock-’em-dead acting and aggressively stylish direction, Hilary and Jackie is still best described as arthouse comfort food: a big, proteiny platterful of cinematic meatloaf cooked to…
Gloria
Gloria 1999, R, 108 min. Directed by Sidney Lumet, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sharon Stone, Jeremy Northam, Mike Starr, George C. Scott, Jean-Luke Figueroa, Cathy Moriarty, Bonnie Bedelia. Sharon Stone looks like a hooker by way of drag queen in the ill-advised remake Gloria: You can’t take your eyes off her, but…
Public Notice
Hate Crime? So Do We. With a nip here and a tuck there, K�bler-Ross’ snappy shortcut for dealing with death (you know, the ol’ Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance routine) could be applied with good effect to help in the fight against oppression. Let’s try it: Denial is human nature, so that certainly applies. After…
Wallet and Spirit
It’s no secret that he has a lot of money. In 1992, Forbes magazine hailed Leininger as one of the 400 wealthiest entrepreneurs in the country, and reckoned his worth at $285 million (the Express-News recently upped that figure by $55 million). Texas Monthly has listed him among the 100 richest people in the state…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Most of the larger pieces of stone money on the South Pacific Island of Yap are never moved, they only change ownership. After leaving baseball, hall of famer Morris “Moe” Berg became a U.S spy.His espionage activities began while touring Japan with an all-star team in 1934, during which he filmed Tokyo Harbor and military…
Leininger’s Many Holdings
James Leininger owns all or part of a dizzying array of companies. Here’s a partial list for consumers who want to know if they are doing business with him and helping fund his political projects: Promised Land Dairy. Leininger is sole owner of this Floresville company that makes ice cream and milk in glass bottles…
The Coffeehouse Chronicles
Over the next few months, one of our favorite men about town, Pableaux Johnson, will be visiting local java emporiums. He’ll report on the food and libations but he’ll also give us a sense of the personality of each place: who hangs there, is it a poetry slam joint or a quiet place to take…
Framed
It’s disconcerting to watch your past on television. For many, it’s the twinge of nostalgia while watching a rerun from childhood or a long-forgotten cartoon. For me and the scores of Austinites who have braved long days on film sets as extras, it comes unexpectedly whenever Roadie or Outlaw Blues gets shown. It’s not just…
Food-O-File
Carnival Season In New Orleans and other areas with historically large French Catholic populations, the time between Twelfth Night or Epiphany, January 6, and Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday sometime in February, is known as the Carnival Season. One of the most enduring rituals of the season is the preparation…
Scanlines
(“Scanlines” wishes to thank Encore Movies & Music, I Love Video, Vulcan Video, and Waterloo Video for their help in providing videos, laser discs, and DVDs.) 1950 — a great year for Hollywood, but most people only remember Sunset Blvd., All About Eve, and Born Yesterday. Here are a couple other reasons why it was…
The World on a Shelf
photograph by John Anderson According to legend, when conquistador Francisco Pizarro began his colonization of Peru in 1531, he forgot to bring seed stocks. For the Spaniard and his followers, it was almost a disaster. Unlike his counterparts in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, Pizarro did not think to bring the wheat, fruit…
Short Cuts
Calls for Entries: Nominations are now being accepted for the 1999 Texas Interactive Media Achievement Awards (TIM Awards) to recognize outstanding developments in CD-ROM, interactive kiosk, gaming installations, enhanced CDs, and Web sites produced by Texas-based companies or individuals. The awards are presented by the Austin Area Multimedia Association (AAMA) and will be presented at…
Articulations
State of the State Perhaps you think things have been a little quiet where the State Theatre is concerned. After all, wasn’t the renovation of the former moviehouse by Live Oak Theatre supposed to have been completed by this month, in time for the premiere of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde? Is…
Home of the Famous Cuban Sandwich
Airport Blvd at 53rd St. Taquerias pop up along Airport Boulevard fairly frequently, so when I first noticed that a new tenant had filled the little red drive-up shack around 53rd Street that’s seen burgers and burritos served from its window, I didn’t make much of it. It was only when I found myself inching…
Writing by Degrees
Robert Foshko is passionately trying to make a point, but just what it is is quite lost to both of us. To one of us, anyway: Foshko may well know where he’s going, but the path is sometimes hard to discern in a thicket of undiluted observations about the screenwriter’s art. What started as a…
Everybody Has a Body
I have decided that the next time I see a bad movie, I will stop going to the movies for the rest of my life. I know, it’s a big step. This means that I will never experience the greasy crunch of movie popcorn or the thrill of standing in line for the next Star…
Live Shots
THE MEAT PUPPETS Emo’s, January 17 The animals came out this Sunday evening to support the SIMS foundation’s mental health services for Austin musicians — and to receive their dose of punishment/pleasure. The punishment was doled out with thuggish force by a strong cast of local talent — Flametrick Subs, Human, Godzilla Motor Company, and…
Drafting a Career
(l-r): Ray Wright, J.B. Bird ans Tasca Shadix photograph by Jana Birchum L.A. or not L.A.? It’s the question every screenwriter faces, particularly those who are trying to make their first dent in the industry. Sure, it’s a smog-choked, overcrowded, image-laden city, but it’s also the place to do business, the entertainment epicenter where almost…
Dancefest Schedule
Each of DANCEfest’s three concert programs provide an eclectic experience of what dance is being done in Austin. Tickets are $10 ($8 seniors and children) and can be purchased through The Box Office by phone (454-TIXS) or at the door. For additional information, photos, and biographies of the performers, you can access the DANCEfest Web…
Dancing About Architecture
Paying the Electric Bill “We’re not out of the woods yet,” says Electric Lounge co-owner Mike Henry, “but I can see the edge.” That statement comes in the wake of a week’s worth of highly successful benefits the live music venue held for itself because mounting bills had pushed it to the brink of closure.…
The Good Fight
The first thing you notice when entering Vela’s gym is a boxing ring in the center so huge it looks as if the place were built around it. Kids wearing white Hanes T-shirts shadow box in the corners. The sound of fists pummeling speedbags gives off a steady rhythm so loud they have to shout…
Exhibitionism
FC: A RECONSTRUCTION: SHARDS OF A MIRROR Electric Lounge, through January 30 Running time: 1 hr The sudden sucking sound that precedes a bomb’s explosion. Fingers and hands ripped off in a sliver of time. And a brilliant, isolated soul orchestrating it all with mathematical precision. These are the haunting images left by FC: A…
Jimmy Day, 1934-1999
If the death of Austin blues guitarist T.D. Bell on January 9 was a hard blow for the Central Texas music scene, the loss of steel guitar player Jimmy Day must be measured in even larger terms — its impact resonates on a national, even worldwide scale. Buda resident Day died of cancer Friday, January…
In Training
Back in the day, Austin was a hotbed for boxing. Joe Vela and others remember fighting in the Forties and Fifties at the City Coliseum, where the Austin Regional Golden Glove fights were held. But these days, there’s not enough boxing for the city to have its own regionals. All the big fights are now…
Gang of Guerillas
Despite everything you’ve read, most Latin Americans will pass through life without finding an apparition of the Virgin Mary in one of their tortillas. Just as surprisingly, rarely do they call up their ghosts for cooking advice, and their loves are just as sweet when they are not stuck in the time of cholera. At…
The Long, Hot Battle
Only the salamanders would know for sure if the job was done right. Discussion on the council dais veered toward the absurd when members threatened to scrap a $2.2 millionBrown & Root contract for the design and construction of the Waller Creek Tunnel on the basis that the company didn’t have enough local involvement and…
Getting Nature Write
A decade has passed since poet Stephen Dunn first stepped foot in Austin to give a reading of his work at the University of Texas. In the years following, Dunn continued to distinguish himself both in print and as the recipient of a number of prizes and fellowships. So it goes without saying that St.…
Dangerous Music
(l-r): Laura Krause, John Brewington, Cisco Ryder, Aaron Blount, Bill McCullough photograph by John Anderson This is very punk. The five members of Austin’s Knife in the Water, decidedly not a punk band, are gathered at the Sixth Street entrance to Emo’s, separated from Saturday night passersby only by metal security bars. Seating is scarce;…
Postscripts
Busy Day(s), Busy People Wednesday, February 3 will be a busy day in Austin for literary types. At noon, the HRC resumes its monthly Poetry on the Plaza series by holding a reading of works by Langston Hughes (read by UT senior Demetris Williams) and W.H. Auden (read by English professor Elizabeth Butler Cullingford) at…
The Sounds of Silence
illustration by Jason Stout Rock is dead. Or so you may have thought, if you were one of the 700 or so people packed into Emo’s on a Monday night last May while five normal-looking fellows from Chicago, known collectively as Tortoise, cluttered the stage with all manner of instruments and filled the room with…
Rapid Progress to AIDS May Be Genetically Influenced
About AIDS One of the mysteries of AIDS has been why some people can be exposed repeatedly to HIV and not become infected or, if infected, progress to AIDS unusually slowly, if at all. Research now shows the virus needs a doorway into the target cell, and in some people this protein doorway is not…
Million Dollar Man
One member of the Sharp campaign estimated that Leininger, along with other advocates of school vouchers, contributed some $700,000 to Perry’s campaign. As an individual, Leininger gave Perry $56,908. In addition, three of Leininger’s brothers and his mother all gave money to Perry, with contributions ranging from $1,000 to $25,000. Perry’s connections to Leininger also…
Coach’s Corner
Early January was a difficult time in the Midwest. With many of its great cities located on latitudes in line with Moscow, its inhabitants had long ago adjusted to the inhospitable nature of its climate. Snow and frigid temperatures are the norm for midwinter. But in the first week of the coldest and gloomiest month…
On the Lege
He may be one of the most senior members of the Texas Senate, but Austin’s state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos will not be heading any committees this session. The committee appointments, made by Lt. Gov. Rick Perry, reflected the Republican majority in the Senate, with seven of the 12 committee chairs going to members of the…
Day Trips
McKinney Roughs between Austin and Bastrop gives area residents more than an opportunity to view the convergence of four distinct ecosystems. Just the preservation and opening to the public of this unusual land would be enough for loud kudos. More than just a nature preserve, the LCRA park is also an incubator for natural history…
Our Bodies, Our Cities
A promised backlash against annexation is gaining momentum, with legislative proposals pouring in from around the state on how Texas might limit cities’ almost-unilateral ability to expand outside their borders. Leading the pack is Round Rock Republican Mike Krusee, who has campaigned heavily on a promise to limit Austin’s annexation powers. Krusee has filed two…
Page Two
Statewide, the important story is the new Legislature and governmental leadership running the place. Watson and gang, rather than taking a siege mentality and treating the new session as a liability, have seized upon this as an opportunity, hiring lobbyists not so much to influence the Legislature as to help the city’s leadership communicate with…
Naked City
Edited by Lisa Tozzi, with contributions this week by Elise Guillot, Bryan Mealer, Amy Smith, and Jordan Smith. Off the Desk: Barton Springs Pool swimmers will likely be left high and dry for at least several weeks this spring while the city begins retrofitting the pool to ensure the safety of the endangered Barton Springs…
