The Sugarland Express
The Sugarland Express 1974, PG, 110 min. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Goldie Hawn, Ben Johnson, Michael Sacks, William Atherton. With this first theatrical feature, Steven Spielberg proved he had the right stuff to become America’s purest and most accomplished film entertainer. Based on true events, the film tells…
High Rolling in a Hot Corvette
High Rolling in a Hot Corvette 1977, PG, 89 min. Directed by Igor Auzins, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Grigor Taylor, Joseph Bottoms, Simon Chilvers. Babes and good ol’ boys get it on.
Revenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds 1984, R, 90 min. Directed by Jeff Kanew, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Timothy Busfield, Andrew Cassese, Curtis Armstrong. This raunchy movie, which privileges brains over brawn, launched numerous sequels, although the real secret of this movie’s success lies in the charm of its leading…
Woman in the Dunes
Woman in the Dunes 1964, NR, 123 min. Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kyoko Kishida, Koji Mitsui, Hiroko Ito. This Japanese classic, which was written by Kobo Abe and based on his novel, is an existential parable and it is filmed in such a way that suits the themes.…
High School Confidential!
High School Confidential! 1958, NR, 85 min. Directed by Jack Arnold, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore, Mamie Van Doren, Diane Jergens, Ray Anthony, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jackie Coogan, Michael Landon. Cops, cars, marijuana, and teens. This Fifties exploitation film has Russ Tamblyn as an undercover cop…
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
In their second feature film, the wacky Brits do a number on Arthurian legend and the Middle Ages.
Summer Reading
Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler Dial, 274 pp., $21.95 David Schickler’s Manhattan is a defamiliarized black magic kingdom overrun with lunatics and losers, people waiting for love and people just waiting to die. Patrick Rigg is its king. A Wall Street trader and lapsed Catholic whose prepubescent trauma leads to an adulthood of gun-toting…
Will Travel for Food
Only improvisational chefs need to consider the possibility of cooking at the Little Port Walter Research Station on Baranof Island in Southeast Alaska. This isolated facility, located about 125 miles southeast of Juneau, is accessible only by boat or seaplane. This field station is part of the National Marine Fisheries Service and it conducts a…
Naked City
F&W on EPA and Barton Springs, portable toilets for Sixth Street flushed, job vacancies at the Sheriff’s office & lack of education at Barton Springs
Baise-Moi
Baise-Moi 2000, NR, 77 min. Directed by Coralie Trinh Thi, Virginie Despentes, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Hacène Beddrouh, Patrick Eudeline, Ouassini Embarek, H.P.G., Karen Bach, Raffailla Anderson. The new French film Baise-Moi arrives amid a storm of controversy, and rightly so. The title, translated somewhat disingenuously for the American press as Rape…
Summer Reading
Come Up and See Me Sometime Stories by Erika Krouse Scribner, 202 pp., $22 Whether it’s Lois, Irene, or brassy Maggie, who has a thing for other women’s husbands, the young women starring in these deft and bracing stories are shuffling off the things they don’t want and rooting around for the things they do.…
One More for Her
Dale Watson turns his grief into an album.
Naked City
Tied Up in Cable, Mauro Tries to Stop the Pipeline, Smart Growth reconsidered, and Hyde Park Redux
Summer Reading
The Unknown Errors of Our Lives Stories by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Doubleday, 268 pp., $23.95 This short story collection by the former University of Houston writing professor presents the struggles people must face as they try to secure their relationships with parents, children, lovers, and spouses. “We were happy until you got here,” one character…
Dale Watson Reviewed
Dale WatsonEvery Song I Write Is for You (Koch) I was once acquainted with a couple who chose George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today” to accompany the first dance at their wedding — a song about a guy whose lifelong, unrequited love dies only the day he does. Perhaps a morbid choice to launch…
Naked City
More internal problems at the new Travis County Central Booking facility?
Summer Reading
Bitterroot by James Lee Burke Simon & Schuster, 334 pp., $25 Billy Lee Holland is a haunted man. As the protagonist in award-winning author James Lee Burke’s second mystery series, small-town Texas lawyer Holland is a former Texas Ranger haunted by the violence in his past, his guilt over causing the accidental death of his…
What is EMDR?
EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming, was developed in the late Eighties on the principle that the brain processes the day’s events through Rapid Eye Movement sleep and dreams. Dreams are considered a self-healing mechanism for the psyche, much the same as the body’s ways of combating infections or wounds. After a traumatic event,…
Naked City
EPA reviews Clean Air Act new emissions policy for Bush Administration
Summer Reading
Halide’s Gift by Frances Kazan Random House, 345 pp., $23.95 In this historical novel, Frances Kazan, married to famed director Elia Kazan, has put forth an enticing account of a strong female protagonist — Islamic feminist and nationalist author Halide Edib Adivar — in an adverse historical setting — Turkey, 1889-1902. Despite the title, Halide…
Real Good
Karen Poston knows a few Austin musicians
The Hightower Lowdown
Bill Clinton’s legacy; dousing Columbia; stadium envy
Second Helpings: Snow Cones
Snocones, Sno-Cones, Snow Cones, Snowcones! Get ’em while it’s hot.
Postscripts
The latest publishing deals that Texas authors have made concern murders both fictional and real.
Karen Poston Reviewed
Karen PostonReal Bad (The Music Room) Austin’s fertile roots/country scene is alarmingly similar to a high school cafeteria. There’s the jocks (Pat Green), surfers (Derailers), hippies (Gourds), Aggies (Kevin Fowler), class clowns (Cornell Hurd), teacher’s pets (Slaid Cleaves), and gearheads (Gravy Boat). By this reckoning, Karen Poston is the popular girl who always gets As…
Double Down
Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn goof around and discuss the making of Made.
Alone Again, Unnaturally
The isolation of the lighthouse-bound old couple in Ionesco’s The Chairs is supposed to be shattering, but while there are some startling images in the State Theater Company’s polished and professional production, the terror of being alone takes a back seat to an effort to play the script’s comedy.
Page Two
Contemplating life, death, and the bell curve at the annual meeting of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in New Orleans.
Dancing About Architecture
Our resident Marshmallow Peep relates the news and hearsay in and around the Live Music Capital…
Scary Movie
Sid Moody interviews director Larry Clark about his new film, Bully.
Articulations
Tragedy times two: Nathan Jensen and five fellow artists lose their work in a studio fire, and musical star Steve Barton, an alumnus of UT, dies unexpectedly.
Public Notice
Cool out for the summer with Meals on Wheels Air Conditioner Drive Fundraiser at the Dam View, some film, or an art’s fest.
Record Reviews
Latin Beat Latin Grammy nominations broke out recently on two of this year’s South by Southwest rock en Español headliners, Aterciopelados and Rabanes, as well as for San Antonio’s perennial Elephant Room acoustic duo, Lara y Reyes. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of hombres, and in Aterciopelados’ case, the bewitching Andrea Echeverri. Next year,…
Short Cuts
Mark Miks and Murder in Small Town X, festival season upon us, and pre-production on The Life of David Gale.
After a Fashion
Stephen remembers his friend and mentor Joanie Whitebird.
Record Reviews
Finley QuayeVanguard (Epic) Those of you looking for the more overt reggae sensibilities that characterized Finley Quaye’s smashing 1997 debut, Maverick a Strike, might be somewhat dismayed by this sophomore release. That’s not to say Vanguard is bereft of Jah music. Quite the contrary: Vanguard is informed at every turn with reggae stylings. There’s the…
Video Reviews
Fritz Lang’s 1931 film M is remarkable for its modern editing and storytelling as well as for Lorre’s bug-eyed performance as a serial killer preying on children.
Summer Reading
A Cold Case by Philip Gourevitch Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 184 pp., $22 Driving up First Avenue in New York in 1997, Andy Rosenzweig, the chief of investigations for the Manhattan D.A.’s office, was suddenly reminded of a double homicide 27 years earlier that had never been solved. Frankie Koehler — “the ultimate West Side…
Day Trips
Granger Lake might be one of the best kept secrets in Central Texas. About 35 miles northeast of Austin and 15 miles east of Georgetown, the four parks at the lake are often nearly silent except for the gentle snoring of the park host at the gate house and the occasional buzzing of a passing…
Record Reviews
Orlando Cachaíto LópezCachaito (Nonesuch) A member of Cuba’s celebrated Lopez family, 68-year-old Buena Vista Social Club bassist Orlando Cachaito Lopez is one of the outstanding Latin American bassists to emerge in recent decades. On his solo debut, the only musician to play on all the franchise BVSC releases boasts a band that’s comprised of a…
Video Reviews
Tim Robbins’ historical drama mixes true events and characters from Roosevelt’s New Deal pet, the Federal Theatre Project, and intersperses them with fictionalized elements with mixed results.
Summer Reading
The Center of Things by Jenny McPhee Doubleday, 248 pp., $22.95 The center of things, apparently, is both everywhere and nowhere at all, depending on which quantum mechanic you talk to. Marie Brown, a fact-checker and junior reporter for the Gotham City Star tabloid who happens to know quite a bit about physics, believes it’s…
Mr. Smarty Pants
Some theorize that Cuba is what remains of Atlantis.In 1874, Henry Woodward, a medical student from Toronto, patented the first incandescent lamp. He later sold a share of his patent to Thomas Edison.The highest wind speed ever calculated was in excess of 1,000 mph. It was on Saturn.There have been recent accounts of baboons seeking…
Record Reviews
TindersticksCan Our Love… (Beggars Banquet) It’s been four years since Tindersticks’ last domestic release, but adventurous listeners likely sought out 1999’s Simple Pleasures, a studio LP that was never released in the U.S., which represented a detour for Nottingham’s masters of melancholy. With a heavy infusion of Seventies soul, they tried a little tenderness and…
TV Eye
More grumbling about how dumb the Emmy Awards are
Summer Reading
Ignatius Rising The Life of John Kennedy Toole by René Pol Nevils and Deborah George Hardy LSU Press, 234 pp., $24.95 The story of John Kennedy (“Ken”) Toole, when briefly summarized, is a remarkable one. Struggling young author attempts to get his novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, published and is shunned by multiple publishers. Despairing…
To Your Health
I’ve been hearing that fiber in the diet is not as important as we used to think. Is it really important, and if so what does it do?
Record Reviews
Nusrat Fateh Qawwali Khan Along with Fela Kuti in 1997, the death of Pakistani spiritual singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan leaves a dark, empty shadow. But like Femi Kuti, who carries his father’s torch high, Nusrat’s family keeps the Qawwali flame alive. A passionate, vocal-driven music from Pakistan that seeks closer communion with the Giver,…
Made
Made 2001, R, 95 min. Directed by Jon Favreau, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Famke Janssen, Sean Combs, Faizon Love, Peter Falk, Vincent Pastore, Makenzie Vega. Made marks the first reunion between actors Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn since the breakout success of Swingers in 1996, which Favreau also…
Summer Reading
My Misspent Youth Essays by Meghan Daum Open City Books, 177 pp., $14 (paper) In these 10 essays culled from the observations of a young American doing double takes on everything she sees, Meghan Daum is an expert storyteller linking her “personal banalities to something larger and worth telling,” as she explains in the foreword.…
About AIDS
Another study is out showing that choosing a doctor carefully really does make a difference in getting good HIV care. Briefly, general physicians are less likely than HIV-experienced specialists to follow the latest guidelines for HIV care. In treating HIV disease, following the rules fully can mean life or death for the patient. Other studies…
Record Reviews
Rufus WainwrightPoses (Dreamworks) Talking about Rufus Wainwright, we find ourselves slightly mortified. We’re wondering why more people don’t listen to him, and what we can do to help the cause. We should inform you that Loudon Wainwright’s little boy is still singing about death, when being gay is about not letting on that one day…
Bully
Bully 2001, NR, 106 min. Directed by Larry Clark, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Brad Renfro, Rachel Miner, Nick Stahl, Bijou Phillips, Michael Pitt, Kelli Garner, Daniel Franzese, Leo Fitzpatrick. Bully stirs up a troubling stew of emotions that are far from simple to digest. In this rests both its strengths and weaknesses.…
Summer Reading
Ordinary Horror by David Searcy Viking, 230 pp., $24.95 Searcy’s debut novel is a masterpiece of quiet, reflective horror. It’s so quiet, in fact, that it took me a half-dozen chapters to figure out it was a horror novel, though perhaps the word “horror” is too strong in this case. It’s more like a nightmare…
Coach’s Corner
Coach’s visit to Golf School — with the wife — yields unexpected results.
Neighbors vs. Neighbors
A profile of the Central Texas struggle over Alcoa Rockdale and its plans for expansionAlcoa announces new “voluntary” emissions reductions.
Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes 2001, PG-13, 119 min. Directed by Tim Burton, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kris Kristofferson, Estella Warren, Paul Giamatti, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Charlton Heston. As a tremendous fan of the 1968 original, as well as director Tim Burton and Austin-based…
Summer Reading
The Columnist by Jeffrey Frank Simon & Schuster, 237 pp., $22 Idiots come in all guises. Even a powerful political columnist in Washington can be a doofus, judging from New Yorker senior editor Jeffrey Frank’s The Columnist, a hilarious novel framed as the memoir of Brandon Sladder, a pompous, emotionally fumbling, name-dropping cad (of course,…
Good Things in Small Packages
At Starlite, it’s possible — and exciting — to belong to the Clean Plate Club, Rebecca Chastenet de Géry says.
Progress or PR?
On July 6, Alcoa submitted a permit application to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission under the agency’s Voluntary Emissions Reduction Program, enacted by the Legislature in 1999. According to Alcoa spokesman Jim Hodson, Alcoa’s plan calls for an annual reduction in regulated air emissions of approximately 60,000 tons: That would include a 50% cut…
Le Placard (The Closet)
Le Placard (The Closet) 2001, R, 84 min. Directed by Francis Veber, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Michèle Laroque, Michel Aumont. Trade in Dustin Hoffman’s red spangly Tootsie dress for Daniel Auteuil’s leather chaps and condom beanie-hat, and you’ve got the basic idea of this French comedy…
Summer Reading
Carousel of Progress by Katherine Tanney Villard, 272 pp., $23.95 Meredith Herman, stumbling through adolescence, has a mother, Leigh, presently undergoing a midlife crisis, a bewildered father, Robert, and Peter, her brother who frequently claims to be Frank Sanchez, an imaginary detective with suspect investigative techniques. “Unfortunately, my mother and I shared an irresistible attraction…
Food-o-File
Changing hands at Jean-Luc’s French Bistro and other culinary news.
Tulia’s Freedom Ride
Activists travel to Tulia for “Never Again!” rally against drug war.
Divided We Fall
Divided We Fall 2000, PG-13, 122 min. Directed by Jan Hrebejk, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Martin Huba, Jiri Kodet, Csongor Kassai, Jaroslav Dusek, Anna Sisková, Boleslav Polívka. It’s commonplace enough for well-intentioned filmmakers to tell stories of simple heroism during the Holocaust — stories about flawed people attempting in some small way…
