Structuralist, Collagist and Surrealist Film: The Poetics of Avant-Garde Cinema
Structuralist, Collagist and Surrealist Film: The Poetics of Avant-Garde Cinema NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . 1940s and 1950s includes a selection of rarely screened works of experimental cinema. The program includes “Aviary” (1955) and “A Legend for Fountains” (1957-1970) by artist Joseph Cornell; “Ritual in Transfigured Time” (1946)…
Spectres of the Spectrum
This sci-fi quasi-drama from “media archaeologist” Baldwin is set in a near-future where Big Brother and Big Business control the media and only a ragtag group of waveband pirates stand between them and total domination of our brainwaves.
Bill Daniel’s 16mm Dumpster Beatnik Workshop
Bill Daniel’s 16mm Dumpster Beatnik Workshop NR. Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Bill Daniel’s 16mm Dumpster Beatnik Workshop is a one-day workshop on “instant, no-cost film (dis)assemblage,” or in other words, the direct mechanical manipulation of appropriated film footage for artistic ends.
The San Francisco Austin Optical Shoot-Out
The San Francisco Austin Optical Shoot-Out NR. Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The San Francisco Austin Optical Shoot-Out is a free-for-all with screenings and installations by filmmakers including Craig Baldwin, Bill Daniel, Lori “Surfer” Varga, Luke Savisky, Lee Daniel, Eric Patrick, Trixy Sweetvittles, David Martinez, and members of the…
Craig Baldwin & Company: The Optical Shoot-Out Weekend
Craig Baldwin & Company: The Optical Shoot-Out Weekend NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Spectres of the Spectrum (1999) D: Craig Baldwin; with the voices of Sean Kilcoyne, Caroline Koebel, Beth Usick. (NR, 107 min.) This sci-fi quasi-drama from “media archaeologist” Baldwin is set in a near-future where Big…
Twenty Percent Kraftwerk
Twenty Percent Kraftwerk NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Twenty Percent Kraftwerk is a collection of “fascinating celluloid detritus in the spirit of Craig Baldwin and the A/V Geeks” culled from the huge 16mm archive of former Austin resident Tim Massett. The program includes an original print of the…
Bad Boys
Bad Boys 1983, R, 123 min. Directed by Rick Rosenthal, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sean Penn, Reni Santori, Esai Morales, Ally Sheedy. I’m not exactly sure what makes this scorching prison potboiler qualify as “something weird.” But in his first movie after Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Sean Penn proved his acting…
Cruel Story of Youth
Cruel Story of Youth 1960, NR, 96 min. Directed by Nagisa Ôshima, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Yusuke Kawazu, Miyuki Kuwano, Yoshiko Kuga, Fumio Watanabe, Shinji Tanaka. This is an early film by one of the leading lights of the Japanese New Wave, Nagisa Ôshima, who is probably best known for his flinch-provoking…
King Kong
King Kong 1933, NR, 113 min. Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, Merian C. Cooper, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot. It’s the age-old story: big ape/beautiful girl. But it’s a cinema classic with wonderful (for the time) special effects.
The Little Princess
The Little Princess 1939, NR, 91 min. Directed by Walter Lang, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise, Cesar Romero, Arthur Treacher. Shirley Temple stars in this first film telling of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s famous novel about a young girl whose father deposits her in boarding school when he…
The Killing of Sister George
The Killing of Sister George 1968, R, 138 min. Directed by Robert Aldrich, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Beryl Reid, Susannah York, Coral Browne. This out-and-proud lesbian drama about a soap actress whose career and love life are on a devastating collision course caused quite a stir when it was first released. Today,…
The Children’s Hour
The Children’s Hour 1961, NR, 107 min. Directed by William Wyler, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, James Garner, Miriam Hopkins, Fay Bainter. William Wyler has another go at Lillian Hellman’s lesbian-themed play, which he also filmed in 1936 as These Three. Despite wonderful performances from all the actors, Wyler’s…
Exhibitionism
Excellent Muse’s production of Ted Tally’s Little Footsteps is not without things to recommend — Kristi Fleming’s performance is relaxed and true — but in the end, this show about having a baby lacks exactly the kind of magic — of life and love and innocence and joy — that a baby can bring.
About AIDS
Sexy, athletic men scaling mountains, going to parties, and having fun. This is the typical image of HIV-infected people presented by manufacturers’ slick advertisements for AIDS drugs. For several years now community observers, especially those involved in HIV prevention work, have been concerned about the false impression such ads leave. They mask the fact that…
Land of Opportunities?
As of April, Advanced Micro Devices was considering these possible sites for a new $3-$4 billion chipmaking plant. Austin is one of several communities competing for the factory. Keep in mind that this list of sites may have changed considerably since April, but this is what the landscape looked like two months ago. • Former…
Cats & Dogs
Cats & Dogs 2001, PG, 83 min. D: Lawrence Guterman; with Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins. The idea behind Cats & Dogs is such an obvious one it’s a wonder no one’s thought of it before. In the film’s clever and virtually irrefutable logic, the two species have been in a bitter cold war for eons,…
Exhibitionism
Different Stages’ latest attempt at a theatrical answer to a good, cheap summer beach novel, J. B. Priestly’s 1932 mystery Dangerous Corner, isn’t much fun. It’s full of unsympathetic characters rendered in a flat and melodramatic style.
Coach’s Corner
Travelling in Colorado with his daughter, Coach has time to take in some sports, and contemplate some truths about global warming and Major League baseball.
A Liquid Proposition
Austin’s Water Quality Protection Lands are few and far between: can they do the job they are meant to do?
Time and Tide
Time and Tide 2000, R, 111 min. Directed by Tsui Hark, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jr, Couto Remotigue, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Cathy Tsui, Candy Lo, Wu Bai, Nicholas Tse. Astonishing and exhilarating, Time and Tide marks a return to form for Tsui, “the Roger Corman of Hong Kong filmmaking,” who spent the…
The Player
With Adventures of a No Name Actor, a comic memoir of his adventures in the screen trade, anonymous player Marco Perella is finding literary stardom.
Ceviche Sublime
Cool ceviche — with its clean, fresh flavors of citrus-cured seafood — is proving to be the hot dish in restaurants all over Austin this summer.
Conserving the Easements
The nature and expectation of “conservation easements”
Kiss of the Dragon
Kiss of the Dragon 2001, R, 110 min. Directed by Chris Nahon, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jet Li, Bridget Fonda, Tchéky Karyo, Max Ryan, Bert Kwouk. If it looks like a sucking chest wound, and it oozes like a sucking chest wound, then chances are good that it is, indeed, a sucking…
Marco Perella Reviewed
Movie actor Marco Perella has at least one doozy of a story for every picture he’s made, and in his Adventures of a No Name Actor, he makes each one so light and salty and tasty, you just want to keep tossing ’em back, like popcorn.
Liquid Assets
Some of our top proposals for quaffing wines that taste great ice-cold.
Naked City
Local news this week in Austin.
Pootie Tang
This is a nutty story about the life of the fictional ghetto hero Pootie Tang, whose struggles against corporate America after selling out become the stuff of legend.
Postscripts
Should authors really worry if publishers are reporting a rise in the number of unsold books being returned to them from bookstores?
Food-o-File
Cuisines Editor Virginia B. Wood reveals some recent sandwich finds and shares the latest culinary news.
Naked City
The University of Texas implements a controversial new “team cleaning” system for custodians.
Readings
Brothel Mustang Ranch and Its Women by Alexa Albert, M.D. Random House, 271 pp., $24.95 There are highways outside Nevada towns and cities that lead to the nation’s only legal brothels, with names like the Chicken Ranch in Pahrump, the Pussycat Saloon in Winnemucca, and the Moonlite Bunny Ranch outside Carson City. In 1999, Joe…
Those Magic Moments
Clifford Antone reminisces from prison on 26 years in the blues business.
Naked City
The state of Texas, joined by poor school districts, are fighting a lawsuit in Travis County court that would get rid of the cap on property taxes mandated by the state’s “Robin Hood” tax redistribution law.
Readings
Crazy Loco Stories by David Rice Dial Books for Young Readers, 144 pp., $16.99 Somewhere in South Texas there’s a region called the Valley. It is not quite the Valley of Ashes, and it certainly is not the Valley of the Dolls. But most Texans would be hard-pressed to describe what life is like in…
Hope Springs Eternal: The Line-Up
Here’s an anniversary present for Clifford Antone he didn’t get to see. A few days ago, I was sitting in the back of Antone’s Record Store with Susan Antone and longtime scene vet/store manager Al Ragle. A young UT student named Steven Palkot showed up and introduced himself, saying he was interested in writing about…
Naked City
Rainbow Materials says its massive concrete spill near its Del Valle plant was an oversight, but a former Rainbow employee attests it was no accident.
Readings
The Devil Went Down to Austin by Rick Riordan Bantam, 336 pp., $23.95 It’s all about growth — reaching your full potential and making your mark, indelibly and emphatically. San Antonio novelist Rick Riordan has signaled a dual coming of age in his fourth Tres Navarre opus — The Devil Went Down to Austin. There’s…
Rising Son
The son of Muddy Waters inherits the family bidness.
The Hightower Lowdown
A real Fourth of July, bushwa from D.C., & airline fairness
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Motherless Child
Obscure monument to balladry finally sees the light of day
Capitol Chronicle
Marty Akins for Governor, and few dozen others for statewide office
Second Helpings
Local pizza chains in this week’s Second Helpings.
Page Two
The fact that City of Austin staff is often inspiring and committed makes snafus like downtown traffic and the Fourth of July fiasco all the more perplexing.
Dancing About Architecture
Tosca are no Slackers, Pong bounces back, the Dicks still hate the police, and Ken Lieck finds a new journalist pal in this week’s “Dancing.”
Raising the Dead
Most of us keep our monsters hidden under our beds. Not local actor Joseph Fotinos. His are splashed on posters, captured in action figures and toys, and displayed in a collection of horror-movie memorabilia in the “Monster Room” of his South Austin home. He’s known to dress up in ghoulishly stylish splendor, wear fake nails…
The Forest for the Trees
The Austin Arts Commission has never been a model of bureaucratic efficiency, but this year it seems to have become a big cliché in action, a body so focused on procedure and minutiae and the concerns of the moment that it can’t see the forest for the trees. It’s compounding the problems in Austin’s profoundly…
Letters at 3AM
Robert Bly’s new book of poems is a haunting work that evokes all hisotry and culture.
Live Shots
Jane BondThe Parlor, June 25 As the Beastie Boys observed in 1986, White Castle fries only come in one size. North Loop’s Parlor doesn’t serve fries, and their pizzas are available in three sizes, but they don’t have any ice and have recently taken to featuring music on Monday nights. Shoved into the corner of…
Short Cuts
Slacker turns 10, Cinemaker Co-op is feted, the Alamo Drafthouse heads north, and Bob Sabiston has “it.”
The Tail Wags the Dog
One measure of how well the Cultural Contracts Program has been managed in a given year is the length of the public hearing that follows the initial recommendations for funding to the Arts Commission. If applicants tend to feel they’ve been treated fairly by the advisory panels that review and score their applications, rank them…
Public Notice
Public Notice asks not what it can do for its community but what you can. This week, you can sing, give blood, or watch movies — all for good causes.
Live Shots
Mark EitzelMercury, June 28 Mark Eitzel’s latest release, The Invisible Man, is a departure from his previous work. While in the past, he’s worked with collaborators ranging from members of his old band American Music Club to Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and R.E.M’s Peter Buck, this time Eitzel produced and played most of the instruments…
Video Reviews
Pam Grier stars in Foxy Brown, the film that would end up cementing Grier’s image as the female icon of the Blaxploitation movement.
Related Reading
The Chronicle has spilled plenty of ink over the Arts Commission through the years. Here are the major stories that have been covered since 1996 that are available on the Web. “Buried Treasure: How $50,000 Is Shaking Up Austin’s Black Artists,” by Danielle McClelland, February 23, 1996 austinchronicle.com/issues/vol15/issue25/arts.blacktheatre.html “Paint by Numbers: Racial Divides in Austin’s…
Mr. Smarty Pants
The dark matter in your ever-expanding universe of thought.
Live Shots
AterciopeladosPlaneta MX, San Antonio, June 29 Given that Aterciopelados’ Gozo Poderoso is one of 2001’s best albums, there was mucho incentive for seeking out the upscale San Antonio disco where the self-proclaimed “Velvety Ones” were anchoring a four-banda bill. It was well worth the drive, too; Bogota, Colombia’s reigning musical export (ah-TAIR-see-oh-peh-LAH-dos) put on an…
Video Reviews
For ex-Army soldier Jeremiah Johnson (Redford), the silent, rugged mountains function as the perfect environment in which to fulfill his enigmatic goal — total secession from the human race.
The Big Picture
An open letter to the Austin City Council: Honorable Council Members, By this point, I’m confident your ears have been bent to the breaking point over the various problems with this year’s arts funding procedures, the Cultural Contracts Program in general, and the Arts Commission’s role in both. Rather than expend more language on the…
Day Trips
Take a dip in these secret swimming holes.
Live Shots
The ArsonistsMercury, July 1 The Arsonists bring more to their show than just lyrics. Their lyrics and beats have already established the NYC hip-hop MCs as a staple of any crate digger’s white-label collection. Their live show brings a blazing energy that ignites the stage brighter than any studio date might capture. The live rhythm,…
Video Reviews
Rosalie Goes Shopping — starring German sex symbol Marianne Sägebrecht — has a smirking preciousness that gets in the way of its broad satire of American consumerism.
Articulations
Ratgirl drops her tights to comment on Wayne Alan Brenner’s review of Uncaged.
After a Fashion
“After a Fashion” tosses a few words around about local designer Brian Frisbie, and guess what this Thursday is?
Isn’t It FABulous?
Austin considers a $95 million incentives package for AMD
TV Eye
The film version of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s novel The Mists of Avalon debuts on TNT, and the Top 10 Reasons to be Mrs. Colby Donaldson.
Exhibitionism
Need a laugh? St. Edward’s University has the cure with Lend Me a Tenor, which features a tremendous amount of acting talent, most of it student, working their butts off to entertain you.
To Your Health
Since my 4-year-old has been in preschool, she has constantly been afflicted by colds and other infections. It just seems like her immune system is stretched too far. She can’t swallow pills like my husband and I, but I want to build up her system. Where do I start?
The Price of Smart Growth
A Summary of Incentives for Smart Growth
Scary Movie Two
Scary Movie Two 2001, R, 82 min. Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Andy Richter, Natasha Lyonne, David Cross, Chris Elliott, Tori Spelling, Tim Curry, James Wood, Kathleen Robertson, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans. Before Scary Movie 2 is through, Chris Elliott dry-humps a turkey, David Cross fellates himself, and…
