Cover Story
Who Killed Father Ryan?
A 1981 Odessa murder haunts crime researchers, the Catholic Church, and an ex-con determined to prove his innocence
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop 1984, R, 105 min. Directed by Martin Brest, Starring Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold. This action-comedy vehicle presents Murphy at his very best.
Casuistry: The Art of Killing a Cat
Casuistry: The Art of Killing a Cat 2004, NR, 91 min. Directed by Zev Asher, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Curiously, the word casuistry (pronounced kazoo-istry) comes right before the word cat in most dictionaries. It refers to the process of ethical reasoning, although it is often used to connote specious rationalization.…
Rockin’ the Corps
Rockin’ the Corps 2005. Film record of a music and comedy concert held on April 1, 2005 at Camp Pendleton to support the families of troops who have been wounded or lost their lives in America’s defense. Entertainers includes Cedric the Entertainer, Destiny’s Child, Godsmack, Hootie and the Blowfish, Jay Mohr, KISS, Louie Anderson, Richie…
Arts Review
StallGraffiti ATX throws short, original plays from local writers into a full-length variety show that revolves thematically around the porcelain palace
A Place at the Long Table
The complex, nuanced, unmistakable taste of Juneteenth, 139 years later
Texas Platters
Hayes CarllLittle Rock (Highway 87) Somewhere, not too deep inside Houston native Hayes Carll, lives a very old soul with a pair of dice in hand. It’s obvious from his wearied tenor on “Wish I Hadn’t Stayed So Long,” opening his second album, Little Rock, that this soul has something to say and that we…
Naked City
House of Reps to vote on an amendment that would forbid the Department of Justice from using federal resources to enforce the government’s drug prohibition laws against sick patients
Ladies in Lavender
Even though grande dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench share the screen in this drama, their immense talents are mostly wasted.
Arts Review
Dan Basila’s ‘Holes Before Bedtime’ is an unsettling work of art; but it is a work of art, as opposed to a mere vulgar spectacle, and that’s the really weird thing about it
Celebrating Juneteenth in Austin
Friday-Sunday, June 17-19 For more info, see Calendar, or www.geaya.org. To learn more about the Carver Branch Museum and Cultural Center’s Juneteenth exhibit and activities, see www.ci.austin.tx.us/carver. Congress Avenue Parade, Friday, 1:30pm Battle of the Bands & Drumline Competition, Friday-Saturday, Nelson Field Stadium Oxygen Freedom Run and Walk, Saturday, 8:30am, 14th & Comal Juneteenth Parade,…
Texas Platters
With summer, um, approaching, and the smell of week-old barbecue in the air, weird shit is afoot in these hills. Monster Movie is Christian Savill and Sean Hewson, and their latest disc is Transistor on Chicago’s Graveface Records. While they’re from Chi-town, Rachel Staggs of Austin’s Experimental Aircraft lends her vocals to several of the…
Naked City
Money’s tight at AISD
Arts Review
A structural anthropologist concerned with the relationship between nature and culture, artist Cynthia Camlin is dactylic, immediate, and always challenging
Who Cooked It?
Estimated meal cost per person: * $10 ** $10-25 Tony’s Southern Comfort Restaurant Home-cooking soul-style, Tony’s has rib-sticking Southern meats and chicken (with waffles!), a half-dozen fantastic sides, speedy lunch specials, incredible corn bread, and desserts made with lots of love. Tony’s is quickly becoming an Eastside institution. This ain’t diet food, but it sure…
Texas Platters
Lightnin’ HopkinsLightnin’ Strikes Twice (Koch) Lightnin’ Hopkins deserves his own postage stamp. From his early playing days in the 1920s to wandering around Houston until he was discovered, Hopkins laid it all out on the table, hot and simple like Sunday breakfast. On this excellent 2-CD set, rarities and achingly intimate tracks rub elbows. Through…
Naked City
Controversial plans for a 120-foot tower at the intersection scrapped
Notorious J.I.G.
Now in its 10th year, ‘Riverdance’ is back on tour and its wildly popular celebration of Irish dance is as gloriously breathtaking as ever
Food-o-File
Making good on some Restaurant Poll mistakes; plus, getting our Daily fix and some stuff to do with dad
Texas Platters
Chili Cold BloodJesus’ Comin’ … I’m the Fuck You Up Man (Bloodchili) Chili Cold Blood is like John Lee Hooker and Black Sabbath stuck in a local elevator. Three white dudes whose gothic blues wears its American macho costume loud and proud and is made up of steel guitar, drums, and electric guitar. Disc two…
Naked City
How Texas environmental policy fared in the Legislature
Culture Flash!
Pay your respects to the late Boyd Vance, June means green for the Paramount and State, and six Austinites are officially ‘New American Talent’
Gruene Pastures
Jason Allen honky-tonks to the head of the class
Texas Platters
Tee Double The Growth (Mumbo Jumbo) Rejuvenated by his experiences as a supporting act on the Cali Comm 4 tour, Austin’s Tee Double enriches his 11th album in as many years with a savvy emphasis on club bangers. Swimming in a ticklish swarm of Neptunes-inspired bass bubbles, The Growth’s “Natural Phlow” reaches a treasured domain…
Taking Aim
With the 79th barely over, would-be officeholders jockey for position
Recurring Character
Four Texas writers on fathers and sons
Jason Allen Reviewed
Jason AllenWouldn’t It Be Nice (D Records) Forget that the title of Jason Allen’s new album is a Beach Boys song. The East Texas native was “born in a john boat with a cane pole in his hand,” and has been burning up the honky-tonks and dance halls across Texas ever since. Allen learned his…
The Hightower Report
The wrong side of democracy; and taxpayers’ bucks fill corporate piggy banks
Readings
Luis Rodriguez’s insider knowledge of East L.A. gang life has produced several well-received books of poetry, prose, and nonfiction. With his new novel, he shifts to a broader, but no less gritty, examination of labor culture and activism within the walls of the Nazareth Steel Mill.
Texas Platters
Eric Johnson Bloom (Favored Nations) Perhaps Eric Johnson needs to record an entire album of sentimental love songs, like Bloom’s “Sunnaround You” and “From My Heart.” It might just open up the veteran Austin guitarist’s subsequent albums for other sounds, thus getting the, “Where’s the next Ah Via Musicom?” monkeys off his slender back. Johnson’s…
Chronology of a Murder: Dec. 21-22, 1981
1) 11:30am-1:30pm – Hobbs, N.M.: Father Ryan leaves James Harry Reyos at the bondsman’s house. Reyos retrieves his truck, visits a bar with a friend, buys a gas cap at an auto parts store (receipt). Reyos drops his friend off at home around 1:30pm. He then leaves Hobbs, picks up a hitchhiker, and drives to…
Crew Stories
P.J. Raval, director of photography
News/Print
Abe Louise Young eulogizes Allison Crews; plus, a Texas Book Festival update, Bill Hicks across the pond, and June’s event offerings
Texas Platters
Rubble, Green Milk From the Planet Orange, Gary Floyd’s Buddha brothersRoom 710, June 12 On the last night of Room 710’s fifth anniversary celebration weekend, three bands used beat-up guitars to walk in outer space. It began with dick: Austin’s punk past, Gary Floyd, who reunited Armadillo busters the Dicks the night before, sang his…
Howard Swindle, Reporter
‘Dallas Morning News’ reporter loved a good mystery
Jon of Arcadia
SoulCaliburII: Battle for the Back Room
Page Two
A new car sparks a meditation on years in motion, with the radio on
Texas Platters
This Microwave WorldRed States (Tight Spot) It’s all about the bass isn’t it? It is for This Microwave World, Austin’s premier post-apocalyptic dance quintet. Maybe not all about the bass. Brandon Loe’s low end might not be half as fierce without Sean O’Neal’s powerful vocals. Red States is TMW’s first full-length, although its fourth release,…
Pro-Kim/Anti-Clarke Crowd Celebrates
Place 3 run-off candidate Jennifer Kim soaks up victory with supporters
DVD Watch
Is it possible that one of the greatest (if not the greatest) sports-related films of all time is not only from Japan, but also about pingpong?
After a Fashion
Two Parises for Popov, a pink limousine for Stephen, and a little praise for Anthony-Nak
Drawn to Be Funny
At Camp Fig’s new show, forget the art history and just laugh at the oddball imagery
New Trumps Old in Run-Off
Election night is one of disappointment for Place 3 run-off candidate Margot Clarke and her supporters
TV Eye
When most of us see younger versions of ourselves in pictures or home movies, it’s in the privacy of our own home in the company of friends and loved ones. For Shelby Knox, some of those images will be seen across the nation, in prime time, when ‘The Education of Shelby Knox’ launches the 18th…
About AIDS
“There’s no effective treatment, so I don’t want to know.” Boy, how often we heard that in the bad ol’ days, pre-1996. Today, however, it’s a different world: There’s every reason to get tested, because that begins the process of surviving HIV – and stopping its spread. On June 27, National HIV Testing Day, let’s…
Texas Platters
Tammany Hall Machine The greatest risk in channeling the classic pop sounds of the Sixties and Seventies is winding up with nothing more than tuneful derivation. The Tammany Hall Machine expresses earnest reverence with just enough distinction to avoid falling into that trap. Augmenting solid pop songcraft with strategic dashes of psychedelia and twang, the…
Revenge of the Doughnuts!
Jennifer Kim wins the old-fashioned way
Batman Begins
Batman Begins … and it’s about time. The movie is great fun, and also a terrific relief.
To Your Health
What can a person do to help prevent skin cancer?
Texas Platters
The Fall Collection EP (Imagine & Touch) Love songs make up the lifeblood of any musician. Who wants politics when someone’s heart has been torn out? Not the Fall Collection, an Austin toddler trio unafraid to sport twin Rickenbackers and pin earnest pop to their sleeves with Danny Dunlap’s driving guitar, Danny Mackle’s simple, steady…
Rocha’s Death Involved Taser Confusion
Officer feared Taser would be used on her, partner
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Pitt and Jolie, who are reduced to set dressing in their own star vehicle, nevertheless pack a lot of bang for the buck.
The Common Law
Personal finances – ATM cards & personal checks
Texas Platters
ButtercupSick Yellow Flower If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. That seems to be the adage San Antonio’s Buttercup uses to compose its clever indie pop. Instead of saying it, they hum it. They infuse vocal harmonies, lots of “la’s,” and let the music do the talking on 12 dynamic tracks.…
Naked City
Quote of the Week”I’m a progressive Democrat – I believe in protecting the environment, I believe in helping small businesses, I believe in diversity, I believe in a woman’s right to choose …” – Austin City Council Place 3 candidate Jennifer Kim, on the Republican support that helped her to victory “All right, where’s my…
dot the i
In his English-language debut, Gael García Bernal plays one of the sides of a twisted love triangle
TCB
Getting funky with marching bands, ridiculous petitions, and an even more ridiculous amount of new albums
Day Trips
The Lone Star Coffee Bar in Johnson City is a caffeine oasis among the peach stands
Texas Platters
The Bright and Hollow SkyGem State (Pop Faction) With their moniker ripped from an Iggy Pop song, Austin’s Bright and Hollow Sky takes listeners for a ride that’s more iggy than pop. Gem State, the group’s debut full-length, finds former Silver Scooter members going long and, sometimes, wrong. Gem State’s missteps might be more understandable…
Naked City
TxDot is digging up thousands of wetlands plants in the path of State Highway 130, then paving the entire area over
Howl’s Moving Castle
The latest from animation master Hayao Miyazaki is ravishingly beautiful but narratively inferior to all his other films.
Finding Light in Shadow
Conspirare sings of deep hope in the midst of great suffering
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Sex, oil, bikes, booze, and plasma
Texas Platters
Antone’s, Sunday June 26 Michelle ShockedDon’t Ask Don’t Tell (Mighty Sound) Michelle Shocked Got No Strings (Mighty Sound) Michelle ShockedMexican Standoff (Mighty Sound) Anyone who’s followed Michelle Shocked over the years knows she can be just a little, let’s say, unpredictable. So it should come as no surprise that the native Texan decided to release…
Naked City
Court rules Dallas Co. prosecutors engaged in race-based jury selection at Miller-El’s trial
The Perfect Man
Less a feature film than 90 minutes of tweenage feminine wish fulfillment, The Perfect Man is like Teen People come to life.
The Magnificent Eight
Just before Juneteenth, the Young Eight, an acclaimed ensemble of young African-American classical musicians, returns to town as part of the St. Cecilia Music Series
Soccer Watch
Ugly soccer, but effective; the battle between Lightning and Tornados
Texas Platters
BettySoo Let Me Love You At this late date, being an Austin singer-songwriter and standing apart from the herd takes exceptional talent. BettySoo’s local debut, Let Me Love You, has the basics down, the singer’s voice bright and strong. She’s capable of writing songs with simple melodies and the occasional insightful lyric, but taken as…
Naked City
Health science complex could be part of master-planned community
Mad Hot Ballroom
The filmmakers would have us embrace their work as though it were the Spellbound of grade-school dance documentaries, but the film loses its footing.
