The Greatest Show On Earth
The Greatest Show On Earth 1952, NR, 153 min. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gloria Grahame, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour, James Stewart. Master of the old-time spectacle Cecil B. DeMille won his only Best Picture Oscar for this big top story featuring a host…
The Women
The Women 1939, NR, 133 min. Directed by George Cukor, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, Marjorie Main, Lucile Watson, Butterfly McQueen. This Hollywood bitchfest is an enduring favorite that features a constellation of top female stars (in an exclusively female cast) dishing the…
Die Hard
Die Hard 1988, R, 131 min. Directed by John McTiernan, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia. Bruce Willis discovered his movie legs in this superb action film that thrusts him into the Everyman Hero role when he is coincidentally visiting a high-rise at the same time terrorist thieves…
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Die Hard 2: Die Harder 1990, R, 124 min. Directed by Renny Harlin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia. This follow-up is another good actioner although the setup is much more improbable as Willis’ cop just happens to be at the scene of another mega-showdown.
Surf II: End of the Trilogy
Surf II: End of the Trilogy 1984, R, 91 min. Directed by Randall Bedat, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Eddie Deezen, Linda Kerridge, Cleavon Little, Lyle Waggoner, Eric Stoltz, Ruth Buzzi, Carol Wayne. The fact that there is no Surf I is typical of the humor in this spoof of Seventies gore films…
A Bullet for Sandoval
A Bullet for Sandoval 1969, PG, 105 min. Directed by Julio Buchs, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Annabella Incontrera, George Hilton, Ernest Borgnine. The Alamo’s all-you-can-eat pasta, focaccia, and Caesar salad Spaghetti Western Spaghetti Feast returns with this story about the epic enmity between two men, who spend the movie stalking each other…
Double Nickels
Double Nickels 1977, PG, 87 min. Directed by Jack Varek, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring George Cole, Ed Abrams. “Speedsploitation” gains momentum in this high-speed chase movie whose template is the 1964 release of Gone in 60 Seconds. Among other thrills, see a police cruiser chase a Ford Pinto down a long narrow…
The Last Dragon
The Last Dragon 1985, PG-13, 109 min. Directed by Michael Schultz, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Taimak, Vanity, Julius Carrey, Faith Prince. Motown’s Berry Gordy produced this karate picture starring two one-named wonders, Taimak and Vanity (the Prince protégée), and a selection of Motown B-sides. Able-handed veteran Schultz directs. Look for William H.…
The New Rulers of the World
The New Rulers of the World 2001, NR, 53 min. Directed by John Pilger, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . British journalist and filmmaker John Pilger explores the impact of corporate globalization, using as examples Indonesia and the way it has been overrun by the multinationals, the IMF, and the World Bank.
“Fruit on the Vine” and “Breaking Free”
“Fruit on the Vine” and “Breaking Free” NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . “Fruit on the Vine” is a documentary about backyard pool skating and underground skating culture. “Breaking Free” is an ongoing documentary about animal liberation protests around the country. Also showing will be a recent Independent Media…
Hud
Hud 1963, NR, 112 min. Directed by Martin Ritt, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Paul Newman, Patricia Neal, Melvyn Douglas, Brandon de Wilde. Multi-award-winning classic about a family of Texas men (and the housekeeper) is an eternal favorite and a fantastic ensemble piece. Years ago in these pages, Matthew McConaughey described Hud as…
Bigger Than Life
Bigger Than Life 1956, NR, 95 min. Directed by Nicholas Ray, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring James Mason, Walter Matthau, Barbara Rush, Robert Simon. James Mason plays an American schoolteacher in Fifties suburbia. He is a quintessential “nice guy” and family man. Then his doctor prescribes the new wonder drug, cortisone, and though…
The Manchurian Candidate
Decades before U.S. intelligence got hip to the notion of “sleeper agents” in our midst, The Manchurian Candidate successfully tried out the idea in this post-Korean War setting. (Last year it was re-made in a post-gulf war setting.) The result is a chilling story about brainwashing, secret political agendas, power-hungry moms, and psychically ravaged veterans.
Exhibitionism
With 12 Steps to a More Dysfunctional Family, playwright-performer Rob Nash elevates the unhealthy sport of impersonating the members of one’s family into a fulfilling art.
Mini-Review
Chronicle Food writer MM Pack makes it clear that while you might not be in and out of Doña Emilia’s family-style Colombian restaurant in a hurry, it’s definitely worth the wait.
Phases and Stages
Patti SmithLand (1975-2002) (Arista) Patti Smith and the horses she rode in on had a formidable, singular effect on music as Land (1975-2002) demonstrates. The first compilation of her career, this 2-CD set gathers her singles and album tracks (as voted by her fans) on one disc, and obscure material, demos, and alternate takes on…
Naked City
Texas Democrats, who held their convention in El Paso last weekend, were not nearly as entertaining as their GOP counterparts in Dallas the previous week. The blandness seemed largely by design: Party honchos had shooed away high-profile national Dems like U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, calling their proposed…
An Artificial Wilderness
Philip Bobbitt’s The Shield of Achilles is getting a serious and heartening push from its publisher, Knopf, writes Roger Gathman. Does he seriously think there’s an audience for a book that, among other things, explains the strategic deliberations of Napoleon III? “I always conceived a large audience for this book,” Bobbitt claims. “I’d be crushed…
Phases and Stages
The BandThe Last Waltz (Rhino/Warner Bros.)Little FeatWaiting for Columbus (Rhino/Warner Bros.) In the live album canon, The Band’s The Last Waltz and Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus are legendary curtain calls cut from a different cloth. The Last Waltz was The Band’s visionary 1976 swan song, spearheaded by lead guitarist and primary songwriter Robbie Robertson.…
Dancing About Architecture
She’s Got the Hole World in Her Hands … but not for long. With the very last of her frazzled nerves coming apart at the seams, the Hole in the Wall’s Debbie Rombach admits that “come July 1st, I’ll be out of a job.” She’s still not completely writing off the possibility of a miracle,…
Naked City
The most essential element of democracy is about to go high-tech. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir stopped by the Chronicle offices last week to show off the new electronic voting system (see photo) that her office intends to use in future elections. The impressive system, named eSlate, was designed by Austin’s own Hart Intercivic (a…
Meera Nair at Book Woman
Meera Nair appears at Book Woman, tonight (June 20), 7pm, to read from Video: Stories.
Phases and Stages
The Last Waltz D: Martin Scorsese; with Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Staple Singers, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, and starring the Band (MGM) The reason Almost Famous will forever define its titular designation is because the audience knows the rock & roll isn’t real. From Ed Sullivan to…
Ah, DIY DVD
Here’s a sentence you’ve seen countless times before in the history of this column: Eric Johnson is still working on his next official studio album. Well, it’s a true statement, as is the following: Johnson is also “mining the archives one more time” looking for older live and rare materials to serve up to the…
Naked City
State transportation officials first unveiled a design to refurbish US 183 from RM 620 to State Highway 71 more than 18 years ago. Last Thursday at LBJ High School, they again presented an expansion plan for 183 — this time a reworked version of the original — hoping to complete a project that’s already witnessed…
Life Goes On?
Italy is out of the World Cup. Oh, I know; the sun rose again today, and I still have the U.S. and Brazil to root for, and anyway, in the grand scheme of things, I suppose there are more important issues I should be concerned about. But still … It’s the World Cup. And Italy…
Phases and Stages
Waylon JenningsPhase One: The Early Years 1958-1964 (Hip-O) When Chet Atkins first signed Waylon Jennings to RCA Records, he was unsure what niche to put the singer in, labeling him “folk-country” and hoping to cash in on the folkie boom of the day. Some of Phase One could be called “folk-country,” but coming after Jennings’…
Clean Energy: Austin’s Next Boom?
A Preview of Clean Energy Potential in Central Texas
Naked City
Anyone who expected to find City Council contenders Kirk Mitchell and Linda Curtis standing outside the Convention Center entrance Saturday, protesting the swearing-in of Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman and Council Members Daryl Slusher and Betty Dunkerley, was sorely disappointed. After a campaign of lawsuits filed by Mitchell (vs. Slusher) and Curtis (vs. Goodman), petition…
Final Round Preview
Here’s a look at the four quarterfinal matches being played this Friday and Saturday, June 21-22. One interesting note on scheduling and conditioning: For reasons unknown to anyone outside FIFA, each game features a mismatch in rest time, with one team coming in with five days rest, and the other with only three. The teams…
Phases and Stages
Thelonious MonkStraight No Chaser (Columbia/Legacy)Charlie ParkerBird (Columbia/Legacy)Dexter GordonRound Midnight (Columbia/Legacy) Soundtracks, we got jazz soundtracks here. Straight No Chaser comes from Charlotte Zwerin’s 1986 documentary of pianist Thelonious Monk and features Monk in various 1956-68 live and studio sessions. He’s heard in settings ranging from unaccompanied to octet. Not Monk’s most important recording by a…
EPA on Unclean Energy: “No Source Review”
The Bush Administration’s rollback of New Source Review could guarantee more dirty air for years to come.
Capitol Chronicle
Despite John Cornyn’s jokes and the end of the Ruiz suit, Texas prisons still need reform.
Perspective
South Korea’s Ahn Jung-hwan, who scored the goal which knocked Italy out of the World Cup on Tuesday, was fired the next day by Perugia, the Italian club he plays for, reported the Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. “That gentleman will never set foot in Perugia again,” said club chairman Luciano Gaucci. “I…
Phases and Stages
Jimi HendrixThe Dick Cavett Show (MCA) The new Experience Hendrix DVD is classy, inexpensive, and a real treasure for Jimi Hendrix fans and collectors. When Hendrix appeared on The Dick Cavett Show on July 7, 1969, it was the guitarist’s American TV debut, even though his trio the Experience had previously appeared on dozens of…
Blame Abounds in King Shooting
The police shooting of a mentally ill East Austin woman has officers defending their actions and critics raising eyebrows.
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large
The death of Sophia King was a tragedy waiting to happen.
Readings
Enemy Womenby Paulette Jiles William Morrow, 321 pp., $24.95 About halfway through Paulette Jiles’ haunting Civil War-era feminist epic, Enemy Women, I pulled out an old Rand McNally Atlas and flipped to the state of Missouri. I had to know if the brutal, mysterious backwoods that Jiles evokes in this historical novel really existed. Sure…
Phases and Stages
Dennis BrownMoney in My Pocket (Trojan)Dennis BrownDennis Brown in Dub (Heartbeat)Niney the ObserverMicrophone Attack: Niney the Observer 1974-78 (Blood & Fire)Head Shot: Reggae Instrumentals, Dubs and Other Oddities(Heartbeat)Rock On: Greatest Hits From the Observer Label(Heartbeat) It was back in 1971 that the apocalyptic chant “Blood and Fire” turned Jamaica on its ear, earning Song of…
Recycled Arguments
Last week the city hosted a meeting for Browning-Ferris Industries and the North Austin Civic Association to discuss BFI’s new recycling facility on Metric Boulevard, which opened in April. Simply said, the two sides disagree on whether the facility is compatible with the neighborhood. NACA President Linda Moore asserts that BFI never notified residents that…
The Hightower Report
Reliant CEO Finds Religion; Edison Has the Vapors
Lilo & Stitch
Lilo & Stitch 2002, PG, 85 min. Directed by Dean Deblois, Chris Sanders, Narrated by , Voices by Daveigh Chase, Ving Rhames, David Ogden Stiers, Tia Carrere, Starring . Unless I’m wildly mistaken, Lilo & Stitch will end up disappointing both its target audience and the Walt Disney Co. bean counters. Still, here’s respect to…
Page Two
The movement to replace traditional film stock with High Definition video is under way, and some notable local directors are leading the charge.
Phases and Stages
Johnny WinterThe Best of Johnny Winter (Columbia/Legacy) Edgar WinterThe Best of Edgar Winter (Epic/Legacy) Johnny and Edgar Winter rank as two of the most unlikely rock stars, not only because they were both albinos from East Texas, but because their music had little to do with rock. Johnny Winter blew onto the popular landscape in…
Beeware of Mall
Barring an 11th-hour postponement, the Village of Bee Cave will vote Tuesday on a $350 million shopping mall at Hwy. 71 and RM 620, west of Austin. By most indications, the village Board of Aldermen will deliver a thumbs-up for the development, one of the more controversial plans to hit town since the landowner tried…
Will Video Kill the Celluloid Star?
Most loves fade over time, and the romance of a hundred-plus years of filmmaking seems to be losing its luster as well. At least, that’s what the new High Definition video vanguard, led by George Lucas and Robert Rodriguez, is saying. Is video the future of film?
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
Catholic school boys and comics.
Mr. Smarty Pants
Iceland’s highway systems were designed so as not to disturb elves.The Hartlepool, England, football club is known to its rivals as the “Monkey Hangers.” That’s because the team’s mascot, H’Angus the Monkey, is the town’s mayor.According to Dr. Phil McGraw, women use about 5,000 words a day, while men only use 1,500.The GasBGon flatulence filter…
Phases and Stages
SpoonA Series of Sneaks (Merge) “The aftermath of promotion — it’s time to take the trash out and redefine what you are,” sings Britt Daniel on “Laffitte Don’t Fail Me Now,” a terse strummer directed at Elektra A&R man Ron Laffitte, who signed the band in 1998 and allowed them to be dropped four months…
Landmark Prison Oversight Case Ends
On June 17, after nearly 30 years of litigation and judicial wrangling, U.S. District Court Judge William Wayne Justice signed the final order bringing to a close the historic federal class action case Ruiz v. Johnson, which has changed the face of Texas’ prison system through mandated federal judicial oversight. Lawyers who have worked the…
Riff on SIFF
Notes on the Seattle International Film Festival
Minority Report
Minority Report 2002, PG-13, 144 min. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Patrick Kilpatrick, Neal McDonough, Samantha Morton, Lois Smith, Kathryn Morris, Colin Farrell, Steve Harris, Max Von Sydow, Tom Cruise. Vastly superior to Spielberg’s last sci-fi outing, the woefully pedantic A.I., this adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novella is…
Day Trips
Hallie’s Hall of Fame Museum sits on a lonely road near the entrance to the Big Bend National Park — an oasis in the harsh landscape of the Chihuahua Desert. The white walls of the old general store sparkle in the bright sunlight of the tiny settlement of mobile homes, RV parking spots, and adobe…
Phases and Stages
Butthole SurfersHumpty Dumpty LSD (Latino Buggerveil) There are certain descriptions that are rarely in reviews (positive or negative) of Butthole Surfers albums, chief among them “consistent.” While every BHS disc is guaranteed to have its standout track, from the vulgar and enigmatic “Lady Sniff” to the cinnamon-and-sugary “Pepper,” beyond that generally lies anarchy, an uneven…
Cop Vs. Cop?
“A simple case of human resources reallocation, or a case of blatant retaliation?” is the question that has tongues wagging over at the Austin Police Department. According to a notice posted June 13 on the Web site of the Austin Police Association, the union that represents the majority of Austin’s officers, APD Chief Stan Knee…
Science, With a T.W.I.S.T.
Austinite Alana Cash screens two of her documentaries focusing on female scientists in a benefit screening for T.W.I.S.T. (Tomorrow’s Women in Science and Technology Inc.).
To Your Health
My thyroid test results vary a lot and don’t seem to match the way I feel. My prescription for thyroid is usually 75 micrograms (mcg) per day, but sometimes down to 50 mcg/day or up to 88 mcg/day. Why would it vary and what is the best way to tell if my thyroid is OK?
Phases and Stages
The Psychedelic Furs(Columbia/Legacy)The Psychedelic FursTalk Talk Talk (Columbia/Legacy)The Psychedelic FursForever Now (Columbia/Legacy) For a band whose sound was distinctive but not innovative, the Psychedelic Furs’ music had impressive depth. Their self-titled 1980 debut remains a glorious salute to New Wave at its best, 10 crushing, throbbing, thundering songs of the era. Aside from the annoyance…
Tenant Wanted on South Congress
In Magnolia Cafe’s early days on South Congress, the only source of neighborhood color seemed to come from the drab tones of disillusioned hookers and winos languishing along the avenue. The scenery didn’t especially hold the promise of success for a business branching out from its home base on Lake Austin Boulevard to a second…
Short Cuts
Congratulations to J.C. Rieser and Shea Warton, two area students handpicked to attend the AFF’s Kids ‘N Film Summer Camp.
After a Fashion
Chronicle style avatar Stephen goes to some parties. So you weren’t invited; shut up and come along anyway …
Phases and Stages
Richard HellTime (Matador) Richard Hell has been in more junked-out glamster outfits than ex-Austinite Tim Stegall: the Heartbreakers, Voidoids, occasional stints and one-offs with ex-Television, ex-Dolls, ex-et cetera. Matador’s overripe 2-CD collection unifies the sticky bits of Hell’s career that have clung to the soles (and souls) of the various black boots of lower-echelon vinyl…
To Your Health
In transit from New York to central Austin, Jamestown-based physician and author Dr. Rudy Mueller met a woman who “only changed her doctor three times in the past five years,” and a local taxi driver who hauls his father to a San Antonio hospital every week for needed care. Neither seemed troubled by these inconveniences,…
TV Eye
PBS’ documentary series P.O.V. offers a kinder, gentler (though no less provocative) brand of television.
About AIDS
Maybe Viagra Needs An HIV/STD Warning Label A San Francisco Public Health Department study has officially plopped the long-rumored dead squirrel on the table: Viagra is linked to higher levels of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Therefore, say department officials, it should have a specific warning label. Predictably, manufacturer Pfizer disagrees. Among 844 men surveyed…
Phases and Stages
Jane SiberryLove Is Everything: The Jane Siberry Anthology (Rhino/Warner Bros.) “Santa Maria, Santa Teresa, Santa Anna, Santa Susannah ….” The urban legend is true, “Santa Cecilia, Santa Copelia, Santa Domenica, Mary Angelica …” that in the wake of 9/11’s unspeakable horror, “Frater Achad, Frater Pietro, Julianus, Petronilla …” a New Yorker, grasping for meaning in…
ZAP for Stratus
After more than four hours of testimony, debate, and some choice potshots, the Zoning and Platting Commission late Tuesday unanimously approved Stratus Properties’ zoning changes and settlement agreement with the city. Z.A.P. accepted the staff’s zoning recommendations but added development restrictions on several tracts. The City Council is expected to consider the Stratus deal on…
Video Reviews
Sure, its slacker characters incessantly dissect every little thing in circles and circles, harping on the most miniscule details of life and making the same old lame pop-culture references. But Kicking and Screaming rises above other comedies of the mid-Nineties Gen-X genre.
Articulations
The photography gallery Lake Austin Fine Arts closes its doors, and local playwrights Dan Dietz and C. Denby Swanson see new productions of their work.
Coach’s Corner
Tiger Woods is a great golfer, no doubt, but it’s a shame there’s no one else around who can really challenge him.
Phases and Stages
XTCCoat of Many Cupboards (Virgin) True to its title, the front of the new XTC box set suggests a puzzle. A man with a coat is made up of numerous locked cupboards proffers a shining, golden key, which opens … one? All? The holder gets the impression that opening the package will reveal a clever…
Peter vs. Paul at AISD
The ink was barely dry on the school district’s proposed budget when the shredders began humming. On June 4, AISD Supt. Pat Forgione issued a preliminary budget that somehow neglected to address the district’s declared No. 1 priority: teacher and staff raises (with the singular exception of sizable increases for Forgione’s chief aides, the five…
Exhibitionism
This Pro Arts Collective production of Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold” … and the boys sneaks up on you, seeming mundane at the outset but in the end delivering a dramatic power that draws tears.
Fertile, Pleasant
Middle Eastern cuisine in Austin blossoms with Mohamed Kosari’s Alborz Persian, writes the Chronicle’s Rachel Feit. Hurry, before everyone else notices!
Phases and Stages
ChieftainsThe Wide World Over (RCA Victor/BMG)ClannadA Magical Gathering (Rhino) Putting out a Chieftains compilation is a no-brainer. They don’t make bad music, and it’s likewise hard to go wrong with Clannad, the poster band for Celtic New Age. No surprise then that both Irish bands have had stellar compilations come out recently. Like their elderly…
Naked City
This Week’s HeadlinesCity Hall got a tiny bit of good news last week, as sales tax receipts for April climbed a whopping 0.6% over last year’s numbers. That anemic boost, however, is a lot better than the 7% drop the city’s budget office had been expecting, continuing a nearly yearlong slide that’s left City Hall…
Exhibitionism
Salvage Vanguard Theater has remounted The Intergalactic Nemesis and Return of the Intergalactic Nemesis, its pair of homages to the golden days of radio, with a double-bill of light-hearted, clever spins on those old serialized mysteries.
Food-o-File
In this week’s “Food-o-File,” Food Editor Virginia B. Wood tells us about Austin restaurants at a Fever Pitch, a Shack Attack, Asti’s Farm to Table dinner, and much more.
Phases and Stages
Ozzy OsbourneBlizzard of Ozz (Epic)Ozzy OsbourneDiary of a Madman (Epic)Ozzy OsbourneTribute (Epic) Before there was Ozzy Osbourne, there was a pudgy, dyslexic loser named John, who hailed from Hell. Or Birmingham, England, an industrial backwater passed over by the Summer of Love. In late-Sixties Birmingham, there was only soot, and plenty to go around. Think…
Naked City
Local radio institution KMFA is closing in on what has been a quiet, months-long search for a new home, and current signals point to a Toomey Road address. A space crunch at the station’s North Lamar office, coupled with an ambitious business plan, has led the 30-year-old classical musical station to a serious search for…
