Zombiedance Film Festival
Zombiedance Film Festival NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . ZombieDance Film Festival is commmitted to celebrating the cinematic undead. Although a schedule had not yet been announced at press time, more information should be available at www.flojo.com/zombiedance.
Comrades
Comrades 2000, NR, 106 min. Directed by Mitko Panov, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The human face of war and ethnic hatred is what Mitko Panov uncovers in this personal documentary, and is also what makes it so unforgettable. A national of the former Yugoslavia who has been living in the U.S.…
Page Two
There are 40 blocks closed in downtown Austin due to various construction and cable-laying projects. When the Empire State Building was built in New York City, the city closed no blocks. Also, news on the upcoming SXSW festival and the Texas Film Hall of Fame.
Prix-Fixe Primer
Aquarelle 606 Rio Grande, 479-8117 Mon-Thu, 6-10pm; Fri-Sat, 6-10:30pm This young restaurant revisits France’s second empire with its classical, sybaritic cookery — aged steaks capped with miniature chapeaux of marrow gelatin, foie gras and bacon-wrapped quail peeking out of a delicate puff pastry, or towering salads of fresh field greens, artichokes, eggplant, gravlax, and foie…
The Band
Kissinger, Austin’s band of the moment
SXSW Record Reviews
Rosie Flores Speed of Sound (Eminent) Rosie Flores had the term “rockabilly filly” stuck to her before the retrobilly explosion of the early Eighties, yet she has managed to branch out at most every turn, and Speed of Sound is no exception. Her voice is as sweet and intimate as ever on the jazzy “Don’t…
Looking to the Future
Patrick Spain: Taking Care of Business Patrick Spain has a degree in ancient Roman history and another degree in law, yet his most obvious passion is the rough-and-tumble world of business. Name a corporation — let’s say Mrs. Field’s Cookies — and Spain will tell you the CEO’s name, the company’s sales figures, and how…
Public Notice
This week, “Public Notice” travels far and wide across gender limits and the Kalahari to bring you’re the best in Austin community events.
Prix-Fixe Primer
Jean Luc’s French Bistro 705 Colorado, 494-0033 Lunch, Mon-Fri, 11:30am-2pm Mon-Fri, Happy Hour begins at 4:30pm Dinner, Mon-Thu, 5-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5-11pm The evolution of Jean Luc’s continues. The downtown restaurant, with its enviable location and faintly mysterious sub-street dining room, began as a rather modest bistro with an authentic and accomplished French heritage. It remains…
Wandering Into Wanderlust
The Swells gaze on their own footwear.
Throw the Switch
For a man who seems to ignite a new controversy with every project he approves, Mayor Kirk Watson sounded unusually chipper last week as he discussed the many reuse possibilities for the old Seaholm Power Plant. Perhaps the mayor was thinking that this was one project he could wrap his arms around without — knock…
Looking to the Future
Ana Sisnett: The Reluctant Heroine Ana Sisnett remembers how her grandmother was with telephones. “She wouldn’t ever put them up to her ear,” Sisnett says. “And when the phone rang, she would yell, “‘I’m coming! I’m coming!'” As the executive director of Austin Free-Net, a nonprofit providing Internet access and training to low-income populations, Ana…
Letters at 3AM
The experience of jazz is the experience of beauty
Food-o-File
Virginia B. Wood’s three sure-fire dining suggestions that will provide enough of a respite from traffic horrors to allow other drivers to suffer in the snarl while you relax over a delightful meal.
It Takes a Village
Horn orchestra La Tribu blows it DiY style.
Designs on Seaholm
City officials are taking great pains to stress the word “conceptual” in the Seaholm District Master Plan, produced by the ROMA Design Group — the San Francisco consultants retained to do much of the design and planning work on city projects. As shown here, the Seaholm Power Plant would serve as the anchor for a…
Never Content
Salon Editor David Talbot and Inside.com Editor Michael Hirschorn have been on the media frontline throughout their careers. And both are well-versed in the pitfalls of providing a product — online content — that, so far at least, has few willing buyers. But the two have taken different approaches to achieving profitability on the…
The Mexican
The Mexican 2001, R, 123 min. Directed by Gore Verbinski, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, James Gandolfini, J.k. Simmons, Bob Balaban, Sherman Augustus, Michael Cerveris, Richard Coca, David Krumholtz. Despite its good-natured charm and relationship-related gymnastics, The Mexican clearly celebrates its pedigree from Quentin Tarantino producer Lawrence Bender: There’s…
After a Fashion
This week, After a Fashion goes south — South Congress, that is, to visit with old friends and discover new faces.
Second Helpings: Vietnamese, Round One
Vietnamese restaurants in this week’s Second Helpings.
Here Comes a Regular
The dark world-view of Jeff Klein
Technical Difficulties
Older professionals face a hard choice: leave Austin or go tech?
Wild Ride
Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt made “405” with a digital camera, off-the-desktop software, and a desktop computer. The action / comedy has now become the most popular short film on the Web.
Day Trips
The Stanzel Model Aircraft Museum in Schulenburg passes the joys of aviation from one generation to the next. The company that had its beginnings soon after the birth of commercial aviation continues to thrill enthusiasts nearly 60 years later. The buzz of the tiny model aircraft engines is familiar to nearly every American boy. Not…
Second Helpings
Ba Le Vietnamese Bakery & Deli 8624 N. Lamar, 491-9188 Thu-Tue, 8am-8pm Ba Le is at the top of the Vietnamese bakery heap, with extraordinary baguettes and baked sweets. They also produce some of the finest sandwiches, of any kind, in the entire city (and at some of the least expensive prices!). Try the gourmet,…
Straight, No Chaser
Brannen Temple, aspiring to be Austin’s Max Roach
E-tail This!
La Frontera is proof that e-commerce has not destroyed traditional retail commerce.
The Spatial Engineer of the Invisible City
He is everywhere. He is unavoidable. He is Tha’ Subliminal Kid.
puh-LOB-o-liss!
How a handful of Dartmouth College stoners started a revolution in modern dance.
Mr. Smarty Pants
Napoleon was the last European chief of state to personally lead armies into battle. He was wounded several times, nearly captured several times, fell off his horse frequently, and had 19 horses shot out from under him during his military exploits.Silk made by Sydney funnelweb spiders is used as cross hairs in optical instruments.The film…
Second Helpings
888 Vietnamese Restaurant 911 W. Anderson Ln., 302-5433 Wed-Mon, 10am-9pm 888 is a homey little noodle spot that does a brisk business, with a heavy concentration on pho, noodle soups, and rice platters. There are several good bun (pronounced boon) selections offered to the serious vermicelli freaks in the crowd, and 888 has a reputation…
Dancing About Architecture
Mardi Gras Rioting on Sixth Street brands Austin “The Mace, Pepper Spray, and Rubber Bullet Capital of the World”
Naked City
Austin public interest group figures out why a company making a profit on Medicaid got a sweetheart contract from the state.
The Slow Biz of Show Biz
A conversation between filmmakers Richard Linklater and Rachel Tsangari
Articulations
Big career moves for a couple of Austin playwrights and big parties thrown by a couple of Austin arts organizations.
About AIDS
Sometimes only a credentialed member of “the opposition” can succeed at an unlikely, controversial task. Remember, it took the conservative Republican Richard Nixon to open the door to China, an effort that Democrats of any stripe were never able to accomplish, lest they be seen as soft on communism. In the same vein, New Mexico’s…
Second Helpings
Fortune Pho 75 5501 N. Lamar, 458-1792 Daily, 11am-9:30pm Fortune is in a dead-heat tie for best bowl of bun in the city. The No. 56 (mixed grilled meats with red pepper and lemongrass) is absolutely incredible, although many go there for the dynamite soups. They have superb spring rolls (fresh and fried) and a…
SXSW Record Reviews
Stephen Malkmus(Matador) There’s no truth to the rumor that Pavement has decided to simply change its name to “Stephen Malkmus.” At least Pavement fans should hope not, because the bandleader’s solo debut is one of those solo-album duds that’s simply a watered-down version of the old band. Take, for instance, the lead single “Discretion Grove.”…
Naked City
Local news this week in Austin, Texas.
Short Cuts
News and events of interest to local filmmakers.
Exhibitionism
Local mavericks Rude Mechanicals have plundered biographies and scientific history to give us the whole story of maverick inventor Nikola Tesla, and their production Requiem for Tesla, with its unnervingly choreographed lights, arresting video, beautiful period costumes, original score on theremin, strange dance numbers, and working Tesla coil, literally crackles with current.
To Your Health
Heart disease is common among women in my family and I am looking for ways to beat the odds. What works?
Second Helpings
Huong Giang 9200 N. Lamar, 834-1736 Tue-Sun, 10am-9pm This self-described Hue Cafe, featuring the foods of the central region of Vietnam, sports two of our favorite Vietnamese treats. Shrimp pté wrapped around sugar cane can be had as an appetizer or as a topping for a bowl of bun. Ditto for the broiled beef wrapped…
SXSW Record Reviews
The Glands(Capricorn) The indie rock revolution was never televised, and frankly, it suffered from the lack of exposure. What’s worse is that it assured the fringe factions — grad rock, lo-fi, etc.– would be forever sequestered away in obscurity. As slack rockers, such is the fate that the Glands seem destined for. The fact that…
Naked City
Looking back on the Mardi Gras riots, City Manager Jesus Garza says there may be no more large parties on Sixth Street in the future; meanwhile, people who were there talk about what happened.
Video Reviews
Seldom have obscure footage and recorded memories been put together in so charming a fashion
Exhibitionism
The St. Edward’s University theatre department staging of The Conference of the Birds is a triumph of the ensemble process, with so many students and faculty members working so hard together. But too many competing elements and a lack of simplicity in some of them keep the show from triumphing as a theatrical production.
Coach’s Corner
Mark Cuban may get heat for his unconventional style, but there’s no doubt he’s done wonders for the recently-moribund Dallas Mavericks.
Second Helpings
Kim Phung Restaurant 7601 N. Lamar, 451-2464 Daily, 10:30am-9pm Kim Phung gets partial credit for starting the Vietnamese craze in Austin. They have a very complete menu, moderate prices, and tasty, dependable food served by an on-the-mark staff. The hot and sour soup rocks, and the lunch specials are delicious, big, and cheap. Most go…
SXSW Record Reviews
PeglegasusWaltzes On their fourth full-length, one of Austin’s long-underappreciated bar bands have finally hit upon the right formula: No singing. “This group of tunes was put together for the University of Texas Drama Dept.’s mainstage production of Baltimore Waltz,” it says in the bare-bones liner notes, and if the 20 short instrumentals herein play like…
Naked City
A motion to rename Rosewood Avenue after controversial East Austin activist Dorothy Turner is back on the council agenda after a unanimous rejection in 1998.
Video Reviews
A questionable children’s adventure that’s boggling on every level
Exhibitionism
For In the Middle of the Ocean, handsome and slightly crazed Chris Alonzo adopts the persona of Twitchy the Clown to tell a sort of twisted Greek fable about a woman who builds a floating brothel for pirates, gets involved with a well-hung ghost, and eventually follows him to Hell. And singing with the voice…
Prix-Fixe Primer
Chronicle Cuisines writers Rachel Feit and Barbara Chisholm reveal how to eat well in Austin without breaking the bank.
Second Helpings
Pho Cong Ly 2121 E. Oltorf, 448-4195 8557 Research, 832-5595 215 E. Sixth, 236-8878 3601 W. Wm. Cannon, 891-7870 Hours vary by location Pho Cong Ly has separate local owners, although they are a national chain. The food can vary slightly from location to location, but it’s all good and dependable, and the pho noodle…
SXSW Record Reviews
Silver ScooterThe Blue Law (Peek-a-Boo) Scott Garred and Silver Scooter are obviously hiding nothing this time out. The refreshing lead cut and single, “Goodbye,” is about leaving town. So is the second track, “The Blue Law.” Some say the Austin trio might as well have already left town, since bassist John Hunt left the fold…
Naked City
Education Austin, the union of AISD teachers, offers a budget counterproposal that includes increasing teacher pay, hiring full-time substitute teachers, and rewarding certified teachers.
Video Reviews
A tale that’s difficult to watch, much less comprehend
Surreal Science
Looking at three books — Plague Time, Cancer: The Evolutionary Legacy, and The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine, Roger Gathman observes that for every advance in technology, nature counterbalances with new opportunities for disease.
Prix-Fixe Primer
Tocai 601 W. Sixth, 457-8880 Lunch, Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm; Dinner, Mon-Thu, 6-10pm; Fri-Sat, 6-11pm Most of us among the Chronicle food staff love Tocai not only for its well-crafted cuisine and sophisticated wine list, but also for its affordability. Every night they offer a fixed-price meal composed of either three or four courses varying in price…
Second Helpings
Saigon Deli and Market 8610 N. Lamar, 837-6641 Deli hours: daily, 11am-8pm A true hidden gem of a cafeteria-style buffet and deli counter. Most get food to go, but a few tables exist. Gracious service (although sometimes tough to find an English speaker), and huge servings of fabulous home-style Vietnamese food for little prices. Find…
SXSW Record Reviews
Wesley WillisRush Hour (Alternative Tentacles) In the course of a decade, Wesley Willis has gone from Chicago street artist to internationally known cult figure on the strength of his simple, repetitive, and highly compelling spoken-word songs. The 6-foot-4, 320-pound schizophrenic writes songs that use the same exact same keyboard arrangement over and over, with only…
Naked City
Handicapping the yet-to-be-announced mayoral race.
TV Eye
As far as awards shows go, the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards was one of the most abysmal presentations I’ve seen in a long time. Maybe the upcoming SAG awards or TV Guide Awards will be better.
Postscripts
How Frances Kiernan, author of Seeing Mary Plain: A Life of Mary McCarthy, “stumbled” across the idea of writing the book.
Prix-Fixe Primer
Chez Nous 510 Neches, 473-2413 Tue-Fri,11:45am-2pm; Tue-Sun, 6-10:30pm Chez Nous didn’t invent prix-fixe, but the restaurant had a lot to do with establishing the flat-rate, no-surprises option as an affordable option in fine dining in Austin. By today’s standards, the offerings at Chez Nous are a super-bargain, and by any standards the cuisine is spectacular.…
Liquid Assets
1999 McPherson Shiraz Score: 87 Price: $9 McPherson’s is a huge winery in Australia, producing over one million cases per year. While they produce a number of terrific value-priced wines, their Shiraz really stands out. I don’t know whether I’m more impressed with the spicy (as in cinnamon and pepper) aromas or the jammy berry…
SXSW Record Reviews
Tim EastonThe Truth About Us There’s a lot to like about Tim Easton’s The Truth About Us. An L.A.-based singer-songwriter, stylistically Easton’s all over the map, but this ain’t no disjointed folk dribble. In fact, one of the endearing qualities of The Truth About Us is the way it slides seamlessly from introspective ballads to…
The Hightower Lowdown
Treasury Sec. Paul O’Neill pitches Bush tax breaks, Newt Gingrich is a business consultant, Congressional fundraising among freshman is out of control
Place Vendome
Place Vendome 1998, NR, 117 min. Directed by Nicole Garcia, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Francois Berleand, Bernard Fresson, Jacques Dutronc, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Emmanuelle Seigner, Catherine Deneuve. If you’re looking for Parisian bijoux, head to Place Vendôme. The historic square, with its 18th-century architecture and carefully designed facades, is the heart of the…
Readings
The Orphan Trains The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children He Saved and Failed, 1853-1929 by Stephen O’Connor Houghton Mifflin, 362pp., $27 Horatio Alger’s rags-to-riches fairy tales about the strapping newsboys of turn-of-the-century New York have shaped the popular conception of that era. And yet there was much more to the plight of…
Prix-Fixe Primer
Jeffrey’s 1204 W. Lynn, 477-5584 Sun-Thu, 6-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5:30-10:30pm Jeffrey’s Executive Chef David Garrido and Chef de Cuisine Alma Alcocer Thomas made national news when they were flown to Washington, D.C., to cook for President Bush’s inaugural ball. Ensconced in the Watergate Hotel kitchen, the two Austin chefs deftly seeded habaneros and chopped cilantro to…
Dot-bombers
Despite the clouds of layoffs, a virtual silver lining shines for some caught in Austin’s online bust.
SXSW Record Reviews
FuckemosAirshow 2000 (Man’s Ruin) Many entertainers lament the fact that you can never please everybody. Especially if you’re in a band called the Fuckemos. Much like raw monkey meat, the Austin quartet’s loud and abusive Rohypnol rock is an acquired taste at best. But the Fuckemos can at least take solace in having a good…
Looking to the Future
Five profiles from the Austin tech community: 21st Century Project founder Gary Chapman, Her Domain president Donna Kidwell, Hoover’s CEO Patrick Spain, writer and marketing whiz Will Kreth, and Austin Free-Net executive director Ana Sisnett
Panic
Panic 2000, R, 88 min. Directed by Henry Bromell, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring David Dorfman, Barbara Bain, John Ritter, Tracey Ullman, Neve Campbell, Donald Sutherland, William H. Macy. Panic is not exactly the kind of emotion one associates with the roles typically played by William H. Macy, he of the hangdog looks…
Readings
A Tinker’s Damn by Darryl Wimberley MacMurray & Beck, 350 pp., $25 To properly reminisce about coming of age below the Mason-Dixon line, it’s a given that your story will be framed by sultry summer nights and sweaty summer days. In Darryl Wimberley’s fine literary novel A Tinker’s Damn, he evokes the Floridian South with…
Prix-Fixe Primer
Si Bon 801 S. Lamar 326-8323 Tue-Thu, 5:30-10:30pm; Fri-Sat, 5:30-11pm; Sun, 5:30-10pm After recently experiencing a dinner sampling the prix-fixe options at this cozy South Austin restaurant, I was compelled to reread the recent review of Si Bon in the Chronicle. I had recalled that my colleague Wes Marshall, for whom I hold tremendous respect,…
Chicken Nuggets for the dot-com Soul
A Poem Stock options, stock options, woo hoo hoo! Pink slip, pink slip, boo hoo hoo. Greenbacks, greenbacks, where are you? A Meditation All together now: “I am not my job. I am a human being, Not a human doing. I am not my job…” A Truth There’s no need to rationalize reality. Getting laid…
SXSW Record Reviews
Johnny Dowd Temporary Shelter (Koch) Since releasing his startling debut Wrong Side of Memphis on Checked Past in 1997, Texas-born, Oklahoma-raised, upstate New York resident Johnny Dowd has toured all over and released a successful follow-up on Koch, 1999’s Pictures From Life’s Other Side. His latest, Temporary Shelter, is another chapter in his unexampled take…
Looking to the Future
Gary Chapman: 21st Century Digital Man In the virtual era, a Famous Intellectual can live anywhere, but he has to live somewhere, and for Gary Chapman, Austin is the best of all possible somewheres. “Austin is home to me,” says the director of the 21st Century Project at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. “It’s…
Ratcatcher
Glasgow, mid-Seventies. A garbagemen’s strike afflicts the city. While boys muck around in the diseased water, a drowning occurs, and 12-year-old James Gillespie’s life changes forever. From the first moments of this bleak Scottish export, the misery of these people is deeply felt. Children come of age long before their time as families are broken…
Readings
The Nature of Generosity by William Kittredge Knopf, 276 pp., $25 Toward the end of his new, eclectic book The Nature of Generosity, Montana writer William Kittredge considers the death of artist Piet Mondrian and concludes: “Facing death, we can feel about to be cut out and excluded from the feast of being, and angrily…
Prix-Fixe Primer
Girasole 219 W. Fourth, 481-0219 Mon-Sat, 5-11pm At Girasole, chef Christian Echterbille revives fussy food with Italian-inspired creations of gorgeous complexity. Quail stuffed with nutmeg-scented mousse on a pedestal of delicious savory flan, accompanied by a succulent round of foie gras, and capped with a crest of sliced, fanned apples; appetizers where vegetables twist around…
Broke.com
How writer Spike Gillespie learned to stop worrying and love Austin’s tech bust.
SXSW Record Reviews
Jimmy LaFave Texoma (Bohemia Beat) If we took the Geezinslaws’ song “$5 Fine for Whining” and applied it to Jimmy LaFave’s Texoma, he would owe somebody a lot of money. His vocals are warbles and moans, an acquired taste to these ears, and for the most part they come off as just that — a…
Looking to the Future
Donna Kidwell: Master of Her Domain Donna Kidwell was running meetings for Her Domain when something unexpected happened — a man walked in. No one scary, just someone’s boyfriend coming along for the ride. Only problem: Her Domain, a support and networking group for those interested in technology, really is, well, her domain. “So there’s…
Rebels With a Cause
Compelling documentary about the Sixties” Students for a Democratic Society includes commentary from such leaders as Tom Hayden and Austin’s Alice Embree and Jeff Shero Nightbyrd.
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Prix-Fixe Primer
22 6203 Capital of Texas Highway N., 346-4411 Lunch, Mon-Fri, 11:30am-2pm Dinner, Mon-Thu, 5:30-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5:30-11pm A relatively new kid on the block, 22 has ambition and is still defining its menu. Chef Casey Lloyd is trying new items and combinations, and the comments of the clientele are helping to shape its direction. Since a…
Picks to Click
South by Southwest 2001 is upon us, and we’re up in it. Currently hovering around 900 confirmed musical acts, SXSW adds and drops more daily, and here at the Chronicle, the Music staff scrambles to write more “Picks & Sleepers,” SXSW record reviews, and get interviews with the conference’s featured acts. There are only more…
SXSW Record Reviews
Sonny LandrethLevee Town (Sugar Hill) Sonny Landreth is a guitar player and songwriter with a Cajun pedigree. He’s played with Clifton Chenier and Allen Toussaint, but is perhaps best known for his work with John Hiatt’s backup band the Goners and as the writer of “Congo Square,” a tune that’s been recorded by the Neville…
Looking to the Future
Will Kreth: An Idea Guy and Marketing Pioneer Dot-com ventures are folding, an air of complacency is settling over the world of e-commerce, and Will Kreth has the exhilarating feeling that it’s 1991 all over again. Back then, right before Kreth helped launch Wired magazine in San Francisco, disillusionment with the old corporate regime was…
See Spot Run
See Spot Run 2001, PG, 95 min. Directed by John Whitesell, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Paul Sorvino, Anthony Anderson, Steven R. Schirripa, Angus T. Jones, Joe Viterelli, Michael Clarke Duncan, Leslie Bibb, David Arquette. See Spot Run is the kind of witless comedy that plays its all-ages audience like a concertina, expecting…
