A Brilliant Madness
A Brilliant Madness 2002, NR, 52 min. Directed by Mark Samels, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This documentary about John Nash of A Beautiful Mind fame is part of PBS’ American Experience series. The movie’s focus is on mental illness and uses family photographs, interviews with Nash and others, and a blend…
Ladyporn
Ladyporn 2001, NR, 90 min. Directed by Elena Carr, Maggie Carey, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Winner of an Audience Award for midnight films at SXSW Film 2001, Ladyporn follows the journey of two female students trying to produce a porno for women. Part documentary and part female-centric porn, the movie recounts…
Orgasmic Cinema
Orgasmic Cinema NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . A compilation of the best of the Cinematexas Short Film and Video Festival’s midnight shows from the last five years.
Thunder Road
Thunder Road 1958, NR, 92 min. Directed by Arthur Ripley, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, Jim Mitchum. The pinnacle of all hot-roddin’ moonshiner movies, Thunder Road is a cult classic. Mitchum also scored a hit crooning the movie’s title tune.
The Brother From Another Planet
The Brother From Another Planet 1984, NR, 104 min. Directed by John Sayles, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Bill Cobbs, David Strathairn, Maggie Renzi, Steve James, Darryl Edwards, Joe Morton, Sayles. Sayles’ fourth feature is an extraterrestrial fantasy about a black escaped prisoner from outer space who lands in Harlem. His muteness allows…
Return of the Secaucus Seven
Return of the Secaucus Seven 1980, R, 106 min. Directed by John Sayles, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mark Arnott, Gordon Clapp, Maggie Cousineau, Adam Lefevre, Bruce MacDonald, Jean Passanante, Maggie Renzi, David Strathairn, Sayles. With its story of a weekend reunion of college friends from the Sixties, Sayles’ first film plays like…
Lianna
Lianna 1983, R, 110 min. Directed by John Sayles, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sayles, Linda Griffiths, Jane Hallaren, Jon DeVries, Maggie Renzi. For his second feature, Sayles chose this smartly told story of a married woman who discovers herself falling in love with another woman and the implications and repercussions of acting…
Legend of the Wolf
Legend of the Wolf 1977, NR, 94 min. Directed by Donnie Yen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Donnie Yen, Ben Lam, Carman Lee, Edmond Leung, Chi Wah Wong. Donnie Yen, who appears in and designed the fight choreography in Blade II, embarked on his directing career with Legend of the Wolf. In it…
Community-Oriented Footage
Community-Oriented Footage NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Screening this week will be various documentaries and other community-oriented footage.
The Corpse Grinders
Two sickos grind their enemies into cat food.
Recommended
A group of Austin poets has been busy putting together a mini poetry festival; it’s a weekend-long “poetry forum” at the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, a beautiful 200-acre place southeast of Austin. The First Annual Forum in Poetry and Literature will take place April 13-14 with poets Edward Hirsch, Wendy Barker, Cyrus Cassells, Carol…
Phases and Stages
Fatboy Slim@Austin Music HallMarch 21 With a federal crackdown on rave and DJ culture having occurred throughout the U.S. since his last visit to the capital city, it’s a wonder that the Austin Music Hall chose once again to book big beat legend stormin’ Norman Cook in the first place. That the show went off…
Naked City
The City Council won’t meet this Thursday. Council will resume April 4, with an agenda highlighted by the third reading on the Villas project. On Monday, Austin Independent School District Superintendent Pat Forgione submitted a draft plan to the school board to improve under-performing schools. Forgione’s plan includes a proposal to create pilot programs at…
Get in the Game
NBA Live 2002EA Sports Playstation2NBA2K2Sega Sports Playstation2 Back in high school, I had a friend on the team named De (as in the letter “D”). De was the stereotypical slow, white guy who can shoot. As is often the case, De had a little trouble with defense. Our coach, in a flash of inspiration, took…
Book Review: Man and Beast
Man and Beastby J.R. Helton Abiqua Press, 219 pp., $13.95 (paper) It’s tough to make heads or tails of Tracy Frank and her Southern Texas Animal Rescue Association in Seguin. Frank is an animal-rights activist of the purest order, but instead of setting vivisection labs on fire, she’s channeled her energy into creating one of…
Phases and Stages
Molto Agitato: The Mayhem Behind the Music at the Metropolitan Operaby Johanna Fiedler Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 400 pp., $30 The text on the jacket flap of Molto Agitato boasts that the book is “a wonderfully entertaining and thoroughly engaging account not only of one of the world’s most respected and richest music institutions, but also…
Naked City
If this season’s crop of City Council races weren’t already complicated by the petition dust-up, a lawsuit filed Tuesday against incumbent council member and re-election hopeful Daryl Slusher has sharpened the contentiousness that frames the Place 1 contest. Kirk Mitchell, a onetime Slusher supporter now running to unseat him, brought the lawsuit with demands that…
Get in the Game
HALOBungie Software Xbox When George Lucas let loose Star Wars upon the masses in 1977, word-of-mouth buzz drew moviegoers to cineplexes like the siren song of a black hole. Luke, Han, Leia, and Co. frolicked about a universe previously unfathomed in the minds of Americans. At light speed, our crusaders leapt across vast expanses of…
TIL Awards
Once a year, the members of the Texas Institute of Letters decide who has done the best writing in Texas in the past year, based on the books, articles, translations, and poems that have been submitted to the organization for consideration. Works need to be by Texans or about Texas. Here’s a partial list of…
Phases and Stages
Joey RamoneDon’t Worry About Me (Sanctuary/BMG) While Don’t Worry About Me couldn’t possibly measure up to the Ramones’ first three albums, Joey Ramone’s solo debut is at least more compelling than most of the band’s latter-day output, and that would still be true even without the sad poignancy of the singer’s death from lymphoma last…
Naked City
In the wake of the not entirely conclusive Democratic primary election for state House, District 51, the candidates left standing — Lulu Flores and Eddie Rodriguez — are leading up to the April 9 runoff with the traditional wrestling match over endorsements. This week the Rodriguez campaign announced that Sam Guzman — the East Austin…
Short Cuts
Local animator Lance Myers heads to L.A. to complete animation on the latest music video by the Riddlin’ Kids, plus AIVF and Cine las Americas.
Under the Sun
Under the Sun 1998, NR, 118 min. Directed by Colin Nutley, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Johan Widerberg, Helena Bergström, Rolf Lassgard. Set in the mid-Fifties Danish countryside, Under the Sun is a sweet but slight story about the unlikely new love and friendship between two older-than-average movie characters. However, there’s not a…
Page Two
Life inside and outside the bubble
Phases and Stages
Billy BraggEngland/Half English (Elektra) Hard to imagine that Billy Bragg hasn’t released an album of original songs since 1996. Once recognized in the U.S. mostly for his sardonic college-radio hits, Bragg’s Mermaid Avenue collaborations with Wilco have earned the left-tilting Englishman a broader stateside following. Now, Bragg’s back in the act with his own band…
Naked City
On March 22, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards released its latest report card detailing the state of Travis County’s jail system. For three years running, the county jails have failed their state-mandated inspections, most glaringly for understaffing and overcrowding. This time around, inspectors found that overcrowding had been eliminated and that a host of…
TV Eye
Ten pins, go-go dancers, a wise-cracking organist … Comedy Central’s Let’s Bowl lets contestants settle disputes the old-fashioned way.
Last Orders
Last Orders 2001, R, 109 min. Directed by Fred Schepisi, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring David Hemmings, Ray Winstone, Tom Courtenay, Helen Mirren, Bob Hoskins, Michael Caine. The wintry reminisces of four lifelong friends, recalled in the wake of the death of one of their own, are just about all that comprises the…
Day Trips
The Austin Zoo may look like a kiddie park, but under the surface is a humanitarian organization rescuing abused and neglected animals. Opened in 1994, the zoo isn’t affiliated with the city of Austin. Rather, it is a nonprofit charitable organization and personal mission of Cindy and Jim Carroccio. Since the park opened thousands of…
Phases and Stages
Uncle Tupelo89/93: An Anthology (Columbia/Legacy) Uncle Tupelo, a trio from rural Belleville, Ill., composed of guitarist Jay Farrar, bass player Jeff Tweedy, and drummer Mike Heidorn, wasn’t the first band to merge folk and country music with rock attitude. Arguably, they weren’t the best at what they did, either. But they were in the right…
Naked City
Concerned about safety issues, Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman and Council Member Raul Alvarez recently sent a letter to Austin Energy’s Andy Ramirez requesting information about the alleged use of nonunion contract labor by the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company — the nonprofit that oversees plant operations and whose board of directors includes Ramirez.…
Video 101
The Southerner, Jean Renoir’s last great film, and the only one to earn him an Academy Award nomination.
Panic Room
Panic Room 2002, R, 112 min. Directed by David Fincher, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Jared Leto. Fight Club. Se7en. The Game. Say what you will of David Fincher’s films – too violent, too loud, too flashy, too convoluted – but like a toothy rottweiler…
Mr. Smarty Pants
According to Yale University’s Dan A. Oren, M.D., people suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) have lower nighttime levels of bilirubin in their blood.Adam West used to host a morning show in Honolulu called The Bikini Popo Show. His co-host was a chimpanzee.Child car seats were first manufactured in the 1950s.”Ballin’ the jack” in train…
Phases and Stages
Cassandra WilsonBelly of the Sun (Blue Note) Cassandra Wilson has no clothes. (Yow!) What she does possess, of course, is one of the thickest, richest, most beguiling voices in contemporary music. Beginning with mid-Eighties post-fusion jazz for avant-traditionalist indie JMT, this sultry daughter of the Mississippi Delta has spent the succeeding two decades vocalizing her…
Naked City
March 22 marked the 30th anniversary of the release of a report from former President Richard Nixon’s National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse that recommended that the federal government decriminalize both marijuana use and “casual” distribution. “Neither the marihuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety,”…
Kissing Jessica Stein
Kissing Jessica Stein 2001, R, 96 min. Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jennifer Westfeldt, Heather Juergensen, Tovah Feldshuh, Scott Cohen, Esther Wurmfeld, Jackie Hoffman. Warm, friendly, a little bit sloppy, but nothing to get the blood pressure up — that’s what it’s like, Kissing Jessica Stein, an indie romantic…
To Your Health
I am trying to avoid diabetes, which runs in my family, by choosing foods for their low glycemic index. Some of the foods I want to eat because they ought to have a low glycemic index are not on anyone’s list. Is there some way to calculate the glycemic index myself?
Phases and Stages
Kenny GarrettHappy People (Warner Bros.) When Kenny Garrett, who plays alto and soprano sax, came to the fore in the mid-Eighties, he was an impressive player in some ways, but not original. He drew his style from a number of saxophonists who’d come to fame in the Fifties and Sixties, and worked with musicians who…
Naked City
“I want to greatly broaden the range of debate,” said Rahul Mahajan, who kicked off his campaign last week as the Green Party candidate for governor. “There’s a lot of issues not being talked about: global warming, the war on terrorism, the increasing corporate takeover of the political process. I want to broaden the issues…
The Rookie
The film recounts the baseball career of Texan Jim Morris, who, in 1999, became the oldest rookie major-league pitcher to take the field in 40 years.
About AIDS
Hairstyling Challenge Benefits Project Transitions on April 14 On Sunday evening, April 14, Aziz Day Spa & Salon and Element Nightclub will host the Style Cup hair fashion competition as a benefit for Project Transitions, which provides hospice, housing and supportive care for people living with HIV/AIDS in Central Texas. The Aziz Dream Team is…
Accepting the Challenge
Meet the candidates for AISD Board of Trustees.
Naked City
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks inspired rage and calls for vengeance in America. Ryan Amundson had a different reaction. After losing his brother Craig in the attack on the Pentagon, Amundson formed September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a pacifist group that seeks “[to] identify a commonality with all people similarly affected by violence throughout…
Festival in Cannes
Festival in Cannes 2001, PG-13, 99 min. Directed by Henry Jaglom, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Anouk Aimée, Maximilian Schell, Greta Scacchi, Peter Bogdanovich, Ron Silver, Zack Norman, Jenny Gabrielle, Alex Craig Mann. The intersection of Art and Commerce is sorely in need of a signal light, or, at the very least, some…
After a Fashion
You’d think we’d be all star-f***ed out after SXSW, but here it is, Oscar-time and we are just beside ourselves with the bold type and the dropped names!
What? No silly. We said “fawned.”
AISD Board of Trustees
Six of the nine AISD Board seats are up for grabs on May 4. But only three of the races feature more than one candidate. Neither of the at-large seats are contested.Contested Races:District 4: Ave Wahrmund (incumbent), Darlene Yañez District 6: Pat Whiteside (incumbent), Manuel Zuniga District 7: Donald Abrams, Robert Schneider Uncontested Races:District 1:…
Naked City
No chad-counting, but plenty of petition-checking kicks off this year’s official race for Austin City Council. Just ask City Clerk Shirley Brown, whose office is currently verifying signatures turned in by the three incumbents hoping to bypass term limits laws by collecting 18,263 signatures apiece. Brown’s office has already determined that Council Members Beverly Griffith…
Death to Smoochy
Death to Smoochy 2002, R, 101 min. Directed by Danny DeVito, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Robin Williams, Danny DeVito, Edward Norton, Harvey Fierstein, Catherine Keener, Jon Stewart, Michael Rispoli, Vincent Schiavelli. “Comedy isn’t pretty” is an axiom that Danny DeVito holds dear, alongside “comedy is dark,” “comedy is subversion,” and, my favorite,…
Coach’s Corner
Let’s have a little historical perspective here. Rick Barnes is doing a fine job as the UT basketball coach, but he didn’t single-handedly create the UT basketball program. That was Abe Lemmons, in 1976.
Running Off at the Primary
Kirk vs. Morales, Lulu vs. Eddie: Get your pencils ready.
Capitol Chronicle
Despite promise of good times, too many Texans go hungry.
Second Helpings: Thai
Little Thailand | Classic Thai | Thai Village | Bangkok Cuisine | Thai Spice Restaurant | Thai Spice Buffet & Restaurant | Thai Garden
The Latest Catch
Food writer Mick Vann on the hits — and the misses — of Roy’s
Democratic and Republican Joint Runoff: April 9
For further voting info, contact the Travis County Clerk’s Office, 238-VOTE, or the county Web site: www.co.travis.tx.us. If you do not know your election precinct, call Voter Registration: 854-9473. Travis County Dems: 477-7500, www.traviscountydemocrats.org. Travis Co. GOP: 302-1776, www.traviscountygop.org. For nonpartisan candidate info: the League of Women Voters (451-6710), www.leaguewv.austin.tx.us.Early Voting LOCATIONS: OPEN MONDAY-FRIDAY, APRIL…
The Hightower Lowdown
Disney shows its commitment to journalism with the Koppel-Letterman flap; the Bushites are Bozos.
Articulations
The folks in Tuna offer support to Austin Musical Theatre students, Austin’s Santa finds his Mrs. Claus, and the city seeks Art in Public Places panelists.
Food-o-File
Permanent changes at Star Canyon and an update on the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival
Chronicle Endorsements
The Chronicle issues election endorsements only in those races where we believe our opinion may serve our readers and make a difference. We urge all our readers to vote in the primary of their choice. Early voting for the Democratic and Republican runoffs in Travis County run Monday through Friday, April 1-5. Election day is…
Wiseman at Last
At last, Fred Wiseman comes to Austin. And with two of his vintage docs, High School (1968) and Law and Order (1969), the second and third in a 33-film oeuvre. (He arrives here from Paris, where he’s just wrapped his second fiction film.) Since his first revelatory “banned-in-Massachusetts-until-just-recently” doc, Titicut Follies (1967), about a state…
Exhibitionism
If any 20th-century American play deserves to be called “classic,” it is Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie but the State Theater Company’s puzzling production seems to ignore what is most obvious in the play, only rarely connecting with the story.
Mini-Review
Chronicle Food writer Wes Marshall explains why, even in an area as rich with wonderful Mexican restaurants as Central Texas, La Cabana Grill merits a trip.
Dove Springs Whitewash?
Georgetown mayor defends the sewage plant.
The Mythos and the Masterpieces
Texas purists — those of the “a country unto itself” camp — tend to bristle at being lumped into the whole of the South. Still, every once in a while, Texas would do well not to balk, as in the case of its inclusion in The Oxford American’s Southern Movie Issue, the latest from the…
Exhibitionism
Austin Playhouse’s production of the musical Blues in the Night pinpoints feelings of love and loss among three women all hurt in love, with singers Jacqui Cross, Janis Stinson, and Melanie Wilkinson blending their three strong voices into a mighty harmony and reclaiming blues music for their sex.
Showers of Sound
The Bubble, the only place to record for Austin’s indie elite
Hightower’s Hoedown
Jim Hightower’s Rolling Thunder Down-Home Democracy Tour kicks off in Austin.
Primetime Blues
Scholar Donald Bogle adds another exceptional book to his works about African-Americans in film and television.
A ‘Bullet’ to the Gut
In The Bullet Meant for Me, his new memoir, Texas Monthly writer Jan Reid explains why he went to Mexico and was forced to return as a changed man.
Dancing About Architecture
SXSW is still over, and now so is the new Emo’s and the Metro. True Believers are back, though.
Max vs. Metro
Max is back, and he has an alternative to light rail.
Get in the Game
Xbox’s Project Gotham Racing and Halo screech and soar, respectively, into gameplayers’ hearts; NBA Live 2002 and NBA2K2 for Playstation2 amp up the defense.
One State, One Book, One Woman
It was inevitable. Chicago, New York, L.A., Seattle, West Palm Beach, and Milwaukee have all gone literary and decided that their citizens would benefit from reading the same book at the same time, so why not the entire state of Texas? Deborah Hamilton-Lynne, an Austin playwright (Afterlives, E Pluribus Unum: Barbara Jordan, One Voice), an…
NewSX of the SWorld
For your perusal, reasonably random samples of press (so far) regarding SXSW 2002: “This year’s normally amicable SXSW music industry confab [is] a potential flashpoint in the growing tension between major labels and artists.” (E! Online) “It probably wasn’t fair to ask just-blooming Austin band Schatzi to follow Velvet Underground descendants Luna onto the stage…
Rock Creek Rolls Forward
Cypress’ Rock Creek project moves along after Fish & Wildlife approves its permit.
Get in the Game
Project Gotham RacingBizarre Creations Xbox Five — socket your transmission into gear. Four — smash the accelerator to the floor. Three — clench your fingers around the steering wheel. Two — fix your steely gaze on the horizon. One — pop the clutch, and let your engine roar. And in that frozen, lingering instant, never…
