The Tarnished Angels
The Tarnished Angels NR, 91 min. Directed by Douglas Sirk, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Jack Carson, Troy Donahue. Adapted from William Faulkner’s novel Pylon, The Tarnished Angels is one of Sirk’s few movies with a high-art source. Filmed in black-and-white and CinemaScope, the movie is about…
The African Queen
The African Queen 1951, NR, 105 min. D: John Huston; with Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart. Bogart and Hepburn battle World War I Germans and each other in this classic demonstration of how opposites attract. The script is by Huston and James Agee and was filmed on location in the Belgian Congo.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1958, NR, 108 min. D: Richard Brooks; with Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives. Tennessee Williams’ study of a crumbling Southern patriarchy is riveting stuff. Although the word homosexuality is never uttered, this Hollywood reworking brings a certain understanding of the son’s latent “immaturity” and his wife’s childlessness. Bolstered…
Suddenly, Last Summer
Suddenly, Last Summer NR, 114 min. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Mercedes McCambridge, Albert Dekker. Tennessee Williams here uses homosexuality, lobotomies, and cannibalism as plot points in this sanitized version penned for the screen by Gore Vidal. Still, the battles between the…
Austin At Risk
Tech leaders look for solution to Austin’s growth problems
Media Clips
Although he’s catching heat in the national media, here in Texas, Bush has been given kid-glove treatment by the media.
Book Reviews
Second Hand by Michael Zadoorian Norton, 270 pp., $23.95 “Live long and leave wondrous estate sales” advises first-time novelist Michael Zadoorian in the acknowledgements of this sweet, junk-as-life etude on all things second-hand. Zadoorian’s protagonist, über-“junker” Richard, owns Satori Junk outside Detroit, and is the part loser/part prophet/part guru supreme of the thrift life. He…
Readers Poll
BEST APPETIZERS Z’Tejas Grill RUNNERS-UPArarat, Hula Hut, Saba Blue Water Cafe HONORABLE MENTIONSLouie’s 106, Gilligan’s, MarsBEST STEAK Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse RUNNERS-UPSullivan’s, Austin Land & Cattle Co., Texas Land & Cattle HONORABLE MENTIONOutback, Ray’s, Dan McClusky’sBEST HAMBURGER Hut’s Hamburgers RUNNERS-UPDirty Martin’s, Fuddruckers HONORABLE MENTIONDan’s Hamburgers, Fran’s, Casino el CaminoBEST CHIPS & HOT SAUCE Trudy’s RUNNERS-UPChuy’s, Cafe…
What’s the Big Idea?
If a new economy calls for new kinds of social responsibility — for “civic entrepreneurship” — then what would it do differently? Here are a few bright ideas volunteered by observers of the local tech community: Brigid Shea:Tax Yourselves “I would propose to the high-tech community that they find an equitable way to tax their…
Sirkus Maximus
Douglas Sirk’s Fifties film melodramas expose a world of emotional turbulence lurking beneath the placid surface of the Eisenhower years.
Book Reviews
Safekeeping: Some True Stories From a Life by Abigail Thomas Knopf, 179 pp. $22 While baking an apple cake for her young grandchildren, Abigail Thomas squelches the impulse to tell them that she, as their grandmother, is not a mere synonym for “cake.” If she could, she would tell them that in her youth in…
Critics Picks
AppetizersSaba Blue Water Cafe, Castle Hill Best BarbecueSam’s Best Hamburger (and Hot Dogs)Casino el Camino Best SteakAustin Land & Cattle Company Best Chicken-Fried SteakHoover’s Cooking Best Chile Pepper DishMixiote Lamb in Ancho Chile Sauce at Curra’s; Ancho Chile Relleno w/ Chicken, Apples & Almonds at Fonda San Miguel Best Chips & Hot SauceBotanitas, Taquería el…
Join the Club
After years of being invisible in the trenches where local public policy gets made, Tech Austin has sallied forth in a big way, forming a welter of new organizations designed to channel the industry’s limited time, great wealth, and deep motivation into action. Here’s a rundown on some of the key players: 360 Summit (360summit.org)…
Douglas Sirk Film Series Schedule
May 16Magnificent Obsession (1954, 108 min.) with Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush, Agnes Moorehead. In this remake of John Stahl’s 1935 film, Hudson plays a drunken playboy who mends his ways and becomes a surgeon in order to repair the eyesight of the woman (Wyman) he blinded in a car accident. This outrageous story…
Book Reviews
The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election by Zachary Karabell Knopf, 320 pp., $27.50 The central paradox of Zachary Karabell’s engaging new book, The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election, is the fact that we never really do learn how Truman accomplished his remarkable electoral feat, which continues to…
2000 Restaurant Poll Index
888 Cafe, 911 W. Anderson, 302-5433CRITICS PHO, CRITICS VIETNAMESE (TIE) Amy’s Ice Cream, 1012-B W. Sixth, 480-0673BEST ICE CREAM Ararat, 111 E. North Loop, 419-1692BEST ETHNIC (Middle eastern) Austin Java Company, 1206 Parkway, 476-1829CRITICS 24-HOUR Austin Land & Cattle Co., 1205 N. Lamar, 472-1813CRITICS STEAK Austin’s Pizza, 800 W. 12th, 474-8822BEST DELIVERY Avenue Cafe –…
Get With the Program
Even though Jason Fellman, president of FG Squared, is a huge fan of Kirk Watson, he did not vote for the mayor. That’s because he’s never voted in the seven years he’s been an Austinite. “Everything passes me by,” he says. “The traditional way of being involved in government is very difficult for people with…
Short Cuts
Upcoming events and workshops of interest to the Austin film community.
Off the Bookshelf
Bar by Monika Kiss Horváth Scalo, 144 pp., $45 Subtly idiosyncratic, evocative, and unassuming, this odd little coffeetable book charms on many levels. Swiss photographer Monika Kiss Horváth has collected her coolly refreshing images of the facades of Italian bars in, well, Bar. Evincing a traveler’s hungry eye, Horváth photographed bars in 30 cities between…
In All Your Future Endeavors
A young writer comes to grips with his lot in life after graduation.
Covering New Ground
Robin Rather talks about Austin’s future, and her own, after stepping down as chair of the Save Our Springs Alliance.
Video Reviews
Reservoir DogsD: Quentin Tarantino (1992); with Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Edward Bunker, Quentin Tarantino. Re-watching Reservoir Dogs last night, I was struck by how good a film it was. Pulp Fiction I’ve seen dozens of times, certain scenes more than that, and Jackie Brown a half dozen.…
Off the Bookshelf
Sunday You Learn How to Box by Bil Wright Scribner, 218 pp., $12 (paper) Despite the title of Bil Wright’s debut novel and the fact that this urban tale kicks off with the alarming death of the protagonist’s evil stepfather, the book’s violence is primarily emotional. Sunday You Learn How to Box is the story…
Saturday Night at the Bookstore
The Dicks’ Gary Floyd 20 years after Austin’s first Punk Prom at the ArmadilloWorld Headquarters
Naked City
Dell Computer moves to drinking water protection zone, sister neighborhoods program to launch May 20, Bruce Mills becomes Chief of Austin Bergstrom International Airport, Tom Ridge.
Video Reviews
Pulp Fiction D: Quentin Tarantino (1994); with John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Maria de Medeiros, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis, Quentin Tarantino. I’m finally getting around to annotating some more of my Top 10 desert-island choices. This is not really a review…
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Musica del Mar
Hanging Ten with Austin trio the Sir Finks
Naked City
Behold, Austin, the fruits of campaign finance reform: Wealthy candidates pay to put their own commercials on the air. Millionaire Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson outspends Danny Thomas in Thomas’ own election campaign. And everyone who spends big, wins big, eclipsing — if not erasing — the promise of 1997’s campaign finance overhaul. Meanwhile, voter turnout remains…
TV Eye
Phil Donahue, James Lipton, Jon Stewart, Katie Couric, Johnny Carson, Tom Snyder, and more: columnist Belinda Acosta reflects on the hosts who made television great.
Page Two
How do we define Austin?
In Review
The Sir FinksInstrumentals in the Key of… BOSS!!! (Wildebeest)The Sir Finks/I CosmonautiGuitars Don’t Argue (Wildebeest) Not many good breakers off the coast of our island in the middle of Texas, but Austin’s Sir Finks ride their longboard echo through a primo tunnel of twang found only where the water is white. Says plenty about a…
Naked City
Raul Alvarez and Rafael Quintanilla head into a runoff for the Place 2 seat June 3.
All the Way to State
A high school play contest might not sound like a big deal, but it is to the 18,000 students in 1,200 schools across Texas who participate in the state’s UIL one-act play every year — and here’s a look at why.
Public Notice
Public Notice celebrates mom, bikes, and going postal, among other things this week.
Center Stage
Students at the American Ballet Academy in New York vie to join the professional corps.
Naked City
With his election a foregone conclusion, Mayor Watson sticks close to the party scene Saturday night.
Austin Theatre Critics’ Table 1999-2000 Nominations
The Austin Theatre Critics’ Table have announced nominations for their eighth annual awards for achievement in theatre. The participating critics — Michael Barnes, Jamie Smith Cantara, and Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Austin American-Statesman; and Robert Faires and Sarah Hepola, The Austin Chronicle — honored work produced on Austin stages during the period May 1999-April 2000.…
Letters at 3AM
ABC’s short-lived TV show Wonderland failed to depict mental illness and its treatment in a realistic light.
Time Code
Time Code 2000, R, 93 min. Directed by Mike Figgis, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Glenne Headly, Holly Hunter, Xander Berkeley, Richard Edson, Kyle Mclachlan, Saffron Burrows, Salma Hayek, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Stellan Skarsgard. An audacious experiment that, like last year’s indie upstart The Blair Witch Project, may very well threaten the established rules…
Second Helpings: Compendium and Restaurant Guide Index
It’s 7pm, or 8, or 9. You’re hungry. You have a select list of favorite restaurants, but one reason they’re your favorites is because you dole out your visits sparingly. The thought of selecting one restaurant out of Austin’s sheer multitude has you reeling. Besides, your friend or spouse or child just ate Tex-Mex or…
Naked City
Winners in bold; runoff election June 2. Mayor Kirk Watson (i): 29,777; 84.0% Leslie Cochran: 2,755; 7.8% Dale Reed: 1,662; 4.7% Jennifer Gale: 1,244; 3.5% City Council Place 2 Rafael Quintanilla: 13,040; 39.0% Raul Alvarez: 10,946; 32.8% Gloria Mata Pennington: 3,677; 11.0% Monty Markland: 2,344; 7.0% David Breadman Blakely: 1,701; 5.1% Ray Blanchette: 1,694; 5.1%…
Articulations
More money for the Long Center, more art for AMOA, and more national exposure for a Flaming Idiot.
Mr. Smarty Pants
Times Square, Whiskey, Joan of Arc
I Dreamed of Africa
I Dreamed of Africa 2000, PG-13, 114 min. Directed by Hugh Hudson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kim Basinger, Vincent Perez, Liam Aiken, Daniel Craig, Eva Marie Saint, Garrett Strommen, Lance Reddick, Connie Chiume, James Ngobese. … and all I got was this lousy movie. In 1972, Italian husband and wife, Paolo and…
Dancing About Architecture
A bitch session about the plight of the Austin music scene is scheduled at Threadgill’s; here’s hoping Negativland’s long-anticpated Austin appearance doesn’t dissapoint a la SRL.
Naked City
In a tight last-minute victory, Will Wynn avoids a runoff with Clare Barry for the Place 5 council seat.
Exhibitionism
The characters in A.R. Gurney’s epistolary homage to the vanishing American upper class continue their correspondence to discuss a moth-snuffing performance of the play with Stacy Keach and Joan Collins.
After a Fashion
AT LEAST YOU’RE PAYING ATTENTION So many people, with so much time on their hands… and so much unpleasantness in their little hearts. Last week’s “Postmarks” section ran a letter from a disgruntled reader who seemed to be unhappy because The Austin Chronicle is not a democratically run organization with elected officials. He bitched about…
42 Up
42 Up 1998, NR, 130 min. Directed by Michael Apted, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . 42 Up is the latest entry in the world-famous documentary series that has been widely praised as a fulfillment of cinema’s greatest potential. I’m not sure the film lives up to the full scrutiny of such overblown…
Live Shots
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo FightersFrank Erwin Center, May 2 Shut my mouth and call me Marcel Marceau — “alternative” music is alive and well at the arena level, though the principal reason is hardly cutting-edge. People love ballads. They love to sing along, they positively can’t avoid flicking those lighters any time the lights…
Naked City
Early voting — and thus early returns — usually skew conservative. But not this time: Election day was good to the establishment front-runners — and big spenders — as Will Wynn and Danny Thomas both got a big boost on election day. Also trending sharply higher on Saturday was Raul Alvarez.Candidate: Early Voting, Election Day…
Exhibitionism
Shana Merlin’s life may not be as tragic as those of most women who turn their lives into one-woman shows, but the youngest-child adorability and wry observations she displays in Today’s Special warrant rapt attention anyway.
Day Trips
Captain Daytrips visits the Webb Folk Art Gallery and Museum in Waxahachie.
Live Shots
Los Van VanLa Zona Rosa, May 3 Flush with the success of their recent Grammy win for best salsa performance, the 15-piece Cuban group Los Van Van reminded the packed house at La Zona Rosa, Wednesday that there’s more to Cuba then just Elián. Singer “Pedrito” Calvo, nicknamed the Cuban James Brown, stole the two-hour-plus…
Naked City
Three candidates win seats on the AISD board by wide margins, and two referenda allowing the board to choose how it sends tax dollars out of the district also pass easily.
Puns of Steel
There’s a science to interpreting puns; just ask audience members at the 23rd Annual O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships.
Coach’s Corner
Coach goes to the Harvey Penick Invitational, an LPGA golf tourney. But he doesn’t learn anything.
Gladiator
These Coliseum slavery capers earned a Best Picture Oscar.
Live Shots
Ron Flynt & the BlueheartsContinental Club, May 4 Ask David Fenton of the Vapors if he’s happy he wrote the song “Turning Japanese.” Oh, sorry, you can’t ask him, because after a year or so of trying to duplicate the success of his freak hit, he dropped off the face of the earth. If he…
Naked City
Light rail loses big in San Antonio, casting aspersions on the chances that a similar proposal will pass in Austin.
Pun-Off Winners
Punniest of Show: 1. Tiffany Wimberly, Fayetteville, Arkansas 2. Chuck Burgess, El Campo, Texas 3. George McClughan, Austin High Lies & Low Puns: 1. Alex Ramirez, Austin 2. Steve Brooks, Austin 3. George McClughan, Austin; Kevin Owens, Austin
About AIDS
“If you’re going to go out [or in this case, go in], put your rubbers on!”
Live Shots
Elliott SmithLa Zona Rosa, May 5 It’s a bit bizarre watching an adoring crowd fill up a hall for a toadish little fellow who skitters away like an insect when the glare of a light shines his way. Not showy, not pretty, and not a hitmaker, Elliott Smith has arrived at the point in his…
Naked City
Willie Lewis loses his council seat to police officer Danny Thomas by a shocking margin.
Postscripts
This week’s Texas Writers Month events.
The 2000 Austin Chronicle Restaurant Poll
If you’re thinking it’s been a long time since we’ve run a local restaurant poll, you’re right. The last time we polled the Chronicle readership about the opinions concerning the Austin restaurant scene was in the late fall of 1998. When fall 1999 rolled around, we realized running the restaurant poll and the Best of…
Live Shots
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage FestivalFair Grounds Race Course and across New Orleans, Louisiana, May 5 & 6 If there’s an event that lives up to the Blind Men and the Elephant fable, it’s the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Whether you believe Jazz Fest is primarily about the music itself, international culture, or…
Naked City
Leslie Cochran discusses his loss in the mayor’s race and his modeling contract with Yclip.com.
Book Reviews
MotherKind by Jayne Anne Phillips Knopf, 292 pp., $24 When the protagonist of Jayne Anne Phillips’ novel, MotherKind, opens a package from La Leche League containing plastic nursing shields, disks with holes in the center to keep nipples erect and hygienic, she tells her mother, “They’re like something out of Barbarella.” Her mother doesn’t know…
Favorites
1. Castle Hill Cafe 2. Z’Tejas Grill 3. Eastside Cafe 4. Vespaio 5. El Sol y la Luna 6. Suzi’s Chinese Kitchen 7. Shady Grove Cafe 8. Veggie Heaven 9. Hoover’s Cooking 10. Kim Phung 11. Mirabelle 12. Curra’s Grill 13. The Salt Lick 14. Fonda San Miguel 15. Mars 16. Hut’s Hamburgers 17. Taquería…
