True-Hearted Vixens and Cormac’s Trash
True-Hearted Vixens and Cormac’s Trash NR. Directed by Mylène Moreno, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . True-Hearted Vixens and “Cormac’ s Trash” will be presented as part of th e Texas Documentary Tour on Wednesday, May 30, 7:30pm & 9:30pm, at the Alamo Drafthouse, 409 Colorado. Filmmaker Mylx e8ne Moreno will introduce the…
The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon 1941, NR, 101 min. Directed by John Huston, Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre. Based on a Dashiell Hammett novel (adapted for screen by Huston, in his directorial debut), The Maltese Falcon is film noir at its finest. Humphrey Bogart stars as detective Sam Spade.
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther 1963, NR, 113 min. Directed by Blake Edwards, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Peter Sellers, David Niven, Robert Wagner, Capucine. The first in the original Pink Panther series follows the clueless Inspector Clouseau (the always genius Sellers) to Switzerland in search of a jewel thief (Niven).
A Shot in the Dark
A Shot in the Dark 1964, NR, 102 min. Directed by Blake Edwards, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Peter Sellers, Elke Sommers, George Sanders, Herbert Lom. This second Pink Panther effort finds the fumbling Clouseau investigating a series of murders – one of which takes place in a nudist colony.
A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born 1954, NR, 181 min. Directed by George Cukor, Starring Judy Garland, James Mason, Charles Bickford. Garland delivers a powerhouse performance as an actress on the cusp of stardom in this remake of the 1937 William Wellman film (which was reinterpreted again in 1976 by Barbra Streisand).
Mad Monster Party?
Mad Monster Party? 1967, NR, 94 min. Directed by Jules Bass, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnet, Phyllis Diller. Claymation film about the shindig Dr. Frankenstein throws to announce his retirement from the monster-manufacturing business. Voiced by Boris Karloff, one of the first mad monsters from the silent…
Sex in the Office
Sex in the Office 1971, X, 86 min. Directed by Ernst Hofbauer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Christian Engelmann, Peter Raschner, Karin Field, Reinhard Glemnitz. This Seventies West German Sexploitation film (also known as Office Girls) was banned in Finland for four years. For more on the Something Weird Wednesdays series see austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-02-16/screens_feature.html.
Girlfriends
Girlfriends 1978, PG, 88 min. Directed by Claudia Weill, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Melanie Mayron, Anita Skinner, Eli Wallach, Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban, Amy Wright, Viveca Lindfors. Claudia Weill’s movie seemed almost revolutionary in 1978 when it was first released. It’s a small movie that made a big splash with its focus…
Amazing Panda
Amazing Panda 1995, PG, 81 min. Directed by Christopher Cain, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Stephen Lang, Ryan Slater, Ding Yi, Wang Fei. While vacationing in China, young Ryan (Slater) must save a baby panda from poachers.
Exhibitionism
In ROYGBIV 2001: A Human Odyssey, ONE Theatre Company sets out to chronicle the universal passages of human existence through an Everyman figure that they follow from birth to death. But the show itself seems to be in the midst of adolescence: Full of big dreams, idealistic, and ready to take on the world, but…
Three Canyons
The Southwest Edge of Texas Hill Country — Home to Lost Maples and Garner State Park — Is Rich in Both Beauty and History
Live Shots
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage FestivalNew Orleans, April 27-May 6 Suddenly, Al Green flashed before my eyes. Standing on a deserted stretch of Highway 71 45 minutes south of the Austin airport, my companion and I stared unbelieving at the acrid wisps of smoking rubber rising up from the shotgun-like blowout that had halted our…
Pitch People
Pitch People 1999, NR, 87 min. Directed by Stanley Jacobs, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . If you grew up watching TV in the Seventies, as I did, then you doubtless have a small portion of your heart reserved for those magical, shoddy “As Seen On TV” products such as Ron Popeil’s miraculous…
Exhibitionism
In Anna Bella Eema three women sitting behind TV trays spin an incredible tale of a girl who builds a girl out of mud and what happens when she comes to life. And as written by Lisa D’Amour and directed by Katie Pearl, it is glorious, with a beauty and depth almost beyond language.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
The first of Austin’s premier photographers shares some music history through his photos.
Naked City
Local news in Austin, Texas
All Creatures Great and Small
With the current state of the environment, long belabored by activists and scientists who point to any number of warning signs of planetary collapse, it makes sense, Chronicle contributor Dan Oko writes, that writers with deep green inclinations would juggle literary aesthetics and scientific data in their efforts to jar us from the stupefying impact…
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
1 Even before it graced the Chronicle’s commemorative Doug Sahm issue, the Texas Tornado’s famous Pearl beer can shot from 1974 was a classic.
Naked City
Testimony ends in the first full week of Robert Springsteen’s trial in the yogurt shop murders case, and jurors are left with the question: What evidence do prosecutors have?
Postscripts
The 24th Annual O.Henry Pun-Off World Championships and other upcoming literary events.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
2 The Fat Man, Fats Domino, 1971
Naked City
Trout Unlimited, along with residents of Canyon Lake, petition the TNRCC to stop the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority from taking more water from the lake, reducing river flows and potentially harming trout and the environment.
Readings
The Cold Six Thousand A Novel by James Ellroy Knopf, 711 pp., $26.95 James Ellroy looks like he writes: He looks hard. Razor thin. His moustache is terse. His eyes seethe. Red-rimmed pits. Cheap glasses. (Not too cheap.) His books: The L.A. Quartet (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, White Jazz) scored high.…
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
3 Dr. John, day trippin’, 1974
Naked City
The City Council puts off plans to approve an appropriation to extend the northern portion of MoPac, buying time to discuss a more controversial project: the proposed expansion of the freeway through several central Austin neighborhoods.
Readings
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less by Terry Ryan Simon & Schuster, 351 pp., $24 1950s. Small-town Ohio. Evelyn Ryan has 10 children and a husband whose weekly paycheck, small enough to begin with, shrinks to microscopic once he’s drunk up a third of…
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
4 Willie Nelson, before the bus years, backstage, 1972
Naked City
Rick Perry signs the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, giving his political supporters and opponents new ammunition.
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
5 Vassar Clements (l) & Earl Scruggs, pickin’ and almost grinnin’, backstage, 1971
Capitol Chronicle
The Legislature enters the home stretch — two weeks to go.
Page Two
Why Mike Clark-Madison’s cover story will be informative even to the most experienced city veteran, and why the work of exploitation director Stephanie Rothman deserves serious study.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
6 The great Jimmy Reed, warming up backstage at the Vulcan, 1969
The Hightower Lowdown
Bush and children, Bush and Big Oil, & the Inventor of the Slim Jim
Public Notice
In honor of the O. Henry Pun-Off, Public Notice swears off the puns this week.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
7 John Prine, not Slaid Cleaves, at Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July picnic, Dripping Springs, 1973
Short Cuts
Upcoming summer filmmaking activities
The Art of the Sandwich
Char-Grilled Pork SandwichTam Deli and Cafe 8222 North Lamar, 834-6458 Wed-Mon, 10am-8pm Although we tend to think of fusion cooking as a relatively new thing, banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) are a legacy from the French presence in Vietnam that began in the mid-19th century. Tam Deli serves one of the best anywhere — a fresh,…
Mr. Smarty Pants
A smorgasbord of mental morsels on a pretty paper plate.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
8 Broooce Springsteen, backstage at the Armadillo, 1974
Video Reviews
One of John Huston’s latter-day successes, Fat City is long on character and short on plot, but it’s a crawl through the mud that’ll stay in your psyche for days.
Second Helpings: Deli-cious Sandwiches
Deli-cious sandwiches in this week’s “Second Helpings”
Day Trips
Off-road biking trails of the Lone Star State.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
9 two old five ‘n’ dimers, Billy Joe Shaver and Waylon Jennings, backstage at the Armadillo, 1972
Video Reviews
What a feeling! What an icky, sticky feeling.
The Luzhin Defence
The Luzhin Defence 2000, PG-13, 106 min. Directed by Marleen Gorris, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring John Turturro, Emily Watson, Geraldine James, Stuart Wilson, Christopher Thompson, Peter Blythe. “Patterns keep repeating themselves,” exclaims chess prodigy Alexander Luzhin (Turturro) in a moment of discovery that provides a key to his life history as well…
A City of Boards
An insider’s overview of and commentary on the city’s boards and commissions
After a Fashion
The Anthony-Nak Fall 2001 Collection raises the bar on local designers.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
10 Mississippi bluesman Big Joe Williams, post-meal, Victory Grill, 1968
Video Reviews
Karyn Kusama’s directorial debut is as potent a boxing drama as Rocky, with solid performances and a relevant message.
The Day I Became a Woman
The Day I Became a Woman 2000, NR, 78 min. Directed by Marzieh Meshkini, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Fatemeh Cheragh Akhtar, Shabnam Toloui, Cyrus Kahouri Nejad, Azizeh Seddighi, Ameneh Passand. Delightful as it is, the burgeoning Iranian “new wave” cinema has taken a few knocks for being lugubrious. It’s simply not a…
Working Girls
What do the eight films in the Austin Film Society’s latest free series “Dance, Girl, Dance: Women Directors of the 70s and 80s” have in common? They are all works by inherently feminist filmmakers, and the chronological order of the series tracks the growth of American feminist thought during these two decades.
About AIDS
Health Care for the HIV Positive
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
11 What’s in the pocket, Gram? Parsons backstage at the Armadillo, 1973
TV Eye
Summer TV used to mean boring reruns, but these days, cable takes advantage of the networks’ hibernation to launch their own season of special movie events and series. Belinda Acosta offers a list of some of the upcoming “must check out” programs.
She Got Rhythm
In the world of rhythm tap, female dancers are a minority, and women who are masters of the form, as Acia Gray is, are merely a fraction of the whole. But with the debut of the Soul to Sole Festival, Gray hopes to give women who tap their due.
To Your Health
My mother does not admit to having a problem with alcohol, but it worries me a lot when I see how much she drinks. Her favorite drink is a margarita and she has one or two almost every day, along with some wine with meals, though I have never seen her actually drunk. Am I…
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
12 Freddie King backstage at the Armadillo, 1970 — not bad for a guy with an armadillo through his heart
Angel Eyes
Angel Eyes 2001, R, 104 min. Directed by Luis Mandoki, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jennifer Lopez, Jim Caviezel, Jeremy Sisto, Sonia Braga, Shirley Knight, Terrence Howard. Its heart is never in the wrong place, but Angel Eyes is what Roger Ebert calls an “Identikit movie.” Director Mandoki and screenwriter Gerald DiPego (both…
Austin Theatre Critics Table 2000-2001 Nominations
The Austin Theatre Critics Table have announced the nominations for their ninth annual awards for achievement in the arts.
Coach’s Corner
As the NBAplayoffs wind toward their conclusion, Coach is struck by how bland the announcers still are.
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
13 Frank Zappa prepares to don Jim Franklin’s armadillo helmet, backstage, 1973
With a Friend Like Harry …
Tasty psychological thriller from France (by way of Hitchcock).
Articulations
In honor of this week’s commencement ceremonies at UT, here’s a roundup of recent college-related honors for theatre historian Oscar Brockett, composers, Kent Kennan and Kevin Putz, late playwright David Mark Cohen, and UT theatre department alum Marcia Gay Harden. Plus, the 2001 Funniest Person in Austin is Rich Gabe.
Food-o-File
The latest activities of the vegetarian activist owner of the Tarrytown Center and other Austin food news in this week’s “Food-o-File.”
Dancing About Architecture
Kissinger gets lost
Shrek
Animated comic gem.
