Race Wars
Race Wars NR. Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Not reviewed at press time
The Whole Wide World
The Whole Wide World 1996, PG, 106 min. Directed by Dan Ireland, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Vincent D’Onofrio, Renée Zellweger, Ann Wedgeworth, Harve Presnell, Benjamin Mouton. An unassuming movie if ever there were one, The Whole Wide World slowly but surely envelops you like the Texas landscapes that mark its narrative: familiar…
Private Parts
Private Parts 1997, R, 108 min. Directed by Betty Thomas, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Reni Santoni, Kelly Bishop, Jenna Jameson, Paul Giamatti, Carol Alt, Jackie Martling, Fred Norris, Mary Mccormack, Robin Quivers, Howard Stern. Since I’m usually still asleep when pop-phenom Stern’s morning drivetime radio show airs locally, I’m a relative newcomer…
Rhyme & Reason
Rhyme & Reason 1997, R, 91 min. Directed by Peter Spirer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Salt-N-Pepa, Ll Cool J, Too-Short, Dr. Dre, Cypress Hill, KRS-ONE, Biz Markie, Busta Rhymes, Fugees, Kurtis Blow, Chuck D. The most comprehensive hip-hop documentary to date, Rhyme & Reason is like PBS’ History of Rock & Roll,…
Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco 1997, R, 127 min. Directed by Mike Newell, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Gerry Becker, James Russo, Bruno Kirby, Zach Grenier, Brian Tarantina, Anne Heche. Based on a true story, Donnie Brasco subverts the guns and gals glory of the New York wiseguy genre with…
Booty Call
Booty Call 1997, R, 79 min. Directed by Jeff Pollack, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jamie Foxx, Vivica Fox, Tommy Davidson, Tamala Jones. Rushon and the learned relationship counselor dwelling in his underpants agree: Seven weeks of patiently wooing the lovely but demure Nikki have earned the man a little something more than…
Prisoner of the Mountains
Prisoner of the Mountains 1996, NR, 98 min. Directed by Sergei Bodrov, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Djemal Sikharulidze, Oleg Menshikov, Sergei Bodrov Jr.. As recorded by history, war reduces individuals to proxies for group values or interests and is mostly analyzed in terms of long-term sociopolitical import. But as experienced, it often…
Crocodile
Crocodile 1981, R, 83 min. Directed by Sompote Sands, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Nat Puvanai, Kirk Warren, Angela Wells. One of the daft selling points of the Thai-Philippine co-production is that it is one of the most inept monster movies ever made.
Enter the Fat Dragon
Enter the Fat Dragon 1978, R, 100 min. Directed by Sammo Hung, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sammo Hung, Roy Chiao, Fat Chung, Hark-On Fung. Trouble follows the character played by Sammo Hung wherever he goes. But, fortunately, he learned to fight by imitating his idol, the great Bruce Lee. The fight scenes…
Astérix Et La Surprise De César (1985) & “The Little Prince”
Astérix Et La Surprise De César (1985) & “The Little Prince” NR, 79 min. Directed by Paul Brizzi, Gaetan Brizzi, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Serge Sauvion, Pierre Mondy, Pierre Tornade, Roger Carel. Astérix et la Surprise de César is a French-made feature-length cartoon of the comics classic. It will appear in the…
Female Trouble
Waters’ over-the-top melodrama stars Divine in a tour-de-force performance as Dawn Davenport, a girl who leaves home when she doesn’t get the cha-cha heels she wanted for Christmas. The film also stars most of the Waters’ corps of regulars.
Hidden Wars of Desert Storm
Hidden Wars of Desert Storm 2000, NR, 64 min. Directed by Audrey Brohy, Gerard Ungerman, Narrated by John Hurt, Voices by , Starring . This video exposé looks at the reasons for the Gulf War and the embargo against Iraq that still persists. The documentary uses material never before seen on television, and interviews such…
Play it Again, Sam
Play it Again, Sam 1972, PG, 87 min. Directed by Herbert Ross, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts. This film adaptation of Allen’s play provides an early glimpse into the filmmaker’s dating neuroses and film-buff attachmennts.
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? 1957, NR, 94 min. Directed by Frank Tashlin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Joan Blondell, Betsy Drake, Jayne Mansfield, Tony Randall, Mickey Hargitay, Groucho Marx. This Frank Tashlin double bill is a great way to kick off the Austin Film Society’s new summer season devoted to CinemaScope movies…
The Girl Can’t Help It
The Girl Can’t Help It 1956, NR, 99 min. Directed by Frank Tashlin, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Julie London, Tom Ewell, Jayne Mansfield, Edmond O’Brien. Tashlin demonstrated an innate knowledge of the capacities offered by the CinemaScope canvas, no doubt the result of his earlier years as an animator at several of…
Mr. Smarty Pants
By his own admission, Jay Leno doesn’t like to eat out of bowls because he doesn’t like different foods to touch each other.According to New Urban News, a 24-foot-wide street is four times as safe as a 36-foot-wide street. The narrowness slows drivers down, resulting in the reduced rate of accidents.Jack Ruby lost half of…
Phases and Stages
Lisa MednickSemaphore (Texas Music Group) With Semaphore, her second solo recording, Austin’s Lisa Mednick ups the ante for herself by inching closer to Lucinda Williams’ turf without actually encroaching on it (“No More Rain,” Chickamauga”). That’s largely because she distances herself from the singer-songwriter category by emphasizing her musicianship. The local multi-instrumentalist has accrued enough…
A Bigger, Better Convention Center
Perhaps Daryl Slusher spoke for everyone in his remarks at the Austin Convention Center ribbon-cutting Saturday: “I know this has been a well-managed project, because I just spent seven months on the campaign trail, and nobody mentioned it once.” As the city celebrated the Center’s new, $110-million-plus expansion — with bands, balloons, and souvenir travel…
TV Eye
Screenwriter Daniel Giat, recently in town for the Austin premiere of his ‘Path to War,’ talks about LBJ’s legacy.
After a Fashion
Celebrity sightings … and slightings. Bitchy, bitchy, biiiiitcheeeeee …
Phases and Stages
Lourdes PérezSelections From Tres Oraciones Known for her spine-rattling contralto and politically conscious lyrics, Lourdes Pérez’s newest CD, Selections From Tres Oraciones — her first album since 1997’s Vestigios — has a decidedly dramatic flair, perhaps because many of the songs were created for theatre and dance performances over a four-year period. Pérez beckons the…
Naked City
May Haiku Please conserve water. You’re using too much, Austin. Repeat: It’s just grass. Don’t forget to vote in the ACC run-off June 1! (Early voting dates remaining are May 23, 24, and 28.) AISD Superintendent Pat Forgione’s Blueprint plan to reform low-performing schools hit a snag this week when Blackshear Elementary, the oldest school…
Video Reviews
Grave, dryly funny, even farcical, Camera Buff is a little-seen but worthy effort from the late Polish master Kieslowski.
Day Trips
The Chisos Mountains Lodge is an oasis in the desert high above the parched landscape of cactus in Big Bend National Park. Tucked in the Chisos Basin and surrounded by rugged mountains, the lodge’s beauty is compounded by its isolation. At more than 6,000 feet above sea level this is one of the coolest places…
Phases and Stages
Divahn(Miz Rocky) Divahn’s name, a term common to Persian, Arabic, and Hebrew that means a collection of songs or poetry, represents this local quartet’s musical inspiration well. Blending the best from across the Jewish Diaspora, this all-female group sings in Hebrew, Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), Persian, and Aramaic, drawing from the traditions of Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Spain,…
Naked City
In the first high-profile Big Cut of the new, fiscally challenged City Hall era, the Austin Public Library will close its branch locations one day a week beginning the week of June 3. Except for the John Henry Faulk Central Library (which will retain its current hours) and the brand-new St. John’s branch (which will…
To Your Health
Q. All my life I have really loved milk, but my wife is concerned that it is making me gain weight. At age 30 I am otherwise healthy but about 20% over my ideal weight. Would two glasses of milk per day be too much? A. There are so many factors that enter into food…
Phases and Stages
Windsor for the DerbyThe Emotional Rescue (Aesthetics)Windsor for the DerbyEarnest Powers + (Emperor Jones) Which of the following does not describe the longtime sort-of-local group Windsor for the Derby? 1.) cerebral. 2.) groovy. 3.) sappy. Anyone who’s heard these mostly instrumental post-rockers, split between Austin and New York since core member Dan Matz left for…
Naked City
Today (Thursday) the City Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution, sponsored by Will Wynn and Daryl Slusher, designed to help owners of live music venues downtown reduce their energy costs. Under the resolution, the city — with direction from City Manager Toby Futrell, and through Austin Energy — would conduct a handful of…
About AIDS
Willing to Share Final Conversations With Your Loved One? When someone you loved was dying, did you have a final conversation’ with that person, i.e., conversations and interactions when you both knew that the loved one was dying? If so, I invite you to share your personal stories with me as I research this topic.…
Phases and Stages
Orange MothersTraditional Love (Jim Thunder) In 10-plus years of existence, the Orange Mothers have evolved from a ragtag band of psychedelic nomads into a somewhat remarkable organic pop troupe. Traditional Love, the Austin quartet’s fourth outing, furthers the promise of 2000’s Big Blue House with simple lyrics that achieve universality through subtle ambiguity and warm…
Naked City
A group of Texas organizations and citizens, led by the judicial reform group Texans for Public Justice, filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Del Rio Tuesday against the Texas Supreme Court. The suit asks that the court be required to disclose how justices vote on “petitions for review”: that is, the decisions they…
More Places at the Table
The Austin Critics Table is about to hand out its annual awards for achievement in the arts for the 10th year, and the list of nominees is longer than ever.
Coach’s Corner
Mike Tyson’s a punk who doesn’t deserve the cover of Sports Illustrated; the Spurs and Mavs are pretenders who don’t deserve better than they got; and baseball fans … well, they deserve a league that can deal with its labor problems
Phases and Stages
D.B. HarrisCan I Return These Flowers? A relatively new addition to the Austin country music scene, D.B. Harris shows a great deal of promise with his self-released debut, Can I Return These Flowers? Over the course of 10 songs, he manages to cover a lot of musical ground, from Tex-Mex opener “You’re Too Much For…
Naked City
This week’s City Council agenda is more jam-packed than Kenneth Lay’s closet of skeletons. Okay, that’s an overstatement — but members do face a list of 86 items, many of significant impact, before adjourning for a few weeks. (Council, with new member Betty Dunkerley, will return to the dais on June 27.) Even the citizens’…
Articulations
The Blanton Museum of Art gets a cool million for its new building, Austin Museum of Art gets a new director of development to raise money for its new building, and a whole lotta Austin Artists get nominations for the 2001-02 Critics Table Awards.
The 2002 Austin Chronicle Restaurant Poll
Another year has passed, the readers have spoken, the critics have picked, and here is the 2002 Chronicle Restaurant Poll, hot off the press! No one will deny that much of the past year was difficult for our local restaurant industry, what with the residual effects of high tech layoffs and the serious downturn after…
Phases and Stages
Deryl DoddPearl Snaps (Lucky Dog) Here’s a breath of fresh air: a modern mainstream country guy who actually sounds like he’s up on his George Jones and Merle Haggard, and has a healthy respect for the music that came before. Dodd’s voice is good, but nothing spectacular in its range or timbre; then again, there…
Naked City
As the proposed City of Austin/Stratus Properties agreement on further southwest development meanders through the planning process, citizens’ groups continued a pre-emptive campaign against it. On Monday, the executive committee of the Austin Sierra Club announced its opposition to the agreement, leading up to a demonstration and march organized by the Save Our Springs Alliance…
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Animated equine love story that’s also a fresh take on the standard cowboys-and-Indians tropes.
Exhibitionism
In The Well Inside, Sally Jacques’ extraordinary site-specific work, dancers suspended high in the air swing and sway and spin, right side-up and upside-down, exhibiting athleticism and daring that take your breath away but also convey an isolation and yearning for connection with amazing grace.
The 2002 Austin Chronicle Restaurant Poll
1. Castle Hill Cafe 2. Fonda San Miguel 3. Mirabelle Restaurant 4. Kenichi 5. Vespaio 6. Mars Restaurant & Bar 7. Shady Grove 8. Sullivan’s 9. Mushashino 10. Austin’s Pizza 11. Chuy’s 12. Eddie V’s Edgewater Grille 13. Aquarelle 14. Ranch 616 15. Jeffrey’s 16. Sunflower Restaurant 17. Jean-Luc’s French Bistro 18. Trudy’s 19. Eastside…
Phases and Stages
George Washington(Emperor Jones) A long, beautiful, sustained decay. That’s what last year’s left-field indie film success George Washington was: a document of the unraveling lives of a group of kids amidst the rustic decay of a small town in the Carolinas. The pace of their lives, and their downfall, was slow and natural, yet unnaturally…
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large
Austin needs an honest discussion of how much we spend on public safety.
Exhibitionism
In their new show What Goes Up, advertising “40 percent new Idiocy,” those juggling, bantering fools the Flaming Idiots incorporate a Sam Hurt cartoon, giant puppet limbs, and lots of audience participation for a family-friendly show guaranteed to get you on your feet and clapping.
The 2002 Austin Chronicle Restaurant Poll
AppetizersSaba Blue Water Cafe Runners-upMirabelle, Jean-Luc’s French Bistro, Castle Hill Cafe Honorable MentionMalaga Wine & Tapas Bar, Z’Tejas, Trudy’s, Ray’s SteakhouseBarbecueThe Salt Lick Runners-upRudy’s Country Store & BBQ, County Line, The Iron Works Honorable MentionSam’s BBQ, Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, Ruby’s BBQHamburgerHut’s Hamburgers Runners-upCasino El Camino, Dan’s Hamburgers, Shady Grove Honorable MentionFran’s Hamburgers, Dirty Martin’s Kum-Bak Place,…
Phases and Stages
Shawn PittmanFull Circle Austin’s once-vibrant blues scene is now a tough row for the up-and-comers to hoe thanks to it having once been such fertile ground. Shawn Pittman isn’t afraid of the past or the present, and his new CD Full Circle melds the two very neatly. It’s a promising start too, with his own…
The Hightower Lowdown
Wal-Mart cares about its employees — especially the dead ones; giving the finger to corporations could cost you your privacy; and Tattered Cover stands up for its customers’ rights.
Exhibitionism
The State Theater Company’s production of Dinner With Friends brings into crystalline focus the many facets of friendship and love that playwright Donald Margulies has exposed in his Pulitzer-winning script, and does so with crisp timing, finely blended humor, and moments of genuine theatrical honesty.
The 2002 Austin Chronicle Restaurant Poll
AppetizersAntipasto case at Vespaio BarbecueThe country-style pork ribs at Artz Rib House HamburgerCasino El Camino; BurgerTex on the Drag SteakAustin Land & Cattle Co. Chicken-Fried SteakHoover’s Cooking, R.O.’s Outpost French FriesWaterloo Ice House on Sixth SoupNew England Clam Chowder at Whole Foods; Lobster Bisque at Emilia’s; Tom Kah Kai at Madam Mam’s; Gumbo at Quality…
Phases and Stages
The Ritchie Whites Snitches Get Stitches (TKO) Composed of ex-members from Los Tigres Guapos, the Motards, Bulemics, Teen Cool, Secret Lovers, and Reclusives, this Austin fivepiece throws their hat into the punk-seasoned rock & roll arena with their energy-oozing debut. From potent opener “Portions of the Whole” and the tightly wrapped “Pimp Killer” to closer…
The Giving Tree
Making movies takes money. Lots of it. From grants to bakes sales, credit card max-outs to benevolent rich uncles, local filmmakers struggle to come up with the cash.
Steven Saylor’s Ancient Habit
Steven Saylor’s series of mysteries set in ancient Rome is one of the best mystery series being published today.
The 2002 Austin Chronicle Restaurant Poll
22, (out of business)Critics Places We Wish Were Still Open 888 Cafe, 911 W. Anderson, 302-5433Critics Tofu Dish Amy’s Ice Cream, various locations, www.amysicecream.comReaders Ice Cream Aquarelle, 606 Rio Grande, 479-8117Readers Favorites (13) (TIE), Critics Upscale Vegetarian, Critics Haute French, Readers Upscale Ararat Middle Eastern Restaurant, 111 E. North Loop, 419-1692Readers Other Ethnic Artz Rib…
Phases and Stages
Woozyhelmet With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Woozyhelmet merrily traipses along the fine line between abrasive punk rock nihilism and crumpled up mash note sweetness. The Austin trio’s latest nine-song disc perfectly encapsulates the venomous nature of unbalanced young love, but instead of getting drunk to forget, these songs hang around at the scene of…
Gimme Money
Founded in 1996, the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund has awarded more than a quarter-million dollars to Texas filmmakers. The deadline for applying for a 2002 grant is July 1. Applications can be downloaded at the Austin Film Society Web site (www.austinfilm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=tfpf_home). The AFS site also includes information on alternative ways to fund a project (www.austinfilm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=tfpf_funding_resources…
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India 2001, PG, 225 min. Directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley, Paul Blackthorne. Once upon a time in America I would have scoffed at the idea of my falling in love with a nearly four-hour-long movie from India’s…
Recommended
For several years, critics have been telling readers that Mark Jude Poirier is one of the most original voices to come out of the West. Unsung Heroes of American Industry (Talk/Miramax Books, $22) is Poirier’s latest, a slim collection of five stories that confirms his early critical reception. Each of his new stories feature a…
Marshmallow Love
The 31st annual Kerrville Folk Festival
Phases and Stages
beat box Mics are no longer safe in Texas. Like when you forget to take off the face of your car stereo, they will get snatched. MCs are hungry, so give up the big burrito if you’re not gonna eat it, and in the immortal Wu Tang wisdom, “Protect Your Neck.” Traygod Shekhem is fully…
Why Ask Why?
Local art collective How+Why? stages its latest event, titled “Now More Than Ever,” where art will co-opt advertising instead of vice versa.
Insomnia
Insomnia 2002, R, 118 min. Directed by Christopher Nolan, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Maura Tierney, Martin Donovan, Nicky Katt, Paul Dooley. The question of how maverick filmmaker Christopher Nolan could possibly follow up his arthouse smash Memento has finally been answered. He’s followed it up admirably…
Book Review
Gould’s Book of Fish: A Novel in 12 Fish by Richard Flanagan Grove Press, 404 pp., $27.50 You couldn’t be faulted for thinking that Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan has water on the brain. His follow-up to last year’s tour de force Death of a River Guide is Gould’s Book of Fish, a bawdy historical novel…
Evening Concert Schedule
Performances begin at 6pm and run through midnight, with set changes (roughly) on the hour. The listings are in chronological order, with the evening’s first act listed first. For more information and tickets visit the festival Web site at www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com or call 800/435-8429.Memorial Day WeekendThursday, May 23Jon Michaels, Rachel Bissex, Dogwood Moon, David Massengill, Eliza…
Who Killed Stacey Stites?
A re-examination of a Bastrop murder case leaves many unanswered questions.
War and Remembrance
Time Warner Cable and the LBJ Library and Museum hosted a local premiere of HBO Films’ new LBJ film ‘Path to War.’
Enough
Enough 2002, PG-13, 115 min. Directed by Michael Apted, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Tessa Allen, Fred Ward, Dan Futterman, Noah Wyle, Juliette Lewis, Billy Campbell, Jennifer Lopez. As the film opens, if you listen very carefully, you can almost hear the narrator intoning, in a voice grave and forbidding: “Slim thought she…
Steven Saylor’s Ancient Habit
Steven Saylor’s series of mysteries set in ancient Rome is one of the best mystery series being published today.
Dancing About Architecture
Think Pink! Boy, I leave town for a couple of days and the celebrities descend on Austin like buzzards circling a napping Bob Hope. Seems everyone spotted a star somewhere, from Minnie Driver at Flipnotics (the Flips gang reports she stopped by for a cool beverage on their deck last Saturday) to George Michael at…
‘Somebody’s Got to Pay’
Revisiting the forensic evidence in the Stacey Stites murder trial
Biz Buzz
Mum, or a close variation thereof, is the word thus far when it comes to a pair of highly anticipated productions scheduled to begin shooting around Austin this summer and fall. A Michael Bay-produced remake of Tobe Hooper’s classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre is up first, with a tentative July start date. Commercial and video director…
Visitor Q
Visitor Q 2001, R, 84 min. Directed by Takashi Miike, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Shoko Naahara, Kazushi Watanabe, Shungiku Uchida, Kenichi Endo. Sheesh. I’m still recovering from last year’s Miike film to play Austin — the mind-warping, soul-blighting Audition — which arrived stateside bearing little indication of the horrors contained within. This…
Recommended
For several years, critics have been telling readers that Mark Jude Poirier is one of the most original voices to come out of the West. Unsung Heroes of American Industry (Talk/Miramax Books, $22) is Poirier’s latest, a slim collection of five stories that confirms his early critical reception. Each of his new stories feature a…
Please, Mr. Postman
The Chronicle’s Personal Attache to the Beatles, KGSR-FM General Eggman Jody Denberg, recently spoke to Our Lord and Savior (or is it still just “Sir”?) Paul McCartney in Dallas for his show there. Here’s a short excerpt from their chat, which is available in its entirety at www.kgsr.com, and began with McCartney admitting he’s never…
More Bleeding at APD?
Nearly a year and a half after Austin Police Department officers Stan Farris, Dennis Clark, and David Gann settled out-of-court a whistleblower lawsuit filed against the police department in 1997, another suit hit the district clerk’s office just before closing on Thursday, May 16 — a suit that revisits allegations of retaliation by department brass…
New on DVD
Rhino Video, packager of subcultural phenomena, a few months ago released Battle of the Planets / Gatchaman DVDs that include episodes of Asian anime series Gatchaman and corresponding episodes of its surreal American knockoff, Battle of the Planets.
The Art of Dying
The Art of Dying 2000, R, 102 min. Directed by Álvaro Fernández Armero, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Adría Collado, Elsa Pataky, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Lucía Jiménez, María Esteve, Gustavo Salmerón, Fele Martínez. Slick and intermittently creepy, The Art of Dying is a sort of I Know What You Did in Spain Last Summer…
Page Two
Are you sure about that Rodney Reed death penalty? And, the second installment World Cup “Soccer Watch” from our esteemed publisher.
Phases and Stages
The FlatlandersNow Again (New West) In the spring of 1972, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock arrived in Nashville with their small band of Lubbock-based troubadours and a young man’s wanderlust. The ensuing sessions yielded only a here-and-gone 8-track tape and a promotional single of Gilmore’s now-classic “Dallas,” though the group did manage…
Hooks Digs In
Last week, the Chronicle got a letter from an irate Arizonian who had caught writer and social critic bell hooks’ recent commencement address at Georgetown’s Southwestern University. “The lovely school seems to have forgotten its foundations,” wrote Jean Kilker. “Instead of a joyous occasion, the audience was insulted and called names … we were labeled…
Short Cuts
Austin institutions: Hippies. The bats. Kelso. Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe? Rumor has it the two River City regulars have signed on for The Alamo, the not-yet-greenlit, big-budget remake tentatively set to film just outside Austin.
