The Van
The Van 1976, R, 92 min. Directed by Sam Grossman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Danny DeVito, Marcie Barkin, Harry Moses, Deborah White, Stuart Goetz. Cheapo Seventies T&A about horny teenagers and a custom Chevy van.
Rock ’n’ Roll Drive-In With Mary Woronov
Rock ’n’ Roll Drive-In With Mary Woronov NR. Directed by , Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . The Mary Woronov classics, Rock ’N’ Roll High School (PG, 93min.) and Death Race 2000 (78 min., R), are on a double bill with the cult actress in attendence to present the films properly. Also on…
“In Light of Reverence” (2001) and “Yada Yada”
“In Light of Reverence” (2001) and “Yada Yada” 2001, NR, 65 min. Directed by Christopher McLeod, Narrated by Peter Coyote, Tantoo Cardinal, Voices by , Starring . The hour-long “In Light of Reverence” examines the conflict concerning the commercial and recreational use of sites deemed sacred by Native Americans. The P.O.V. film recounts the struggles…
Secret Cinema
Secret Cinema NR. Directed by Unknown, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Enjoy gay cinema under the stars. An unannounced detective comedy with lots of twists and unconventional characters will screen at a private home. There will be an open bar and other food treats, but bring your own blanket or lawn chair.…
Santa vs. the Snowman 3D
Santa vs. the Snowman 3D 2002, G, 37 min. Directed by John A. Davis, Narrated by , Voices by Steve Oedekerk, Ben Stein, Victoria Jackson, Jonathan Winters, Starring . Originally made as a holiday TV feature, the animated Santa vs. the Snowman (by Steve Oedekerk, John A. Davis, and Keith Alcorn of DNA Studios in…
China Beach Pilot (1988) With Bill Broyles and John Sacret Young
China Beach Pilot (1988) With Bill Broyles and John Sacret Young NR, 95 min. Directed by Rod Holcomb, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dana Delaney, Nan Woods, Michael Boatman, Marg Helgenberger. The creators and writers of the TV show China Beach – John Sacret Young and Austin screenwriter and Vietnam veteran Bill Broyles…
Pleasure and Pain
Pleasure and Pain NR, 92 min. Directed by Danny Clinch, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Former Annie Liebowitz intern and rock photographer Danny Clinch’s facile documentary might as well be called Ben Harper 101: The roots rocker and singer-songwriter is shown in all his Hendrix-meets-Dylan-at-Marvin Gaye’s-pad glory. If you’ve never heard of…
Flicker No. 11
Flicker No. 11 NR. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . This bimonthly film festival showcases short films by local and national filmmakers who submit works via mail. Flicker guarantees an array of projects and intriguing juxtapositions at every screening, with linear narratives butting up against radical experiments, polished productions followed…
Pigalle
Pigalle 1993, NR, 93 min. Directed by Karim Dridi, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Vera Briole, Francis Renaud, Raymond Gil, Blanca Li. Paris’ seedy, neon-lit underworld of the Pigalle district provides the Genet-like setting for dangerous love and survival maneuvers among a thief, stripper, transexual, hit man, and street hustler.
6 Easy Pieces and Other Videos by Jon Jost
6 Easy Pieces and Other Videos by Jon Jost NR. Directed by Jon Jost, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Celebrated avant-garde filmmaker Jon Jost will be in person at Cinescape to present selected works (based on audience choice) from his 28-year career. A maker of shorts and features, experimental and narrative, Jost…
Loose Lip
If there were a list of bands not from Austin that we’d love to claim anyway, the Flaming Lips would certainly be near the top of that list. The psychotropic trio, backing Beck at the big, sold-out Bass Concert Hall show next Tuesday, aren’t without their local connections, either. For starters, Lips drummer/co-conspirator Steven Drozd’s…
Naked City
Giving Iran, Oman, and Iraq yet another run for their money, Texas was scheduled to execute James Colburn, a paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed and strangled 55-year-old Peggy Murphy in 1994. Colburn was arrested on the same day as the murder, after telling a neighbor to call the police because he had killed a woman. In…
Pedro Paramo
Juan Rulfo (1918-1968) began his writing career late in life, publishing a collection of short stories, El Llano en Llamas (1953), translated into English as The Burning Plain (1967). His only novel, Pedro Páramo (1955) was later translated by Mexico’s premier essayist and translator, Margaret Sayers Peden, in 1994 and has been reissued in 2002…
Naked City
The Austin Cycling Association is co-hosting a public hearing with the Texas Dept. of Transportation to discuss bicycle issues regarding state roads and projects in TxDOT’s Austin district (the metro area and surrounding counties). The hearing is 6pm Tuesday, Nov. 12 at LCRA’s Hancock Building, 3700 Lake Austin Blvd. Austin launched the first Green Building…
Book Review
Jane Leavy, who will be at the 2002 Austin Jewish Book Fair, “goes out of her way trying to distinguish the ‘real’ Sandy Koufax from the perception held by many of an aloof recluse” in her new biography of the Dodgers lefty.
Dream on, Dream Team
Dewey Defeats Truman “Rick Perry on television reminded me very much of 1948,” announced Tony Sanchez from the stage at the Hyatt. “I’m here to announce that we’ll be fighting and giving him hell until the last vote is counted. … This race is a long, long, long way from being over.” The allusion, of…
Naked City
On Friday, Travis Co. Republican Party Chair Alan Sager delivered to County Attorney Ken Oden several affidavits alleging violations of election law by precinct workers. Among the complainants are Marc and Beverly McCord, who live in western Travis Co. and cast ballots Oct. 26 at the Lakeway Albertsons. They say a poll worker demonstrating the…
Upcoming …
We want you to know all about authors’ activities in and around Austin
Dream on, Dream Team
Downtown Deflation The Driskill Hotel’s elegant second-floor ballroom has hosted better nights. On Tuesday, three separate Democratic campaign gatherings (for Kirk Watson, David Bernsen, and Ann Kitchen) grew more subdued by the hour as muted TV screens displayed an increasingly jubilant GOP crowd just blocks away at the Convention Center. Around midnight, as balloons and…
Naked City
In a 36-page opinion delivered Oct. 29, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a permanent injunction preventing the U.S. government from threatening doctors with a loss of prescription-writing privileges if they discuss the use of medical marijuana with their patients. The feds’ appeal had sought to remove a 1997 injunction prohibiting the U.S.…
The Hightower Report
Organics: good enough for the pilgrims, good enough for us; and, trailer trash go upscale.
Dream on, Dream Team
Travis County’s Mixed Messages The D-word — “debacle” — got thrown around a lot at the Crockett Center polling headquarters on election night, and not just by Democrats. Seton Motley, campaign manager for Travis Co. judge aspirant Bob Honts, knew just how they felt. When early voting numbers, typically the high-water mark for GOP candidates,…
Naked City
The Friendship Alliance — the voice of neighborhoods in northern Hays Co. — has filed a lawsuit against the city of Dripping Springs, challenging the legality of two major development agreements. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Hays Co. District Court, seeks to have both agreements overturned, arguing that Dripping Springs, as a general-law (rather than…
First You Laugh, Then You Join Greenpeace
The vinyl industry’s environmental and health dangers hit home when documentarian Judith Helfand’s family installs vinyl siding. Helfand caught it all on tape in her toxic comedy, Blue Vinyl.
Page Two
In the wake of the Republican Dream Team’s electoral sweep, expect the governmental services you depend on to be diminished.
Dream on, Dream Team
Reproducing Greens and the Silver Standard Although their candidates weren’t expecting victories, the Greens and the Libertarians had a good time anyway at their respective election-night bashes, at Double Dave’s Pizza and the Copper Tank. Both parties say they emerged from their campaigns with their ranks revved for 2004. Among the Greens, State Board of…
Naked City
“The university does not and should not regulate the viewpoints expressed by its students, faculty, or staff, save for very narrow and long settled constitutional exceptions, such as incitement to imminent violence.” That was the judgment of the UT Task Force on Assembly and Expression, in issuing its 45-page report and recommendations on UT-Austin free…
A Hollywood Twist
Ilan Mitchell-Smith, the “other dude” from Weird Science, reflects on his Teen Beat past and on co-star Anthony Michael Hall.
After a Fashion
Oh! It’s such a chore to pull one’s self together for a night out on the town … but some nights are really worth it. Plus, we are hosting another Drag Ball. Details inside.
Dream on, Dream Team
We Won! — That’s Classified Last Friday, the Chronicle called the campaign office of Dist. 50 Republican candidate Jack Stick to find out where Stick and his supporters would be watching election returns. The person answering the phone politely started to tell us, only to be cut off by a Voice-in-the-Background demanding, “Who is that?”…
Austin @ Large: Austin at Large
In Central Texas, the “progressive” agenda can trump the GOP “majority.”
Short Cuts
Dead Man Talking: A panel of local film academics & critics discuss the Tim Robbins’ film in anticipation of the opera adaptation.
Day Trips
The Chisholm Trail served as a principle transportation route for a little more than two decades, yet it has become as much a symbol of romantic Old West as cowboys, six-shooters, and dance halls. After the Civil War, great herds of unbranded cattle wandered the uninhabited lands of South Texas. Returning veterans quickly recognized a…
Dream on, Dream Team
Cedar Park Still Uncool Suburban Democrats may be a dying breed, but enough of them — 360, to be exact — roused themselves to unseat House Dist. 45 incumbent Rick Green, R-Dripping Springs. Green, plagued by numerous ethical allegations and dubbed by Texas Monthly as one of the state’s 10 worst legislators, lost to Democrat…
Capitol Chronicle
After Nov. 5, a preview of Texas government to come
TV Eye
While viewers are asleep at the remote, the FCC is pondering some dangerous deregulation.
Mr. Smarty Pants
Juliet (from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet) was 13 years old.According to one eyewitness, there are more AK47 assault rifles in Somalia than there are books. Locals use the paper from books for napkins, tea bags, and other purposes, while many warlords hoard AK47s for bartering.At least 30 times a year, a space rock measuring a…
Dream on, Dream Team
Blame It on God, Gender, and Sex — and Gender Statewide Republicans declared victory before a majority of the state’s precincts were counted, but in time to make the 10pm TV news. Gov. Rick Perry told the cheering crowd, “Now we must switch gears from the campaign that just ended to the future that’s just…
Run by Families, Run for Families
It’s a Friday evening at the Santa Cruz Center for Culture, and as the Aztlan Dance Company rehearses its production of Reflexiones ’02, the company shows how after 30 years it’s still not only an exhilarating dance company, but very much a family affair.
Readings
“We all know that Americans don’t vote — 51% turnout, what we saw for Bush-Gore in 2000, is about as good as we get, and in most elections (like the one on Tuesday, and certainly in Austin local races), we settle for far less,” writes Mike Clark-Madison in his review of Thomas Patterson’s The Vanishing…
To Your Health
My nails were never great, but the last two years I have really suffered from nails that are too soft to hold up to daily wear and tear. I also notice some ridges developing. What can I do to improve them?
Dream on, Dream Team
Lead With the Drunk The Chronicle asked Ben Bentzin if he felt the now-infamous DWI ad attacking Dist. 14 incumbent Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos had helped or hurt him in his campaign. Bentzin asserted that it had helped, saying, “This spoke to leadership, and this was a failure of …” — that is, the same damn…
Tender Terror?
Gallery Lombardi’s new juried show “Hallowed Ground” finds dark beauty and fearsome light in its artists’ views of religion.
Readings
Jonathan Carroll brings his White Apples to BookPeople on Saturday, Nov. 9, 3pm. Ric Williams brings you his review of it.
About AIDS
Since its inception in 1988, the Wright House Wellness Center — formerly known as the HIV Wellness Center — has focused on holistic therapies and educational programs for people living with HIV/AIDS. The organizers, including PLWHA and practitioners of massage, acupuncture, yoga and Reiki, believed that such alternative therapies are useful in treating many of…
Dream on, Dream Team
Silver Linings In Tuesday’s state GOP tidal wave there wasn’t much good news for Democrats, but here and there a cause for celebration. Most notably in Travis Co., incumbent Dist. 14 state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos held off what had seemed a formidable challenge from first-time candidate Ben Bentzin by a margin that wasn’t that close:…
Trouble at AMT
The Austin Musical Theatre announced on Monday, Nov. 4, that the company “is temporarily suspending operations in efforts to reorganize and refinance the company.” AMT cited the nationwide ticket sales recession, underwhelming receipts from its production of My Fair Lady, and a “very tight fundraising environment” as part of the “considerable deficit” it faces today.…
The Artful ‘Dodger’
First-time writer / director Dylan Kidd talks about his award-winning indie debut, ‘Roger Dodger.’
Second Helpings: All Japanese
Austin is the new Japan! In this week’s “Second Helpings.”
Living in the Moment
MM Pack profiles legendary foodie Ann Clark.
Will AISD Magnetize Eastside Sixth-Graders?
Kealing Junior High may add a sixth grade — at the expense of its three Eastside elementary feeder schools.
A Piece of Work
Ralph White’s painting Segment of an Unknown Journey is suggestive of both microscopic and telescopic views, bearing at once a resemblance to a dye-drenched photo of a living cell after mitosis and a polychrome picture of distant, light-smeared celestial bodies taken by the Hubble telescope.
Femme Fatale
A triumph of style over logic, this is still one of the best films from this period of De Palma’s career.
Food-o-File
Virginia B. Wood discusses the untimely death of her friend and Austin “pioneer” Patrick Knight in this week’s “Food-o-File.”
Get Your Brain on with Cartoonist David Rees
A profile of cartoonist David Rees, coming to Austin to promote his book Get Your War On
Exhibitionism
Salvage Vanguard Theater adapts the classic Russian folk tale of Vasilissa the Beautiful into a new urban opera, Motherbone, that may have some rough edges, but is an amazing showcase for the musical passion of Graham Reynolds as well as the company’s pluck and determination.
Frida
Frida 2002, R, 123 min. Directed by Julie Taymor, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Ashley Judd, Antonio Banderas, Edward Norton, Valeria Golino. Frida Kahlo, the Mexican surrealist, feminist icon, bon vivant, and revolutionary populist, lived a life that has been begging for a film version since her…
Liquid Assets
Wes Marshall finds some French wines that both Ann Clark and your wallet will approve of.
Bodies Pile Up at KOOP
New fissures have formed at KOOP-FM, Austin’s precariously managed “community-owned” radio station and recipient of city cultural contracts funding (i.e., tax dollars). This week’s flashpoints include the cancellation of the Wednesday evening environmental show co-hosted by longtime programmer Robert Singleton, the resignation of one of the station’s board of directors, and the removal of two…
Exhibitionism
Reefer Madness: High and Mighty Funny The Hideout, through Nov. 16 Running Time: 1 hr Watching the Bedlam Faction’s staging of Reefer Madness while straight is almost as much fun as watching the punk rock episode of Quincy while stoned off your ass. That is to say: It’s a bale of fun. Previous shows from…
8 Mile
Eminen’s semi-autobiographical story of a young, white rapper on the rise in Detroit has a soft-focus Hollywood tint.
Dancing About Architecture
Daniel Lanois confirms as SXSW keynote, Springsteen cancels, and another club — the Six of Clubs — closes. Biz as usual, in other words.
Naked City
Nationally and statewide, the GOP put its Bushean stamp on most of the country — control of all three branches of the U.S. government (four, if you count the Supreme Court, which you should) — and Texas, reaffirming its grip on all statewide offices. On Wednesday morning, Dem gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez finally conceded to…
Exhibitionism
The Oswald Gallery’s retrospective exhibit of Yousuf Karsh’s black and white portraiture is a small sample of Karsh’s career, perhaps, considering the span of years in which he worked, but it’s a representative one, and perfectly displayed in the snug front gallery.
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday 2002, R, 107 min. Directed by Paul Greengrass, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring James Nesbitt, Tom Pigott-Smith, Mary Moulds, Gerard Crossan, Allan Gildea, Nicholas Farrell. Save for the anthemic U2 protest song that plays over the closing credits, there is no music in Bloody Sunday, no orchestral score with strings to…
‘Chronicle’ on the Air!
You no longer need eyes to enjoy The Austin Chronicle! Tune in this Friday, 6-7pm, to 1370AM for The Chronicle Hour, debuting Nov. 8 with this week’s cover story! The program continues at the same time, same frequency for the next 13 weeks, with each program tying into the corresponding issue. In conjunction with the…
Naked City
The dogs of West Austin howled with happiness last week after neighbors of West Austin Park voted more than two to one to support a six-month off-leash trial period (as included in the Old West Austin Neighborhood Plan). Some neighbors — worried about germ-filled feces polluting the park, dog bites, and other ills — had…
Some Unspeakable Beauty
Don’t call it magic realism: Josephine Sacabo’s photography and Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo make a powerful pair.
Welcome to Collinwood
Welcome to Collinwood R, 86 min. Directed by Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jennifer Esposito, Gabrielle Union, Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Isaiah Washinton, Andrew Davoli, Patricia Clarkson, Michael Jeter, Luis Guzmán. Not reviewed at press time. This remake of the 1958 Italian heist Big Deal on Madonna Street…
