Cover Story
The Choice Is Yours
Rubber Repertory’s Casket of Passing Fancy makes you 500 offers you can’t reuse
Archive Video of 2nd Senate Debate
Cornyn and Noriega debated tonight in Dallas
I Defy You, Ira Glass
Well, that makes two of us who think I have a dumb philosophy on life. But I’ve been on this planet 32 years now, and it’s all I’ve managed to come up with, so I think I’ll stick with it until something better (and even more displeasing to you) comes along. Then I’ll have two…
Doherty Still Keeping Pace With McCaul on $$$
Democrat seeks to uproot incumbent from Congress
Save Austin Music (or Else)
Happenings around town…
‘Chronicle’ Endorses Ruiz in Congressional Dist. 31
This endorsement was accidentally left out of the print edition
Hust FM: City Hall Schmoozin’
Hustlers around the world unite!
A ‘Topsy-Turvy’ Take on Life
How we live our lives and how we live our movies
Numero Uno
Wednesday’s Best of Austin party was not lacking in celebs
Joe the Plumber
Andy needs his pipes tightened.
Pinko Commie Fags
You rang?
Bartlett for America, Now and Forever
TV is a writers’ medium
Noriega’s No Pacifist
Democratic Senate candidate supports Obama’s position on a Pakistan raid
Bad Kim
Cinema snob? Me? Please. I’m a huge fan of TV. (You’re the one who doesn’t even have his television plugged in.) In fact, I’m such a huge fan of TV that instead of crafting a thoughtful, elegant response to your last blog post, I’ve watched an hour of Bringing Up Baby on TCM. And now…
Voters Say War on Drugs is a Loser
Voters agree: the War on Drugs is a sham
APD Looking for Leads in Benesh Cold Case
APD is looking for new leads in an old murder case
Roberts Goes Noir
SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts tries his hand at writin’ the pulp way.
Gaming’s Big Boys Bully Austin
EA and SouthPeak sink their vampiritic teeth into Austin
A Few Issues
Alright, you should be arriving back at the office soon, imbued with the spirit of disenchanted melancholy and existential malaise one can only experience after watch Synecdoche, NY, so I figured I’d have a challenge waiting for you. Based on our lists of 21-century screenwriters, I got to thinking about movies and television and about…
A Good Run or Last Panic (at the Backyard)
Geezerville tries to keep up with Nick and Todd and friends
Beat OU, Again!
Longhorns, and St. Ed’s men and women, all face crucial late-season homestands, plus some random notes.
Nope, Charlie’s Still on Top
Could any other screenwriter plausibly be called the best of the 21st century (well, so far)?
October Is the Busiest Month for Events in Austin
There are just too many events to miss in the coming week, so On the Range takes over for ‘Food-o-File’ in order to spread the word
Marxist Philosophy
I need to go to sleep, but I think you’re onto something with this whole Odets business. So I’ll just write this real quick before I say my prayers, swallow a horse tranquilizer, and crawl into bed: You’re absolutely right about the Marx Brothers, and George S. Kaufman as well. They did anti-authoritarian irony better…
All’s Fair in Love and Dinner
“But Charlie Kaufman, your Charlie Kaufman, wrote his best movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, with two other people.” Please. He hashed out the bullet points over dinner with two of his pals. “You ever been fucked by love?” “Yup.” “Tell me more. And since we’re up, who feels like calamari?” That sounds an…
Best of the Best (With Qualifications)
So Charlie Kaufman is the best screenwriter of the 21st century, eh? Compared to whom, exactly? Not to get too nostalgic here (can a man be nostalgic for a time he wasn’t around for? My soul cries out for a dictionary.), but let’s face it; it’s not like Kaufman is competing with Paddy Chayefsky or…
Make Someone Happy – Someone Else, Because Chances Are It’ll Never Be You
Jimmy Durante will bring us together
Last Chance to Buy Tickets for Austin Film Festival Film & Food Gala
The 2008 Austin Film Festival kicks off with the Film & Food Gala
Two Can Play at This Thumbing the Nose Game
Preston Sturges was just as good at sticking it to the blue bloods, and he had real characters, too
The True Value of a Seven-Cent Nickle
Oh, Kim. It’s one thing to like Funny Farm; it’s quite another not to like the Marx Brothers. That’s beyond my comprehension. I can understand going to bed early. I can see why people get married and listen to country music and vote Republican and eat vegetables and go to church. I can get my…
A Master of Melancholy
Yeah, it’s cool to kiss off Charlie Kaufman. But it’s also idiotic.
Magnetic Fields Tonight
It’s been four years since Stephen Merritt and Claudia Gonson rolled into town to play to Austin’s queerest, and how we’ve been hungering! I remember when I was an undergraduate only the coolest of queers knew who The Magnetic Fields were. I was woefully behind the times, but once I got caught up I never…
“Before I Speak, I Have Something to Say”
Digging a hole three Marx Brothers deep
Get Thee to Rock Camp
All you need is three chords and the truth
Daugherty Repeats the Empty Bus Myth
No one takes mass transit in the city – except for all these people on the bus with me
Where We’ve Been, Where We’re At, Where We’ll Be Shortly
Hey gang. Sorry for going silent – Josh and I had a press screening this morning. But hold tight: I’ll be chiming in soon, and I’ve got a lot to say. Starting with, Josh, did you seriously just dangle the Greatest Generation argument in your defense? (Rolls eyes dramatically.) Back in a flash.
Afrobeat Week
Fela’s birthday and two new comps with his mark
When Casey Calls
US soldier in Iraq discusses his new online doc
Doherty Gets a Promotion
DCCC targets challenge to McCaul as a key race
aGLIFF Staff Changes; GP Feels a Little Lonely
Oh NO! The ladies have left the building… The aGLIFF building. Programming Director Lisa Kasalek and Festival Director Ajae Clearway have both moved on to greener pastures, this even after they were recently named Gay Place Crush of the Week!?! Kasalek left to pursue personal projects and Clearway is now a staff member at the…
Game On! and the World According to Kaufmans
Kaufman versus Kaufman
The Road to Degradation Is Painted Gold
Near as I can tell – at 1:30 on a Tuesday morning – there is one fundamental problem with human beings: We are either unwilling or unable to believe that the sordid tendencies of others might actually be beneficial to them. Oh, we accept those tendencies, usually; we tolerate them; we even celebrate them in…
Talking About Addiction Until the Head Begins to Bleed a Bit
It comes down to Bukowski – and Bukowski doesn’t come out well
Make ‘Em Laugh
Block is bad, but it can be comically bad. Heroin is just bad bad.
A Quick Summary …
… before I head off to play basketball: Kim Jones just admitted that she’d rather watch Funny Farm than a film by Billy Wilder.
Feds Insert Film ‘Pork”; Louisiana Pushes Pricey Incentives ‘Button’
Film incentives are rightfully the buzz around Texas right now with the next session of the Legislature just around the corner. But they’re also getting some national attention, including as a “pork” addition to the government bailout of the mortgage biz. It seems a national fix for film incentives, primarily aimed at equalizing the playing…
I Want My ‘Weekend’ Back
In defense of Funny Farm
Republican Says Sarah Palin Is Hideously Ugly
Damn you, ‘Newsweek’!
Pieces of My Heart
Pamela Des Barres dishes in Austin
Shortcake and the Big Ragu Invade Lakeway!
It’s a Seventies/Eighties flashback in Lakeway where the independent comedy Code Enforcer is in the middle of a 21-day shoot with Erin Moran and Eddie Mekka starring. You remember Joanie “Shortcake” Cunningham, Ritchie’s lil sis on Happy Days, but may have a harder time recalling Mekka, who was Carmine “The Big Ragu” Ragusa, the singer/dancer…
Addiction and the Meaning of Life
Point two: not all addicts are junkies. Take Paul Giamatti’s character in Sideways. He’s a classic failed-writer-with-an-addictive-personality. Unlike heroin users, however, all of his habits are legal, socially acceptable, and even expected from a single, middle-aged man whose life has fallen apart. There’s nothing a junkie can say to someone that justifies his/her addiction to…
UT Who? The Tale of the Invisible Bobcats.
Don’t look here for my take on the Texas Longhorns’ victory over No. 1 Oklahoma or the Horns’ subsequent ascension to the polls’ top spot. Look for it instead in the print edition on Thursday. Frustrated? Think how fans of the Texas State University Bobcats feel. This past weekend they upset the No. 3 McNeese…
None Out of Three
McCain gets strange intro, you get a quick lesson in global religions
Sweet Film Fight
Dear Kim, These one-month intervals are killing me. Raised from a pup to be contentious, I never know what to do with myself when you and I aren’t fighting online. Actually, I do: fight with you offline. If any readers out there are skeptical that the Film Fight format is just a gimmick – an…
How Not to Do a Debate
Last week’s Senate debate was useless; hopefully this week’s will be better
Flat Track Derby in Motion, Part 2
More from the WFTDA Western regionals, plus the East sorts out their seeding
The Legendary
The Roots kick it live from La Zona Rosa
The Creative Dead-End of Addiction
Who says blockage is bad for you?
‘He’s a Great Writer!’ ‘A Great Souse!’
Why junkie movies are joyless
More ‘Pride Coalition’ Whuuuuuut?
Is it 4th quarter clarity or last-minute butt-covering?
The Write Stuff
Film Fight III begins with a whimper, not a bang
‘Compliance’ With What?
Sounds sort of fascist, doesn’t it?
Basic Decorum
John McCain has a nice singing voice.
Flat Track Derby in Motion, Part 1
Footage from day two of last weekend’s WFTDA Western Regionals
Film Fight Pre-Emptively Thanks You for Being a Friend
Film Fight on myspace
No Metal
Monotonix sprayed us all down with their love hose
The Lineup
Recommended music for the week of October 10-16
Triumph of the Underdog
Film Fight III: Writers in the Movies
Bánh Mì
Baguette House & Cafe 10901 N. Lamar Ste. C-312, 837-9100 Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm; Saturday, 8am-7pm; Sunday, 9am-7pm www.chinatownaustin.com Michael Dinh opened Baguette House five months ago in the Chinatown Center after relocating from a similar restaurant in the L.A. area. Baguette bakes its own all-wheat bread, producing a long, thin loaf with a thin, snappy crust…
Taking Back the House
Texas Democrats say this could be their November
Davis Stays on the Ballot
Despite attempts to kick her off, Dem candidate Wendy Davis will stay on the Senate District 10 ballot
City of Ember
Despite some inventive production design and a comically villainous turn from Bill Murray, this film based on a young-adult novel never really picks up much steam.
Readings
A flat-out ferociously good novel
Gay Place
What does this Pride Coalition purport to do if not PRIDE?
Bánh Mì
Cafe de Bella 8557 Research #126, 906-0780 Monday-Friday, 7am-10pm; Saturday-Sunday, 9am-10pm Located in the shopping center with Din Ho, Cafe de Bella has been open for about 3½ months. Owner Thu Pham offers a unique menu with fruit cups, smoothies, bun noodle bowls, panini, fresh-squeezed juices, ice cream, and the like, but the eight different…
A Writer’s Best Friend
Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award honoree Danny Boyle
Allure of the Poll Dance
We can’t look away from the poll numbers, though maybe we should
The Express
The story of Ernie Davis, the first African-American Heisman Trophy winner, is full of heart-pumping stadium heroics and quiet acts of dignity.
TV Eye
Choosing sides between KXAN and Time Warner Cable, and a different kind of Choice on PBS
Bánh Mì
Pho Vân 8557 Research #120, 832-5595 Daily, 10am-9pm Pho Vân, a couple of doors down from Din Ho, is best known for its rich bowls of pho noodle soup, bun noodle bowls, and com rice plates. But lurking on the menu are four variations of bánh mì (grilled pork, grilled chicken, pork roll, and combo),…
Seven in Play
Seven key races across the state could turn the House back to Democratic control
NARAL Supports Bolton, Maldonado
NARAL Pro-Choice Texas PAC throws its support to the candidates it believes will fight for women’s rights
Chris & Don: A Love Story
The 30-year-long love affair between writer Christopher Isherwood and artist Don Bachardy is lovingly documented.
Cyndi Williams
The Austin playwright unearths the inspiration for her spooky new play
After a Fashion
Your tricky riffin’ Style Avatar gets all pre-Halloween grim and invites you to his birthday party, which was not supposed to happen
Bánh Mì
HEA Cafe 500 E. Ben White Ste. D-200, 804-2310 Monday-Sunday, 10am-9pm HEA Cafe is a very nice, clean, new place: slightly sterile but colorful and pleasant. The three varieties of bánh mì are listed in the appetizer portion of the menu, but the sandwiches are full-sized, not miniature. The bread is perfect, steamy soft on…
Breathing New Life Into an Old Genre
Cowboy Smoke
Dems Rake in the Dough
Central Texas Republicans just can’t keep up
The Duchess
Keira Knightley stars as the titular Duchess, a legendary wit and arbiter of taste, but the film is a curiously inert: a whole lot of pomp and incircumstance.
Viva La Diva/3 Mo’ Divas
Two different trios of African-American sopranos sing in Austin in two weeks
The Common Law
The Nuts & Bolts of Jury Duty
Bánh Mì
Thanh Nhi 9200 N. Lamar #104, 834-1736 Daily, 9am-9pm Thanh Nhi has been open one year, and the married couple that runs it is extremely accommodating and friendly. The atmosphere is utilitarian, but great attention is paid to doing everything properly in a no-short-cuts, dignified manner. Seven types of bánh mì (small $1.85, large $2.70)…
The Libertarians
Democrats and Libertarians find common ground in their grudge against Republicans
Getting a Ticket Beats Going to Jail
APD nips arrest policy to address jail overcrowding
Billy: The Early Years of Billy Graham
A Depression-era biopic about the formative years of the influential Christian evangelist Billy Graham.
Culture Flash!
Acting great Charles Dutton closes out BAM, and Cap City holds a comedy caucus
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Eggplants, fountain pens, and gas, oh my!
Bánh Mì
Lily’s Sandwich 10901 N. Lamar, 973-9479 Monday-Saturday, 9am-8pm; Sunday, 9am-7pm Lily’s is clearly a popular spot, and the list of sandwiches is long and varied, including fish, chicken, and beef ragu in addition to the usual pork, pâté, and chicken varieties ($1.99-2.25). However, the No. 1 “Gourmet” bánh mì is the most popular, a combination…
Meet Me in the Middle of the Lake, My Love
Summerhood
Media Watch: Boob Tube Drama
KXAN, Time Warner battle not exactly a ratings booster
Drona
This new Bollywood film is a fantasy tale.
Arts Review
TexARTS’ tribute to the country legend is so good it’s downright bodacious
Event Menu
This weekend, head to Gruene for music and wine or Salado for chocolate and art
Bánh Mì
LuLu B’s Vietnamese Sandwiches 2113 S. Lamar, 921-4828 Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6pm lulu b’s, operating out of a trailer on South Lamar, may have the nicest atmosphere of all the bánh mì joints, due to the fresh air and huge, shady pecan trees. The sandwiches of either chicken or pork are prepared one of three ways: plainly…
Klein in Town to Talk ‘Shock’
Author/activist Naomi Klein will be in Austin this week to discuss the bailout and other upbeat topics
Arts Review
Yellow Tape’s latest doesn’t thump or rage but whispers something wonderful to you
St. Elias Mediterranean Festival
Get your fill of Mediterranean treats at St. Elias Mediterranean Festival
Phases and Stages
Lila Downs Shake Away (Manhattan) The start of an album should be like a first kiss, seductive, full of anticipation. Unfortunately, the first four songs on Lila Downs’ latest are so surprisingly ordinary and cacophonous you might have to double-check that you are, indeed, listening to the otherwise divine Ms. Downs. The Mexican-American world music…
‘As Long As There’s a Record Deal, We’ll Always Be Friends’
D Tour: A Tenacious Documentary
Keller Immune to Justice
‘Killer’ Keller off the hook for closing courthouse doors
Arts Review
These prints address the fact that looking at hair is fascinating and creepy
Uncorked Tasting Room & Wine Bar
Creative food choices and an excellent wine selection can be found at Uncorked
Phases and Stages
Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains (Rhino/Paramount) This 1981 film about a fictional punk rock band tanked in test showings and never got a proper theatrical release but took on a life of its own on late-night cable TV in the ensuing decade. Directed by music mogul Lou Adler (Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke)…
The Stuff That Cubicles Are Made Of
Visioneers
Emerald City Blues
The parking-lot crisis
Readings
Signature spare language with flares of lyricism from Booker Prize-winner Anne Enright
Food-o-File
Our Food writers take a driving tour of Austin’s sweet shops
Phases and Stages
The Replacements Tim (Sire/Rhino) The Replacements Pleased to Meet Me (Sire/Rhino) The Replacements Don’t Tell a Soul (Sire/Rhino) The Replacements All Shook Down (Sire/Rhino) Who needs a Replacements box when the group’s catalog gets such a makeover? This quartet of LPs takes up where Rhino left off with the Minneapolis quartet’s first four albums earlier…
Oops!
Last week, with the article “Tickling Voters’ Fancies,” News, Oct. 3, we ran a photo of a burlesque performer accompanied by the cutline, “Katie of Burlesque for Peace.” While Katie indeed participated in the Burlesque for Peace photo shoot, she was not in fact performing with the troupe. The deEP end section of “Texas Platters,”…
Happy Trails for Dahlstrom Ranch
Aquifer property targeted for conservation
Up From the Skies
Dana Falconberry’s debut long-player gets “Fluorescent”
Black Belt of the Rodeo
Paula Nelson will kick your ass
Playing Through
There’s an adage in sportswriting: the smaller the ball, the better the writing – which doesn’t bode well for soccer
A Transcript of Passing Fancy
Q&A with Rubber Repertory’s Matt Hislope and Josh Meyer
Dana Falconberry Reviewed
Dana Falconberry Oh Skies of Grey (00:02:59) Toward the end of Dana Falconberry’s debut LP sits “Fluorescent,” a narcotic, slow-burning guitar haze that abruptly breaks up the folk-jazz trot of the first half of the album. It feels completely vulnerable, and yet it’s here Falconberry finally bares her teeth. The young guitarist has impressively deepened…
Phases and Stages
Metallica Death Magnetic (Warner Bros.) Beginning with an affirmation of life, an ominous heartbeat, Death Magnetic signals the second coming of Metallica. Five years after the pitiful St. Anger, intimately detailed in 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and 90 seconds into opener “That Was Just Your Life,” the Bay Area behemoth finally awakens,…
Off The Record
Making the rounds for the third annual HAAM Benefit Day, while the Black Angels walk with a zombie
Headlines
• As we went to press, the worldwide economic crisis continued to expand, as governments everywhere looked for ways to stop the bleeding. Central banks slashed interest rates as stock markets fell sharply worldwide, and President Bush suggested we all “hang in there.” • As national and swing-state polls continued to break in Barack Obama’s…
An American Carol
Michael Moore and left-leaning Hollywood are the subjects of this spoof that’s missing only one thing: comedy.
The Hightower Report
Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights; and Wall Street Bank Robbers
Phases and Stages
TV on the Radio Dear Science (DGC/Interscope) On 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain, TV on the Radio sounded frustrated, but they also found a way over the wall of reverb that populated their earlier albums with the single “Wolf Like Me.” On third full-length Dear Science, the Brooklynites have turned a corner, safe in the…
A Sunny, Funny Fest
Previewing the 2008 Austin Film Festival
Naked City
News briefs from Austin, the region, and elsewhere
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
It may be a family-friendly trifle, but it’s nevertheless a silly, if guilty, pleasure to watch.
Letters at 3AM
All those brilliant ‘financial instruments’ turned into monsters that no one can stop
Bánh Mì
Sampling bánh mì all over Austin
The Comedy Writer Is In
Stepping into The Office of Greg Daniels
Res Publica
Your citizen’s calendar, Oct. 9-16
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
This comedy starring Simon Pegg is based on Toby Young’s memoir about working at Vanity Fair.
Bewitched
AFS Essential Cinema: I Married a Witch: Fredric March’s comic curse
Phases and Stages
Blitzen Trapper Furr (Sub Pop) Following the breakout success of last year’s Wild Mountain Nation, Blitzen Trapper’s fourth album and Sub Pop debut delivers a more polished, coherent vision while not sacrificing the Portland sextet’s vividly eclectic contortions through alt-folk and garage rock. Most notable is the rise of its influences more clearly to the…
A Glass-Half-Full Kinda Gal
Happy-Go-Lucky
City Hall Hustle: Involuntary Blood Drive
Council creates new jail blood policy … then raises its own eyebrows
August Evening
This quiet, contemplative gem of a film paints a painfully accurate portrait of familial love, loss, and healing-by-degrees among the migrant communities bordering San Antonio.
Day Trips
Sausage lovers will be in hog heaven at Fischer’s Meat Market in Muenster, Texas
Bánh Mì
Tâm Deli & Cafe 8222 N. Lamar Ste. D-33, 834-6458 Wednesday-Monday, 10am-8pm Started by sisters Tâm Bui and Tran Ngoc in 1999, this lively Vietnamese cafe/bakery is the barometer by which most of Austin’s bánh mì gets measured. It has a full menu of Vietnamese dishes and a tempting bakery counter (see “Restaurant Reviews,” Nov.…
International Man of Independents
The wide world of producer Anish Savjani
Point Austin: Ounces of Prevention, Or
How is a Health Clinic Not Like an Investment Bank?
Body of Lies
Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe star in Ridley Scott’s new film about the different types of CIA operatives fighting the global war on terrorism.
Straight Hating
When does base-juicing bile from McCain/Palin veer into hate speech, riot incitement?
Luv Doc Recommends: Apocalypse Wow!
It makes sense that Francis Ford Coppola would make a respectable wine – not just because he’s Italian and lives in San Francisco but because he’s unquestionably enjoyed some bacchanalian excess. Over the years, his body has become a huge, hairy dirigible advertising the dangers of la dolce vita. Ironically, Coppola is carrying roughly the…
