A Starry Sky
A Starry Sky 1995, NR, 85 min. Directed by Tata Amaral, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Alleyona Cavalli, Paulo Vespucio Garcia. A gritty, Brazilian-style kitchen-sink drama, A Starry Sky tells the story of a woman who tries to leave her desperate boyfriend, who becomes violently unglued. The Austin Film Society’s five-part Contemporary Brazilian…
The Fame is Eyelids: Michael Snow’s Cinema
The Fame is Eyelids: Michael Snow’s Cinema NR. Directed by Michael Snow, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Michael Snow’s Cinema is a Cinematexas Film Festival program presented in association with the Austin Film Society. Snow is one of the great experimental conceptualists of the cinema, who tries to reveal the medium’s core…
Freaks
Freaks 1932, NR, 64 min. D: Tod Browning; with Wallace Ford, Olgas Baclanova. The Austin Film Society’s current series examines the horror films from 1930-1960. The first six months of the series highlights classics of the Thirties. Freaks is one of those legendary films, made all the more legendary by its ill-repute over the years.…
Vincent, Francois, Paul, and the Others
Vincent, Francois, Paul, and the Others 1974, NR, 118 min. Directed by Claude Sautet, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli, Serge Reggiani, Gerard Depardieu, Stephane Audran. This drama is about longtime male buddies who come together in the idyllic countryside on weekends to share their lives and their loves. A…
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests. This week’s list of bestsellers is from Dragon’s Lair Comics and Fantasy, 616 W. 34th St. 1. Knights of the Dinner Table #20 2. Preacher 3. Kurt Busiek’s Astro City 4. Books of Magic 5. Knights of the Dinner…
Food-o-File
In this week’s edition of Food-o-file, Austin Chronicle Food editor Virginia B. Wood ponders the scarcity of good hot-dog making in Austin and provides details on some upcoming wine tastings.
Video Reviews
Cruel Intentions falls limp compared to previous adaptation of the Choderlos de Lacos novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Council Watch
City Council hears neighbors’ complaints about noise from the new Austin Bergstrom International Airport; and the city’s solid waste services is headed for automated changes.
For Love of the Game
For Love of the Game 1999, PG-13, 137 min. Directed by Sam Raimi, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Kevin Costner, John C. Reilly, Kelly Preston, Jena Malone. Some of us thought that with the success of last year’s A Simple Plan, Sam Raimi would have kissed the horror films (his former stock in…
Book Reviews
Disco Bloodbath by James St. James Simon & Schuster, $23 hard The quiescent days of New York’s trendy club nightlife were in shambles by the mid-Nineties. The scene had self-destructed slowly since its Eighties heyday of dance-all-night places like Area, Pyramid, Danceteria, the Tunnel, and the Limelight turned it into a drug-addled caricature of its…
The Coffeehouse Chronicles
Now one of the older coffee joints in town, Ruta Maya uses its warehouse space for real-life industrial activity — roasting their own coffees for local restaurants, homegrown groceries, and on-site enjoyment. It’s literally one big room that’s taken on the best trappings of a multifunction entertainment complex, Chronicle food writer Pableaux Johnson writes.
TV Eye
Emmy Awards shake-down: who won, who should have.
Media Clips
The Latino USA radio program is building a national name for itself out of its KUT headquarters in Austin.
Stigmata
Stigmata 1999, R, 102 min. Directed by Rupert Wainwright, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Ann Cusack, Thomas Kopache, Nia Long, Jonathan Pryce, Gabriel Byrne, Patricia Arquette. What is it about Catholicism that has inspired so many filmmakers to plumb its tenets and rituals in search of that certain spooky frisson that transforms a…
Off the Bookshelf
The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh by Evelyn Waugh Little, Brown and Company, $29.95 hard Evelyn Waugh was a cruel, faddish, reactionary snob — a pattern, in other words, to succeeding English satirists like Martin Amis and Will Self. Reading his short stories, the striking thing is how the fashionable stories have faded. Stories like…
Mini-Review
Chronicle food writer Barbara Chisholm reviews Enchiladas y Mas and reveals what’s behind the loyalty of legions of patrons of the dependable Tex-Mex joint.
Live Shots
2nd Annual Labor Day FestivalDoris Miller Auditorium, September 4 Two things were evident right away. One was the fact that khakis and a bowling shirt were underdressing for the occasion. Second, the audience was almost exclusively middle-aged — quite a switch from, say, Emo’s. The crowd of 60 or so folks sat at tables, drank,…
Coronation Coverage
During my tenure at “Media Clips,” I have always kept the focus of the column almost strictly on local media. However, since our neighbor George W. Bush has now become a full-fledged national item, I want to use this space to survey the press clippings on him which pile up from around the nation. That…
Off the Bookshelf
White Boys: Stories by Reginald McKnight Henry Holt & Co., $13 paper This collection of short stories from Reginald McKnight, author of The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas, offers a shockingly powerful and profound examination of racial relations and the subsequent antagonisms that inevitably arise in modern society. The complexities of the characters’…
Hissing Fits
Bryan Mealer sinks his teeth into the 1999 Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup.
Live Shots
Santiago Jiménez Jr.Continental Club, September 5 “This is nice weather we’re having,” ventured Santiago Jiménez Jr. at the conclusion of his first three-minute lesson on the history of conjunto, greeting a so-called “intimate” audience of no more than two dozen people. Bassist/Bad Liver Mark Rubin, looking very Buena Vista Social Club in his handsome red…
Cinematexas International Short Film and Video Festival: An Introduction
Now in its fourth year, the Cinematexas International Short Film and Video Festival continues to grow and expand, taking on more screenings and sidebar presentations. The University of Texas student-run festival begins on Wednesday, September 22 and continues through Sunday, September 26 at numerous venues around town. Check the schedule on p. 66 for information…
Off the Bookshelf
His 3: Brilliant New Fiction by Gay Writers Edited by Robert Drake and Terry Wolverton Faber and Faber, $15 paper If a book’s subtitle claims to contain “brilliant” writing, then it better deliver just that. His 3 doesn’t quite measure up to its boast. Give the editors credit for having assembled a diverse pool of…
Stories on the Verge
Near the end of the dinner held for the final judges of the Short Story Contest, where they hash out their likes and dislikes about the stories and decide upon the winning entries, a little voice from the corner of the table said, “Let’s just go home and write short stories.” It was Carolyn Osborn’s…
Live Shots
Los Jazz VatosElephant Room, September 8 Now and then, anyone who is compelled to keep up with what’s happening around town in the world of jazz has to descend the steps into the Elephant Room and see what’s going on. Beyond the big touring shows by folks like McCoy Tyner and Arturo Sandoval, both of…
Expanding Cinema
An interview with premier avant-garde filmmaker and musician Michael Snow.
Second Helpings: Dining Fine
Brio Vista 9400-B Arboretum Blvd., 342-2642 Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm; Mon-Thu, 5:30-10:30pm; Fri-Sat, 5:30-11pm; Sun, 11am-2pm; 5:30-9:30pm Who says all fine dining restaurants have to be downtown? Certainly not chef Stewart Scruggs. Since taking over the reins at this popular northwest eatery more than a year ago, Scruggs’ cuisine reveals that he continues to refine the subtle,…
Off the Bookshelf
Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat by Hans Christian von Baeyer Random House, $13.95 paper What is entropy, exactly? What is E=mc2? Why do hot things cool down but cool things don’t heat up without intervention (a hot plate, a fire, a volcanic eruption)? What is “now” and why is it different…
Winners
Biographies of the winning writers.
Live Shots
Merle Haggard & the StrangersStubb’s, September 10 To borrow from his Cali compadres in the Kottonmouth Kings (also the Geto Boys), Merle Haggard sure lets his nuts hang. You know the songs, you know the man. Like U2 said on Zoo TV, it’s very simple. Simple as the lolling, understated “Silver Wings” that opened Hag’s…
Do-It-Yourself Girl Revolution
For the last two years Miranda July’s work in fanzines, performance art, music, and movies have allowed her to support herself off her art. “No day job” – how many performance artists can say that?
Across the Universe
Gearing up for a new national tour of her hit show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Lily Tomlin took a few minutes to talk about connectedness — her connectedness with The Search, with audiences, and with Austin.
Book Reviews
Deep Play by Diane Ackerman Random House, $23.95 hard Diane Ackerman’s perspective is a gift. More than any other writer of whom I am aware, her passions bubble up through her sincere words, bursting against her readers, infecting them with her love of life. A former pilot, avid bicyclist, eager space-enthusiast, poignant poet, reverent naturalist,…
Final Judges
Profiles of the Short Story Contest judges.
Live Shots
In September 1981, Claudia Williams had a vision: praise the Lord with a world-class gospel choir. On a recent crescent-mooned Sunday evening, St. James Baptist Church’s Minister of Music and her Voices of Christ celebrated that vision’s 18th anniversary. After welcomes, prayers, and readings, Williams and the Voices took the stage at the state-of-the-art Praise…
Cinematexas Schedule
Film passes for Cinematexas are $25 ($20 students) and available at I Luv Video, 33 Degrees, Waterloo Records, and the lobby in Communications Building A on the UT campus. Music passes are $25 at 33 Degrees Records (302-5233 to charge) and Waterloo Records (cash only). Individual tickets for film are $5 ($3, students) and for…
Articulations
The passing of a longtime professor of music and the birth of a new opera by Austin Lyric Opera.
About AIDS
Information on a new support group for male/male couples.
A Day
Years later they gave my dad rat poison in the hospital. Because of what the smoking had done to his heart. To keep the blood flowing. They had to be careful with him, those doctors. Too much warfarin and the blood would leak right through the walls of his veins. Too little and a lack…
Naked City
The Hyde Park Baptist Church has dubbed its mega expansion project “Forward Forever,” but area neighbors have another name for it — one that’s best left unsaid. Truth be told, a decade-old, legally binding agreement between the church and the Hyde Park Neighborhood Assn. pretty much leaves the neighbors hamstrung in the face of a…
Short Cuts
Is it me or does it seem like it was the first day of summer just a couple of days ago? That was a fast one, all right, but here we are in September, which means it’s time to start gearing up for festival season once again. First out of the gate is the Cinematexas…
Jumping on the Bard-wagon
With the arrival of September, Austin is again awash in Shakespeare. Five productions — from a minimalist Romeo and Juliet to a deconstructed comedy goofing on all the plays — are currently playing Central Texas stages.
Page Two
The Statesman‘s editorial positions on the LCRA water deal continue to be astonishing.
Hard Water
I climb up on the old wooden Coke crate and imagine walking the plank. Lightning flashes in the stormy sky. Next to me, lashed to a weathered mast, is the poor, long-suffering, achingly beautiful Maureen O’Hara. Her hair floats on the air like fiery satin ribbons. Mother insists that “impossible shade of red” can only…
Naked City
Little things mean a lot when mid-September budget time rolls around on the city calendar. This year, it was a little more, rather than a little less. Even after bloodlessly budgeting $1.6 billion and giving most every city department its current funding and then some, the City Council was showered by city financial staff with…
The Ogre
The Ogre 1996, NR, 118 min. Directed by Volker Schlondorff, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sasha Hanau, Volker Spengler, John Gottfried, Marianne Sagebrecht, Armin Mueller-Stahl, John Malkovich. Schlondorff’s best film since 1979’s The Tin Drum reiterates many of that Academy Award-winning film’s main themes: the corrupting influence of fascism on the young and…
Exhibitionism
Bass Concert Hall September 12 As Dmitry Mikheyenko’s Prince Siegfried effortlessly lifted the Swan Queen Odette, played by Inga Loujerenko, high in the air, a child in the audience exclaimed with wondrous delight, “Look, Mama, she flies!” Yes, during the “White Swan” pas de deux, Loujerenko moved so exquisitely, transforming herself through graceful undulations of…
Coach’s Corner
Pre-season NFC predictions to assist you in your betting pools.
Miss Montana’s Wedding Day
The man Vera loved wasn’t marrying her, and she didn’t know what to wear to the wedding. For one thing, it was cold in Montana. That ruled out the scorned woman in a silk dress idea. Also, she would have to wear boots; it had been snowing for weeks. The sun had come up, but…
Naked City
What’s an acceptable formula for achieving academic success in the Austin Independent School District’s minority schools? Is it okay if a principal creates a high-stress environment that drives teachers away in droves? Since this time last year, national Blue Ribbon Award winner Campbell Elementary, located in central East Austin, has lost more than 40% of…
Spike & Mike’s 1999 Classic Festival of Animation
Spike & Mike’s 1999 Classic Festival of Animation 1999, NR, 81 min. Directed by Various, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Seventeen semi-new offerings are compiled in perennial faves Craig “Spike” Decker and Mike Gribble’s ongoing animation fest. Not to be confused with S&M’s far more earthy Sick and Twisted festival, this is…
Exhibitionism
Hyde Park Theatre, through October 2 In the final scene of this Frontera@Hyde Park Theatre production, the backdrop changes from a wall of black plastic garbage bags to a multi-colored display of dozens of Polaroid portraits. Each image has that rich Polaroid color that dates everything back to some indeterminate time when the world’s colors…
Mr. Smarty Pants
Whoopee cushions, adjancency in the U.S., woodpeckers on speed, and Lily Tomlin.
Bruised Egos
³Give me the daggers,” he demanded in falsetto. From the first day he walked into class I knew Mr. McGinty wouldn’t be like our other teachers. Maybe it was because he was Australian, a foreigner. Maybe it was also because he used to teach at a boy’s boarding school. Didn’t he joke that it was…
Naked City
Although Service Corporation International (SCI) was largely responsible for the events that led to the first meeting of the newly reconstituted board of the Texas Funeral Service Commission last Friday, the Houston-based funeral giant was barely mentioned. The six members of the agency’s board spent much of the 90-minute meeting discussing budgets and personnel. Meanwhile,…
Better Than Chocolate
Better Than Chocolate 1999, NR, 103 min. Directed by Anne Wheeler, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Marya Delver, Kevin Mundy, Peter Outerbridge, Wendy Crewson, Karyn Dwyer, Christina Cox. As meltingly delicious as it is to the eyes, and as potent a sugar rush as it delivers to the libido, this endearing romantic confection…
1998-99 B. Iden Payne Award Winners
The year’s best work on Austin stages.
Letters at 3AM
How to be and not to be.
Dancing About Architecture
The dulcet tones of the karaoke fill the former Electric Lounge, but that’s not the fate of the building.
Naked City
So, what about that old airport? A whole summer has gone by, the grass is growing tall around the Robert Mueller fences, and the ambitious plan to turn Mueller into a central-city urban village has spent the warm season in state-induced limbo. As the city and the ex-airport’s northeast Austin neighbors get ready to crank…
The Dinner Game
The Dinner Game 1998, NR, 82 min. Directed by Francis Veber, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Catherine Frot, Alexanadra Vandernoot, Daniel Prevost, Francis Huster, Jacques Villeret, Thierry Lhermitte. In the utterly delightful French film The Dinner Game, the buffoonish Francois Pignon (played by Villeret, resembling a deflated James Coco) is a sad sack…
Can Tom Zigal Really Say That?
“The truth is, I didn’t know a thing about the world of mystery writers and crime publishing,” Tom Zigal, the author of three mystery novels, says. Chronicle writer Dick Holland discovers why Zigal might say such a thing and why it may not matter in light of Pariah, Zigal’s new installment in the Kurt Muller…
Public Notice
Local events to benefit good causes.
Mixing Miami With Copacabana
A profile of Brazilian superstar Gilberto Gil.
Naked City
The annual Diez y Seis de Septiembre celebration, commemorating the Mexican war for independence from Spain, gets underway at noon today, Thursday, Sept. 16, in the Rotunda at the State Capitol. Austin state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos will host. Call 463-0114 for more information. Huston-Tillotson College will kick off its annual fundraising campaign with a reception…
Zigal Excerpted
Some things that Tom Zigal says simply need to see the light of day. Here are several salty and insightful selections: On meeting Wallace Stegner, the founder of the Stanford Writing Program: “I met him once at a party. He had had a few drinks, as was his wont. I asked him about Ken Kesey…
After a Fashion
Only the bad aspects of the Seventies are being retro-ized.
Manchester Perps
Interview with Chemical Brother Ed Simons.
Exile on 48th Street
Attorney General John Cornyn files a lawsuit against the Rio Motel, a bane to the neighbors of this North Central Austin establishment.
Tom Zigal’s Pariah Reviewed
Pariah by Thomas Zigal Delacorte Press, $22 hard Ah, youthful indiscretion! Bill Clinton claims he didn’t inhale. George W. won’t discuss what he put up his nose. But Sheriff Kurt Muller — leading man in Thomas Zigal’s Pariah — is at peace with his wilder youth, even when it returns to haunt him. He’s the…
Day Trips
The 150-year-old Landmark Inn in Castroville was designed to not distract from the natural beauty surrounding it.
Video Reviews
Mike Judge’s overlooked gem Office Space.
A Night at the Rio
Checking in and checking out the most infamous night spot in Austin.
Postscripts
Banned in Boerne It must have taken some creative noodling on the part of the Boerne school district to decide to ban David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars. But Boerne superintendent John Kelly has his reasons; he recently enumerated for PW Daily the objectionable elements of the popular and critically lauded book: “On one page…
Old School, Au Courant
Jean Pierre’s Upstairs is a restaurant of the old school; it emphasizes service over scene, and all employees act like professionals. Each diner is treated like he or she is the only person in the room. But the food is also surprisingly avant-garde, Chronicle food writer Rachel Feit reveals in a review of Jean Pierre’s…
Video Reviews
The Western thrives on cable with John Badham’s Jack Bull.
What is a Nuisance?
What is a Nuisance? The nuisance lawsuit filed against the Rio Motel last month is the 10th such suit Attorney General John Cornyn has brought against an establishment since taking office. The AG’s office provided a list of definitions that constitute a common nuisance. It includes repeated activity of: Prostitution Gambling Organized crime Controlled substances…
