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Grow Up, Tony Phillips

Grow Up, Tony Phillips 2014, NR, 90 min. Directed by Emily Hagins, Starring Tony Vespe, Caleb Barwick, AJ Bowen. Halloween-set coming-of-age story was made by Austin native Emily Hagins was only 20 years old.

by Chronicle Staff

Tusk

Kevin Smith and his actors are fully invested in the sheer madness of this story.

by William Goss

The Zero Theorem

This science-fiction romp from director Terry Gilliam explores a demented and surreal technological future.

by Louis Black

My Old Lady

Israel Horovitz directs Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith, and Kristin Scott Thomas in this disappointing film adaptation of his play.

by Steve Davis

The Luv Doc: In Through the Out Hole

Dear Luv Doc, How can I convince my husband to let me strap it on and stick it in? He claims he is an “exit only” man. Peggy What you have here, Peggy is an excellent example of the conflict that can arise between the theoretical and the empirical. Yes, sometimes the two dovetail, but…

by The Luv Doc

Texas Platters

The Fauntleroys Below the Pink Pony EP (Plowboy Records) Meet Alejandro Escovedo’s first full-on rock band since Nineties garage/glam aggregation Buick MacKane. The Fauntleroys collide Austin’s answer to Lou Reed with Richard Hell & the Voidoids guitarist Ivan Julian, orchestral roots sage Nicholas Tremulis, and powerhouse drummer Linda Pitmon, once of Zuzu’s Petals and now…

by Tim Stegall

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

Some say William Shakespeare invented the knock-knock joke and included it in Macbeth. According to new data from the Pew Research Center, only 2% of the American population has ever run for political office, and most of those candidates were white men. If you had a myriad of things 600 years ago, it meant that…

by Mr. Smarty Pants

Campaign Snapshots

District 5 7pm, Monday, Sept. 22 Austin Community College, South Austin Campus, 1820 W. Stassney This central/south district runs from Zilker, through Barton Hills down to Cherry Creek, and captures Southpark and Onion Creek on the east. The largely white (59.5% Anglo) district features seven candidates. Ann Kitchen, an attorney and former Texas Rep. for…

by Mary Tuma

Oops!

In last week’s review of Dolphin Tale 2, an editorial error resulted in an incorrect star rating. The missing half-star has since been restored, and Dolphin Tale 2 takes its rightful place in our archives as a 2.5-star entertainment. Our apologies to reviewer William Goss, and to any mammals who were harmed in the printing…

by Chronicle Staff

Campaign Snapshots

District 6 7pm, Tuesday, Sept. 23 Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline, 14028 U.S. 183 N. This farthest northwest district is often cited as the one most likely to elect a conservative – in 2012, it was the only one of the 10 which went for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama. The number of conservatives in the race…

by Amy Kamp

Texas Platters

Johnny Winter Step Back (Megaforce) Sadly fitting that the high point of Johnny Winter’s final studio album finds him alone with a steel guitar and slide, rasping out Son House’s haunted “Death Letter.” The seminal electric bluesman from Beaumont died in July at the age of 70, Step Back scheduled as more deliverance from addiction…

by Jim Caligiuri

Texas Platters

Micky & the Motorcars Hearts From Above Just as Micky and Gary Braun overhauled their Motorcars lineup following 2011’s Raise My Glass, the siblings recruited a cavalcade of local standouts to assist the local quintet on their sixth studio LP. With Reckless Kelly brothers Willy and Cody Braun producing and providing fiddle, respectively, and guest…

by Doug Freeman

More News From the Local Film Fests Front

The Austin Film Festival, which is coming up (Oct. 23-30), has announced its full lineup. Highlights include Wild, which stars Reese Witherspoon as hiker Cheryl Strayed in Nick Hornby’s adaptation of Strayed’s autobiography and is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (of Dallas Buyers Club fame); Disney animated film Big Hero 6; and The Imitation Game, the…

by Chronicle Staff

A New Deal for TNCs?

The long, hot summer fun of squabbling over the eventual fate of “transportation network companies” in Austin found its thermometer turned a few degrees higher Friday when a press release by City Council Member Chris Riley’s office announced plans to “legalize TNCs” immediately and to begin contract negotiations with companies – San Francisco startups Uber…

by Chase Hoffberger

Texas Platters

Robyn Ludwick Little Rain (Late Show) She’s called her fourth effort Little Rain, but don’t expect rainbows. Robyn Ludwick, sister in the songwriting Robison clan of Bandera, lays her heart into her songs, whether about a young girl who’s been molested on “Longbow, OK” or some bastard’s obvious second choice on “She’ll Get the Roses.”…

by Jim Caligiuri

Hornography

What should success look like for this Longhorns team? Since the Sixties, success has always been defined by a combination of three things: competing for a national championship, winning the conference title, and beating Oklahoma. If the Longhorns hit all three, then things are where they should be. Accomplish two of the three and your…

by Eric Sollenberger

Texas Platters

Girlie Action Fiddle howling like a freight train whistle, Carrie Rodriguez again proves she can stitch together a disc with equal portions hip folk-rock and well-timed pockets of country nostalgia. Live at the Cactus, her 10th release, runs the gamut from the sultry “Devil in Mind” to Spanish strummer “La Punalada Trapera.” Consider it a…

by Nina Hernandez

Soccer Watch

Tough weekend for the home teams, as the St. Edward’s women lost their first game of the season on Friday, 1-0 to Colorado School of Mines, while the UT Longhorns dropped a pair in Florida, losing 2-0 to both Central Florida and South Florida. The Horns are back home this weekend; they’ll host the top-ranked,…

by Nick Barbaro

The Hightower Report

Let’s take another cruise down the narrow byways and around the twisting turns that form Sen. Ted Cruz’s mind. The first right turn on our road trip brings us to a sweeping view of Ted’s Energy Renais­sance Act, a proposal so studded with fossil fuel favors that it should be titled the “Exxon Mobil Relief…

by Chronicle Staff

Texas Platters

Vinyl Bin The American Analog Set Know by Heart (Barsuk) In its heyday, 1995-2005, Austin’s American Analog Set provided a necessary counterweight to the spiritual inertia of louder, faster cousins. “Punk as Fuck,” the anthemic lead track from 2001’s Know by Heart, can be read still as subtle commentary on this relationship. Why saddle such…

by Greg Beets

Headlines

City Council next meets Sept. 25 (work session Sept. 23), and the early teasers are all about Council Member Chris Riley’s proposal to find some way (not yet finally drafted) to legalize Transportation Network Com­panies. Also on tap: several dozen zoning cases and resolutions in search of co-sponsors. Affordable housing advocate and Austin resident, John…

by Chronicle Staff

Fantastic Fest: Ten Years, Ten Unforgettable Moments

2005: Spain’s Eugenio Mira makes the scene and blows minds with his first (of three, thus far) FF entry, The Birthday. 2006: Mel Gibson unexpectedly pops up with Apocalypto, offends no one in particular. 2007: The final question at genre godhead George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead Q&A is “What’s your favorite color?” “Scotch,”…

by Marc Savlov

Record Review

Gary Clark Jr. Live (Warner Bros.) An argument could be made that blues, especially the post-Stevie Ray Vaughan/every-guitar-solo-for-itself variety, has been plowed to dust. Not for Gary Clark Jr. Utilizing his best material from squeaky clean debut LP Blak and Blu, the guitarist plows fertile soil where it does the most good: live onstage. Freed…

by Michael Toland

Quote of the Week

“A photo op with 40 countries does not an army make.” – Congressman Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, addressing the House on a resolution authorizing the training of Syrian rebels.

by Chronicle Staff

Texas Platters

Shelley King Building a Fire (Lemonade Records) “Back in the woods, down in Tennessee.” Those words serve as introduction to the opening title track, but based on Shelley King’s seventh LP, it’s hard to believe the local songstress has been anywhere out of state lines lately. Tracing Texas from its swampy eastern border to the…

by Abby Johnston

Food Events

Birthday benefit for the Sustainable Food Center of Austin. Features food from chefs Iliana de la Vega and Daniel Olivella, music from Asleep at the Wheel, and some burning love from chef Francis Mallmann. Thu., Sept. 25, 6-9:30pm. Central Market Central, 4001 N. Lamar. $40.

by Chronicle Staff

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