Love & Sex
Love & Sex 2000, NR, 90 min. Directed by Valerie Breiman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Famke Janssen, Jon Favreau, Noah Emmerich, Cheri Oteri, Ann Magnuson. Breaking up may be hard to do, but it can also be fodder for cinematic genius (Woody Allen’s classic Annie Hall springs to mind). Culling from the…
Hellraiser
Hellraiser 1987, R, 94 min. Directed by Clive Barker, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Oliver Smith, Robert Hines. Clive Barker marked his debut as a director with this science fiction adaptation from his own novel. This skillfully creepy film tells the story of some housemates…
A Chinese Ghost Story
A Chinese Ghost Story 1987, NR, 101 min. Directed by Siu-Tung Ching, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong, Wu Ma, Lau Shi Ming. Oh, man. This Tsui Hark-produced classic is the real deal. A million times better than its two sequels, A Chinese Ghost Story asks the eternal question: Is…
Diary of a Country Priest
Diary of a Country Priest NR, 110 min. Directed by Robert Bresson, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Christian Patey, Caroline Lang. Bresson’s adaptation of Georges Bernanos’ novel about the suffering of a young priest is generally regarded as one of the filmmaker’s best. it’s one of the most prosaically religious movies ever made.…
Armchair Adventures
“Good adventure books do the same thing as a good adventure,” Chronicle writer Dan Oko writes in this roundup of recently published adventure books.
Nouvelle Cafe
Chronicle Cuisines writer Rebecca Chastenet de Géry finds something unexpected in Granite Cafe’s latest incarnation.
Live Shots
Oliver Mtukudzi & Black SpiritsOne World Theatre, September 16 Austin is becoming an international city, with universities, state government, and high tech jobs attracting the globe’s talented people. No shock, then, that the One World Theatre was populated by Africans who came to hear Oliver Mtukudzi. Not only is Tuku, as he is known, the…
Video Reviews
Strictly BallroomD: Baz Luhrmann (1992); with Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Barry Otto, Pat Thompson. Strictly Ballroom, the first feature from Aussie director Baz Luhrmann, boasts the same flashy, irreverent spirit as his second film, the much-maligned William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. That sensibility didn’t always work in Romeo + Juliet (a messy, minor…
Postscripts
How to get Book Sense and why you’ll be seeing lots of Texas Monthly in book form this fall.
Food-o-File
By now, everyone in Central Texas must know about last week’s devastating fire at Lone Star Bakery, but Cuisines editor Virginia B. Wood recently found some surprising news.
Justice Delayed?
A federal judge’s decision on Medicaid angers GOP legislators
Video Reviews
The Talented Mr. RipleyD: Anthony Minghella (1999); with Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s book of the same name takes the best of Highsmith’s nasty sociocultural sentiments and drenches them with a crisp layer of humanity and overt homosexuality. The result is last year’s…
Local Bestsellers
Local bestsellers are based on recent sales at Austin bookstores selected to reflect varied reading interests.
Mini-Review
Gene’s New Orleans Style PoBoys & Deli 1209 East 11th, 477-6600 www.genesrestaurant.com Mon-Sat, 7am-7pm At the intersection of Navasota and East 11th, where 11th Street makes a “Y” with Rosewood, veer to the right and you’re in front of Gene’s, the newest member of East Austin’s stellar lineup of soul food joints. I’d noticed Gene’s…
Politics Feature
Justice vs. Cornyn In 1993, San Antonio lawyer Susan Zinn sued the state of Texas on behalf of a class of more than 1.5 million children she claimed were not getting adequate medical care that should have been provided through Medicaid — the federal indigent health care program administered by the state. Zinn works for…
TV Eye
Emmy Awards wrap-up, plus the skinny on Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s season premiere and Live Free or Die, part of PBS’ POV documentary series.
Off the Bookshelf
Anthropologyby Dan Rhodes Villard, 203 pp., $18.95 In Anthropology, Dan Rhodes makes one fact clear: The once-fierce war between the sexes has dwindled to helpless confusion. In 101 stories each 101 words long (less a gimmick than a limitation), Rhodes returns again and again to the theme of failed romance. These aren’t stories that go…
Liquid Assets
Looking for an exciting wine for a special occasion? Or a wine that will bewilder your guests? How about one that won’t break the bank? Shiraz, the classic red wine of Australia, may be the ticket. It is generally massive, intensely fruity, and smooth enough so that almost anyone will enjoy it, wine lover or…
Managing the Media
As the Bush presidential campaign unravels after Labor Day, a press offices tries to keep the candidate on message and out of trouble.
Bait
Bait 2000, R, 110 min. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Jamie Foxx, David Morse, Kimberly Elise, Doug Hutchinson, Robert Pastorelli, David Paymer, Jamie Kennedy. Bait begins by trading off between two scenes: Bristol (Hutchinson), a computer-savvy psychopath, tries to pull off a $42 million heist; and Foxx, as bumbling…
Off the Bookshelf
The Broken Estate: Essays on Literature and Belief by James Wood Modern Library, 279 pp., $14.95 (paper) Wouldn’t you think James Wood would need a bodyguard? After all, he has one of the best jobs in the world, writing exquisite essays on literature for the likes of The New Yorker and The New Republic. Who…
Down & Out in Atlanta
It may be winter everywhere on Earth below the equator, but that technicality hasn’t stopped the Olympic Committee from taking the “Summer” Games deep into southerly latitudes, to Sydney, Australia. The torch, and all its coinciding headiness and headaches, passes by the United States for now. Thank God. I couldn’t take another one. The last…
The Hightower Report
Bill’s Booming Economy; Spinning Michael Milken
Urban Legends: Final Cut
Urban Legends: Final Cut 2000, R, 94 min. Directed by John Ottman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Loretta Devine, Marco Hofschneider, Michael Bacall, Anthony Anderson, Jessica Cauffiel, Eva Mendez, Anson Mount, Joey Lawrence, Matthew Davis, Jennifer Morrison. Recently, in the Chronicle letters column, it was suggested that I was perhaps not the world’s…
Off the Bookshelf
The Flower Boy: A Novel by Karen Roberts Random House, 366 pp., $24.95 Set on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in the years preceding and following World War II, when the island was still under British rule and its lush hills were sprinkled with tea plantations, Karen Roberts’ first novel is by turns…
Songs of Innocence and Experience
From poetry scrawled on walls to poetry inscribed on CD: the saga of the Gourds.
Naked City
Greens set up Austin headquarters, Kay Bailey Hutchison supports Bush campaign | Harry Middleton retires as director of LBJ library.
Almost Famous
This sweet, amiable, and knowing coming-of-age tale is Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical boyz-to-men story about how he grew into the role of a rock & roll journalist in 1973.
Off the Bookshelf
The Elsewhere Community by Hugh Kenner Oxford University Press, 155 pp., $18.95 The Elsewhere Community is not a bad choice to while away an hour or two if you’re a fan of the loftier figures of the literary world. Kenner, a distinguished critic of modernist literature, was a protégé and confidant of some of the…
The Gourds Reviewed
The GourdsBolsa de Agua (Sugar Hill) “The hallelujah shine is mighty dark and old,” sing Kevin Russell and company in gospel harmony on Bolsa de Agua, the Gourds’ fourth studio album, lyrically oblique as ever, but melodically superior to the other albums in the canon. In fact, the worst that can be said for Bolsa…
Naked City
Austin Youth Hostel gets a reprieve from the city, which agreed not to evict the hostel in exchange for $1,625 in rent a month.
Bittersweet Motel
Bittersweet Motel 2000, NR, 80 min. Directed by Todd Phillips, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring . Early on in the documentary Bittersweet Motel, an adoring male fan of the Burlington, Vermont-based rock band Phish offers the film’s most insightful take on the group’s wild popularity: “If you’re a dork, then be a dork,”…
Book Reviews
What She Saw in Roger Mancuso, Günter Hopstock, Jason Barry Gold — A Novel by Lucinda Rosenfeld Random House, 284 pp., $23.95 This is a book about a ho and the men she sleeps with. Which is not to say I didn’t enjoy it. It’s a book about a woman who is paralyzed by low…
Still Good Beeble: The Catalog
Among the notable Austin releases of 1996 was one titled Dem’s Good Beeble by a relatively unknown fourpiece called the Gourds. It contained 16 short, original compositions with titles like “Piss & Moan Blues,” “When Wine Was Cheap,” and “Dying of the Pines” that were by turns deceptively simple foot-stomping charmers and downright inspired bits…
Naked City
Judge Walter Smith, Jr. gives an unanticipated reprieve to Branch Davidian Livingston Fagan, reducing his sentence for manslaughter and weapons charges to 15 years from 40.
Steal This Movie!
Steal This Movie! 2000, R, 108 min. Directed by Robert Greenwald, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Alan Van Sprang, Kevin Pollak, Donal Logue, Kevin Corrigan, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Janeane Garofalo, Vincent D’Onofrio. If nothing else, Steal This Movie! provides an invaluable service in educating a new generation about the man, the myth, and the…
Book Reviews
How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom Scribner, 283 pp., $25 It’s tempting to think of Harold Bloom as a grumpy old man. Even the title of his most recent volume seems to confirm the suspicion that our most esteemed literary scholar has settled into curmudgeonhood. How to read? Are we still in grade…
The Lizards of Aus
There’re a lot worse things a group of middle-aged men could be doing than sitting around singing funny songs. Doing just that has kept the members of the Austin Lounge Lizards from having to resort to petty larceny, racketeering, or even investment banking, much to the the relief of those near and dear to them.…
Naked City
Michael King leaves The Texas Observer after five years under emotional, and acrimonious, circumstances.
Woman on Top
Woman on Top 2000, R, 93 min. Directed by Fina Torres, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Mark Feuerstein, Harold Perrineau Jr., Murilo Benício, Penélope Cruz. Speaking as one whose culinary skills have played a key role in many of the “entries” in my personal book o’ love, I’ve always been favorably disposed toward…
Second Helpings: Sandwiches, Wraps, Burritos
Feeling too greased out for burgers and fries? This week’s “Second Helpings” steers you in the right direction.
Page Two
I find myself watching the goings-on Down Under with an almost complete lack of cynicism.
Austin Lounge Lizards Reviewed
Austin Lounge LizardsNever an Adult Moment (Sugar Hill) On their latest outing, Austin’s own bluegrass They Might Be Giants don’t stray far from the recipe that’s served them well during their two-decade history: short, countrified, bluegrass breakdowns with plenty of humorous wordplay. Which is not to say that Never an Adult Moment is just another…
Naked City
David Waters is indicted for kidnapping, robbery, and extortion in the case of murdered atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair and her family.
Tru Artistry
With Jay Presson Allen’s Tru, performer Jaston Williams takes a vacation from the little town of Tuna, Texas, with which he is so closely identified, to portray celebrated writer Truman Capote, and in the process reminds us what an actor of range and skill he is.
Public Notice
Public Notice asks not what it can do for its community but what *you* can. This week features the third of a three-part list of Austin area Volunteer Opportunities.
Music Feature
The Catalog: Pickin’ and Chucklin’ Country/bluegrass legends Flatt & Scruggs are locked in a room with a palette of beer and several Frank Zappa albums. The outcome? The Austin Lounge Lizards. Proudly known as the “The Most Laughable Band in Show Business,” the Lizards have experienced numerous personnel changes during their lengthy history, yet founding…
Naked City
Jacob’s Well, one of the most prolific and celebrated springs in Central Texas, has stopped flowing.
On the Bus
In the process of writing her new play con flama, Austin poet / writer Sharon Bridgforth discovered that the piece was not complete without her own voice in it. In the process of observing con flama’s development, writer Belinda Acosta discovered something about her own voice, too.
After a Fashion
An open letter to Sandra Bullock, and a Bad Customer Service (BCS) Report redux.
Dancing About Architecture
NXNW news; speak of the devil and Chris Gates shall appear.
Naked City
Volente debates incorporation as a means of escaping Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, and its development rules.
Articulations
The winners of the 26th annual B. Iden Payne awards for local theatre..
Mr. Smarty Pants
You know what the whirling means, but what about the Dervish?
Live Shots
Jets to Brazil, the Gloria RecordEmo’s, September 12 The marquee with the magical E-M-O couldn’t have hurt. The promise of seeing the remnants of San Francisco’s Jawbreaker and bygone Austin underground faves Mineral was too much for the kids to bear, especially with mid-September dormitory doldrums having already set in. Time to radiate the homesick,…
Animation Station
Through ADVision, Austin has become a hotspot for producing English-dubbed anime. Who knew?
Exhibitionism
In his Austin Shakespeare Festival staging of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, director Robert Tolaro creates a fantasy world of superheroes with a strong hint of modern Chicago ‘burb, that pulls up a bit short conceptually, but is still a fun, rambunctious evening.
Coach’s Corner
Coach takes on sports talk radio.
Live Shots
Grand ChampeenHole in the Wall, September 13 Humpday at Holefest 2000, and as Telray frontman Alan Durham held up a napkin emblazoned with “Neil Young,” his announcement for a Dumptruck reunion was met by Seth Tiven’s ascending the front stage for an ear-bleeding “Powderfinger.” From the looks of a roomful of local musicians at this…
A Whole New Game
A strange trip through the online world of the most popular role-playing games of last summer : Diablo II, Deus Ex, and Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption
Exhibitionism
Director Dave Steakley, in daring to formulate an answer to the question “What if Fellini had directed Evita?” has pulled off a brazen, vast-scaled circus of a production, a completely over-the-(big)-top sensation of a theatre experience.
Day Trips
Latana Ridge Lodge, an hour’s drive north of DFW, sits at the collision point of northern grasslands, eastern forests, and western prairies.
Live Shots
Candye KaneContinental Club, September 14 Candye Kane doesn’t have to be good. In fact, as she’d probably tell you herself, she’d much rather be bad. She most definitely plays music to swing by in both senses of the word, well-stocked with saucy double-entendre titles like “Eat It All Night Long.” Supremely comfortable in her ample…
Short Cuts
Upcoming events and workshops of interest to the Austin film community.
Exhibitionism
The revamped revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Cabaret, in its national tour, may not reproduce the intimacy of the original production’s environmental design, but its strong performances and overt theatricality still grip the audience.
About AIDS
AIDS research yields side effects that benefit HIV-negative people, too.
Live Shots
A Perfect Circle, SunnaAustin Music Hall, September 15 Thanks to the cult of personality that surrounds Maynard Keenan, an Austin appearance by the Tool frontman’s side project A Perfect Circle sold out about as fast as Russell Crowe’s 30 Odd Foot of Grunts at Stubb’s. Since capacity shows need little advertising, some Toolmeisters didn’t even…
Video Reviews
(“Video Reviews” wishes to thank Blockbuster Video, Encore Movies & Music, I Luv Video, Vulcan Video, and Waterloo Video for their help in providing videos, laser discs, and DVDs.)PRINCESS MONONOKED: Hayao Miyazaki; with the voices of Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Gillian Anderson, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett-Smith. It took me a good, long…
