Beefcake

"...went to jail. By his own admission, Fitzgerald (The Hanging Garden) changed his entire approach to his film as..."

Jan. 14, 2000 Movie Review by Russell Smith

David Dastmalchian Welcomes Satan to the Set of Late Night With the Devil

From Svengoolie to Carson, the hosts that made the horror

"...horror movie host Svengoolie. So how did it end up in an Australian indie flick?..."

April 26, 2024 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Janie Cowan’s Fascinating Musical Journey Finds Her Playing Alongside Bob Dylan in Shadow Kingdom

Checking in on the one-time Austin bass standout

"...exquisite, timeless smoking. Endless puffs of cigarette smoke wafts up from tables where folks in fedoras and curly bob..."

July 28, 2021 Music Post by Kevin Curtin

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The saga ends … in fan service

"...guerrilla force is hiding out on a remote planet. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (Driver), aka Darth Incel, is sulking..."

Dec. 20, 2019 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Woman at War

Saving the world, one wry laugh at a time in this Icelandic eco-comedy

"...likable Icelandic film Woman at War is a human-scaled superhero story. In his second feature film, director Benedikt Erlingsson..."

April 5, 2019 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Playback: Death by David Vincent

Hanging with Morbid Angel singer-turned-country outlaw David Vincent and other dark tales of the live music capital

"...heyday – and some of his biker buddies loaded up a vehicle with "a cooler full of beer and..."

Oct. 27, 2017 Music Column by Kevin Curtin

Ingrid Goes West

Hashtag: #thisisyourlife

"...bride after seeing live photos of the ceremony pop up on Instagram. A brief stint at a psychiatric facility..."

Aug. 18, 2017 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

The Secret Life of Pets

Hollywood has the cure for those dog-day afternoons of summer

"...tight twosome, and then Duke gets them both picked up by animal services. Cue the incredible journey home...."

July 8, 2016 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Max

After sufferiong trauma in Afghanistan, a heroic dog is sent stateside

"...the Titans in 2000, but also directed the forgettable Uptown Girls and A Price Above Rubies. Yakin has never..."

July 3, 2015 Movie Review by Josh Kupecki

Ron White's "Tater Salad" Days

Ron White on why stand-up is the field for him and his "Tater Salad" days in Austin

"...wasn't wired that way, but I knew I wasn't stupid even though they told me I was. They put..."

April 17, 2015 Arts Feature by Russ Espinoza

Leviathan

This Oscar nominee for best Foreign Language film exudes existential Russian angst in cinematic form.

"...Language Film category (it lost to Poland’s Ida) lives up to its title and then some...."

Feb. 27, 2015 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

What Food Goes Well With Comedy?

Jim Gaffigan can tell you – and does in this Q&A

"...he really that spotless? The Chronicle gets the popular stand-up, who returns to Austin on Oct. 23, to come..."

Oct. 17, 2014 Arts Post by Russ Espinoza

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Liam Neeson has taken to shooting at bad guys again in this slow-burning Matthew Scudder mystery.

"...order. He alternates his time between AA meetings and hanging out at his favorite Hell’s Kitchen all-night diner, while..."

Sept. 19, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Grand Piano

Elijah Wood and John Cusack play cat and mouse in this concert-stage suspense dazzler.

"...pressure brought on by the presence of his beloved, superstar actress wife (Bishé), whose own fame threatens to overshadow..."

March 7, 2014 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Battlefield America

It's You Got Served for a younger dance generation.

"...Long Beach, Calif.'s (apparently) wicked, underage dance-battle scene. Weird up, yo...."

June 8, 2012 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Just Go With It

Instead of seeming effortless, this Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston comedy has the lazy appearance of being effort-free.

"...certainly more substantial than Sandler’s most recent film, Grown Ups. However, Just Go With It does little more than..."

Feb. 18, 2011 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Princess Kaiulani

This costume-drama and historical romance tells the story of Hawaii's last princess.

"...paean to Hawaii's final princess is, ultimately, a dull, Upstairs Downstairs affair. That's partly because it dances (eloquently, but..."

June 4, 2010 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Black Waters of Echo's Pond

Recalling the tone and spirit of Eighties horror films, this is an homage to exsanguinations past.

"...of H.P. Lovecraft's early story fragments – what ends up hanging out are teenage entrails and Arthur Machen's Great..."

April 9, 2010 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

From Paris With Love

Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays an American diplomat in Paris who is paired with a wise-cracking, trigger-happy CIA maverick (John Travolta) to stop a terrorist attack.

"...(Rhys Meyers), the reasons for all the corpses piling up around them: “It’s about terrorists,” Wax declares, ending Reece’s..."

Feb. 12, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Daybreakers

The vampire community goes into crisis when humans have been hunted to near-extinction; Ethan Hawke plays a doctor working to create a blood substitute.

"...Edward Dalton (Hawke) labors 'round the clock to come up with a blood substitute. (No luck yet: His most..."

Jan. 8, 2010 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Whatever Works

Confessions of a cranky misanthrope.

"...teaching chess to youngsters and spends his leisure time hanging out with his friends in restaurants, argumentatively pontificating on..."

July 3, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

The director of Doom takes on another video-game franchise, this time one about a female martial artist seeking justice.

"...at a lint ball in the gutter and end up with a neon-streaked, hyper-saturated, dead sexy action-adventure film. So..."

March 6, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Can the Bands Play On?

The Live Music Task Force tunes up to protect Austin's claim to fame

"...local music scene. In a nutshell, says Dillinger, the supply-and-demand dynamics affecting Austin's live music venues are wildly out..."

July 18, 2008 News Feature by Katherine Gregor

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

If you're looking for escape, then the fourth installment in the beloved cliff-hanging archaeological-adventure franchise should fit the bill.

"...the fourth installment in Steven Spielberg and George Lucas' cliff-hanging archaeological-adventure franchise does just that. Much has changed in..."

May 23, 2008 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Letters @ 3AM

Cyberspace is nowhere and everywhere, a place where the articles on www.michaelventura.org hover and hang, nailed to a virtual wall like paintings in a museum

"...my own tombstone: www.michaelventura.org – actually, www.michaelventura.org has been up (is Cyberspace "up"?) about two years, but now there's..."

May 9, 2008 Column by Michael Ventura

Mr. Woodcock

Mr. Woodcock is funny for exactly five minutes, with the kind of subversive humor that boosted Billy Bob Thornton, but the rest is just a self-pitying, half-hearted retread.

"...Thornton, Seann William Scott, Susan Sarandon, Amy Poehler, Ethan Suplee, Melissa Sagemiller and Jacob Davich. Thornton is fast becoming..."

Sept. 14, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Venus: Shocking Blue & Cabanel

The Shocking Blue scores Alexandre Cabanel's Birth of Venus

"...bright eye. According to Small, “The Birth of Venus” hanging at UT's Blanton through Aug. 5 provenances as one..."

July 20, 2007 Music Post by Raoul Hernandez

Introducing the Dwights

Introducing the Dwights is a difficult film to watch. Ostensibly a comedy, it’s really just a collection of awkward stage performances set off by scenes of familial dysfunction.

"...in their bedrooms he stumbles around blindly before giving up, throwing on his clothes, and racing home in a..."

July 20, 2007 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

The Triplets of Belleville

Move over Disney and Pixar: Sylvain Chomet’s Oscar-nominated animated feature is the kind of work that could only be authored by a singular individual.

"...than a sound picture (as the Jacques Tati poster hanging in a bedroom probably hints). The story is one..."

Feb. 13, 2004 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The Haunted Mansion

Eddie Murphy heads up this latest Disney amusement ride-turned-movie.

"...world of PG-acceptable scares and frights (minus, perhaps, a couple of suicide-by-hanging silhouettes). With its atmosphere of heavy fog,..."

Nov. 28, 2003 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

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