SAME BATTLE, DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
Looking out the window of the Southwest Worker’s Union at 1416 E. Commerce Street, one hardly sees visions of global solidarity movements. Yet, the techniques of American protesters developed inside the walls of chipped paint, creaking stairs, and shrouded windows are being brought to Brazil’s Movimento Sem Terra (landless movement), and to India’s fight against…
GOLFERS HANDICAPPED
A new Parks and Recreation policy has angered many Southside parents and high school golfers, who say the City is discriminating against the Southside Independent School District. For at least 15 years, Parks and Recreation has allowed local high school and middle school students who participate in school golf programs to play and practice on…
END RUN
The City-operated Arts in the Community funding program, which supports cultural outreach initiatives such as writing classes and mural painting at neighborhood schools and community centers, has dealt with a funding discrepancy since its inception five years ago `see “Are You Being Served?,” January 8-14, 2004`. Every two years, close to $250,000 in grant money…
ARTIFICIAL ENVIRONMENT
During the next three months, as part of its ongoing On Screen at ArtPace series, the institution will screen three films in which architectural spaces define human relationships. Titled “Deuces Wild,” the series of screenings and talks is being presented by David Jurist, an artist who specializes in environmental installations. Jurist, who studied film at…
TOTAL PROTECTION
That provocative title moved Kathy Armstrong-Gillis, the volunteer curator of the art show and sale, whose proceeds will benefit Planned Parenthood, to invite 21 local artists to riff on the theme. “We wanted people to realize that there’s a slipping away, an erosion of women’s rights,” says Armstrong-Gillis. She began work on the project a…
ARTIFACTS
Red Dot was originally conceived as a fundraiser that would also encourage individuals to become collectors of local artists. But a low level of dissatisfaction was developing among artists who felt that well-off collectors would wait for Red Dot when, it was understood, the works would be on sale for less than what they might…
KILLING CHILDREN IN BRAZIL
Reports that City of God was made by culling urchins off the pavements of Rio and teaching them to be themselves before a camera led me to expect something like Pixote or Salaam Bombay!, coarse documents of youthful, desperate street smarts. In fact, though drawn from actual events, this lush and violent film is closer…
THIS AIN’T FRESH
Breakin’ and Beat Street helped expose the world to an urban movement rooted in a love of hip-hop, graffiti art, and aggressive, “battle”-style competitions called break dancing. From these intriguing glimpses at life outside the academy of traditional artistic disciplines emerged rap-driven vehicles like 1985’s Krush Groove and, ultimately, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing…
Armchair Cinephile
It’s that time of year again. Personally, I have always found it a bit patronizing that somebody decided one out of 12 months should be “Black History Month.” It’s like Hallmark telling you that you should take one day out of 365 to be nice to your mother. But, Mom never sends those flowers back,…
ABRE LOS OJOS
Dir. Alejandro Amenábar; writ. Amenábar, Mateo Gil; feat. Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera (R) From the opening shots of Abre Los Ojos, the Spanish film on which the Tom Cruise vehicle Vanilla Sky is based, it’s amazing to see how faithful Cameron Crowe was to the original. You would have to look a long…
SENSUAL SUPPERS
Incite passion with lustful Valentine’s Day dishes The typical criteria for “Most Romantic Dining Spot”- cozy atmosphere, fireplace, candles on the tables, an aura of history and tradition – all but dictate the yearly anointing of Grey Moss Inn as Cupid’s standard bearer. With all due respect to the venerable restaurant, it’s time to…
RECENT REVIEWS
21 Grams Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu; writ. Guillermo Arriaga; feat. Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Benicio Del Toro, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melissa Leo, Paul Calderon (R) 21 Grams juggles three main characters who, though they don’t know it yet, are involved in one story. We see snippets (very short ones, for much of the film) of their…
CHAOS IN THE KITCHEN
Ernest Lopez (center) rushes a tray of puff pastry to the oven during the fourth annual Young Commis Rotisseur competition at St. Philip’s College Culinary Academy. Lopez and three other chefs were given a list of ingredients and two-and-a-half hours to plan and prepare their culinary creations in the event sponsored by the local…
SUPER SUMMIT
Inside, the arena is surprisingly devoid of corporate sponsorship propaganda and is standing-room-only. BET’s Big Tigger stands at the podium, running the show. At his immediate right sits U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, who is followed down the line by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Russell Simmons, Reverend Run, Layzie Bone, Damon Dash, Chingy, and…
CALL WAITING
It wasn’t Snoop Dogg’s first encounter with the judicial system, but it might have been his most surreal. On February 2, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge dismissed a suit by a man who left a voice message with Snoop and later found that the rapper used the recording on his 2002 track “Pimp Slapp’d.”…
