Empanada Lovers, Rejoice!
Beto’s is back, with its signature dish
WILD PALMIERI
There is an image burned into my mind of a well-dressed, somewhat stocky man, with a wild look in his eyes, attacking a piano. Almost literally. I expected it to come tumbling apart under the hands of the virtuoso who played this gigantic instrument; fingers on ivory like hands on a drum. Midway through…
JOURNEY TO LOS POCHOS UNIDOS DE TEJAZTLÁN
Left to right: Elijah Rios, Maria Ibarra, Lisa Suarez, Nicolás Valdez appear in Pocho/a Courtesy photo In the spirit of community teatro, madmedia stages its fourth edition of ‘Pocho/a’ at the Guadalupe On both sides of the border we are children of crises and orphans of two dysfunctional nation-states. — Guillermo Gómez-Peña When Nuestra…
DEKE OF EARL
Deke Dickerson Courtesy photo Deke Dickerson is one quirky rockabilly dude. How many slap-back, hot-rod cats engage their fans in haiku contests, devise three-part concept albums, or collect Dukes of Hazzard pajamas and Shrinky Dinks? Well, Dickerson does all those things, and that’s what makes him so appealing. He’s proudly retro, but he’s not…
I SEE A LYRIC ‘RIGOLETTO’
Left to right: Amy Cofield and Dae San No star in the Lyric Opera’s production of RigolettoCourtesy photo When the Lyric Opera of San Antonio opens its seventh performance season, you can expect a dramatic debut. There will be thrills of distress, despair, vengeance, violence, and death. It’s tragic, really. Legs will be broken.…
SOUND AND THE FURY
a week on the scene ACCORDION FEST Since January of this year, the Conjunto Heritage Taller (or workshop) has offered classes in accordion and bajo sexto in an effort to preserve and nurture the conjunto musical tradition. On Saturday, August 23, the Taller will put together a concert that is also intended as a barbecue…
WHEN ALAN MET TOMMY
The boys in The Trip. Courtesy photo ‘The Trip’ is a three-act comic drama in which boy meets boy, boy loses boy, and boy regains boy just in time Since the adventures of two guys in a car on an open road occupy less than one-quarter of the screen time in The Trip, writer-director…
WIDE OPEN SPACES
Left to right: Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall in Open Range. Courtesy photo Kevin Coster directs – and stars – in a convincing but bracing standoff on America’s expanse No sensible person would blame you for being wary of a new film setting Kevin Costner out to roam through wide open spaces. It was…
STEAL ALL THAT YOU CAN STEAL
Prince of thieves: Joaquin Phoenix in Buffalo Soldiers. Courtesy photo Let the buyer beware of knockoffs, incompatible parts, and defective merchandise in ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ Freed slaves who joined the Army and served with valor after the Civil War were known as “Buffalo Soldiers.” But Australian director Gregor Jordan’s film, whose original working title was…
NEW REVIEWS
Left to right: Jeremy Irons and Patricia Kaas in And Now. Courtesy photo And Now … Ladies & Gentlemen Dir. Claude Lelouch; writ. Lelouch, Pierre Leroux, Pierre Vytterhoeven; feat. Jeremy Irons, Patricia Kaas, Thierry Lhermitte, Alessandra Martines, Claudia Cardinale (PG-13) Claude Lelouch’s latest film illustrates its epigraph by Alfred de Musset: “Life is deep…
OTHER, OUT, & BEYOND FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
Juchitán de las locas/Juchitán, Queer Paradise Courtesy photo Friday 8|22 7pm opening reception 8-10pm screenings Gertrudis Blues (dir. Patricia Carrillo Carrera, 10 min.) A contemporary reminder of the African presence in a Mexican community framed through the storytelling of Gertrudis Vásquez, an 80-year-old Afro-Mestizo. Thorn Grass (dir. D. Robin Hammer, 8 min.) A work…
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Academy Shorts While the Academy Awards feature categories for short fiction films, general audiences seldom have a chance to see the nominees. The 2002 Academy Award-nominated shorts include The ChubbChubbs, the first digitally animated short film produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks, the character animation and visual effects division of Sony Pictures Digital. Pixar held its…
PROMOCIÓN DE LA VIOLENCIA
An English version of this column can be read at The Promotion of Violence Con persistente regularidad, como cumpliendo una ley irrebatible, diversas manifestaciones de la violencia nos acosan a diario, incitándonos a la reacción, las más de las veces indignada. Es el círculo vicioso de la fuerza bruta. Desde la intimidación irresponsable de quienes…
STILL PLAYING
American Wedding Dir. Jesse Dylan; writ. Adam Herz; feat. Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Alyson Hannigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Eugene Levy (R) Proving that it is possible for a movie series’ characters to mature independent of the series itself, American Wedding gives us characters old enough for matrimony in a flick more juvenile than American…
THE PROMOTION OF VIOLENCE
We live in a climate of violence. Every day we witness evidence of our brutality, and it seems impossible not to deem as misguided the attempt to counteract a primal instinct that most people have glorified since the beginning of time. In painting, sculpture, and poetry, art has depicted violence – its motivations, actions and…
DELIVER THEM FROM CRITICS
DELIVER THEM FROM CRITICS Ararat (Miramax) The Kid Stays in the Picture (Warner Bros.) Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan’s most recent feature, Ararat, didn’t tarry long on U.S. screens when it opened last year. Unlike most of his films, which have received ample praise, this one drew mostly unkind reviews, which was pretty much the death-knell…
BUSH ASKS FOR MY HELP
President Bush counting out his money for the re-election campaign. Photo: Whitehouse.gov Deconstructing a fund-raising pitch President Bush has apparently decided to run for re-election. I know this because I received a letter today from him asking my financial help to “get my campaign off to a good start.” I assume he’s writing me…
O PIONEERS!
Bush is the daddy of all warbucks Two San Antonians rank among President Bush’s elite corps of fund-raisers, pulling in a minimum of $100,000 for Dubya’s re-election campaign. Local attorney John Steen debuts on the Pioneer list, while Tom and Nancy Loeffler return for an encore performance; they also shook the couch cushions for Bush’s…
INSTRUMENTAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Audra Menconi Women in Jazz concert showcases four distinct local musical voices Audra Menconi isn’t sure what made her want to be a drummer. No one in her family played a musical instrument, and she has no vivid memories of life-changing childhood experiences watching drummers execute paradiddles on a bandstand. All she can remember…
PURPLE REIGN
New Prince bio documents the messy decline of a musical visionary It’s not easy to craft a decent Prince biography. Forgetting the fact that Prince himself rarely grants interviews, you have to contend with the fact that most of his associates have been reticent over the years about talking to the media, for fear…
