ALL EARS
CORNY OLD SONGS It’s hard for me not to feel a little guilty for liking “The Shadow of Your Smile,” a sentimental little number from a 1965 film called The Sandpiper. It falls under the heading of “songs I like solely because my Mom played them a million times” – as opposed to, say, “California…
THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS
A reproduction of linoleum-cut artwork in Scottsboro, Alabama Unseen for more than half a century, linoleum prints tell a harrowing story through simple illustration Before, during, and after the early 20th century, thousands of blacks were lynched: hung, burned, shot, tortured, mutilated, their remains parceled off and sold as souvenirs, their pictures available on…
VIVE LA DIFFERENCE
Left to right: Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts play American sisters in Paris in Le Divorce. Courtesy photo ‘Le Divorce’ provides a mammoth opportunity to explore the meaning of family values on two continents A recent review of the French import Swimming Pool went to some facetious lengths to wonder how the film might…
Armchair Cinephile
TEN VERY AMBIGUOUS COMMANDMENTS Decalogue (Facets Video) Heaven (Buena Vista) Most Americans who have heard of Krzysztof Kieslowski know him for The Double Life of Veronique or his Three Colors trilogy – French productions that granted the Polish director larger budgets and wider distribution than he had ever seen. The lush photography and beautiful…
SMALL SCREEN
POV ON PBS Soldados: Chicanos in Viet Nam The Sixth Section Charley Trujillo holds out the glass eye he has due to injuries sustained during his tour in Vietnam. Photo by Sonya Rhee They went out of pride; they went because they had no other choice. They wanted to fight for their country; they…
NEW REVIEW
CAMP Dir. & writ. Todd Graff; feat. Daniel Letterle, Joanna Chilcoat, Robin De Jesus, Tiffany Taylor, Sasha Allen (PG-13) At most summer camps, kids swim the butterfly and go on overnight hikes. At Camp Ovation, they make musicals, and the sports counselor shoots baskets alone. Camp is the story of a multiracial group of gawky…
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN Dir. Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly; writ. Betty Comden, Adolph Green; feat. Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Cyd Charisse, Rita Moreno (G) Think making movies based on old TV shows and new video games is stupid? Imagine this, if you will: You’re a rookie screenwriter working at…
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…
CARY THAT WEIGHT
Caitlin Cary has skillfully adapted her literary talent to the song form. Courtesy photo Ex-Whiskeytown violinist finds creative life as a solo artist When Caitlin Cary arrived in Raleigh, North Carolina nine years ago, she had no interest in playing with a band. She was in town to pursue a master’s degree in creative…
HOUSE RULES
Daddy Rabbit and his musical partner, tremor, emphasize hardhouse’s connection to early hip-hop. Photo by Mark Greenberg Tremor and Daddy Rabbit bond over a shared love of DJ culture In 1975, Joseph Sadler earned his rep by spinning records at a park at 169th Street and Boston Road in the Bronx. Although Sadler had…
GREAT DANES
Maybe it’s the “Genius of Love”-like animation of its video, but the first time I heard “Move Your Feet,” the ridiculously catchy dance-pop single by Danish duo Junior Senior, it sounded like the best track the Tom Tom Club never made – that is, when it didn’t sound like an adrenalized rewrite of Madonna’s…
FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE AND BACK
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks’ debut novel, Getting Mother’s Body, is set in Texas, where Parks spent some of her childhood. Courtesy photo Suzan-Lori Parks discusses her new book, ‘Getting Mother’s Body,’ and the transition from playwright to novelist Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks admits that writing novels was her first passion. In a college master…
ACHTUNG BABIES
The real U2, or an incredible simulation? Courtesy photo There’s a strange psychology behind tribute bands. If you’re halfway competent, people will love you and you will be well compensated. But they don’t really love you: They love your willingness to subjugate any hint of individuality, to replicate every note and mannerism of someone…
LILLIPUTIAN LIASONS
One of Tracey Snelling’s models, against an urban backdrop Courtesy photo Tracey Snelling’s diminutive dioramas set the stage at Sala Diaz If the Borrowers were ax-wielding micro maniacs, they would dwell with glee in the intricate edifices fabricated by Oakland, California-based Tracey Snelling. Her diminutive, 3D dioramas stage intimate scenes detailed with film-noir semiotics.…
SOUND AND THE FURY
a week on the scene CATT SCRATCH Before a packed Saturday night crowd at Casbeers, local rockabilly pomade brigade Cave Catt Sammy christened its fourth album, Whiskey and the Devil, on August 23 with a spirited show that included covers of Duke Ellington’s “Duke’s Place” and Elvis Presley’s “Hard Headed Woman.” Among the new highlights…
SCREENING ART
ArtPace presents its second installment of its fall film series The second installment of ArtPace’s 2003 fall film series includes Matt McCormick’s 16-minute, 16mm medley, “The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal,” and Deborah Stratman’s “In Order Not to Be Here” (33 minutes). Through persuasive imagery and careful narration, McCormick’s “Graffiti Removal” transforms the city workers…
ARTIFACTS
News and notes from the San Antonio art scene Following August’s pregnant lull, September heralds the prospect of multiple acts of creative retribution. “Graphic Eloquence: Paintings” by Jeff Elrod and Steve Roden, curated by Francis Colpitt, Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at University of Texas at San Antonio, opens Thursday, September…
