Armchair Cinephile
Wild-card gift suitable for, heck, everybody: J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous trilogy has always held an appeal that reaches far beyond the boundaries of sci-fi/fantasy fandom, and I’ll eat an orc if Peter Jackson’s film version doesn’t do the same thing. The new Special Extended Edition of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (New Line)…
STILL PLAYING
ADAM SANDLER’S 8 CRAZY NIGHTS “Crass, crude, and witless” Dir. Seth Kearsley; writ. Brooks Arthur, Allen Covert, Brad Isaacs, Adam Sandler; feat. Sandler, Jackie Titone, Austin Stout, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider, Norm Crosby (PG-13) The animated 8 Crazy Nights casts Sandler as (among other characters) a Jewish Scrooge whose idea of fun is to ensure…
THE UNLOVING CUP
Appropriately enough, Starbucks’ Mexico’s brand-new java dispensary is situated in the posh Sheraton Hotel on bustling Reforma Boulevard, just a few steps from the U.S. embassy. Although 20 percent of Starbucks business is now conducted outside of the U.S. – with nearly 3,000 stores churning out the lattes in Japan and Europe – the Mexico…
FOR A SONG AND DANCE
From “From Dancing to a Waltz” to an upbeat, driving two-step filled with longing (“Corsicana”) Stalling will make you want to dance or croon right along with him. My favorites are “The Pila Song,” which starts with doleful guitar picking by Brian Woody Woodruff, incorporating both Spanish and Texas flair; “Lying Here at 3,” a…
WHITEBREAD CHRISTMAS
Last Christmas delivered decent new recordings from artists such as B.B. King and Destiny’s Child; this year dips deep into the bag of white bread and brings forth bland new titles from the likes of John Tesh, Kenny G., and Barry Manilow. Oddly enough, the best new Christmas albums for 2002 seem to be the…
FA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA
On Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15, the Chorale performs its holiday program, “Family Traditions: Holiday Memories in Song,” which includes an extensive playbill of holiday favorites: “Sleigh Ride,” “Do You Hear What I Hear,” Vivaldi’s “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” and “O Holy Night.” Some of the more comical pieces include the composition “Throw…
ALL EARS: FAMILY ALBUMS
Pick a stereotype, buy ’em a gift: Your jazz-buff grandpa: Arguably the strangest box set package to date, Columbia’s Herbie Hancock Box houses four CDs in a space-age, transparent plastic case; the discs and booklet seem to hover in mid-air, and it’s unclear how you open the darn thing – it’s a fitting package for…
CHOICE CUTS
When George Prado put together the first Holiday Saxophones show in 1982, he never gave a thought to a 20th Anniversary concert. Getting the first one off the ground was tough enough. “I never thought there would be a second one, actually,” Prado admits. Born in San Antonio, Prado began playing acoustic bass in 1957.…
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Texas’ same-sex sodomy law prohibits oral or anal sex between gays and lesbians, but has allowed identical sexual conduct between heterosexuals since 1973. The state law will be tested this spring when the Supreme Court hears the case of two Houston men, John Lawrence and Tyron Garner. The men were having sex in Lawrence’s home…
AT RISK
Two recent developments at the site are both raising and dashing hopes of a cleanup. The good news is that earlier this year, the EPA pinpointed 15 potentially responsible companies for the R&H contamination (see box, this page) and is trying to force them to remove it – although the companies can sue the federal…
HAIKU NEWS
Nativity a killing field; where are the wise men when you need them? the most compelling reason to attack Iraq is because it rhymes calling card left by East Coast sniper shows him to be a Tarot-ist since folks can’t afford to send their kids to college how about Iraq? Arthur Andersen decides to switch…
INVISIBLE BUT EVERYWHERE
The producers of Standing in the Shadows of Motown have two things going for them: First, the success of Buena Vista Social Club has convinced moviegoers that they can be entertained by a documentary about obscure musicians. Second, after seeing the film, audiences should find it inconceivable that they ever imagined its subjects to be…
NEW REVIEWS
DAS EXPERIMENT “A riveting study in group dynamics” Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel; writ. Mario Giordano, Christoph Darnstädt, Don Bohlinger, based on novel by Giordano; feat. Moritz Bleibtreu, Maren Eggert, Christian Berkel, Justus von Dohnányi, Timo Dierkes (R) When Tarek Fahd (Bleibtreu), a freelance writer who makes ends meet by driving a cab in Cologne, reads an…
