THIS IS NOT A TEST
The importance of the FCC hearing in San Antonio can’t be overstated Other than voting, there may be no more important civic duty you perform this year than attending the Federal Communication Commission’s public hearing about media consolidation on January 28. Yes, the subject sounds a bit dry, but if you care about the quality…
LONG DIVISION
Rachel Barrios-Van Os discusses her bid for Bexar County Democratic Chair recently at her North Side home. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) Candidates for Democratic Party Chair seek to heal the party On the evening of November 5, 2002, Bexar County Democrats watched the election returns with faces longer than a Basset Hound’s. Republican after…
TWEEN DREAM
Hilary Duff: The latest pop star to emerge from the Disney Channel (courtesy photos) Hilary Duff stands in the impossibly bubbly shadow of her TV persona Britney Spears doesn’t often make sense, but she had a solid point a few months ago when she responded to claims that her racy new material was a…
A CROWDED FIELD
Let the campaign season begin A host of local citizens have signed up to serve the public interest in the political arena of Election 2004. Despite the Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary’s description of politics as “political activities characterized by artful and often dishonest practices,” many honest and upright Bexar County citizens have thrown their names into…
SOUND AND THE FURY
Pink Floyd Laser Light Show a week on the scene COLD METAL Robb Chavez, creator of the cable-access, cult TV favorite, Robb’s Metalworks, has announced his plans for San Antonio’s 2nd annual Robb’s Metalworks Showcase. Chavez initially took his show’s headbanging theme to an El Paso stage in 2001, where his Chavez Crime Family…
ADKINS DIET
Hasil Adkins makes a habit of sending his records to the White House. (courtesy photo) A life of squirrel eating and vodka swigging has made Hasil Adkins a rockabilly cult hero There is a brief, contemplative pause on the line before a casual “Well, yeah,” issues forth. Hasil Adkins could be talking about the…
EPHEMERAL TREASURE
A vibrant cowboy rallies his herd under the “Saga of the Seven Flags” and the Randolph Air Force base tower on the eastern wall of the Alameda Theatre. A new Smithsonian study confirms the importance of the black light murals in a brief, but brilliant, artistic trend of the ’40s and ’50s. (Photo by…
B-GIRL BADUIZM
Now that 2K4 is upon us, it’s time to reflect on a couple of overlooked Texas albums from 2003. Yes, Andre and Big Boi of Outkast are now officially media darlings, and sadly, Marshall Mathers was the first rapper to cop an Oscar, but in less marketable hip-hop circles, last year belonged to a…
ARE YOU BEING SERVED?
These boots were made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do – through North Star Mall. Located at the far north end of City Council District 1 – which encompasses downtown and is home to most of the city’s top-notch art – the boots, the creation of Bob “Daddy-O” Wade, look as if…
HART BEATS
Berkley Hart delves into its country-rock roots, not its hair roots. (courtesy photo) No one ever said that you can’t judge a folkie by his hairstyle, but it’s a point that could be applied to San Diego duo Berkley Hart. Both of the group’s namesake frontmen, Jeff Berkley and Calman Hart, have cultivated mangy…
ARTIFACTS
Joe Orton’s final play, What the Butler Saw, at Jary Auditorium through January 24, features undressing, cross-dressing and plenty of innuendo to keep the audience on their toes and in the pink. (courtesy photo) News and notes from the San Antonio art scene The Cultural Collaborative, which kicked off with much fanfare and enthusiasm…
HOLY MACKEREL
Ewan McGregor gets caught up in Magical Realism at the circus. (courtesy photo) Tim Burton recounts Daniel Wallace’s tall tales in ‘Big Fish’ Daniel Wallace, who grew up in Birmingham, set his first novel in Ashland, a hamlet in eastern Alabama whose population now numbers little more than 2,000. Published in 1998, Big Fish…
‘PAYCHECK’ BOUNCES
Take this movie and shove it: Oops, that’s Johnny Paycheck, not Ben Affleck, seen fleeing the set of this movie. (courtesy photo) Affleck’s memory has been erased, and maybe John Woo’s has been, too These are dark days for John Woo apologists. We were able to defend our appreciation for Face/Off and even the…
A MERRY DEATH IN MONTREAL
The terminally ill Rémy (Rémy Girard, center) faces the inevitability of death in Barbarian Invasions. (courtesy photo) Invasion of the barbarian son in an intellectual sequel to ‘The Decline of the American Empire’ Sequels need not be the offspring of expensive, violent blockbusters. The Decline of the American Empire, a 1986 French-Canadian feature about…
Armchair Cinephile
2003’s Greatest Hits List-making season is well underway. And so, Armchair Cinephile’s favorites of the last year: 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Special Extended DVD Edition (New Line): The DVD shelves are replete with deleted scenes that should be forgotten and “director’s cuts” that don’t deserve legitimization. But Peter Jackson…
NEW REVIEW
Steve Martin stars in the unfunny Cheaper by the Dozen. (courtesy photo) Cheaper by the Dozen Dir. Shawn Levy; writ. Sam Harper; feat. Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Hilary Duff (PG) Steve Martin has turned out to be a much savvier sailor of the cultural winds than we might have expected…
SPECIAL SCREENING
El Fuego y La Palabra (The Fire and The Word) It’s been 20 years since the The Zapatista Army of National Liberation began its struggle for the indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico, a fight author Carlos Fuentes called the world’s first “post-communist revolution.” But on January 1, 1994, the Zapatistas captured the world’s attention…
A CURTAIN CALL FOR DIVERSITY
No crucifixes, headscarves, or yarmulkes: Jacques Chirac Where do art and religion belong in public schools? French President Jacques Chirac’s controversial crusade to preserve French secular society seemed to be gaining momentum with last week’s news that a prominent Egyptian Muslim cleric supported a proposed law forbidding the wearing of head scarves in school.…
RECENT REVIEWS
Bad Santa Dir. Terry Zwigoff; writ. John Requa & Glenn Ficarra; feat. Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Bernie Mac, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, John Ritter (R) Bad Santa is vile. Snot-dripping and alley-pukey, pants-pissing and rotgut-swilling vile. It does not have redeeming social merit; it will not enrich your soul or teach you the meaning…
