MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
Other than the highly bankable presence of Tom Hanks, Road to Perdition at first seems as out of place in the midst of the summer blockbuster season as an oil slick on a bathing beach. The setting is the pre-rust Rust Belt Midwest in the deepest despond of the Great Depression. Pissing-down rain, slushy gray…
NEW REVIEWS
LIKE MIKE “More than a ‘B’-grade kid flick” Dir. John Schultz; writ: Michael Elliotk; feat. Lil’ Bow Wow, Morris Chestnut, Jonathan Lipnicki, Brenda Song, Jesse Plemons, Julius Ritter (PG) If you want to get deep about it, Like Mike is a romantic comedy wrapped in a high-concept fantasy like Big (1988). Lil’ Bow Wow is…
Armchair Cinephile
THREE’S A CHARM The recent controversy over the video documenting reporter Daniel Pearl’s murder — whether there’s a justification for making it available, who gets to decide, et cetera — is echoed (albeit in a less serious fashion) by the recent release of Thesis (Vanguard), the debut feature by Chile-born Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar. A…
SPECIAL SCREENS
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG “A feast for the eyes, ears, and heart” Dir. and writ. Jacques Demy; feat. Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel, Ellen Farner, Mireille Perrey (UNRATED) Truly unique movies are hard to come by. But if there’s any movie out there that is quite like Umbrellas of Cherbourg, seeing the…
HOME SOUR HOME
About five years ago, Lenna Conroy lived near Austin with two kids to raise and support. She and her husband had split up years before, so when her children were approaching college age, Conroy decided she needed money to help them pay for school. After the divorce settlement took effect, the house she had lived…
PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM PREDATORS
If something sounds a bit too good to be true, assume that it is. Always be suspicious of anyone offering “bargain loans.” Avoid letters, phone calls, or personal solicitations that pressure you by making their offers good “for a limited time.” Most reputable mortgage companies will never solicit business in such a way. And shop…
TEE TIME IN COURT
PGA Village opponents collected more than 14,000 extra signatures for a referendum to decide the fate of the luxury golf resort slated to be built over the Edwards Aquifer, but their work is only partially finished; the opposition is still pursuing a lawsuit alleging that the city disenfranchised 29,000 voters from the petition process when…
FEAR OF A BRIGHT LIGHT
Ever had a panic attack? It starts in your belly, and the burn creeps all the way up to your throat, crushing your chest in the process. You can’t breathe, your heart is pounding, and you’re sweating like a sow. Generally speaking, it’s an unbelievably unpleasant experience that most normal people try to avoid, once…
BLAZING AMAZING
Several weeks ago, Mark Hazlewood, the 46-year-old son of country singer Lee Hazlewood, warned the citizens of the Republic of Texas, who were assembled in a drab conference room at a local Best Western motel, that Planet X, the ghostly 10th planet in our solar system, will approach Earth on its precise, 3,660-year orbit schedule…
ALL EARS
NO BOYS ALLOWED So I finally saw “The Vagina Monologues,” and thought it was pretty lame. It appears that in certain circles that opinion is tantamount to misogyny, so while I’ve never hidden my fondness for people with vaginas (vaginae?), now seemed like a good time to celebrate some under-appreciated women in music. Linda Thompson’s…
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CAN BEND METAL
It’s what? — April, May, of my senior year in high school. I can see the green grass in fields far away from my podunk town, and I’m ready to go set those fields on fire. I’ve hated my hometown for 18 years, and I’m about to have the means to split. Zen masters would…
