Get Lucky
Fig Tree owner downscales with good burgers — and oh, those onion rings
SAN ANTONIO’S IMMOVEABLE FEAST
“Don’t take CAM away from us,” pleads artist Robert Tatum, who registered both “Contemporary Art Month” and “CAM” at the Bexar County Courthouse after hearing City officer Felix Padrón’s proposal to move the event from July to October. Photo by Mark Greenberg The City Office of Cultural Affairs proposes to move Contemporary Art Month…
ORIGIN OF A SPECIES
Pledge, dollar bills and steel, 2002 The Southwest School explores the evolution of sculptor Ken Little In meeting artist Ken Little, it’s easy to picture him as a small child on the high plains of Amarillo, a Red Rider BB Gun in one hand and a Silver Surfer comic book in the other. That…
VIVA LATINAS FEMINISTAS
Angelica Gomez, Evening Task Fresh-faced Latina artists join forces against pop culture Centro Cultúral Aztlán’s Galeria Expresión presents a strong variety of what Latin pop culture has been shoving in our face for years: cleavage. Between the mixed media of oil, paint, pastels, and photography, the young Latina artists showcased in the group exhibit,…
ARTIFACTS
News and notes from the San Antonio art scene On First Friday, August 1, 19-year-old artist Gabriel Garcia will take a crack at his first one-man show at the Cactus Bra (106C Blue Star). His new series of paintings, “Fleeing the Coop,” investigates fight-or-flight responses to confrontation in a painterly, hybridized style that echoes the…
COLD METAL
David Coverdale, fourth from left, shows off his new Whitesnake. Run for Coverdale, because Whitesnake is back and it’s bringing its hair spray A couple of years ago, Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale was talking with an interviewer about the rampant commercialization of rock music. Coverdale revealed that he’d been offered serious cash for…
HUNTING COYOTES ON THE BORDER
Mexican border agent Adam Fields (John Carlos Frey) treads uneasy lines — geographical, cultural, and legal — in The Gatekeeper Juan Carlos Frey’s ‘The Gatekeeper’ opens viewers’ eyes to how the other half lives In Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels, a successful movie director strays beyond his privileged enclave in Hollywood to learn about the…
DEPECHE A LA MODE
Dave Gahan: Your own personal Jesus? The most clichéd criticism that elder icons of rock receive is that time has dissolved their talent. Their heyday of stunning creations are long gone, replaced with feeble ditties that with all the substance of a Fanta commercial. Paul McCartney is a prime example. The genius that created…
NEW REVIEWS
Tobey Maguire stars as jockey Red Pollard in Seabiscuit Seabiscuit Writ. & dir. Gary Ross, based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand; feat. Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stevens, William H. Macy (PG-13) “You don’t throw a whole life away just ’cause it’s banged up a little,” insists Tom Smith…
OF MICS AND MEN
50 Cent The biggest ticket this summer for even a casual fan of commercial rap has to be the Roc the Mic tour featuring heavyweights Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and Busta Rhymes, along with smaller acts Fabolous, Sean Paul, and Obie Trice. Back in May, Roc the Mic broke the record for first-day sales of…
28 DAYS REDUX
And on the 29th day, the creators of this year indie hit 28 Days Later didn’t rest. Instead, they have added a new alternate ending. No, this film isn’t a sequel to Sandra Bullock’s detox film, 28 Days nor a meditation on the “Donny Darko” tagline, “The world will end in 28 days…” At…
SOUND AND THE FURY
a week on the scene SOLITARY MAN Mark Fleming, guitarist for punk quartet the White Heat, inadvertently stumbled upon his other musical persona – the One Man Bandit – while playing with his previous band, Slobber. The group kept their gear in Fleming’s bedroom, and during a moment of boredom, he realized that he possessed…
Armchair Cinephile
Reminiscing during the last few weeks about the late, great Katherine Hepburn, I’ve wished I had been able to see her perform on stage; undoubtedly that tough, assured personality projected well into even the largest theaters. Until I get my time machine out of the shop, there is always the new DVD release of…
STILL PLAYING
Bad Boys II Dir. Michael Bay; writ. Ron Shelton, Jerry Stahl; feat. Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Gabrielle Union, Joe Pantoliano (R) Bad Boys II holds true to form: It is 90 minutes of guilty summer pleasure, with an hour-long A-Team episode tacked to the end for good measure. Actually, this one has more kicks than…
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
The Hidden Fortress Dir. Akira Kurosawa; writ. Shinobu Hashimoto, Ryuzo Kikushima; feat. Toshiró Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takashi Shimura (NR) There are these two bickering buddies, see, lower-class types who have to serve their social betters, who get tied up in an adventure with a princess on the lam. In the…
ALL EARS
SUMMER THRILLS AND CHILLS It’s been a while since a band gave me that Ben Folds Five feeling. You know the one: Lyrics clever and snarky enough to offset candy-coated melodies, choruses that require you to shout them from open car windows, big power pop moments when the skies open up and remind you that…
UKE MOVEMENT
From right: Rebecca Monreal, 7, her great-grandmother Lydia Barrett, 83, and grandmother Joan Boomer. Photo by Mark Greenberg Joyce Flaugher wants to make San Antonio the ukulele capital of Texas At the end of this year’s San Antonio Ukulele Festival, a young Hawaiian guy stepped up to take part in the open-mic jam. Most…
