Dubya and me
Scenes from Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore’s new guerrilla documentary indicting the Bush administration. In the middle panel, President Bush continues to read to elementary school children for several minutes after the 9-11 attacks have begun. Dubya and me By Steven G. Kellman ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ tracks a president who is more Machiavellian than moronic Can movies…
Special Screenings
Special Screenings Balseros Dir. Carlos Bosch, José María Doménech; writ. Carlos Bosch, David Trueba; feat. Guillermo Armas, Rafael Cano, Miriam Hernández (NR) Homemade rafts, dangerous journeys, and high hopes – American news networks have often shown interest in refugees, but never in the way Balseros does. The Spanish documentary follows seven Cubans on their 1994…
New Reviews
New Reviews Coffee and Cigarettes Dir. and writ. Jim Jarmusch; feat. Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, Joie Lee, Cinqué Lee, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett, Jack White, Meg White, Alfred Molina, Steve Coogan, GZA, RZA, Bill Murray. Familiar faces share caffeine, nicotine, and conversations raging from intimate to inane in Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes.…
Unembedded and open-eyed
Unembedded journalists document a darker side of the war against terrorism in War Feels Like War. Unembedded and open-eyed By Steven G. Kellman P.O.V.’s ‘War Feels Like War’ offers a disjointed view of a complicated situation The job of a war correspondent is to convey a sense of what the fight is like. Sure, war…
Recent Reviews
The Day After Tomorrow Dir. Roland Emmerich; writ. Emmerich and Jeffrey Nachmanoff; feat. Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Dash Mihok, Sela Ward, Kenneth Welsh (PG-13) Certain people out there are going to feel very silly about trying to make a political event out of The Day After Tomorrow – a film which is not…
The Julia Child of huevos rancheros
The Julia Child of huevos rancheros By Ron Bechtol Robb Walsh produces an ‘almost comprehensive’ Tex-Mex Bible Tex-Mex has taken its licks in the fancy food press over the years – yet those years aren’t as many as you might think. The first recorded reference in print – at least with respect to food -…
Fight for your right to Tex-Mex
Robb Walsh, undercover for his gig as food critic. Walsh’s new book, The Tex-Mex Cookbook, fits what he calls, “a new type of food writing, informed by history, politics, culture.” Fight for your right to Tex-Mex By John Brewer Robb Walsh talks about the art of food – and food writing Houston Press food writer…
They’re no Eden
The City is courting private interests to resurrect the Sunken Garden Theater and Japanese Tea Garden. (Photos by Julie Barnett) They’re no Eden By Michael Cary Neglect threatens future of Sunken Garden Theater and the Japanese Tea Garden Alice in Chains, Bad Company, Guns ‘ Roses, Iron Butterfly, Santana, Thirteenth Floor Elevators. It sounds like…
Big blow to big media
Big blow to big media By John Nichols This story originally appeared in the Nation. To read the Current’s extensive coverage of the FCC hearings in San Antonio last January, see “The Current’s Media Series.” More than a year after the Federal Communications Commission narrowly endorsed a radical rewrite of media ownership laws in a…
Problem child
Gibby Haynes, second from right, and His Problem will have a self-titled CD out in August. Problem child By Gilbert Garcia Gibby Haynes turns his debauched whimsy to a new side project In the early ’90s, Gibby Haynes sat next to Huey Lewis on a South By Southwest musicians panel. As the panel discussion began,…
Sound and the Fury
Sound and the Fury a week on the scene Build Me Up Buttercup Buttercup has a new DVD out, and to commemorate its release, the iconoclastic quartet will recreate the gig documented on the 35-minute disc: an October, 2003 collaboration with artist Robert Tatum in which they performed in one room while their video images…
Inner city blues
Dead Prez performed at the National Hip-Hop Political Convention. Inner city blues By M. Solis National Hip-Hop Convention makes some election-year noise It’s a sunny day in Brick City, New Jersey and delegates from across the country have gathered to shape a national agenda for a “lost generation.” Young dancers dot the downtown street corners…
Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories By Gilbert Garcia Self-indulgence. It’s one of the most common complaints leveled against recording artists by music critics. But when you really break it down, self-indulgence should be considered a virtue, because it’s one of the essential qualities that separate an artist from a hack. True artists listen to their inner voices and…
Pharcyde of town
Pharcyde Pharcyde of town By Gilbert Garcia Pharcyde should be recognized as hip-hop legends. After all, this South Central quartet – composed of dancers whose resumes include a stint on In Living Color – did as much as anyone to recast West Coast rap as something more than an outlet for gangsta provocations. The group’s…
New stars and old faves
Sculpture by MFA student Richie Budd makes the term mixed-media seem inadequate. Budd’s work is on view at Finesilver Gallery as part of New Stars: CAM 19, through July 31. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) New stars and old faves By Elaine Wolff ‘CAM 19’ kicks off a month of contemporary art The Finesilver building is…
Artifacts
Artifacts News and notes from the San Antonio art scene PS we love you Parchman Stremmel Galleries at 203 N. Presa, home to exhibitions of refined local and national art for 10 years, is leaving downtown. The new storefront, which will open sometime after Contemporary Art Month, will be in Olmos Park. Otis Parchman notes…
All Ears
All Ears By John DeFore Not-so macho The most memorable melodies of the month may be Magnetic Fields’. Their cutely titled i (Nonesuch) came out in May, but it’s a slow-burner that may take a few weeks to wind its way into your cortex. That’s not to say that the perfection of MF main-man Stephin…
