It's Official: 'On the Road' is Unfilmable
Jack Kerouac’s rambling, poetic, salacious and spiritual semi-autobiographic opus has always been on the short list of great American novels that have been generally considered to be unfilmable. It took half a century, but someone has finally attempted to capture all the passion, soul and madness that has made On the Road essential reading for…
Depeche Mode: 'Delta Machine'
After 30 years and with the release of their 13th album, Depeche Mode are as beautifully sonorous as they are time-tested. Returning producer Ben Hillier arranges a taut effort, complimenting Dave Gahan’s haunting baritone with arresting sound. Much of Delta Machine is audibly perfect. The only semblances of imperfection are left to personal taste. With…
San Antonio Artists take Houston Art Scene
Last Friday, San Antonio artists stormed the Houston art establishment with a strong presence in two exhibition events. Four San Antonio artists — Casey Arguelles, Megan Harrison, Scott Proctor, and Chris Sauter — appear in “Culivated Artefacts,” curated by Angela Carranza in the Pop-Up Gallery space in 4411 Montrose, a building that houses a number…
Video: Toadies at Maverick Music Festival
Toadies perform at La Villita’s Maverick Music Festival on March 23, 2013.
Gary Clark Jr.’s train pulls in at Maverick Music Festival
The first edition of the Maverick Music Festival was one of those events that just don’t happen too often in SA: a first-time music fest with top headliners, great sound, a packed house (it was sold-out but not oversold, so you could move around without having to say “excuse me” 2,000 times), a very reasonable…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Spamalot
Embedded in pop culture via the sketch series Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-1974), the British comedy troupe Monty Python (John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Eric Idle plus likeminded American Terry Gilliam) is often referred to as “The Beatles of Comedy.” In 1975, the group found their equivalent of The White Album…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: 1st Maverick Music Festival
The birth of a new music festival is always cause for some excitement, especially when the king of music festivals chooses San Antonio to start a new musical extravaganza. “San Antonio is a special city that doesn’t always get [as much] love [as it] should,” said Austin-based Gary Clark Jr., who has seized a lot…
Librotraficantes storm the Alamo
We’ve already told you this week about what critics are calling a conservative attempt to whitewash history classes in Texas universities and colleges. On Friday, protesters gathered in front of the Alamo to decry SB 1128, which would make it so that minority history classes – like Mexican-American, African-American, LGBT, or feminist history courses, for…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: Nairobi Half Life
A rube intent on conquering the big city is a familiar story, but what distinguishes director David “Tosh” Gitonga’s zestful new film is that the city is Nairobi. Set on success as an actor, cherubic George Mwas (Joseph Wairimu) must navigate an urban underworld of thieves, prostitutes, and killers. Kenya’s entry for foreign-language Oscar, Nairobi…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: “New Works 13.1”
Recently named director of the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Portugal, Melbourne-born Suzanne Cotter has worked as Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Curator for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project (scheduled to open in 2017). As guest curator at Artpace, Cotter selected the first trio for the institution’s 2013 International Artist-in-Residence cycle. Famous for a sense…
Actor Erik Estrada (AKA Ponch) defends San Antonio in ‘Chupacabra vs. the Alamo’
Actor Erik Estrada stars in the SyFy original movie “Chupacabra vs. the Alamo.” Best known for his role as California Highway Patrol Officer “Ponch” Poncherello during the 70s TV series CHiPs, actor Erik Estrada has been keeping busy over the last 20 years with a number of guest roles on TV. His latest is Chupacabra…
Union organizers claim shady tipping practices at city-owned Convention Center
Local organizers with Unite Here, a union representing hospitality workers and the scourge of downtown’s Grand Hyatt, smartly began to change gears last year, switching focus to an issue that touches not only service workers but customers of downtown hotels and restaurants as well. Organizers claim the Hyatt has for years been misleading guests and…
'Stoker' is all drips and no substance
No matter what the Hollywood vehicle, Mia Wasikowska always makes for good company during the ride. In Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s moody American debut, the young actress plays India Stoker, an aloof yet keenly watchful teen who is mourning the death of her father while experiencing the first stirrings of a sexual awakening. Wasikowska brings…
Brusketa Ristorante misses both heritages, but succeeds on its own
Consider this: people in other countries generally don’t try (or care) to execute American cuisine; the French, with the exception of a few chefs trained at the CIA, are left to their pots-au-feu; and Asians are mostly presumed to be the only ones capable of doing, say, pad Thai. But Italian? Everybody feels free to…
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies returns to San Anto
In June 2012, four doctoral candidates, three from the University of California at Santa Barbara and one from Michigan State University, became the world’s first Ph.D. graduates in Chicano Studies. It was a feat over 40 years in the making. Today’s university programs in Ethnic Studies arose from the efforts of college faculty and students…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I’m living in Mexico part of the year. I’m learning Spanish but can’t say I understand or speak well. I read several books about the history of Mexico and think I’m reasonably well informed. I’m curious about a phrase on a T-shirt in an expensive shop in Puerto Vallarta. It had interesting artwork…
Fitzgerald's: The melting pot venue
My first visit to Fitzgerald’s was unexpectedly filled with Wrangler-wearin’ cowboys, Texas country music, and the discovery of a nearby head shop called South Coast Smoke. Tucked away in the San Pedro Place shopping center (just outside loop 410) with no visible sign, I barreled into the live music venue on a Friday night when…
Gary Clark Jr. gives a little Austin love to SA's music scene
The birth of a new music festival is always cause for some excitement, especially when the king of music festivals chooses San Antonio to start a new musical extravaganza. "San Antonio is a special city that doesn’t always get [as much] love [as it] should," said Austin-based Gary Clark Jr., who has seized a lot…
'Phil Spector' tries to humanize the notorious music producer
Phil Spector (Sunday, 8 p.m., HBO) has a startling premise: that the freaky music producer might be a human being. Against the backdrop of his 2007 trial for murder, writer-director David Mamet tries to figure out what makes Spector tick. The movie forces viewers to confront their prejudices about the oddballs in our midst, especially…
'West of Memphis' is an interesting, if unoriginal, retelling of the West Memphis Three
How you receive Amy Berg’s (Deliver Us from Evil) documentary depends a lot on what you already know. Those who have never heard of the West Memphis 3, a trio of Arkansas teenagers who spent nearly two decades in prison for a crime they clearly did not commit, will probably experience despair and rage in…
After a powerful lobbyist intervenes, EPA Reverses Stance on polluting Texas county's water
When Uranium Energy Corp. sought permission to launch a large-scale mining project in Goliad County, Texas, it seemed as if the Environmental Protection Agency would stand in its way. To get the ore out of the ground, the company needed a permit to pollute a pristine supply of underground drinking water in an area already…
Activists claim new bill would gut minority history offerings in Texas colleges and universities
It took her a while to see it, but a simple, innocuous change to a half century-old law set off alarm bells in V. June Pedraza’s head. Filed just three days before the Legislature’s cut-off deadline, GOP state Sen. Dan Patrick’s SB 1128 would limit university and college courses that count as core-credit American history…
Crumpets has food events; more restaurant openings
Crumpets Restaurant & Bakery at 3920 Harry Wurzbach Rd. is holding a dinner this Friday, March 22, at 7 p.m. The five-course meal will pair French food with French wines (obviously). Guests will learn a bit about wine pairings during the meal. Seats are $70 per person. And it’s not too early to reserve a…
Erica Andrews: SA's brightest LGBT star is gone
See the Erica Andrews slideshow here. As she graces her way into the studio for her photo shoot, she steps into the room slowly, walking as if on freshly cut rose petals. Then she stops in the lobby, gazes around and slowly lowers her sunglasses to study her surroundings. Her regal presence is equally delicate…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings," says poet Muriel Rukeyser in her poem "Elegy in Joy." "Not all things are blest," she continues, "but the seeds of all things are blest. The blessing is in the seed." I urge you to adopt this perspective in the coming weeks, Aries. Be extra…
ALEC's influence peeks through several bills filed at the Lege this session
State Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, is on a mission: to stop out-of-work drug users from financing their habit with unemployment insurance. Well, some of them, at least. The thrust of Williams’ SB 21 would require that the Texas Workforce Commission conduct drug screening of anyone claiming unemployment insurance in the transportation and healthcare industries.…
Lonely Horse celebrates EP release
San Antonio’s Lonely Horse is a two-piece tribe comprised of Nick Long and Travis Hild. They make dark folk-rock which crackles with bluesy riffs. Dense and intense, Lonely Horse’s songs are emotionally explosive and spiritually charged works of art that will leave your little hairs standing on end and your mind wondering how two dudes…
Jimi Hendrix: 'People, Hell, and Angels ' (EP)
One of the great unanswered questions in rock history: What direction would Jimi Hendrix’s music have taken if he hadn’t died young? People, Hell and Angels doesn’t quite answer that question, but it makes some pretty powerful suggestions, and, remarkably, does so with tracks that haven’t already been picked to death by completists. It’s spotlessly…
Winners and losers emerge in beer battles at the Texas Lege
Beer drinkers, beer makers, and partisan politicians swarmed the Texas Capitol this month, wringing hands over how to modernize Texas’ antiquated beer laws. Craft brewers, two feuding beer wholesaler groups, beer-loving consumer advocates and representatives of some of the largest brewing conglomerates in the world hammered out a deal that had little to do with…
Stay Current with the Pick of the Day: The Shins
It’s been nine years since Natalie Portman’s adorably zany character in Garden State insisted that The Shins could change your life. Since that movie and their subsequent surge in popularity, The Shins have released two very good albums and taken one five-year hiatus – during which lead man James Mercer teamed with Danger Mouse on…
