Recent Reviews
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Dir. Michel Gondry; writ. Charlie Kaufman, Gondry, Pierre Bismuth; feat. Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo (R) A clinic on Long Island called Lacuna has developed a neural technology that makes it possible to expunge particular memories from a client’s brain. Exasperated by…
A Tale of Two Cooking Schools
Chef Jason Dady of The Lodge in Castle Hills takes a Central Market class through the preparation of a vegetable ragout as chef Natalia Sokolova looks on. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) A Tale of Two Cooking Schools “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” – an overused phrase to be…
The Job
From front: house special Trout a la Valentina and a bowl of Italian wedding soup. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) The Job By Ron Bechtol Soprano makes you an offer you can’t refuse “Big Night” diners who expect automatic meatballs would have an honorable out at Soprano. You can add them to your spaghetti order; they’re…
House Warming
Eddie Spettro released his latest CD, Southern Boy, in February. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) House Warming By Gilbert Garcia Eddie Spettro is an acclaimed producer, but he’d rather be known as a DJ Before Eddie Spettro was a respected house-music DJ/producer, he was a dancer, basking in rave euphoria at warehouses in his hometown of…
What Goes Around Comes Around
A recycling bin waits for pickup. Photo by Laura McKenzie What Goes Around Comes Around By Laura Fries Companies compete to win San Antonio’s recycling contract Once a week, San Antonio puts out its green bins of recyclables for collection. A large City truck comes by, a man gets out, and bends over to lift…
Sound and the Fury
Sound and the Fury Compiled by Gilbert Garcia a week on the scene Independent Women, Inc. The vaunted Ladies First tour hit SBC Center on March 17, and even if you ignored the intermittent evidence of musical substance, you had to be impressed by the advertising muscle on display. Upon entering the arena, you were…
Double Deutsche
Aaron Salas dances to the sounds of House Nation during the Night to be Free II party organized by House Nation and Mi Casa Su Casa at Space on East Commerce. (Photo by Mark Greenberg) Double Deutsche By Gilbert Garcia Lederhosen Lucil is making Canada safe for Bavarian electro-pop Lederhosen Lucil must have been jealous.…
The Invisible People
The Invisible People By Abraham Mahshie New study seeks to define the social costs of dyslexia Imagine a 5-year-old boy in elementary school is one of the 10-20 percent of children who has dyslexia, but he is never diagnosed. His reading disorder is dismissed or improperly tested, and although he is intelligent, he can’t differentiate…
Mass Movimiento
Grupo Fantasma Mass Movimiento By John DeFore Two years ago, Austin’s Grupo Fantasma was the object of hot interest from major labels south of the border, and the band had good reason to take that interest seriously. Without a label’s financial support, how the hell was a 10-piece band supposed to tour? And without touring,…
Still Haggard
Merle Haggard Still Haggard By Gilbert Garcia A couple of weeks ago, a British-made documentary of Johnny Cash’s legendary 1969 concert at San Quentin aired for the first time in the United States, on Trio. In this fascinating film, we see an animated Cash tear through a set of his classics for one of the…
Arts Here Today, Gone Today
Dallas-based Ludwig Schwarz is sincerely ‘zeitgeist’ Bespoke or mass market? Record of an event, or testament to a prolific imagination? Dallas-based Ludwig Schwarz plays games with originality, autonomy, and production to question the role of art in a consumer culture. His one-man show, chronologic (carry on) is at Three Walls gallery through Friday, March 26,…
Artifacts
Sandra Cisneros Artifacts Compiled by Elaine Wolff News and notes from the San Antonio art scene Caramelo for a cause. This Saturday, Esperanza celebrates 10 years in its home on San Pedro Avenue with a benefit performance and dance featuring Sandra Cisneros and her well-received 2002 novel Caramelo. Director Graciela Sanchez notes that while Cisneros…
Flesh-Eating In the Food Court
A zombie in hot pursuit goes from undead to dead in the 2004 remake of George Romero’s classic horror flick. Flesh-Eating In the Food Court By John DeFore The zombie renaissance continues, thank goodness A recent issue of The New Yorker has a long profile of the man who invented the shopping mall, a man…
Armchair Cinephile
Armchair Cinephile John DeFore on DVD Goin’ to church Who thought that 2004 would be the year Hollywood considered making religious epics again? For every group of execs reasonably declaring that The Passion’s success is a one-time thing, there’s one producer standing to the side and thinking, “but still … ” As if to remind…
Film Noir From Black Pulp
David Arquette stars as author Paul Paskoff in Never Die Alone Film Noir From Black Pulp By Steven G. Kellman DMX’s new film is a formulaic drama of urban violence and vengeance You can tell that Paul Paskoff (Arquette) is a serious author, not only by the rickety manual typewriter on which he pounds out…
Special Screenings
Cindy Chupack Special Screenings Producing the popular arts Trinity University presents a free public lecture by Cindy Chupack on Monday, March 29, as part of its Stieren Arts Enrichment Series. The writer and executive producer for the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning show, Sex and the City, will discuss the differences in producing a show…
