So-so sushi
Our food writer finds passable dining at Hanatei
NEW REVIEWS
Let’s skip the which-is-the-best-Hannibal-Lecter-story-or-movie debate, and acknowledge that the series has been built beautifully (even Hannibal, for this reviewer, added some juice). Red Dragon, a remake of the pre-Anthony Hopkins Manhunter, and an interpretation of the first book in the trilogy, is creepy and nasty as all get-out. Besides the unfilmed slaughter of whole families,…
THE SANDS OF TIME
Writing about the back-and-forth, freakazoid chronology of this week’s Rules of Attraction, I couldn’t help thinking about the relentlessly forward tick-tock-tick of 24. A new six-DVD set from 20th Century Fox compiles the series’ first season, which (for those who live in blissful isolation from television) takes place in real time, chronicling exactly one day…
THINK PINK
How do you make a Pink Martini? You take a handful of pedigreed classical musicians, add a multilingual torch singer, folkloric percussionists, and an all-star jazz horn section. Shake well. Eight years, countless performances and 130,000 CDs later, you might have a genuine phenomenon on your hands. Stylistic switch hitters Pink Martini, who hail from…
THE LURE OF THAT LAST TRACK
Work in record stores for long, and you’ll see them: occasional releases you might call magnetic records. Records you put on the store system, and within moments customers – hipsters, middle-aged couples, and folks you thought were just killing time ’til rush hour was over – are drifting over to the counter, saying, “Um, what’re…
BANGIN’ THE PROVERBIAL BOX
A casual observer might mistake Bad Boy Bill’s mad DJing skills for black magic — the frantic friction of metallic sparks shooting from his fingers mesmerizing the crowd into a submissive sway of skin and sweat. But the truth to the turntablist’s persuasive power lies not in technique but in science: He is a modern…
SHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM
This promising Midwest foursome is proficient, albeit not precise, in their synthesis of the vogue ’60s garage- rock sound. Their 2001 release, Take Off on Orange Recordings earned them a fair amount of press chatter and heavy college radio airplay — achievements their somewhat muddled demo could never foster. I am, however, willing to give…
BATTLING APATHY
Before the Friday was through, Robert C. Dawson, T.C. Calvert, and Martin Casteñeda must have spoken these five words at least 500 times: “Are you registered to vote?” At the Handy Andy at Rigsby and W.W. White, just three days before the registration deadline, the trio held court at a red, white, and blue table,…
CROWNING INSULTS IN AQUIFER RACE
Peña and Martinez are friends with Gil Coronado, an appointee to the board, who apparently is uncertain about facing Rice for an elected seat — or even for lunch. No, really, Coronado wants to protect the aquifer — the EAA board’s mission — but well, money might get in the way. “Coronado opposes the PGA,”…
NEW WEAPONS IN THE WAR ON TOXIC MOLD
When a water stain appeared on the ceiling, it was discovered that a leaky air-conditioning line had bred a big patch of black mold in the attic, and spewed water down the walls and under the floors. Five weeks later, as their health continued to deteriorate, the Richardson family abandoned their home and nearly all…
A DAY FOR DOUG
Somewhere in the seedy side of heaven there is a place for Doug Sahm. No doubt he has plenty of company: Hank is there, and so is Elvis, and Stevie Ray, and all the other musicians who meant so much to all of us. Townes Van Zandt busies himself writing timeless ballads, and Lefty Frizzell…
SPECTACULARLY DEPRAVED
Aside from 1994’s widely panned Killing Zoe, writer/director Roger Avary exists on the cinematic radar only because of his former affiliation with Quentin Tarantino; Avary has always given the impression that his contributions to QT’s screenplays were far more substantial than the appropriation-friendly auteur would acknowledge. So it’s no surprise that this film, with its…
