Twin Towers
The title of John Woo’s Face/Off is meant to be taken literally. John Travolta and Nicolas Cage play adversaries who swap faces. Here’s how: FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta) has been single-mindedly tracking terrorist nut Castor Troy (Cage) ever since Castor’s botched assassination attempt six years earlier, in which he…
Batman on Ice
Bring earplugs to Batman & Robin. A pair of noseplugs wouldn’t hurt either. The fourth installment in the Batman franchise is one long head-splitting exercise in clueless cacophony that makes you feel as though you’re being held hostage in some haywire Planet Hollywood while sonic booms pummel your auditory canals…
Besieged by the Bay
It’s a beautiful, breezy day on Galveston Bay, and Rick Handley is in his element, taking in the world from the deck of neighbor Sonny Butler’s home overlooking the water. There are cold beers all around, and Handley is his usual off-color self, joking and taking playful digs at his…
Pain for the Prosecution
Were it not for the tequila haze, Kristen Pain might have realized she was about to be busted. During her five years in the Harris County District Attorney’s office, she’d learned to look for lies and little inconsistencies. She knew how criminals got caught, and she knew the penalties they…
The Insider
Father of the Year One thing you can say for City Councilman John Kelley: He’s a doting dad, particularly on his 35-year-old son Shaun, a gym instructor and weightlifter who lived with his parents before landing at his current address, the downtown county jail. After the earlier dismissal of a…
Expect the Unexpected
One objective of Elyse Lanier’s Houston Image Group, as you may recall, was to correct the supposed misimpressions of our city being conveyed by the national media. To that and other ends, the mayoral wife and her Image Group cronies are in line to spend upward of $5 million in…
Great Brown Hope
With her arms pinned to her sides, Gracie Saenz stood frozen on the elevated stage in front of City Hall, buffeted, literally, by a force that was beyond her control. A few minutes earlier, the councilwoman had formally declared her candidacy for mayor. The mariachi band had played a number…
Letters
People Get Ready There was one sentence in the article on the RTC program [“Between Friends,” by Brian Wallstin, June 5] that really said it all: “The shadowy figures and irregular transactions outlined in the HUD audit of the RTC program underscore the lack of regard the Lanier administration has…
Press Picks
thursday june 26 National HIV Testing Day Today and tomorrow, Planned Parenthood offers free AIDS tests and counseling. 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. At various locations: Fannin Clinic, 3601 Fannin, 529-8844; Southwest Clinic, 6121 Hillcroft, Suite O, 272-0544; Greenspoint Clinic, 11834 Airline, (281) 445-4553; Stafford Clinic, 3727 Greenbriar, Suite 118, Stafford, (281)…
All Grown Up
Sometimes, musical maturity takes a while. In the case of saxophonist George Howard, who recorded his first CD in 1982, it took a decade and a half. But now everything’s starting to jell. On Attitude Adjustment, his most recent release (not counting this year’s greatest hits package), the grooves have…
Houston Press 1997 Music Awards Preview
At times, we must admit, putting together the ballot for the Press Music Awards engenders a touch of deja vu. Familiar names (can you say Carolyn Wonderland? Jesse Dayton? Joe “Guitar” Hughes?) keep popping up. Not that that’s necessarily bad; this would be a poorer town musically if the reliables…
Young Punks
“Come support the future of trash rock.” Willie Dunivan, the haggard, 35-year-old lead singer of Pure Rubbish, is plugging the band’s upcoming show at Instant Karma, giving his voice a rest and his bandmates a moment to wipe the sweat from their brows. It’s a muggy afternoon at the Zocalo…
Chucking Chuck E.
Rickie Lee Jones doesn’t want to be here. Well, here, maybe — in the Novel Cafe in Santa Monica, a nice place for a cup of coffee or a light lunch. Rare and used books line the walls, and patrons keep to themselves. It’s a pleasant enough spot to kill…
Static
Honor thy dinosaurs… In a music scene so often intent on undermining tradition, paying tribute to one’s rock and roll forefathers has never been a real priority. Yet lately, classic rock tribute shows have been popping up all over Houston. Back in April, Rockefeller’s hosted “Pop Goes the Beatles,” featuring…
Soft and Crabby
Signaled by the first full moon of May, a culinary miracle occurs in the warming waters of the Texas Gulf Coast. Blue crabs, more formally known as Callinectes sapidus or “savory swimmers,” begin to grow again after a winter of semi-hibernation. To deal with this growth, the crab must shed…