Songs Outside The City

Scenes from SXSW Music: Ready or not, it’s all about to begin

Any way you look at it, preparing for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Conference is a little daunting. Let’s face it, with 2,000 bands playing on 80 stages all over Austin, and countless other related festivities, you’re going to be missing a lot at any given time ... even if you plan ahead. And who has time to plan ahead?

2010 marks my 17th South By, and every year I vow to be better organized in figuring out a schedule in advance. And, just about now, as the conference begins, it occurs to me that I’m nowhere near ready. It’s kind of like realizing the final exam is tomorrow and you didn’t actually attend any of the classes or do any of the homework.

If you’re lucky, the smart kids in class will help you out. With that in mind, I consulted a few SXSW veterans to get the scoop.

Notwithstanding all the panels and showcases, much of the fun to be had is at the roughly 1,000 sponsored parties going on during SXSW. So the first step is to check in with Americana music promoter extraordinaire Cary Baker to get his famous unofficial SXSW day party list. This labor of love (“a 12-year hobby … necessitating late nights and weekends leading up to South By”) has expanded to a 40-page summary of the best places to be at any given time, day or night. Best of all, many are free, with no badge or wristband required.

Another reliable source: the hour-by-hour SXSW show list from L.A. entertainment lawyer, Paste Magazine writer, and Houston expat Jeff Leven. For the first time in years, Jeff is missing South By, due largely to the March 3 arrival of his baby daughter. However, his meticulously compiled list arrived this week, complete with recommendations for a myriad of bands, including power-pop/punk quartet The Henry Clay People, singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno (who, among other accomplishments, wrote the theme song for NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation), and pop/rock trio Crash Kings, whose live show Jeff describes as "utterly stunning" and whose drummer, Jason Morris, also hails from Houston.

Next, do a quick survey of some Houstonians (actual and honorary) who are headed to SXSW this week to see what’s in their plans:

Carolyn Wonderland — (beloved multi-award winning guitarist/ singer/ songwriter/ pianist/ “trumpeteer” and Houston native): “I am really wanting to see American: The Bill Hicks Story (about the late iconic Houston comedian). We are playing at least once a day ... Official showcase is Wednesday 11:30 at Momo’s! I am looking forward to playing Video Ranch’s live virtual concert series. But the biggest thing I am looking forward to is the Million Musicians March for Peace at noon Saturday, meeting at the State Capitol and marching to City Hall. Everyone is encouraged to bring musical instruments and join the band. That’s what I know.”

Rick Heysquierdo – (host/producer for KPFT 90.1 FM’s popular Lone Star Jukebox program): “I want to be sure to catch one of John Hiatt’s shows (Hiatt has several gigs planned in support of his new CD, The Open Road). Also, I’ll be hosting a great showcase Friday afternoon at the Convention Center, featuring Carolina Chocolate Drops, Citizen Cope, the Court Yard Hounds (the side project of Dixie Chicks sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison) and Jakob Dylan with Neko Case and Kelly Hogan.”

Jesse Dayton — (“turbo-country” recording artist and local favorite of Houston and Austin audiences alike): “Looking forward to playing our official showcase with Raul Malo Wednesday night at the Continental Club in Austin with Mojo Nixon from Sirius/XM Radio hosting. Another show I'm looking forward to is playing guitar with Houston songwriter Mike Stinson for his showcase on Friday at 4 pm at Maria's for the Sin City Party. I produced Mike’s new CD that just came out, and it's getting rave reviews from newspapers all over the country."

Great ideas, all. Time for a deep breath. Let the music and mingling begin.

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Movie Review

Meta-comedy remake Anaconda coils itself into an unfunny mess

Photo by Matt Grace

Jack Black and Paul Rudd in Anaconda.

In Hollywood’s never-ending quest to take advantage of existing intellectual property, seemingly no older movie is off limits, even if the original was not well-regarded. That’s certainly the case with 1997’s Anaconda, which is best known for being a lesser entry on the filmography of Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez, as well as some horrendous accent work by Jon Voight.

The idea behind the new meta-sequel Anaconda is arguably a good one. Four friends — Doug (Jack Black), Griff (Paul Rudd), Claire (Thandiwe Newton), and Kenny (Steve Zahn) — who made homemade movies when they were teenagers decide to remake Anaconda on a shoestring budget. Egged on by Griff, an actor who can’t catch a break, the four of them pull together enough money to fly down to Brazil, hire a boat, and film a script written by Doug.

Naturally, almost nothing goes as planned in the Amazon, including losing their trained snake and running headlong into a criminal enterprise. Soon enough, everything else takes second place to the presence of a giant anaconda that is stalking them and anyone else who crosses its path.

Written and directed by Tom Gormican, with help from co-writer Kevin Etten, the film is designed to be an outrageous comedy peppered with laugh-out-loud moments that cover up the fact that there’s really no story. That would be all well and good … if anything the film had to offer was truly funny. Only a few scenes elicit any honest laughter, and so instead the audience is fed half-baked jokes, a story with no focus, and actors who ham it up to get any kind of reaction.

The biggest problem is that the meta-ness of the film goes too far. None of the core four characters possess any interesting traits, and their blandness is transferred over to the actors playing them. And so even as they face some harrowing situations or ones that could be funny, it’s difficult to care about anything they do since the filmmakers never make the basic effort of making the audience care about them.

It’s weird to say in a movie called Anaconda, but it becomes much too focused on the snake in the second half of the film. If the goal is to be a straight-up comedy, then everything up to and including the snake attacks should be serving that objective. But most of the time the attacks are either random or moments when the characters are already scared, and so any humor that could be mined all but disappears.

Black and Rudd are comedy all-stars who can typically be counted on to elevate even subpar material. That’s not the case here, as each only scores on a few occasions, with Black’s physicality being the funniest thing in the movie. Newton is not a good fit with this type of movie, and she isn’t done any favors by some seriously bad wigs. Zahn used to be the go-to guy for funny sidekicks, but he brings little to the table in this role.

Any attempt at rebooting/remaking an old piece of IP should make a concerted effort to differentiate itself from the original, and in that way, the new Anaconda succeeds. Unfortunately, that’s its only success, as the filmmakers can never find the right balance to turn it into the bawdy comedy they seemed to want.

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Anaconda is now playing in theaters.

movies film

Songs Outside The City

Scenes from SXSW Music: Ready or not, it’s all about to begin

Movie Review

Meta-comedy remake Anaconda coils itself into an unfunny mess

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