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

Action-packed Kraven the Hunter showcases gritty Marvel antihero

Photo by Jay Maidment

Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kraven the Hunter.

One of the oddest things about the blockbuster era we live in is that while Disney owns the rights to the majority of Marvel comic book characters, Sony Pictures owns the rights to Spider-Man and any affiliated characters. Since they’re sharing Spider-Man himself with Disney, Sony has been trying to capitalize on those rights by making stand-alone films using niche characters that only comic book fanatics would know.

Having exhausted Venom and whiffed on attempts with Morbius and Madame Web, they’re trying again with Kraven the Hunter. Also known as Sergei Kravinoff, Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is a self-styled vigilante who, as the film tells it, travels the world exacting vengeance on the truly bad people of the world. He’s the son of Nikolai (Russell Crowe), a hard-edged Russian oligarch, and brother to Dmitri (Fred Hechinger), who is relatively weak compared to the rest of his family.

The origin story has Kraven gaining his animal-like powers - including super-strength, speed, and jumping abilities - as a teenager from a mysterious serum given to him by a girl named Calypso (played as an adult by Ariana DeBose) after he was mauled by a lion. The two maintain a tenuous partnership as adults, with Calypso helping him hunt down other villains like Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola) and The Foreigner (Christopher Abbott).

Directed by J.C. Chandor and written by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway, the film looks and feels enormously lazy, something made merely to hold on to potentially valuable intellectual property. Other than the tense family dynamic between the Kravinovs, little makes sense in the story. Kraven has an indecipherable moral code that has him going after poachers - because he’s part lion? - in addition to other high-powered criminals, with no clear goal except to … get back at his father?

The laziness extends to the action scenes, which feature Kraven being mostly impervious to any damage, whether it’s hand-to-hand combat, knives, or guns. The CGI-heavy scenes don’t even allow moviegoers to enjoy an R-rated bloody free-for-all, as all of the blood splatter is computer-generated, too. Since apparently one Spider-Man villain is not enough, three others make appearances with abilities that are under-explained and CGI that is poorly done.

That’s not even counting Calypso, another Spider-Man villain whose purpose in this film is nebulous at best. Her early connection with Kraven is so coincidental as to be laughable, and her continued reasons for helping him as an adult strain credulity as well. The only saving grace of her presence is that the filmmakers don’t try to shoehorn romance into the plot; perhaps they’re saving that for the (inevitable?) sequel.

Taylor-Johnson has had one of the most prolific-yet-anonymous careers in modern Hollywood, with appearances in big films like The Fall Guy, Bullet Train, and Tenet that have made very little impact. Even as the star here, he fails to hold your attention, with the story and visuals doing him no favors. DeBose has followed up her Oscar win for West Side Story with schlock like I.S.S., Argylle, and this, which doesn’t bode well for her career. At least Crowe gets to chew the scenery.

With a contractual inability to mention the name “Spider-Man,” movies like Kraven the Hunter exist in a weird area that forces filmmakers to make up stories for characters to which most people have no attachment. And just like Sony’s previous efforts, it is a very poor way to spend two hours in a movie theater; avoid at all costs.

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Kraven the Hunter opens in theaters on December 13.

movies film