This article was written by one our great American journalists... me. But seriously GO SEE THIS MOVIE!
Make It Funky: 'Thunder Soul' Celebrates a High School Impresario
by Ron Deutsch
http://www.documentary.org/node/24254
1969 was a watershed year in America. Richard Nixon took the reigns of the US presidency. It was the year of Woodstock, the Chicago 8 trial, the Stonewall riots and Charles Manson's murder spree. Sesame Street debuted, and the Beatles played their last concert, on a London rooftop. It was also the year in which 55-year-old Conrad "Prof" O. Johnson went to Kashmere High School, in a rough section of Houston known as "the Bloody 5th" Ward, to teach music and lead the school stage band. Johnson needed to reach these kids, and it wasn't going to be through teaching them Tommy Dorsey or even Duke Ellington tunes. So he began incorporating funk and soul arrangements. The experiment worked. Not only were his students inspired, but they won national awards, played internationally and continued to do so until Johnson retired in 1978.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
TV Bites: Mean Streets
THE SNACK:
Zeppole
Got some crazy chest cold/flu thing the last few days which hit me hard. Lots of sleeping, eating lots of Thai soups, catching up on work, and planning my schedule for Fantastic Fest next week. The best part of Fantastic Fest is that my buddy and director Eugenio Mira will be my house guest for the duration. If you're unfamiliar with Eugenio's work, one of the coolest things he's ever done is actually in front of the camera. In the upcoming film, Red Lights, he got to play a young Robert De Niro! Check it out! That's mighty awesome, in my book. So how appropriate and coincidental that this is the film I chose for this edition....
Tomorrow, the 15th of September is the first day of the Feast of San Gennaro. And there's only ONE movie to watch, and only ONE food to eat to celebrate. So let's get to it....
Zeppole
Got some crazy chest cold/flu thing the last few days which hit me hard. Lots of sleeping, eating lots of Thai soups, catching up on work, and planning my schedule for Fantastic Fest next week. The best part of Fantastic Fest is that my buddy and director Eugenio Mira will be my house guest for the duration. If you're unfamiliar with Eugenio's work, one of the coolest things he's ever done is actually in front of the camera. In the upcoming film, Red Lights, he got to play a young Robert De Niro! Check it out! That's mighty awesome, in my book. So how appropriate and coincidental that this is the film I chose for this edition....
Tomorrow, the 15th of September is the first day of the Feast of San Gennaro. And there's only ONE movie to watch, and only ONE food to eat to celebrate. So let's get to it....
Friday, September 2, 2011
Tickets Available NOW!! - Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, Oct. 29
Time: Saturday October 29, 2011 · 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: Central Market North, 4001 North Lamar, Austin, TX
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE
For my eighth Chef du Cinema class I'll be celebrating Halloween by demonstrating a California-inspired menu of “fowl” play (chicken & egg), paired with “the master of suspense” Alfred Hitchcock's classic shocker, The Birds. The film, which takes place in the San Francisco Bay area begins as a romantic comedy between a rich socialite and a bachelor lawyer, but then takes a bizarre turn into the apocalyptic, as the world's bird population turns inexplicably against humans and begin randomly attacking us. The film was nominated for an Oscar in Special Effects and Tippi Hedren received a Golden Globe for her performance. After the cooking demonstration, we’ll watch the movie and enjoy the meal.
THE MENU:
Alfred Hitchcock's Quiche Lorraine
Classic California Caesar Salad
Quick Processor French Bread
Coq au Vin (made with Northern California Zinfandel)
North Beach Style Zabaione with fresh Berries
Location: Central Market North, 4001 North Lamar, Austin, TX
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE
For my eighth Chef du Cinema class I'll be celebrating Halloween by demonstrating a California-inspired menu of “fowl” play (chicken & egg), paired with “the master of suspense” Alfred Hitchcock's classic shocker, The Birds. The film, which takes place in the San Francisco Bay area begins as a romantic comedy between a rich socialite and a bachelor lawyer, but then takes a bizarre turn into the apocalyptic, as the world's bird population turns inexplicably against humans and begin randomly attacking us. The film was nominated for an Oscar in Special Effects and Tippi Hedren received a Golden Globe for her performance. After the cooking demonstration, we’ll watch the movie and enjoy the meal.
THE MENU:
Alfred Hitchcock's Quiche Lorraine
Classic California Caesar Salad
Quick Processor French Bread
Coq au Vin (made with Northern California Zinfandel)
North Beach Style Zabaione with fresh Berries
Saturday, August 27, 2011
TV Bites: Cul-de-Sac
THE SNACK:
Donald Pleasence's Fillet of Sole Bonne Femme
A shorter version of this post was originally published on the Criterion Collection website.
I'm going mad, I tell you! Mad! I dream of a bed made of ice. And snow. All the trees are covered in snow. And sweaters. I dream of wearing a scarf. A parka, even. Because it's cold. So very cold outside. I yearn to be only one place. And that place is.... ICE STATION ZEBRA!
Seriously, I finally understand the meaning of the word "hellacious." It is ungodly hot here in Texas. And all I'm going to say in reference to our esteemed governor, is that every time the weatherman says it looks like rain, the governor prays for rain, and then it doesn't rain. I'm just saying. Maybe his god is trying to tell him something?
Donald Pleasence's Fillet of Sole Bonne Femme
A shorter version of this post was originally published on the Criterion Collection website.
I'm going mad, I tell you! Mad! I dream of a bed made of ice. And snow. All the trees are covered in snow. And sweaters. I dream of wearing a scarf. A parka, even. Because it's cold. So very cold outside. I yearn to be only one place. And that place is.... ICE STATION ZEBRA!
Seriously, I finally understand the meaning of the word "hellacious." It is ungodly hot here in Texas. And all I'm going to say in reference to our esteemed governor, is that every time the weatherman says it looks like rain, the governor prays for rain, and then it doesn't rain. I'm just saying. Maybe his god is trying to tell him something?
Sunday, August 21, 2011
TV Bites: Footlight Parade
THE SNACK:
Joan Blondell's Chicken Chop Suey
I was reading an interview with Buck Henry and he was talking about movies, or scenes of movies, he carries in his head. Footlight Parade is one I've been carrying in my head for like 40 years now. I remember watching it on TV as a kid, and later seeing on the big screen at the Castro Theater in San Francisco whenever they showed it (at least once a year) in the late 70's & early 80's (which often led to visits afterwards to Sam Wo's for noodles). I think Joan Blondell may have been the first movie star crush I ever had. How could you not?
Joan Blondell's Chicken Chop Suey
I was reading an interview with Buck Henry and he was talking about movies, or scenes of movies, he carries in his head. Footlight Parade is one I've been carrying in my head for like 40 years now. I remember watching it on TV as a kid, and later seeing on the big screen at the Castro Theater in San Francisco whenever they showed it (at least once a year) in the late 70's & early 80's (which often led to visits afterwards to Sam Wo's for noodles). I think Joan Blondell may have been the first movie star crush I ever had. How could you not?
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The Class: The Harder They Come
THE CLASS:
Hot Pepper Shrimp
Jerk Chicken
Baked Yams with Sweet Onions & Ginger
Caribbean Cole Slaw
Gizzada (Spiced Sweet Coconut Tart)
When I was a teenager, there was this weird little theater in the quiet suburb of Uniondale, New York called the Uniondale Mini-Cinema. Before the "midnight movie" craze hit the mainstream, this was one of those first experiments in letting young people, especially young people who were influenced by what was then known as "the counter-culture," and certainly those who had a love and reverence for movies, be allowed to program an actual movie theater.
Now remember this was before there were videotapes, or even cable TV. This was the only place where you could stay up all night and watch Marx Brothers movies, the new "concert" films like Woodstock or Jimi Plays Berkeley, and was a home for "outsider" filmmakers such as Robert Downey Sr. and John Waters. Later, after I had gone to seek my fortunes on the West Coast, it was one of the first theaters to do the whole Rocky Horror Picture Show thing. But it was also one of the first theaters to run The Harder They Come.
Hot Pepper Shrimp
Jerk Chicken
Baked Yams with Sweet Onions & Ginger
Caribbean Cole Slaw
Gizzada (Spiced Sweet Coconut Tart)
When I was a teenager, there was this weird little theater in the quiet suburb of Uniondale, New York called the Uniondale Mini-Cinema. Before the "midnight movie" craze hit the mainstream, this was one of those first experiments in letting young people, especially young people who were influenced by what was then known as "the counter-culture," and certainly those who had a love and reverence for movies, be allowed to program an actual movie theater.
Now remember this was before there were videotapes, or even cable TV. This was the only place where you could stay up all night and watch Marx Brothers movies, the new "concert" films like Woodstock or Jimi Plays Berkeley, and was a home for "outsider" filmmakers such as Robert Downey Sr. and John Waters. Later, after I had gone to seek my fortunes on the West Coast, it was one of the first theaters to do the whole Rocky Horror Picture Show thing. But it was also one of the first theaters to run The Harder They Come.
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