With the proliferation of shows featuring aliens out to conquer the Earth, I thought I would come up with a thought-provoking column. Then I heard the call of George Clinton.

BY BELINDA ACOSTA

Screens Reviews

The Man Who Fell to Earth and Bad Timing

Musicians make uneasy actors. With his directorial debut, 1970's 'Performance,' Nicolas Roeg characteristically tossed convention out the hotel window by casting Mick Jagger as one of the leads. He would follow up with David Bowie and Art Garfunkel.

Film Reviews

Green Street Hooligans

The psychotically testosterized world of British football hooliganism, with its crimson tide of fist-in-mouth male bonding and lager-lout bad manners, is captured in this post LOTR Elijah Wood movie.

In Her Shoes

Even if these Shoes are not perfectly stitched, the fit is nevertheless comfortable and the look is polished.

Oliver Twist

Some may doubt the need to once more bring Dickens’ tale to the screen, but Polanski’s deft adaptation proves that there’s still life in that well-worn story of a boy who beats the odds.

Proof

As with many film adaptations of stage successes, David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about mathematics and madness loses something in its translation to celluloid.

Thumbsucker

The plot realistically mimics a teenager’s adriftness and tendency toward hairpin-turn mood shifts as it bounds from the wonderfully affecting to the decidedly idiosyncratic to the occasionally absurd.

Tony Takitani

This adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s eponymous short story is a delicate little curio, lighter than air and gravely philosophical at once.

Two for the Money

Pacino again plays another Mephistophelean type who mentors McConaughey's ex-jock in the intricacies of his tout service, offering tips to betters on the Vegas line, but the film is about as fresh as a day-old betting slip.

Waiting ...

This frequently offensive and doggedly disgusting film about working in the restaurant industry is technically inept and wholly crude.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

This new animated comedy is a brilliantly conceived and executed bit of Brit wit, perfect for both kids and their parents and anyone even remotely interested in laughing themselves silly.

arts & culture

The Dish on Desire

In 'American Fiesta,' Austin's favorite economist / playwright / actor has plenty to say about what makes us want

BY LOWELL BARTHOLOMEE

Austin Theatre: Free for All (At Least for a Night)

A national audience development campaign that's offering a free night of theatre on Oct. 20 has cast Austin in a starring role for its national premiere

BY ROBERT FAIRES

The Faces of Austin: Face-Off

City Hall gets more artsy this week with the debut of Faces of Austin, a new program that features 25 works by Central Texas filmmakers celebrating what makes Austin Austin

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Austin Lyric Opera: Breaking Glass

For Austin Lyric Opera's 20th season, artistic director Richard Buckley has lined up the American premiere of Philip Glass' opera 'Waiting for the Barbarians'