Coming up with a timetable for leaving Iraq isn't unpatriotic or cowardly; and Bush's EPA proposes a new rule for testing toxic pesticides on humans, giving pesticide corporations clear-cut exceptions to the supposed federal ban on human testing

BY JIM HIGHTOWER

food

Top Shelf

Austin's offerings for a little kitchen reading

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

Food-o-File

'Tis the season for birth and rebirth; plus, former Bitter End chef about to step into 'Hell's Kitchen'?

BY VIRGINIA B. WOOD

music

One in a Million

Possessed by hellfire roots: Austin's one-man bands

BY AUDRA SCHROEDER

Reissues

Gift guide

TCB

Super mega huge rock stars foreign (Coldplay) and homegrown (Spoon) pay a visit as the Grammys surprise Destiny's Child, Los Lonely Boys, and Norah Jones with nominations. Is this what the big time feels like?

BY CHRISTOPHER GRAY

Arts String

The Biscuit Brothers

Meet the Biscuits

screens

Merian C. Cooper's Big Adventure

Plus, Wajda's war films, 'The L Word,' Harold Lloyd, and a 'Jurassic' fetish

In Space

Online commerce puts customers on hold; here's how to get out of the loop

In Print

It might look perfect for the Defamer.com-addicted ghoul on your list, but it's really just a coffeetable-safe Hollywood Babylon

BY SPENCER PARSONS

Film News

Suzanne Quinn, the first and only director of Austin Studios, steps down; plus, news from Slamdance and the Independent Spirit Awards, Avril Lavigne, the Jim Henson Co., and Jerm Pollett

BY JOE O'CONNELL

TV Eye

Austin is Comedy Central

BY BELINDA ACOSTA

Film Reviews

Brokeback Mountain

The beautifully wrought film is a tragic love story (not a "gay cowboy movie") that’s defined by its staggering heartbreak.

Cape of Good Hope

There's a sweet bent to this simple South African film about a multicultural group of employees at a Cape Town animal shelter who find both goodness and hope in their troubled lives.

The Family Stone

This likable romantic comedy runs the gamut of emotions – hitting tenderness, rage, remorse, and everything in between – but there are too many characters with too little chemistry to be a real keeper.

King Kong

Jackson's remake is a corker of an action/monster movie: part RKO serial; part square-jawed, manly romp; and part classic journey into the unknown that recalls and references Heart of Darkness.

arts & culture

Artful Presents

Local gift suggestions from the Art Elf Prize Patrol

BY ROBERT FAIRES

First Night Austin

First Night Austin gets ready to ring out the old year in a big way, with a cultural extravaganza on a scale the city has never before seen

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Holiday Productions

Five performing arts groups that revive holiday-themed shows every December share the traditions they've developed within these seasonal traditions

BY BARRY PINEO

Jennifer Bell

Jennifer Bell, who is neither Italian nor Catholic, is one of four artists invited to show her paintings in a memorial exhibit for Pope John Paul II in southeastern Italy

BY ROBERT FAIRES

Arts Reviews

A Christmas Carol

The State Theater Company brings its artistry to bear on that most conventional show of the season, 'A Christmas Carol,' and delivers a perfectly packaged production

Black Nativity

From the prologue through the rousing finale, ProArts Collective's new production of 'Black Nativity' saturates the Christmas story in rich emotion

The Nutcracker

Ballet Austin's 43rd production is what you might call a big-ticket ballet, a sensational show that's all about dreams coming true

'Temporary Dividers'

Ars Ipsa's exhibition Temporary Dividers temporarily divides its contents into 'art,' but the ideas of these contents, viruslike, are likely to permanently accompany your life

columns