“The arts are thriving” is a password at a crucial moment in The Farewell, a German film from director Jan Schutte that is one of the entries in FilmFest Kansas City. In the movie, set in a divided Germany in 1956, the phrase prompts a political arrest. Regarding the thirty-plus films screened this weekend, though, it’s an understatement. Festival organizers…
The not-so-great American pastime of serial killing has splattered pop culture in recent years, but from the biopics of America’s Most Unwanted to the nervy theatricality of Anthony Perkins, Kevin Spacey or even David Byrne (whose Talking Heads song “Psycho Killer” says it all), one legend stands tall: that of Hannibal Lecter. Nasty, effete Dr. Lecter is smarter than…
Loaded for bear: Please, please, PLEASE satisfy my urge to blow up all the damn scary bears by giving us an “end of the year” Teddy Scare of the Week review. I will personally be responsible for hand-delivering copies to the thoughtful sponsors of this wonderful display of postmodernism — those buffoons! Roberto Irwin Kansas City, Missouri Editor’s note: As…
Like most of its trains, Kansas City Southern was late on Friday, when Mayor Kay Barnes was the railroad’s guest to dedicate its corporate headquarters and boast about downtown revitalization. KCS has been operating from its new digs at Cathedral Square on Quality Hill since April 8. Maybe the company had been too busy looking for its trains to throw…
Northeast High School senior Philong Nguyen aced a test last spring and earned an invitation to participate in the Math and Physics Institute, a college-level program offered by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. All summer, he looked forward to attending the MPI’s daily classes. Other Kansas City School District students were excited as well. Five from his school had enrolled…
Sometimes when a man goes to jail at Leavenworth Prison, his father drives him. His father buys him one last Frosty at Wendy’s and frets about being late for the 2 p.m. reporting time. His father wonders which of the driveways leading to the gray fortress is the right one, then repeats himself into the intercom at the gate, spelling…
