Nick Oliveri ranks as rock’s most abrasive personality, having been kicked out of the drug-addled Queens of the Stone Age (“the band of no rules now has fuckin’ rules,” he griped in a statement after his dismissal) and, more recently, booted from the depraved Dwarves. The Genitorturers, an industrial-metal group known for its shocking stage spectacles, seems like the type…
British trip-hop outfit Portishead has been on an eight-year hiatus, but its DJ, Andy Smith, hasn’t squandered the downtime. To promote the third installment of his mix-tape series, The Document, djandysmith.com has posted a handful of recent live sets. Available only overseas, The Document III is the perfect after-hours blend of funk, soul, hip-hop and reggae. But why waste a…
That one guy who plays guitar and sings “Copacabana” while a drum machine plunks out digi-congas in the background — yeah, that’s not a one-man band. The man known as That One Guy, however, who sings and slaps strings attached to multiple metal pipes and dances across kick pedals? He is. So is This Is My Condition’s solo voce Craig…
Tons of so-called fans on the Friends of Neil Diamond Web site have been talking mad smack about what has come to be known to loyal Diamondbacks as “The Shilo Debacle of ’68.” I’m here to set the record straight. You see, I’m Shilo. Yes, that Shilo — the imaginary childhood friend after whom Diamond named the song “Shilo.”…
The late-’70s-born British trio Venom coined the term “black metal” and set the standard for every speed-shredding, pentagram-emblazoned act to come. The recently released boxed set MMV, packed with preposterous material, suggests that Venom also established the template for Spinal Tap. Here are the hilarious highlights. Terry, have you seen my pentagram codpiece? Venom started the use of mythical names,…
Pat Hopewell is 41 and looks like Rob Reiner playing a construction worker, bouncy and bald, with a white beard and eyes that shoot blue sparks of excitement when his favorite subjects come up. For a living, he bends tubes of glass to make neon signs, and for fun, once a week, he hosts Trivia Clash at the Record Bar….
For richer or poorer, the area is now home to yet another married-couple band. If the area’s most famous wedlocked group, the Mates of State, are the annoying hipster newlyweds whose arguments and makeup sex keep neighbors awake at night, then Hiram Lucke and Melissa Rodenbeek are like Ward and June Cleaver with Ph.D.s in literature. But that’s not to…
A common criticism of Hollywood from the right side of the political spectrum is that it hasn’t made any movies that deal with the war on terror. That probably has less to do with political bias than it does with financial bottom line — the only two recent mainstream movies to touch on the theme of America versus terrorists were…
If you’re a fan of C.S. Lewis, all you need to know is this: Disney has done right by him with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s impossible to imagine a better adaptation. If you’re not a fan, perhaps you’re among those who know of the book mainly thanks to the bleating of…
Warner Bros. put $50 million into Syriana and allowed writer-director Stephen Gaghan as much time and travel as necessary to research and write his story. The studio would be well advised to pony up a few extra bucks to provide filmgoers with a flow chart that connects the scattered dots that make up this movie about the high price…
Bossa Nova Diamonds in the rough: I have been a faithful reader and follower of the Pitch for more than three years. I recently stumbled upon your pathetic new column “Ask the Boss Bitch.” Priceless Diamonds is a waste of the urban experience. She is degrading to black women all over the world, especially those here truly repping KCMO (south…
Hip-hop MC Priceless Diamonds describes herself as a “boss bitch” who grew up boosting clothes and turning the occasional trick. She’s no angel, but she’s got advice. So listen up, y’all. Why are women always attracted to assholes? It seems we’re always attracted to the mean guy! We want someone who can bully us around because we can be bullies…
During the first week of December 2005, the Kansas battle over intelligent design escalated after the head of the Religious Studies Department at the University of Kansas posted scandalous e-mails on an Internet discussion board run by a student atheist group. Though he was a respected teacher and researcher, Professor Paul Mirecki was prone to writing unflattering things about Christians…
At a party thrown two years ago above the sweetly swank Blue Bird Bistro, Heather Hands soaked up the spotlight. Her guests came to the Crossroads District restaurant to toast the impending success of her plan to bring produce from the prairie to people’s doors. Hands gave an impassioned speech about her vision, which would pour money into the pockets…
As kids, Jack Haley Jr. and his cousin John Frank Smith looked more alike than most brothers. And as they grew older, both were of the same height and build and had similar facial features. Both wore their hair short and spiky. “In the dark, most people would think they was twins,” recalls Jack’s mother, Mary Haley. Smith was three…
Dirty Love (First Look) Dragonball Movie Boxed Set (Funimation) Everybody Loves Raymond: The Complete Fifth Season (Warner Bros.) Fun With Dick and Jane (1977) (Columbia/Tristar) The Future of Food (Cinema Libre) Gilbert Gottfried: Dirty Jokes (Image) God Save the Queen: Punk Rock Anthology (Music Video Dist.) Hellbound (Warner Bros.) He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special (BCI Eclipse) Jackass: The Boxed…
In less than a decade, first-person shooters like Doom and Halo have grown from a niche genre to a cottage industry. Whether it’s our love for their immersiveness, competition or just old-fashioned bloodlust, the popularity of FPS games shows no sign of waning. They’ve become so much of a draw, in fact, that people will buy a brand-new, outrageously…
<Cinderella Man (Universal) Back in the Great Depression, boxing matches only cost a nickel and the ring was uphill both ways. That’s the central message of this well-made if sappy bio of 1930s boxer Jim Braddock. Ron Howard’s direction and a stellar cast save the film from its one-dimensional characters and retread plot; Russell Crowe, in particular, is mesmerizing,…
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Empire) Caterina in the Big City (Empire) CSI: Five-Season Pack (Paramount) Death to the Supermodels (Columbia/Tristar) Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (Columbia/Tristar) Empire (Buena Vista) Family Guy: Volume 3 (Fox) Formula 17 (Strand) The Frighteners: Director’s Cut (Universal) The Hives: Tussles in Brussels (Universal Music) Hollywood and Vine (Gotham) Jurassic Park Adventure Pack (Universal) Legends…
If Hollywood wants to learn from the video-game industry — which outgrossed the box office last year — it should pay careful attention to Shadow of the Colossus, a game with the epic scale of a summer blockbuster but the emotional heart of an indie flick. Shadow is brought to you by the same creative team that made Ico, a…
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Fox) The pairing of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, both in real life and on celluloid, is so obvious as to be almost cartoonish. So even though both are better actors than they need to be, they perfectly belong in this goofy, explosion-filled world. Married assassins trading bullets and smoldering looks … this is what the…
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story A class-A crowd pleaser guaran-damn-teed to make you hiccup the Holly songbook all the way home from Hallmark Land. The script is silly, but the show’s achievement is the way it evokes that thrill of creation. Sure, “Peggy Sue” couldn’t have come together as quickly as it does here, but there’s joy in watching it…
Charlotte Street Foundation The Charlotte Street Foundation awards show isn’t your average group show, lumping together somewhat disparate artists with a theme or linking their work by period or subject. Instead, the CSF artists whose work hangs together at Johnson County Community College’s Gallery of Art share something else: recognition and the funding that comes with it. This year’s award…
In his latest paintings, Warren Rosser seems to perceive color as sound. And because the predominant color is gray, the work signifies silence. The seven paintings in Rosser’s Hide and Seek: The Grey Paintings are displayed in Jan Weiner’s comfortable and intimate West Plaza gallery. Weiner has worked with Rosser in various capacities for the past 20 years, and…
