Explore works by Errol Morris. By which we mean, watch the following movies: July 11, Fast, Cheap, and Out Of Control. July 18, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons From the Life Of Robert S. McNamara.. Tags: Errol Morris, Night & Day, Robert McNamara
Sicko is just the latest volley. With Double Indemnity, director Billy Wilder fired the first shot in Hollywood’s war against the insurance industry 63 years back, turning a story of murder, lovers and the fine print of life-insurance policies into what might be the definitive American film noir. Noir, of course, is the Frenchy catch-all term for crime films of…
Knitting can be done anywhere, but sometimes it’s best to practice the popcorn stitch in an environment that truly embraces needles-and-yarn art. The comfy couches at MisKnits, a hip, new yarn shop at 3904 Terrace, are open to knitters whenever the store is. Today, that’s from 1 to 5 p.m. (For complete store hours, see misknits.com or call 816-531-5809.) Young,…
Baa Baa Black Sheep: Volume 2 (Universal) Baseball’s Most Unbreakable Feats (Shout!) Batfink: The Complete Series (Shout) Disappearances (Universal) Dora the Explorer: Summer Explorer (Paramount) Degrassi: The Next Generation — Season 5 (Funimation) Dream a Little Dream 2 (Echo Bridge) Driving Lessons (Sony) Eureka: Season One (Universal) Filmation’s Ghostbusters: Volume Two (Brentwood) George Lopez: America’s Mexican (HBO) Ghost in the…
When Resident Evil 4 was originally released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2005, the game reinvented a lot of what had grown tiresome about the series. Most obvious were the setting and enemies you faced: Instead of the various building-overrun-by-zombies scenarios that played out in past versions, Resident Evil 4 begins with government agent Leon Kennedy investigating the kidnapping of…
Chancer: Series 1 (Acorn) Available solely in the U.K. for years, this is a small-time release featuring a modestly big-time star at the get-go of his career: Clive Owen, looking all of 12 years old and 73 pounds, is a sacked investment banker who winds up in the employ of a family of fancy-schmancy carmakers. The series was typical soap-dish…
America Starts Here Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler, both graduates of the Kansas City Art Institute, collaborated for 10 years on the work exhibited here, until Ericson’s death in 1995 at age 39. Their widely recognized work is conceptual — it’s about ideas rather than experiences. Through mixed-media sculptures and installations, they explore the ironies of American life. “Squeaky Clean”…
8-Track: The Sounds of the ’70s Each decade, radio’s definition of “oldies” refreshes itself in accordance with the key demographic’s nostalgic sweet spot. These days, the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys of the world have been cut for the Elton Johns and — shudder — Billy Joels. Nobody knows more about tonguing said sweet spots than the American Heartland Theatre, where…
Vintage textiles, dresses and towels are on display in arduous density at the Byron C. Cohen Gallery, where three artists are disclosing their love of multiples and repetition. Jil Weinstock has made startling garment pellets, wadding up dresses and other clothes from her fashionable grandmother and casting them in translucent rubber shapes. For a few of the pieces, she…
Because adults read this paper — jaded, demanding adults at that — I know it might seem odd that a couple of times a year, I suggest you head out to Crown Center to enjoy a children’s play. I have no qualms about this. Under the banner of kids’ entertainment, the Coterie Theatre trucks in sophisticated themes and honest truths;…
On Saturday night, a couple hundred people at the Just Off Broadway Theatre demanded a murder. “Kill her!” they shouted to a character on a roof overlooking those whirligigs atop Bartle Hall. The character complied, and those of us watching cheered our throats raw. This year’s One Night Stand, the annual contest from the Independent Filmmakers Coalition, screened 17 5-minute…
Transformers twiddles its big, fat, stupid robotic thumbs for the better part of two hours before jabbing them into your eye sockets and fingerfucking your brain in the last 20 minutes. Yes! It’s torture enough waiting for the iPhone and the second coming of Jesus without wondering when, exactly, this saga of dueling giant robots is going to get…
Several readers have e-mailed to ask me whether restaurateur Marc Cantrell’s new 39th Street bistro, the Spit Fire Grill, is part of a national chain. After all, there are Spitfire Grills in several cities (not to mention the 1996 Spitfire Grill movie starring Marcia Gay Harden, which inspired an off-Broadway musical in 2001). That’s a long-winded way of saying no,…
It doesn’t take a trip to the boats to know that there’s some magical importance to the number seven — it’s the most frequent “lucky” digit on nearly all those bright, noisy slot machines. But where did seven earn its reputation? Come on, you don’t have to think very hard: There are seven days of the week, seven ancient…
Lee’s Summit resident DJ Pure started spinning at house parties around the Southwest Missouri State University campus (now Missouri State) several years ago. Nowadays, Pure finds himself back in Lee’s Summit, gigging at Paddy O’Quigley’s every Friday and Saturday night in the basement. We dropped in on Pure one night at Paddy O’s to catch him pumping out pop, R&B,…
“Stitch Me Up” by Minus Story, from My Ion Truss (Jagjaguwar): So maybe our verdict on Minus Story’s new one, My Ion Truss, was a little harsh. Instrumentally strong, we said, but vocally and lyrically weak. Well, we hold bitches to a high standard here at the Pitch. But we still think you should go see the band live. Onstage,…
With music that’s equal parts bar rock, power pop and classic country, an Old 97’s show defies you not to have a good time. The guitars are always just twangy enough, the lovelorn hooks irresistible. Hence, the Dallas act’s long-held status as one of alt-country’s biggest bands. Singer and guitarist Rhett Miller can get a little too earnest (engagement song…
“Cage in a Cave” by Rasputina, from Oh Perilous World (Filthy Bonnet): Who’d have thought that cellos could sound raw and powerful enough to make dirty rock and roll? That’s precisely what Rasputina leader and Kansas City native Melora Creager has accomplished in a setup — two cellos, drums and loads of costumes — that could easily have retreated into…
“Calling on You” by Paulson, from All at Once (Doghouse Records): A licensed shrink would have a field day with Paulson singer Logan LaFlotte, based on the New Jersey quintet’s All at Once. LaFlotte is an unabashed playa. He’s an available rebound guy for distraught young things. He’s committed to one girl. And just because he’s, like, really paranoid doesn’t…
It’s not often that a band simultaneously makes geekdom and busking cool again. Milwaukee’s Violent Femmes did just that in the ’80s with a string of pimple-faced punk-folk hits, including “Blister in the Sun” and “Add It Up.” The fact that the band hasn’t released a new collection of tunes in seven years (even going so far as to announce…
“No Fiction” by Jackie Carol from Check, Check (Speak Music Media): When you can’t say it with words, flowers or a brick to the head, say it with power pop. Just make sure you get the right kind, i.e., from a certified powerpopist. After all, you don’t want it turning brown and withering — or, worse, glowering in the corner…
Weezer was never quite the same after bassist Matt Sharp left to form the Rentals, a band that made Moog cool for the first time since the Cars. After a successful reunion tour, the geek-rock ensemble (whose past members include Petra Haden and Saturday Night Live’s Maya Rudolph) is gearing up for The Last Little Life, the first new Rentals…
The largest, most prominent cymbal on Battles drummer John Stanier’s kit stands about 7 feet high, towering over everything and everyone — Stanier, the rest of the drums, the rest of the band and the crowd staring at it. One cannot strike this cymbal nonchalantly. Stanier has to look directly at it, lean forward and reach for it. Whump. “It’s…
On the First Friday of last May, the sky was pregnant with jagged electricity and clouds the color of an angry bruise. Raindrops kissed the foreheads of local ska revivalists the Sex Police, who said “bully” to the perilous storm looming overhead and continued serenading a dedicated crowd with seductive island sounds. That Crossroads concert was in the small, roughly…
