All Creatures Great & Small: The Complete Collection (BBC Warner) Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters for DVD (Turner) Back to School: Extra-Curricular Edition (MGM) The Black Widow (First Look) Charlie Chan Collection: Volume 3 (Fox) DangerMouse: The Complete Series (A&E) The Dark Crystal: 25th Anniversary Edition (Sony) Dynasty: The Second Season (Paramount) Essential Directors: Martin Scorsese…
Ask a random person five years ago what Sudoku was, and you’d be lucky if they mumbled something about Japanese ritual suicide. But go down any supermarket’s magazine aisle today, and you’ll find whole racks stuffed with cheapie newsprint books full of the addictive puzzles. People can’t get enough. They love ’em. Psst . . . Picross is better….
Taxi Driver: Collector’s Edition (Sony) “Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads: Here is a man who would not take it anymore.” Martin Scorsese’s 1976 vision of hell as city-of-night New York rips through the reverential treatment on this special edition like a hunter’s blade through deerskin. A second disc of eight featurettes covers everything from actual cabbie memories of pre-Giuliani…
>Broken Strings It’s high drama on the high plains this summer, as local playwright Bill Rogers at last unveils his Broken Strings. It’s the life-and-death story of two friends — one an outlaw and one almost respectable — in the hinterland between Kansas and Missouri at the end of the Civil War. Earlier this year, a pair of one-acts…
Meccanismo It’s difficult to overstate the significance of Kansas City’s The Late Show Gallery for emerging local artists. Owner Tom Deatherage has an unerring eye for talent and technical excellence, and the work of these young artists is usually moderately priced. The current exhibit is a typically diverse showcase of styles and media. Stan Fernald’s projected pieces are magnifications of…
This August has shaped up to be the most exciting month of theater Kansas City has seen in a long while, but I still have to bitch. Both Unicorn Theatre’s La Cage Aux Folles and Kansas City Actors Theatre’s Dinner With Friends are triumphant entertainments worth catching more than once. But with no disrespect, I can’t help but feel…
While I don’t want to see summer come to a close, I’ll be glad to move beyond the summer group exhibition. Leedy Voulkos Art Center is no exception to the rule of summer, offering Seasons, a group exhibition that dominates most of the gigantic space. Like most of these kinds of shows, this one is a wildly uneven smorgasbord…
The latest comic meteorite to hurtle forth from the galaxy of producer Judd Apatow is Superbad, about a couple of chronically unpopular best friends who, after four years stuck on the lowest rung of the high school social ladder, find themselves invited to a legitimately cool party. Goodbye, to Friday nights chugging Old Milwaukee in their parents’ basements; hello…
There are American flags tied to the posts on the wooden deck in front of B.B.’s Lawnside Barbecue, at 1205 E. 85th Street, that represent an ongoing battle — and not the one in Iraq. “We’re Fort B.B. right now,” Shannon says, pointing to the low-slung 57-year-old building that has been home to his blues-and-barbecue joint since 1990. “We’re surrounded…
The world would be a much livelier place if the words “A Go Go” were attached to more things. Even the least glamorous business — laundromat, auto-body shop, gastrointestinal clinic — would acquire a new sense of festivity if it added those five bouncy letters. Who could get depressed at tax time if H&R Block A Go Go was…
For those of you who think you’re listening to techno while you snuggle up with the latest edition of Tiesto’s In Search of Sunrise series, Cicada Rhythm urges you to bust out of the bedroom and dance your pants off to some banging acid techno. For Bring it Back at the Liquid Bar and Nightclub in Lawrence on Saturday, Cicada…
These days, MCs often forsake flow and cadence for the sake of swagger. A study in the art, Topeka’s Stik Figa has got all three by the pound and dishes ’em out on The Skinny, mixed by Johnny Quest. Whether he’s reclaiming the Midwest’s double-time bounce on “Give That Back,” spitting laid-back verse over a lazy 808 on “Lookin’ Good”…
The Deep Thinkers have made a name in Kansas City as the forward-thinking hip-hop authorities. The newest release from producer Leonard Dstroy and MC Brother of Moses, Don’t Call It A Mixtape Vol. 1, features 27 tracks that dangle between album and mixtape territories. Don’t Call It justifies the claims buzzing around KC that Lenny D could be the best…
Those unmoved by “Hey There Delilah” — a surprise hit single with all the depth and breadth of a vanilla latte — should be aware that for Chicago’s Plain White T’s, this sort of acoustic, nakedly sincere fluff is an anomaly. Hollywood wisely tacked “Delilah” onto a reissue of last year’s Every Second Counts, a platter stacked high with glossy,…
Despite being madly in love with each other, the Ditty Bops are working overtime to earn your adoration. It’s not enough that the duo writes the cutest, catchiest, most cuddly songs this side of Amélie — no, Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett have to go and make bikini calendars, tour the country on bicycles and sponsor a campaign to bring…
In examining the career of the Redwalls, it appears the Mersey-indebted foursome’s recording trajectory has followed something resembling a bell curve. Their debut, 2001’s Universal Blues was released on St. Louis’ Undertow Records, while their follow-up, De Nova, came out on Capitol Records to little fanfare and a fair amount of critical derision. This year, the Redwalls returned to the…
After making the Eastern Hemisphere laugh for the past five years, the Flight of the Conchords has finally taken off stateside, giving us a reason to hang on to that HBO subscription for a little while longer. Formerly promoting itself as “New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody act,” the Kiwi duo made its American debut on the Sub Pop…
Cigarette in hand, Cody Wyoming plugs songs into the jukebox at Dave’s Stagecoach Inn. “Alison,” “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding,” “Deep Dark Truthful Mirror” and “Clubland” drop into rotation. Here’s a man who loves him some Elvis Costello. As “Alison,” a pert, slinky ode to crumbling beauty, breezes through the bar speakers, Wyoming waxes on his courtship…
Who doesn’t swoon when Sixteen Candles’ Samantha hooks up with Jake Ryan over the Thompson Twins’ “If You Were Here?” Or when Lloyd Dobler blares Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” in Say Anything? And in Mannequin, when Jonathan Switcher marries his dummy while Starship swears “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”? OK, maybe not the last one. But classic ’80s scenes…
“A wise man once told me, ‘What you do on the night of the Pitch Music Awards is what you will do the entire year!’” The voice boomed throughout the Uptown Theater. It was August 10, at our 11th annual awards ceremony. A light shone on a man onstage, standing behind the podium, his grinning, nonchalant face nearly blocked by…
At Pole-a-Palooza — a pole-dancing competition at Club Sparks — the rules required that all lady parts stay covered. But after seeing so many splayed legs in a 45-minute span, I’m still calling the event Crotch-a-Palooza. Held on a Sunday night, Pole-a-Palooza was pretty entertaining, especially because of the impressive athleticism of a couple of performers. And, in addition…
“Handles” by Approach, feat. DJ Sku, produced by Salva: Show me a man who doesn’t fear change, and I’ll show you a man with a bunch of quarters in his pockets. Or I’ll introduce you to Sean Hunt. The rapper known as Approach is wrapping change in a bear hug. It started a year ago when he sheared off his…
Dear Mexican: I’ve run into a problem with my wife. I’d like to proudly display our last name on the back window of the family car, but she won’t allow it. How can I convince her that it’s a long and honored Mexican tradition to do so? Tejano Rick P.S.: How and where did this name-display tradition start, and why…
Hey, You, Mr. Loud Mouth. You were in 54th Street Grill in Lee’s Summit on Monday at about 12:45. You were so damned loud that you drowned out conversations across the room. And then you practically bellowed into your cell phone. I guess you thought the waitress would be impressed that you could yell “Trump” at the poor fool on…
