In the creative scramble to exploit 3-D film technology in the 1950s, filmmakers quickly learned that thrusting oblong objects at the camera’s twin lenses showcased the illusion of depth at its visceral, startling best. B-movies were padded with gratuitous shots of pointed fingers, drawn guns and hurled projectiles.The 1953 horror flick House of Wax was no exception. Smartly directed…
Educational activities on All Hallows’ Eve are often few and far between. For example, reading the ingredients on a candy-corn bag is no more a chemistry lesson than bobbing for apples is a lesson in physics. However, history buffs and fans of the ethereal can join in a history hunt from 8 to 11 tonight at the Haunted Haskell Tour…
A post-lunch porn rush is under way at Hollywood at Home Movies and Magazines. A few men ranging in age from late 20s to upper 60s pass by the new releases and classics in the front of the Overland Park store. Over the course of an hour on a Tuesday afternoon, men march up the stairs at the back…
The man who gave us Young Darth returns with a Young Indy boxed set. Rick McCallum had nothing to do with the original Star Wars. He was just 23 years old and chasing his first job in the film industry when it was released in 1977. “I’m portrayed as 70 years old on the Internet because somebody thinks that I…
Playing down-on-her-luck, Amy Ryan’s star rises. I hope people ask me, ‘Where did you find that local actress?’” Ben Affleck told Amy Ryan when he cast her as a wreck of a single mother in his directing debut, Gone Baby Gone. When Ryan showed up on the Boston set in ratty hair, muddy makeup, and a getup that wouldn’t disgrace…
With Halloween right around the corner, we thought it might be interesting to get a few rock stars to share a few of their ghost stories. We got more than we expected. James Valentine, Maroon 5 On recording M5’s latest, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, at Rick Rubin’s allegedly haunted house: “One night, when I was there alone, I…
“Heart It Races” by Architecture in Helsinki, from Places Like This (Polyvinyl Records): The members of Architecture in Helsinki wrote their latest effort, Places Like This, via Instant Messenger. Late last year, Cameron Bird, the band’s singer and founder, moved to Brooklyn. His bandmates, who are now scattered across the globe, stayed behind in Melbourne, Australia. They sent demos back…
Given life one stormy night in a dark West Virginia holler, Funkenstein was built with the spare parts of deceased accountants and semipro basketball players. For years, townspeople feared the rattle of his abacus. He was finally chased westward into the night, only to find solace in the dungeons of the Kansas City Auditor’s Office. Funkenstein wandered into the light…
More than 8,000 people live in Smithville, Missouri, at least according to the person answering the phone at City Hall. I found the population surprising because, even though there’s still a downtown in Smithville, the so-called “business district” reminded me of the forlorn hamlet in The Last Picture Show. There used to be a movie house and two drugstores…
In the late ’90s Ukrainian-born Chernobyl refugee Eugene Hütz began assembling a motley crew of Eastern European expats from various New York City bars and loft parties. At the time, Hütz was DJing an eclectic set of Gypsy, flamenco, and other international sounds with the punk-rock mentality of his youth. Soon, Gogol Bordello burst upon the New York scene…
Directors Series: Stanley Kubrick (Warner Bros.) Most of the old Kubrick DVDs were crap: full-screen editions with poor pictures and virtually no special features. This set makes up for them with 2001, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut (hey, who farted?), all looking great and with enough extras to shut up the most…
It’s five great games for $60 — shoot first and ask questions later. Whether it’s $600 PlayStation 3s or the five bucks Nintendo shamelessly charges for 20-year-old NES games on the Wii’s Virtual Console, gamers have gotten used to assuming the position when it comes to the costs of their hobby. So if you’ve just heard about The Orange…
There are probably a half-dozen Led Zeppelin books. There are a half-dozen AC/DC books. But there hasn’t been a biography of Van Halen written since 1984,” explains Ian Christe, author of Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga. “And a lot of juicy stuff has happened — not just the Hagar years but Roth riding around in ambulances and the…
A white-haired man in his 70s may appear before the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council on Halloween to talk about a plan to redevelop the old Trinity Lutheran Hospital. If he shows up, the council might ask the harmless-looking individual about the time he and another hustler looted two insurance companies. Or the millions he reportedly borrowed from failed savings-and-loan…
In the past two decades, Kansas City has spent more than $30 million to try to revive the once-thriving 18th and Vine District. Now the board of directors that oversees the district has tentatively agreed to allow the Downtown Council to take over improving an area dominated by empty storefronts. The Jazz District Redevelopment Corporation, the quasi-government agency in charge…
At the Saddle Ranch Chop House at the Legends, it looked like the mechanical bull got the most action of the night. That’s debatable, though, considering I also met a guy who boasted that he’d “never not made out with a chick” there. Well, whatever the case, the bull was certainly getting a workout during my Saturday-night visit. “Do me…
Dan in Real Life has this much going for it: It is not the worst Steve Carell film of 2007. That honor, of course, goes to Evan Almighty, which even the Lord walked out of during the second reel. Fact is, Dan in Real Life isn’t really much of a film at all — it’s more like a montage of…
Folks have been enjoying drugs and music together for centuries. But for Lawrence Bryant, aka DJ NME, that lifestyle got him into some trouble earlier this year, when he spent four months in prison for possession of 7 pounds of weed with intent to sell. Saturday, Bryant will have his first big gig since starting his life over —…
When I hear a play is bloody, I think, Sure, bloody for a play but just a red smudge on a Band-Aid when held up to what the larger culture dishes out daily. Even after I heard a Unicorn usher concede to a concerned patron that The Lieutenant of Inishmore is “bloody, but it’s funny,” I wasn’t convinced that the…
Dear Mexican: What is it with the Mexican hangup on body parts? When Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was struck by a cannonball at the knee in one of his 8,000 wars, his right leg was removed from the knee down. When he returned to Mexico City, he ordered that a state funeral be held for his leg. Later,…
For 18 months in 2005 and 2006, a certain midtown house with a crumbling foundation was the place to see awesome, freaky and occasionally awful rock and roll. At least, that’s what I hear. People converged on the literally underground rock club called the Sleeper Cellar (at 512 West 39th Terrace) for the final time in August 2006, several months…
Before anyone had a chance to coin the term mashup, the Illegal Art imprint was making a name for itself with Deconstructing Beck, an underground LP made up entirely of uncleared Beck samples. Since then, the recording label has bolstered the legitimate careers of DJ acts such as Girl Talk and Legion of Doom while keeping its disregard for copyright…
He ain’t hard. He’d get into Club NV ’cause his clothes fit. He makes declarations such as “Kids, if you really want to annoy your parents, show an interest in the arts.” And his real name is Regan Farquhar. But don’t give Busdriver no guff. This Los Angeles rapper keeps an arc welder in his mouth. Backed by Illinois DJ…
Get out your puffy shirts and nag champa — the Cult has returned. Raven-haired Brit Ian Astbury, who is one of the few men alive who can get away with velvet pants, was last seen as the second coming of Jim Morrison, singing with a revamped Doors. But even though his slithering sexual charisma almost rivaled that of the Lizard…
