Perhaps Shakespeare’s most filmed tragedy, Othello has generated more than a dozen cinematic adaptations, ranging from an operatic interpretation starring Placido Domingo to a 2001 modernization that recast the titular general as a high school hoops star. The Central Branch of the Kansas City, Missouri, Public Library (14 West 10th Street, 816-701-3400) will screen those versions the next two Mondays,…
There’s no doubt that the woman who fed you, clothed you and refrained from shaving your head when you insisted on that awful perm in the early ’80s deserves a dozen roses on Mother’s Day. But this modern holiday is a far cry from its radical roots. Having witnessed the brutal consequences of the Civil War, Julia Ward Howe —…
Area-bred filmmaking duo Ty Jones and Aaron Laue spent 2006 hustling to line up investors (they sold 1,000 shares at a hundred bucks a pop for their independent film). Then they shot and acted and stretched every penny in 2007. Now, they’ve done the damn-near impossible: They’ve grabbed their dreams, pinned them down and blown them up into Last Breath,…
Believe it or not, the art of power balladry was actually pioneered without any irony whatsoever. The formula included heavy power chords, a slow tempo played on acoustic guitars, and soaring choruses during which the muted percussion would rise for dramatic effect. Bands such as Tenacious D and the Eagles of Death Metal put figurative little air quotes around their…
Released in 1984, The NeverEnding Story departed from many of fantasy’s templates. It also presaged aspects of the next generation of such films as Harry Potter’s gleeful dragon rides and The Princess Bride’s cranky-old-guy-gives-kid-a-book framing device. Viewers meet a colorful lot upon their arrival in the surreal kingdom of Fantasia, including a “racing snail” and a vaguely cannibalistic, rock-biting boulder….
Twenty years ago, First Friday events in Kansas City existed as business networking affairs attended by urban professionals interested in meeting other urban professionals. Over time, they’ve become as much about cultural activities as they were about socializing. These days, lots of U.S. cities put on Second Friday events. Seattle has the “Second Friday Story Swap.” Portland, Oregon, has “Dirty…
Three years ago, Kansas City, Kansas, Community College Professor Curtis Smith and a team of colleagues took it upon themselves to revive the Wyandotte County Ethnic Festival, an event that once held great importance but disappeared in the late ’70s. “To not have an ethnic festival in a county with such diversity was quite stunning,” Smith says. “We’re trying to…
During the unendurably extended Democratic primary season, amid arguments about race, religion, economics and foreign policy, no political reporters have bothered to ask Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton what lessons about leadership they have derived from President Merkin Muffley’s performance during our nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union in the 1964 black comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to…
Even purists who scoff at She Wants Revenge for being a poor man’s Interpol should plunk down $20 for the SWR-headlined Nylon Magazine Music Tour tonight at the Beaumont Club (4050 Pennsylvania, 816-561-2560). The rest of the lineup — the Virgins, the Switches and Be Your Own Pet — is so rock-solid that one could walk out before the final…
“Timeshaker” by White Flight, remix by 1,000,000,000 Light Years (Range Life Records): Did you see Jesus in downtown Lawrence when the Jayhawks won the championship? That was Justin Roelofs, whose white robe and divining rod may very well have put the Hawks over the top. Roelofs — aka White Flight — recently rolled back into town after a two-year journey…
With a name inspired by the infamous Australian bank robber and a home base of Austin, Texas, Reckless Kelly more than lives up to the implications of the moniker and the hometown. Led by brothers Willy and Cody Braun, Reckless Kelly plays alt-country the old-fashioned way: lots of sweat and spit and no time for the catatonic slickness inherent in…
Martini specials all night — relax after your service sector shift and listen to an eclectic mix of music provided by local DJs. Specials — we mean special specials — for service industry employees. Sundays, 2007 Tags: 2817, Night & Day
Watch “Effective Cycling”, a bike safety video, followed by a Q & A session. Please make sure your bike is able to ride several miles without any problems. All riders must wear a bicycle helmet. Bring a bike for this Saturday morning workshop and ride. We’ll reward ourselves by riding to lunch after the class. $5 donation requested. Call Claus…
August represents the dog days of the baseball season. That cliché refers to the fatigue that fans and (to a lesser extent, fans hope) the participants experience during games in August, as well as the oppressive weather. Depending on your point of view, the Royals have been either pleasantly surprising or wildly disappointing this year, and once again they will…
Original examples of cut-glass masterworks and production pieces from the era popularly known as the Brilliant Period of American cut glass (1876-1914). April 13-June 22, 2008 Tags: Night & Day
Featuring work by KCAI students in virtually every department on the campus. This is a great regular opportunity to acquire new original works by emerging artists. Fri., May 9, 5-7 p.m.; Sat., May 10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., May 11, 12-5 p.m., 2008 Tags: Night & Day
On a cold February night, the Shawnee Mission East gym is packed. It’s Senior Night, and the boys’ basketball team is taking on the rival Shawnee Mission South Raiders. It’s a close game, and the excitement and tension threaten to sweep the crowd into a frenzy. Well-dressed parents cluster together on the bleachers and the limited floor space. Hordes of…
The Kansas Republican Party is asking for 50 new ideas to redefine the GOP’s efforts in the state. It’s almost as if Republicans are bored with God, guns and gays. The Kansas GOP has requested the ideas via the Web site 50ideas.org, which features the smiling mugs of state Rep. Peggy Mast of Emporia and Kansas Republican Party Chairman Kris…
From the washed-out images to the twee voice-over (courtesy of director Stephen Walker), this British television documentary about the titular Massachusetts senior citizens’ chorus so slavishly embodies the creakiest clichés of British TV documentaries that you begin to wonder if it’s all a big put-on. Maybe Christopher Guest directed the damned thing under a pseudonym. Fortunately, Walker’s subjects — nearly…
First-time writer-director Helen Hunt stars as April Epner, a schoolteacher desperate to have a child before she turns 40. (Hunt herself turns 45 this year, but never mind that.) Adapted by Hunt and two other writers from Elinor Lipman’s novel, it’s a confident debut. Hunt directs like she acts — straightforward and without humor, even when she’s meant to be…
“Sympathy for Jesus” by the Khrusty Brothers, from The Khrusty Brothers (self-released): When the Khrusty Brothers took the stage at the Record Bar a couple of months ago for their first show, the sold-out crowd had little idea what to expect. The first clue came from a character named Cowboy Jesus, who introduced the band with a rambling, cryptic monologue…
City Hall lists Rodriguez Electrical in its official directory of minority- and women-owned construction companies certified to do business with the city. The address for Rodriguez Electrical — at Second and Riverview in Kansas City, Kansas — is on the far-west end of the industrial West Bottoms, down a muddy road from the chain-link and barbed-wire fencing that protects a…
Converting a fondly remembered cartoon series — one of the first Japanese animes syndicated on American TV — into a prospective franchise, Matrix masters Larry and Andy Wachowski have taken another step toward the total cyborganization of the cinema. Even more than most summer-season special-effects fests, Speed Racer is a live-action-and-animation hybrid and, what’s more, proud of it. Bright, shiny…
This year marks the 16th birthday of Mario Kart, the landmark Nintendo franchise that consists of eight identical racing games and legions of fans who buy every one of them. And 16 years later, nobody really has a problem with this. True to form, Mario Kart Wii offers no significant change in basic game play, weaponry (turtle shells, banana peels),…
