The 21st century has been a dark time for American fans of competitive eating. Despite an exploding obesity rate, for six straight years we couldn’t even win our own Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. Instead, a skinny Japanese guy with six-pack abs named Takeru Kobayashi dominated us on our own home turf at Coney Island, in…
Modern moviegoers know Nicolas Cage as the face of the dopey National Treasure franchise and the star of a hilarious YouTube montage of Wicker Man lowlights. But dubious choices aside, Cage boasts more potential for brilliance than almost any living actor, and 2002’s Adaptation offers definitive proof of his talent. Cage plays both Charlie Kaufman, a slouching, painfully awkward screenwriter,…
Stockholm Syndrome is among psychology’s most fascinating phenomena. Sometimes referred to as Patty Hearst Syndrome (after the kidnapped and allegedly brainwashed heiress), the designation refers to a prisoner’s peculiar development of loyalty to the captor over time — a loyalty that leads to willingly staying with the captor and, upon release, even defending the captor’s actions. A peculiar case of…
For the independent filmmaker, instant gratification is as rare as a secure source of financing or perfect weather during the magic hour. Once a year, though, the Independent Filmmakers Coalition of Kansas City affords the local indie film squad that sweetest of chances: Think it, shoot it, chop it and screen it before a paying audience of colleagues and the…
Election fraud is a notion typically associated with Third World countries. But in the wake of the contested 2000 and 2004 U.S. elections, film director David Earnhardt began exploring the shortcomings of our country’s vote-counting process. He researched the lack of security in paperless voting, the 15-hour lines that kept people away from the polls and the need for verification…
Despite what modern science has proved, the fictional world of the Flintstones continues to shape mankind’s destiny. Sure, dinosaurs were long dead before humans hit the scene, but a society benefiting from domesticated dinos is so darn appealing that it’s been made into a reality — sort of. One show has fabricated robotic reptilian replicas and put them to work…
The sheer proliferation of farmers markets in Kansas City means that in the right season, you can buy organic produce directly from a farmer almost every day of the week. Every second Tuesday through October 10, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Crown Center Farmers Market (2450 Grand, 816-274-8444) offers shoppers an alternative to industrially farmed conventional produce —…
Somebody forgot to tell Nintendo that “strenuous indoor exercise” does not top anyone’s summer fun list. This, of course, does not explain why poor suckers everywhere are lining up for Wii Fit, an exhausting personal trainer disguised as a video game. Me? I’ll be kicking back with Mario Kart Wii and eating taquitos all summer. Why kid myself? Yes, there’s…
CANNES, France—Wading through 20-odd movies in half as many languages, each Cannes jury supplies its own dramatic narrative, to be interpreted according to its president’s presumed taste. Days before the 61st Cannes Film Festival ended, rumors were rife that the jury was having difficulties reaching consensus. As the award ceremony commenced, president Sean Penn cited the title of the festival’s…
“Now Wake up and Die” by the Service Industry, from Limited Coverage (Sauspop Records): Most musicians who toil at day jobs in the service industry forget about work the moment they leave it. But for the Service Industry, a band composed of journeyman Lawrence songwriter Mike McCoy and some friends from Austin, Texas, the bile of post-serving stress is fuel…
The Drawer Boy The final show in a season of trifles at the Rep, The Drawer Boy has a winning humility and an old-fashioned sense of what a serious theater company owes its audience. The story of a Montreal actor who shacks up with a couple of farmers to bone up for a play about rural life, the show, as…
“Sticky” Ricky Dodson is tired. Birdlike and boyish from the stage but thin and haggard up close, the blues man, soul man, jazz man, R&B man, funk man, hip-hop man and man’s man leans back on his bar stool and slumps against the table. He’s just finished a four-hour set here at Marty’s Blues Café, and he has to be…
Suggesting an American remake of David Moreau and Xavier Palud’s Them, The Strangers is practically an abstraction: an old-school spooker spun from the blood splatter on a wall, a nearby record player scratching an oldie, a CB radio in the garage, a creaky swing set in the backyard. First-time helmer Bryan Bertino is beholden to genre quota, skidding the relationship…
Oh, please — spoiler alert? Fine, I won’t tell you whether Carrie Bradshaw ties the knot with Mr. Big, even though you’ve already seen that gown winging its way around the Web. Some fans might be more interested in whether the frock — which looks as though our Carrie is taking a bath in a pile of Styrofoam — is…
“Abandon” by the French Kicks, from Swimming (Vagrant Records): The French Kicks hail from New York’s indie-rock scene, but they’ve never suffered the overkill. Ten years ago, the foursome began as a sloppy, sort-of-punk band whose first self-titled EP echoed Television’s Marquee Moon. A few years later, the group had tightened its sound into dapper, neo-garage rock on albums One…
Something like a pain-fueled, R-rated Princess Bride, The Fall straddles the intertwined worlds of storytelling and story. One half is a child’s-eye-view tour of the convalescent wing of a Los Angeles hospital, set during the infancy of the film industry. Heartbroken, suicidal stuntman Roy (Lee Pace) finds himself fabricating a tale about a band of brethren brigands to entertain a…
“Caravan” by Efterklang, from Parades (Rumraket/The Leaf Label): On 2004’s Tripper, the Danish band Efterklang crafted IDM chamber pop that featured evocative orchestrations and don’t-wake-the-baby whisper-singing. Inevitable comparisons to Sigur Rós followed, but Efterklang deftly ducked them with 2007’s Parades — a trumped-up work of art-collective pop that aimed for the same sort of cinematic pomp as Broken Social Scene…
With more than 1,000 recorded songs under his belt, Robert Pollard isn’t one to waste time. We’re only halfway into 2008, and the Dayton, Ohio, workhorse is readying his second solo LP of the year —=== hence the title, Robert Pollard Is Off to Business. The album hits stores June 3 on his newly formed label, Guided By Voices Inc….
“Streetwalker” by Delta Spirit, from I Think I’ve Found It! (Monarchy Music): Delta Spirit legend tells of drummer Brandon Young’s 2 a.m. smoke break that led to the discovery of a charismatic, wild-eyed 19-year-old busking for change outside a downtown San Diego light-rail station. The street performer’s abandon commanded Young’s attention. In need of a singer for his embryonic band,…
“Bixby Canyon Bridge” by Death Cab for Cutie, from Narrow Stairs (Barsuk Records/ Atlantic Records): If a band can attain only a certain level of success before crossing into the dreaded “sellout” mainstream market, Death Cab for Cutie has clearly reached critical mass, judging by the blogosphere’s collective shoulder-shrugging at the band’s latest release, Narrow Stairs. The only problem is,…
CANNES, France—Wading through 20-odd movies in half as many languages, each Cannes jury supplies its own dramatic narrative, to be interpreted according to its president’s presumed taste. Days before the 61st Cannes Film Festival ended, rumors were rife that the jury was having difficulties reaching consensus. As the award ceremony commenced, president Sean Penn cited the title of the festival’s…
He’s from the Netherlands — of course his name is Bong-Ra. But with an itinerary that includes a few gigs in his hometown of Utrecht, then over to San Francisco, Los Angeles, KC, St. Louis, Philly, Jersey and Bristol, UK — all in the space of three weeks — this cat gets off his couch way more than your average…
Cursive New York artist Creighton Michael’s definition of drawing is extremely elastic, encompassing traditional pencil-on-paper imagery, painting and sculpture. Gesture is key to understanding the pieces here; Michael is interested in the various ways in which physical movements create marks on a page or canvas. His pieces, arranged in series, make up a kind of dialogue, each responding to others…
Lee Piechocki’s series “I’ve Been Crazy This Week” is eight postcard-sized drawings done in a faux naïve style. The brightly colored doodles are abstract narratives of maladjustment, discontent, chaos and anarchy rendered in pinks, blues and other happy childlike colors. They are whimsically absurd. Also at Paragraph is Piechocki’s “Still Life” series of small, 11-inch-by-14-inch paintings, all of which share…
