Bede Clarke
New wood-fired ceramic vessels are on view at (821 West 17th Street , 816-474-7316) from 6 to 9 p.m. Fri., Oct. 3, 6-9 p.m., 2008 Tags: Night & Day
Archives: October 2008
Paul Flinders
presents new drawings and paintings at Third Eye Gallery (2024 Main, 816-931-7160) from 5 to 9 p.m. Fri., Oct. 3, 5-9 p.m., 2008 Tags: 180, Night & Day
Exaggerations in Color and Strokes, Scrapes, and Dots
The works of Dan Compton and Clint Metcalf are at 1810 Gallery (1810 Cherry, 816-842-6996) from 7 to 9 p.m. Fri., Oct. 3, 7-9 p.m., 2008 Tags: Clint Metcalf, Dan Compton, Night & Day
Religulous
Bill Maher’s one-man attack on religious fundamentalism has more bark than bite — a skeptical, secular-humanist hounding of the hypocrites, amusingly annotated with sarcastic subtitles and clips from cheesy biblical spectacles. Religulous opens with Maher in Israel, reporting from Megiddo, the designated spot for Armageddon. By way of an alternative vision of the apocalypse, the movie breaks into a comic…
Tina Turner
Is it possible to be a sex symbol at age 68? Tina Turner might not have thought so eight years ago, when she officially “retired” from performing. But now she’s back at it like Jay-Z, reportedly rehearsing eight to 10 hours a day. (And if you’ve ever seen her shimmy, you know that ain’t no joke.) Rumors of a comeback…
Peter Hammill
Sandwiched in the vocal axiom between Lou Reed and Ronnie James Dio is British underground minstrel Peter Hammill. With a discography as thick as a phonebook (he has birthed a mind-fucking 55 records), this musical acrobat has somersaulted among genres during his 40-year career. Now on a U.S. solo tour, he lands in Kansas City for the first time since…
Nikka Costa
Nimble-tongued Nikka Costa’s new Stax release, Pebble to a Pearl, isn’t due until October 14, though tracks are posted at Nikkacosta.com. Elaborating on her previous excursions, these new songs make promises — funky, soulful promises — about luv and sex and music. Costa has a giant voice all out of proportion to her diminutive stature, and the stable cruising altitude…
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Peter Sollett’s 2002 film, Raising Victor Vargas, remains among the most pointed, poignant and joyful films about teen love. Sollett can only retrace those footsteps in this far weaker movie about a boy (Michael Cera), a girl (Kat Dennings) and their friends, who cruise the streets of New York in search of the latest, greatest, hippest band. From its indier-than-thou…
Jason Ringenberg
Having brought together the Scorchers in 1981, Jason Ringenberg is the original country punk. Mixing raging guitar numbers with more dulcet country waltzes, and united by Ringenberg’s vocal twang, the Scorchers crossed from the Flying Burrito Brothers to the Rolling Stones, scoring a major-label deal. The Scorchers broke up in ’89, only to reunite a few years later as the…
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot has led an unlikely life. First there was the matter of having his songs covered by Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley, an honor typically bestowed upon long-dead blues singers. Then there was the six-week coma he awoke from in 2002, fresh as a daisy and ready to resume work on his 20th record. If you ever had a…
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Based on Toby Young’s tome about his spectacular fuck-ups and flameout at Vanity Fair, Robert Weide’s big-screen version is sitcom-drab. Simon Pegg plays Young, reducing the writer into nothing more than a barely functioning idiot. Worse, the story has been turned into a romantic comedy: Young woos his considerably smarter superior, Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst). It plays like a made-for-TV…
Rachel Getting Married
Those who believe that Jonathan Demme went all soft with Philadelphia and never recovered may not be reassured by his latest movie, an ensemble tale of family pathology gussied up with handheld vérité camerawork, world music and improvising actors. You can find the worst and the best of Demme in this avowed fan’s fond farewell to Robert Altman; yet it’s…
Flash of Genius
The big-screen version of inventor Robert Kearns’ legal battles with Ford and Chrysler — both of which nicked his intermittent windshield wiper without giving him credit, much less paying a cent — is about as exciting as Kearns’ Wikipedia entry. You know how it ends — Hollywood doesn’t make movies in which Goliath trounces David, especially when he’s Greg Kinnear…
Blindness
The most recent example of bleak chic, Fernando Meirelles’ mostly harrowing adaptation of José Saramago’s international best-seller Blindness mixes the high-velocity pace and stylishness of the Brazilian director’s breakout City of God with the Portuguese author’s thinly metaphysical thriller. Unflinching at best and treacly at worst, the film unveils its apocalyptic scenario with visceral intensity but lacks the emotional sophistication…
Baghead
Basically, this is a movie in which two half-assed couples — barely lit old flames Matt (Ross Partridge) and Catherine (Elise Muller) and more-like-siblings Chad (Steve Zissis) and Michelle (Greta Gerwig) — decide to spend a weekend in a middle-of-nowhere retreat to write the Great American Independent Film. Things go awry, however, when their backwoodsy brainstorming is interrupted by a…
Appaloosa
Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and sidekick Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) are the new marshal and deputy facing down a posse of bad guys in Appaloosa, New Mexico, circa 1882, in Harris’ latest directorial effort. Appaloosa has the shifting boundaries of friendship and love on its mind, but this isn’t a movie likely to raise comparisons to the tortured revisionism of…
Locally Yours: Our critics discuss some recent releases
All of the CDs you’re reading about here are pretty good. Some of the albums came out earlier this year; others are fresh off the presses. Enjoy the reviews and listen responsibly (i.e., to local music). Der Todesking Bird/Brain (self-released) Der Todesking performs a warped bastardization of rock, an offshoot so twisted and distorted that it’s categorized as punk because…
Bottoms Up
The Dolphin’s last exhibition in its old Crossroads gallery was a wild and cacophonous ride, but the first exhibition in its new West Bottoms space is a quiet and calm affair. With a minimalist installation that deliberately highlights the interior, On Liberty is a small group exhibition in two galleries with 13 of the Dolphin’s artists. Obviously a play on…
True Enough
Yes, there’s a whiff of gimmickry in staging Sam Shepard’s True West in an Airstream trailer in a backyard in Brookside. Still, at a moment in our cultural history when I’d bet we have more Americans in prison than attending live theater, gimmickry isn’t a bad idea. Especially when the gimmickry results in an atmosphere that director Bess Wallerstein has…
Why do Mexican women hate Spanish women?
Dear Mexican: I’m half Catalan, and the women on my mom’s side of my family have spent their lives being hated by Mexicans. I’ve never understood it. My mom and aunts warned me as soon as I hit junior high that I was going to have a target on me, because they did, too, when they were my age. It…
Del McCourey Band
Del McCourey Band
Find The Pitch
