Let’s maybe stop consulting Scarlett Johansson about the meaning of Scarlett Johansson’s movies. Asked whether Under the Skin — the vaguely sci-fi nightmare that’s generating best-ever reviews for this most limited of actresses — functions as an indictment of sexual predation, she has said the movie is really just about “a lioness on the prowl, hunting.” Hunting, sure, but nothing…
On March 27, the longtime chief counsel for the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, Don Jarrett, met with county commissioners in the basement of the county administration building in downtown Olathe. Jarrett was bringing them news and no news at the same time. He filled in commissioners on the status of the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant: No remediation work was…
The Top Five Record Store Day Titles You Haven’t Heard About (That We Have) 1. “Testify” by Beauregarde, 7-inch: Pro wrestler turned rock-and-roller. Unstoppable. 2. Roots by the Everly Brothers, LP: This album doesn’t turn up enough. Nice choice for a reissue. 3. RPM Turntable Football, 12-inch (a two-player game played at 33-1/3 RPM): Just when you thought the world…
Amit Raizada’s net worth is $69 million, according to divorce papers recently filed in Johnson County. That puts him in pretty rarefied financial air, even in tony Mission Hills, where until recently he parked a 2012 Porsche Turbo (valued at $188,000) and a 2012 McLaren ($270,000) at a $3.6 million home. A good rule of thumb, when encountering substantial wealth…
This year, the Sons of Brasil turns 23, and there is hardly another Kansas City jazz ensemble that matches its longevity. Blending Brazilian jazz, bossa nova and samba through both traditional and original compositions, this group plays Latin jazz with passion. The style of founder and leader Stan Kessler can flow sensuously smooth on trumpet or flugelhorn or swing hard…
Barry Lee is a talker — a good one. Since January, when he took over as station manager at community-radio station KKFI 90.1, he has run his mouth nonstop, telling as many people as he can about his vision for community radio. Lee’s involvement marks a significant turning point for KKFI, which spent seven years without a station manager, run…
On a crisp January day, three of the five members of Rev Gusto pore over bins of records at Mills Record Co. Shaun Crowley, Peter Beatty and Sam Frederick have been discussing the band’s upcoming 7-inch — a partnership with Too Much Rock Singles Series’ Sid Sowder, who chooses a band and pays for a pressing of 500 45 rpm…
In the Whale In January 2012, the two-person clamor called In the Whale released an EP titled Cake, whose four songs deliver face-splitting, reckless punk that’s surprisingly harmonious. The Denver scene swallowed all of it like a dangerous drug. In the Whale — guitarist and lead singer Nate Valdez and drummer Eric Riley — have followed Cake with two more…
Reviewing restaurants is not like reviewing film or theater — and I’ve done all three. There aren’t many variables in watching a movie. The movie that you sit through on Saturday will be exactly the same film, frame by frame, when you go watch it again on Sunday. Theater is slightly different. The actors depend on each other’s energy and…
Younger generations of gay men and women aren’t especially surprised when a Michael Sam or a Derrick Gordon comes out of the closet. But as recently as the late 1970s, police routinely raided gay bars, rousting its patrons with trumped-up charges. I was hauled off to jail myself a couple of times for being in the wrong bar at the…
In a press release we just received, the people in the Miley Cyrus camp confirmed the thing that we have been fearing: The flu that Cyrus has been reportedly nursing these last couple of days has compromised the singer’s health, and she has canceled her Kansas City date tonight at the Sprint Center. Cue breaking hearts around the city, this author’s included…
Back in 2006, New York developer Tom Valenti told The Kansas City Star that his forthcoming plans for the old Mission Center Mall site would include only locally owned retailers and not “the same old run-of-the-mill tenants.” But like almost everything Valenti has said about the Mission Gateway project, the promise of a unique slate of retail tenants is at odds with…
The two-month-old Home Skillet, a family-owned diner at 6225 Blue Ridge Boulevard, makes a lot of the dishes on its menu from scratch: the dinner rolls, the hand-cut french fries (fried to order), the cole slaw, the mashed potatoes. And then there are 27-year-old co-owner Josh Bennett’s pies. Bennett, who owns the venue with his father, Mike, and his aunt…
Eisley with Merriment Czar, Kansas City Monday, April 14, 2014 Eisley killed it the minute the group wandered onstage. The DuPree family band, composed of three sisters, a brother and a cousin, could impress even the most hardened of listeners – and they did last night, myself included. The Tyler, Texas, group harnessed a high level of well-organized professionalism throughout…
When rockabilly hero JD McPherson rolls into Knuckleheads on Tuesday night, he will be two days shy of the two-year anniversary of the release of his debut record, Signs and Signifiers. There are no rumors of new material, probably because since Signs, McPherson has been on the road tirelessly. And his live show is a thing to behold: McPherson, a rock-and-roll…
Twitter champion Delaney is headed to town. Rob Delaney is so great at Twitter that he has been able to turn it into a viable, even enviable, comedy career. He has written a book – excerpted here – and he recently sold a pilot to Channel 4, in the U.K. And he does occasional club dates, which is why he’ll…
If you’ve been in search of Founders Brewing Co.’s KBS but have come up empty, then you’ll want to be at Anton’s Taproom (1610 Main) tonight (April 15). Anton’s is tapping a keg of KBS (11.2 percent ABV, 70 IBUs) at 5 p.m. KBS quickly disappeared from store shelves when it was released earlier this month. Here’s why craft-beer drinkers…
Make way for the little wrecking ball that could. On the off chance that you haven’t already made up your mind about Miley Cyrus – whether she’s leading the Disney Channel generation to the gates of hell or simply saving pop culture from tedium – her Tuesday-night Sprint Center concert still has a few tickets available. And secretly, deep down,…
Currents, the latest album from Texas quintet Eisley – made up of three sisters, a brother and a cousin – sounds a bit more dramatic than the earlier material in the band’s catalog. The album’s songs move farther up the dial of atmospheric pop rock, eschewing popular electronic elements in favor of a few orchestral flourishes – creepy organ notes,…
