The superhero genre has been ripe for parody for a long time. And no, I don’t mean the self-righteous Hollywood pity party of Birdman or the adolescent wish-fulfillment of Kick-Ass. What’s overdue is a gleeful, straight-up swipe at the well-worn tenets of the 21st-century superhero blockbuster. Against all odds, Deadpool is that movie — mostly. In an era when we’ve agreed…
In 2014, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the state’s K-12 education finance formula didn’t distribute taxpayer money from one district to the next in a way that was fair. It’s 2016 and the state’s highest court is saying the same thing. In an eagerly awaited decision Thursday morning in what’s frequently referred to as the Gannon case, the Kansas Supreme…
Kansas City’s Richard Moseley Sr. made his initial appearance in federal court in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday after a New York grand jury indicted him for running an allegedly illegal payday loan business. Moseley is the third local figure in the payday loan business to find himself under arrest; federal agents separately apprehended Scott Tucker and Timothy Muir in…
Lots to look forward to at the Riot Room over the next few months. Monday, Rogue Wave and Ra Ra Riot each announced a new album and tour; yesterday, Del the Funky Homosapien followed suit. All three acts will stop at the Riot Room on separate dates this spring. Del the Funky Homosapien — Monday, May 2 Underground rapper Del…
Scott Tucker, a Kansas City man who came upon tremendous wealth by running a payday lending enterprise, was among three people arrested today in connection with a federal investigation into these businesses. Tucker and his attorney, Timothy Muir, were arrested in Kansas City, Kansas. Both men were charged by a grand jury in U.S. District Court of Southern New York…
Thursday 2.11There’s enough distance now from 2009’s Adventureland to see it for what it truly is: the kind of movie Cameron Crowe used to make. In this charming, funny movie, Jesse Eisenberg falls hard for Kristen Stewart while working at a decrepit amusement park in 1987. Few coming-of-age stories so effortlessly capture the weightlessness of impending adulthood, and supporting turns…
A trip to Boulevard Brewing Co. is about to become an experience. Kansas City’s biggest beer producer announced last week that it plans to open a new visitors center — with a beer hall, an expanded tasting room and a retail shop — at 2534 Madison by the end of June. The plan is for the first floor of the…
Boulevardia announced the lineup for this year’s Taps & Tastes beer fest. The lineup features 51 breweries, among them, The Bruery, Austin Beer Works and Side Project Brewing. See the full lineup after the jump. 10 Barrel Brewing Co. 21st Amendment Brewery 2nd Shift Brewing 4 Hands Brewing Co. 75th Street Brewing Against the Grain Brewery Almanac Beer Co. Arizona Wilderness Brewing…
Twitter handle: @JohnFriend_FTM Hometown: KCMO Current neighborhood: Brookside What I do: I run Kansas City’s premier hometown bakery. We deliver fresh, all-natural breads, with no preservatives, seven days a week. What’s your addiction? Kansas City is my addiction. I love all things KC barbecue. I grew up on Gates, but I am huge fan of Q39, Joe’s KC and Arthur…
With daylight still limited and the air still subject to arctic blasts, the time is right to see Dark Days, Bright Nights, in its waning days at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. The collection of works by Finnish artists commingles the political with the personal, the pieces suggesting in disparate ways the shared experience of living in a sometimes…
Wendy Red Star gets the first laugh and the last in Parading Culture (Tokens, Gold, and Glory), her solo exhibition at Haw Contemporary. Her humorous, diorama-style “The Four Seasons” photographs make light of shrinking traditions and natural land by replacing key elements with cheap imitations. Red Star herself appears in the images, dressed in full Crow regarlia, surrounded by plastic…
Law of the land or moral law? Given the choice, which do you follow? Judge Loring’s choice in the case of Anthony Burns, in 1850s Boston, is a central issue in the Coterie Theatre’s thought-provoking And Justice for Some: The Freedom Trial of Anthony Burns, one that members of its student audience must themselves judge at the end of a…
It’s a familiar story to most of us, yet the Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s revival of The Diary of Anne Frank (by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, adapted here by Wendy Kesselman) more than reacquaints us with the inhabitants of a hiding place in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Over the course of this well-known play’s two acts, they become like old friends,…
There’s a quiet confidence on It’s Not All That Bad, the October-released debut EP from the Greeting Committee. It shines in the tender, polished confessions that guitarist and lead singer Addie Sartino lays down on each track. It’s palpable in the energetic drum work of Austin Fraser. As it turns out, It’s Not All That Bad isn’t bad at all….
On Wednesday, February 17, the 28th annual Folk Alliance International Conference kicks off at the Westin Crown Center: hundreds of artists from around the world, here to conquer Kansas City, one hotel meeting room, ballroom and foyer at a time. It’s an insider’s industry event, for sure, but the general public is not without strong entertainment options. There’s the opening…
Kansas City jazz continues to evolve, thanks in large part to Bobby Watson’s program at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. One of the next generation’s more promising names: trumpeter Nate Nall. With a style rooted in swing, he can prod and poke around a song’s edges and then light a room with fiery excitement. Nall has already performed…
Vance Joy, Elle King, Jamie Lawson It would take considerable effort to dislike Vance Joy, the same kind of effort it would take to dislike fresh-baked cookies and puppies. If we’re being honest, Joy’s songs deliver the same warm and fuzzy sensations. For evidence, look no further than Joy’s breakout 2014 track, “Riptide” — a sun-filled anthem of tender, hopeful…
Timothy Amundson first encountered the tunnel a few years ago, while riding his bike each day from the Westside neighborhood to the West Bottoms, where he was helping set up an exhibition at an art gallery. “I noticed that the entire ride was downhill, yet it was completely dry,” he says. “I kept thinking: This is where water should be….
On Valentine’s Day, taking yourself out for a cocktail is a statement. You’re saying to the world — or at least to the couples surrounding you — that you are single, that you will probably die alone, and that you’ve made some kind of peace with the likelihood that your body will go undiscovered for some time. It’s a grim…
From the It Never Hurts To Ask category, Rep. Rory Rowland has introduced a bill that would put an end to the six-figure checks that get cut to Missouri politicians by special interests. Rowland is a freshman House Democrat from Independence who won a special election to take over for Noel Torpey. Tropey last year resigned to become a lobbyist…
Ramen, that fragrant, steaming bowl of Japanese noodles, seems an unlikely dish for a neighborhood bar and grill. But that’s exactly the experiment starting today — Tuesday, February 9 — at Summit Grill & Bar in Waldo, at 500 West 75th Street. Tonight kicks off a weekly ramen deal, featuring a $13 ramen bowl (the choices will change weekly) and…
