The Last Matinee. // Courtesy DarkStar Pictures It’s a little hard to remember that before last March, things looked very different for 2020. For instance, Screenland Armour and Downright Creepy’s annual Panic Fest took place last January and, according to co-founder and Screenland Theaters owner Adam Roberts, was the biggest program and largest attendance in the genre film festival’s history….
Photo by Daryl Wein If you knew exactly when you were going to die, how would you spend your last day on Earth? This existential question has inspired numerous films, from D.O.A. to Melancholia to last year’s She Dies Tomorrow. Husband and wife team Daryl Wein Zoe Lister-Jones’ new comedy How It Ends tackles the subgenre from a discreet pandemic…
Kansas City G.I.F.T. is working to close the racial wealth gap and reduce poverty-related crime one Black-owned business at a time. But at the heart of what they do is the people. “Because of the intentional efforts of redlining, our city is divided where the majority of Black and brown people reside in one area and that area is under-funded and over-policed,” says Executive…
Former Gov. Eric Greitens delivers the annual State of the State address to the Missouri House in 2018. // Photo by Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications Disgraced former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, forced to resign in 2018 under an avalanche of scandals and felony charges, announced Monday evening that he will run for the U.S. Senate. The announcement, which Greitens made during…
KCPD on Broadway. // Photo by Brock Wilbur Police shot and killed a Black man around 6 p.m. Thursday. According to Missouri Highway Patrol, who have been investigated officer-involved shootings since June 2020, the officer shot the man in self-defense. Kansas City Police Department’s Impact Unit was looking for a person involved in an aggravated assault case. Officers tracked the…
Potato. // Courtesy SXSW Truth is stranger than fiction, as the saying goes. That’s certainly the case in Potato Dreams of America, a largely autobiographical tale charting writer-director Wes Hurley’s journey from watching grainy American films as a little boy just beginning to recognize his queerness as the Iron Curtain falls to making his own very gay, very American movie…
This week on the Streetwise podcast we discuss Benji the Cat, enjoy a reading of Emily Cox’s piece on KC Tenants’ block party, check out Merlin’s track “The Revenger”, and chat with Rob Schamberger about crafting art for professional wrestling. Streetwise is hosted by Brock Wilbur, editor in chief of The Pitch. Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. Subscribe to the Streetwise newsletter, a weekly meditation on Kansas City news…
Enrique Chi, the main man behind longtime Kansas City act Making Movies, has been making the most of the pandemic. As he said in an email earlier this week, one of the blessings of having all his touring cancelled was that he was able to dig into the organization he founded, Arts as Mentorship, and create a plan to scale…
Dame. // Photo by Amir Williams “Honestly, bro, I think I’m the best.” Grandview rapper Southside Dame and I are on a Zoom call and talking about his basketball abilities compared to the rest of Kansas City’s hip-hop scene. He lets out a laugh as he restates himself, “I think I’m the best rap hooper, bro.” Dame played varsity ball…
Two new affordable housing initiatives will be part of the city’s efforts to support Kansas Citians experiencing homelessness, as announced today. // Image courtesy of Mayor Quinton Lucas Over 100 blighted properties in Kansas City will soon be transformed into homes for those experiencing homelessness. Through the Land Bank Dollar Sale program, the city will sell redeveloped homes for $1…
This film is one of those that you were probably sold on within the first 30 seconds of the trailer. Writing a review is almost unnecessary if this was the kind of thing you got hype on early. It has such a simple line in that it activates a set of brain chemicals that either you’re completely controlled by or…
Courtesy of Build Power MoKan. Tonight at 6:30 p.m. a coalition of organizations that created Build Power MoKan and allies are hosting a people’s hearing. The intent of the hearing is to give Evergy users a platform to express their concerns and demands for Evergy’s long range energy planning. The hearing comes just in time, as Evergy’s Sustainability Transformation Plan…
Courtesy of Greenlight Dispensary. Kansas City area Greenlight Dispensaries will be offering a free doctor evaluation to help customers in certain zip codes obtain a medical marijuana card. The evaluation and card application offered by Greenlight, which generally costs around $100, can be done online in about 25 minutes. The evaluation will be free, but applicants must pay $25 in…
Courtesy of Google Maps. In response to 4 Hands Brewing Co. brand ambassador, Jeremy Danner’s Tweet calling attention to the fact that none of the Whataburgers coming to the area will be in the metro, Mayor Quinton Lucas did some brainstorming. Lucas jokingly proposed a plan for the Denny’s at 1600 Broadway while the lot is in development—and got a…
Photo courtesy The Lucky Neko KC Pet Project partnered with Austin Pets Alive! to transfer 27 cats and kittens to Kansas City from Texas via a private jet. These felines were at risk of euthanasia mere days ago due to Winter Storm Uri. Winter Storm Uri was a major coast-to-coast storm February 12 through 16 that Ted Cruz used as…
The Black Angels // photo by Felicia Graham Beginning in 2008 as the Austin Psych Fest, and turning into Levitation in 2014, the annual festival produced by The Reverberation Appreciation Society has seen some of the finest mind-melting rock acts meet up in various venues around and in Austin, Texas, to bring about a harmonic convergence for fans of psych,…
Illustration by Jack Raybuck I want to thank everyone who attended our third Savage Love Livestream last Saturday night. Mistress Matisse was our very special guest and we tackled a lot of questions about BDSM over a very lively ninety minutes. We didn’t get to every question—there were so many—but I will now, as promised, power through as many livestream…
Courtesy Crane Brewing Company Lager yeast, pilsner malt, and rice. Those are the main ingredients in Crane Brewing Company’s new Cold IPA called The Time is Always Right. The new limited-edition beer is unique in a couple of ways. As far as Chris Meyers, co-founder of Crane Brewing Co., is aware, Crane is one of about three breweries in the…
Mae Powell. // Photo via SXSW livestream Park The Van Records shared their streaming SXSW showcase on Friday, March 19th. The lineup included 6 acts from around the world, brought together by their noteworthy musical abilities and their penchant for awkward traffic cones in their recording space. As soon as Johnny Aries took the digital stage, the chat function within…
Courtesy Chixen Kansas City Brand new: Chixen Kansas City opens on Southwest Boulevard Sometimes you just need a big, juicy hamburger (this is the case most of the time), but eating beef every day is a no-no for your arteries, guts, and the planet. And while we will continue to try to like meatless varieties, none even resemble the experience…
Photo courtesy Westport Flea Market As Kansas Citians continue to get vaccinated, Westport Flea Market wants to reward customers for their patriotism by offering a buy one burger get one free deal. Qualified guests include those who have received at least one of the two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson…
Photo courtesy Great Plains SPCA The Great Plains SPCA hopes to bring smiles and help animals with their new Bad Pet Drawing Fundraiser. You can receive a custom drawing of your pet by donating $15. Photo courtesy Laura Antonic The no-kill animal shelter staff will be creating the art and they claim they are way better at caring for the…
Photo courtesy Susan LeGrand Less than 1% of U.S. pilots are Black women and Kansas pilot Susan LeGrand is a part of it. As International Women’s Month is coming to an end, LeGrand is a woman who deserves to be celebrated because she has had to overcome racial and gender-based obstacles to get to where she is today. LeGrand was born…
Turkey Smoke Series champions of 2020 // Photo courtesy Kansas City Barbeque Society The second year of the Turkey Smoke Series will give thousands of dollars in prize money to the best pitmasters in the U.S. This series of competitions, powered by the Kansas City Barbeque Society and the National Turkey Federation, encourages professional and amateur pitmasters to showcase their…
