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New Jack City: For All That Was Bad at the Movies In 2011, Here’s What Made it Worthwhile
Last week was my lineup of movie stinkers..
Now here are the movies that made my twisted life as a critic all worth it.
My 10 favorite films to play in Kansas City during 2011:
# 1—THE HELP—Great ensemble film. Lots of kudos all around but for some reason Emma Stone isn’t getting enough of them for her superb performance as Skeeter.
# 2—THE IDES OF MARCH—Here’s the great American political story with dream casting of Gosling, Clooney, Hoffman, Tomei & Giamatti—not to mention superb direction by Mr. Clooney himself.
# 3—MONEYBALL—Pitt, Hill & Hoffman. This past year’s triple threat. And what a breakthrough for slimmed down Jonah Hill.
# 4—THE DESCENDANTS—Proof that George Clooney is rapidly becoming one of the our best all around actors,
Glazer: Westwood Greenlights Huge, New Woodside Redevelopment Project
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A major break-through for Westwood and Johnson County is finally happening…
Woodside Health & Tennis has been trying for years to gain approval from the locals to expand its popular tennis and fitness club into a huge complex for high-end apartment living, shopping, a larger health club, children’s facilities, a new lap indoor pool and tons more.
This is huge.
The plan was approved this week to move the project forward. Owner Blair Tanner and crew now have the backing of Westwood to make it all happen. Tanner hopes construction will begin very soon, by this summer.
Mermaid: From Pet Chipping to Human Chipping, The Fix Is In
RFID, I hadn’t thought much about these letters until the recent Wal Mart scandal…
The one where the company is embedding chips in clothing – mostly underwear and jeans – to "keep track of inventory." Radio-Frequency Identification should be something you start thinking about a lot these days.
Is it Big Brother or a helpful chip for times of trouble, such as a bad accident or a kidnapping of a child?
If you are just hearing about this for the first time, listen up.
Today: A Christmas Olive Branch from Jardine’s Owner to Local Jazz Musicians
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In an open letter to Kansas City jazz musicians, Jardine’s owner Beena Raja reached out Christmas Day in an attempt to mend fences and restore sanity to an out-of-control situation that has resulted in the club’s going dark much of the past three weeks.
That after Raja found a handful of her staff drinking illegally at the club at 4 a.m. Thanksgiving morning. Jardine’s general manager / cook then resigned. Two staffers were fired, a third walked out and confusion over what had gone down lead other staffers to believe they too had been fired.
An incident with one server, whose father is a leading member of the local jazz community, resulted in the father calling for other musicians to boycott Jardine’s.
It’s been downhill from there.
Will Raja’s reaching out to musicians work? Is it too late?
Here’s Raja’s late night letter:
"To All,
You don’t know the facts of why this happened.
Glazer: King of Sting Dabs Away a Tear & Sends Out Holiday Best Wishes
With the Lone Ranger it was, "How did you get to be the Lone Ranger?"
With me its, "How did you become the King of Sting?" Well, it started very early in life for me -very early.
When I could barely speak or walk, my Grandma, Nanny Mary, took me to see the Disney movie OLD YELLER. Around 1958 or so. The picture starred Fess Parker (of Davy Crockett Fame), Dorothy McGuire, Tommy Kirk (Musketeers) and my favorite kid actor, Kevin Corcoran, a Disney super star at like age 9.
Chuck Connors (of Rifleman fame) had a small part in it. Chuck traded Kevin a puppy for a frog. And while Kevin’s dad, went off to sell cattle the boys stayed home to keep an eye on mom.
While Old Yeller kept an eye on them all.
Christmas 2011: Through the Past Darkly into Year Four
Merry Christmas…
It’s been quite a year for KC Confidential. Lots of comings and goings – some planned, others not. But for the most part readers have stuck with us through good times and bad. We’re ending the year on a high note with readership up dramatically from where we were just last spring.
How much are we up?
More than double what we started the summer with, and up 90 percent the past three months and well over 300 percent in the last 30 days.
It’s not been easy.
Glazer: Chiefs Lose, Pull Scribe’s Chestnuts Out of The Fire
I know due to all the local attention I got for MY BET, most people wanted me to lose…
I had tons of calls last week during the Packer upset from "concerned" friends. Meaning their real thoughts were…I HOPE YOU CRASH AND BURN. Hey, that’s human nature.
Remember, almost nobody most of you readers know has EVER placed a bet in a sports book in Vegas.
Thus the confusion over the who, what, when, where and why of many of my teaser bets. Most people only bet with friends in pools or not at all. One percent or less have ever made a real bet in Vegas with a sports concern. Sure, they’ve lost at blackjack – so did my grandma.
But only the big boys dare to dare.
Glazer: Scribe Calls Upon Great Santa to Win Bet, Guide This Week’s Picks
Thanks to this site and Johnny Dare, the Craig season bet is on the line for the next 8 days…
The Chiefs play Oakland tomorrow and Denver next weekend. The Bronco’s may not need the game, if they win and the Chargers lose this weekend it’s over, Raiders win the division. So Denver might not play as hard at home next week – I don’t know. So I likely need the RAIDERS, THE HATED RAIDERS to help me…Damn. Who knew?
Last week I sucked on picks, the worst of the year. But overall, the year has been very good. Let’s get back on track, shall we? Ok, lets do it.
All I want for Christmas is one Chiefs loss…Santa, oh Santa…..
Jack Goes Confidential: Steven Spielberg Dishes Up Top Notch Family Fare
The WAR HORSE is rated PG-13 because it contains battlefield sequences that may be too intense for young kids.
Having said that, let’s applaud director Steven Spielberg for delivering the type of epic adventure film here we just don’t see much anymore.
WAR HORSE is an odyssey-like story of a boy’s pursuit of his horse Joey which has been drafted by the British army by an England on the brink of joining the European conflict World War 1.
Jack Goes Confidential: Cameron Crowe’s ‘Zoo’ Delivers Exceptional Family-Fun
Typecasting a film as a ‘Family Movie’ can often backfire…
It’s such a broad term and can be a turnoff to adult moviegoers. Well we’ve got two such branded cinematic entries in Kansas City this holiday weekend and the good news is that both do the description justice.
The first is director Cameron (JERRY MAGUIRE) Crowe’s funny, inspirational true story about the magical power of family to persevere in the face of extraordinary challenges.
Sounds Good: Blueprint Jazz@I-Bar, Dave Shelton’s Holiday Jam@8th Street TapRoom
I know most of you are probably nesting down this weekend, spending time at home with the family, or making that dreaded road trip to the relatives’ house that you spend the rest of the year largely ignoring.
But after all that small talk and pretending to care about your second cousin’s promotion in the HyVee meat department, you may need to cut loose with a stiff drink and some chill music to calm those frazzled nerves.
AmIright?
Or maybe you’re just a hopeless barfly who can’t get away from the scene for just a moment, even on the one weekend that’s supposed to be all about friends, family, and counting your blessings.
Either way, here are a few things to distract you from the twisted train wreck that is the holidays…
Hearne: The Off Kilter, Last Minute Christmas Gifts Giver’s Guide
It’s gonna be hard to top Brandon Leftridge‘s tongue-in-cheek, holiday gift suggestion of a totally real Opossum…
Or Jack Poessiger‘s dream holiday meal of a "crisp" Christmas Goose. But I’ll try. Shouldn’t be too hard to make it a little easier on the gift givers as well as the recipients.
Let’s start with the $12.50, handmade, pewter Atahualpa bottle stopper at Hobb’s in Lawrence.
"You know who this guy is?" asks Hobb’s owner Mark Swanson. "He was the last Inca emperor."
Who doesn’t need something like that to jam into their favorite bottle of Mezcal?
Looking for something at a higher price point? Not a problem.
Today: Former Jardine’s Owner Saddened by Events, Fox 4’s Tabloid TV Coverage
The past three weeks have been tough for Jardine’s founder Greg Halstead…
Halstead opened Jardine’s in 1992 as a restaurant and bar, but within months realized he’d made a mistake. The joint was losing money and Halstead called his pal Ron Schoonover – the former manager of Kansas City’s Playboy Club – to ask advice. Schoonover was running a successful jazz-themed bar and restaurant downtown called The Phoenix and he greenlighted Halstead’s idea of adding jazz to Jardine’s mix .The rest is history.
Hearne: Buyers Line Up for Chance to Buy Plaza Jazz Club Jardine’s
It may be "all quiet" along the battle lines in the Jardine’s jazz club saga but…
The staff is gone – a couple of them fired, others told that they’d been fired. Many of KC’s top jazz musicians have joined a boycott of Jardine’s. A boycott allegedly spearheaded by Sons of Brasil trumpet player Stan Kessler, whose stepson – now former Jardine’s server – Raja called the cops on minutes before Kessler’s band showed up at the club to play, but then walked out.
No two ways about it, it’s been ugly. Not to mention confusing.
Yet while things have been relatively quiet in the media, that doesn’t mean there’s not been plenty going on behind the scenes, in places TV cameras are of little use.
New Jack City:The Bottom 10 Films That Made ‘Going To The Movies’–WORK!
Who said that going to the movies is all fun?
Not when you had to suffer through these turkeys like I did. And to think they were all comedies.
Here then is the bottom of the 2011 barrel:
First runner up (# 11): LARRY CROWNE: At what point did director Tom Hanks realize that directing himself here–along with Julia Roberts —was a huge mistake?
# 10— NEW YEAR’S EVE : Director Garry Mashall’s low rent followup to Valentine’s Day
# 9—THE SITTER: This one’s obviously been around a while since Jonah Hill not only still looked porky here but had done much better with MONEYBALL.
# 8— ARTHUR: Was there any reason for Russell Brand to remake this classic? Must’ve looked good on paper but it didn’t translate onto the screen.
Donnelly: Sporting KC Firestarter Graham Zusi Gets Recognition He Deserves
So now it’s official. Officially official…
It’s a drum I started beating early last season after watching a few Sporting Kansas City games. It was so obvious. And I kept pounding that thing all season.
Graham Zusi is the best player on the team.
Not only is he the best player, he also happens to occupy the center midfielder position, a spot that can dictate the entire flow of a game and determine the personality of a squad.
As the 2011 MLS regular season neared its end, I cast my media ballot in Zusi’s favor for team MVP, though he ended up losing to Jimmy Nielsen, who had a solid year as well between the pipes.
But now it’s not just us die hard SKC fans that know about Zusi.
Glazer: Power & Light District on the Ropes as Plaza Takes Top Spot
Last Friday after afternoon my brother Jeff and I had some business downtown…
As we were leaving the area around 1 p.m. we decided to take a look at what was up in the Power & Light area. To be fair it was daytime, however this is Christmas shopping season and it was about 50 degrees and clear outside. Power and Light boasts that it has 50 stores, shops, restaurants and bars all under (kinda) one roof. A billion dollar entertainment romp.
Yes? No.
There was nobody – and I mean nobody – down there. We stopped at about six major restaurants and found zip. The main, most popular one, McFadden’s had about six people eating and drinking inside. The manager said "Well, its daytime, there’s not much going on. We had some people in earlier, try the weekend nights."
Starbeams: The Top 5 Things That Happened at the Gates BBQ Fire
Gates BBQ in Leawood suffered fire damage early this morning...
TOP 5 THINGS THAT HAPPENED AT THE GATES FIRE:
#5. Firefighters arrived and began yelling, "Hi, May I Help You?"
#4. Out of habit, KCPD ran inside the building and placed their trays on the counter.
#3. Spectators got a great deal on some REALLY burnt ends.
Today: Thumbs Up to Joco Leaf Ban, H&M Shopping Report & Star’s New ‘913’
Something for everyone today, even Jardine’s haters and future Jardine’s lovers…
One of my all-time, good-for-the-earth, suburban pet peeves is taking a step towards being eliminated. Starting in January, yard waste will no longer be picked up in Johnson County and dumped in landfills.
Hats off to the Johnson County Commission for doing the right thing.
Today: Neverending Jardine’s Saga, a Mother Weighs in on Firing Rumors & More
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Amidst the back-and-forth tales of Jardine’s firing its entire staff lies a single, glaring contradiction…
The local news media – including this site – bought into and reported that owner Beena Raja had fired the Plaza jazz club’s entire staff. That fifteen people had been unceremoniously turned out on the streets right ahead of the holidays.
Nevermind that none of that had been confirmed with Jardine’s. Or later, when Raja was finally cornered she denied it, saying the general manager/cook had resigned, two staffers had been fired and another walked out. Not surprisingly a local waiter blogger championed the staff firing story without even attempting to contact Raja.
Worse yet, a local TV news organization that has lead much of the news charge on Jardine’s woes employs a reporter who’s daughter worked at Jardine’s and is alleged to have been among the three servers Raja found drinking for free at 4 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.
None of the stories I’ve seen disclosed that potential conflict to viewers.
Now let’s get to the heart of the matter.
