The other new wide entry in this week’s dismal end of first quarter lineup is PAIN & GAIN, and it’s a stretch…
P & G is a comedic, action crime thriller about the personal trainers and body builders who in 1990’s Miami hatched a plan to brutally kidnap a wealthy, cocky regular member of the gym and extort big money by means of torture.
All in pursuit of the American dream, which here goes terribly wrong. Continue reading
There’s no doubt the first quarter of 2013 is one movie theater exhibitors would very much like to forget…
There was no HUNGER GAMES or 21 JUMP STREET to bring in the masses. Sure we had OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL, IDENTITY THIEF, THE CROODS, MAMA and 42, but those titles didn’t make up for the nearly 12% decline over last year’s winter months.
All that’s about to change next week when IRON MAN 3 jump starts the summer movie season on May 3rd. And the outlook from there on looks solid, week after week.
Until then there are but two leftovers to digest at the box office. Continue reading
Am I lazy for sharing stuff with you guys from time to time? A ripoff?
I think not. Allow me to credit cranky music industry pundit Bob Lefstez for his latest grumpy list of pop culture pet peeves.
“THE VINYL REVOLUTION”
“It’s a hobby. Like stamp collecting. Albeit with a lot more press. Just because you spinners are yelling at the top of your lungs that does not mean the rest of us care. While you’re at it, why don’t you bring back dial telephones, typewriters, cathode-ray TVs, pagers…” Continue reading
Let’s give credit where credit is due…
Anybody out there happen to notice that the doormat formerly known as Sandstone has booked its best summer in eons since the big boys more-or-less dropped it in favor of Starlight, leaving fabled concert-meister Chris Fritz to fend for himself?
It’s been mostly slow going at Sandstone since sponsor Verizon bailed, was followed by Cap Fed and currently Cricket. Continue reading
Ever heard of Déjà Vu?
It’s a 2006 movie starring Denzel Washington. It’s also a term taken from French literally meaning “already seen.” The phenomenon of having the strong sensation that an event or experience currently being experienced has been experienced in the past.
The there’s the expression – as Yogi Berra put it – “Déjà Vu All Over Again.” And that’s what I’m afraid Sprint is about to experience with the proposed DISH merger.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was a Director at Sprint for years and a consultant to them after I left, so I’ve seen things from both sides of the campus fence and I have a great deal of loyalty to them. After all, they hold the keys to my retirement! Continue reading
“Well we put out Women & Work a year and a half ago,” explained Lucero frontman Ben 
Nichols to a 2/3 full house at the Granada.
“And we’re still touring on it, so here’s the first song off that record.”
Nichols’ road-hardened band, complete with trumpet and sax player in tow, blazed into the first track, Downtown, as a somewhat subdued Tuesday night crowd slowly fed off the band’s energy. His bucket of nails voice led the way, bending from low growl to scratchy howl, while the band – who mostly look like seasoned truckers – filled in the gaps. Continue reading
The mission; to keep black kids off the Country Club Plaza…
Let’s not mince words, a Kansas City Council proposed ordinance for a year round kid curfew is nothing more than a nod to corporate interests on the Plaza to prevent young black kids from gathering there at night and scaring off affluent white customers.
There, I said it. Continue reading
Does anybody have the guts to tell it like it is?
Allow me to answer my own question, when it comes to issues of race, the answer is almost always a resounding no. Take the large gatherings of African American tweens and teens on the Country Club Plaza.
Largely white male run media organizations like the Kansas City Star live in abject fear of being called out as racists. So they temper the news coverage to obfuscate situations involving black kids on the Plaza to avoid criticism from – let’s be frank here – older, establishment blacks.
So while the kids involved are merely referred to by the Star as “teenagers,” “children” and “youths,” photos like the one today accompanying its editorial reveal the kids to be 100 percent black – with 100 percent no mention of race. Continue reading
Last summer the entrenched “Moderate Machine” that has run Johnson County and the State of Kansas for the last 150 years went through a “Ceausescu Moment.”
This is the moment when a dictatorship learns to its shock and dismay that its orders will no longer be followed unthinkingly by a docile populace. (It takes its name from the occasion right before his 1989 downfall when the last Communist dictator of Romania, Nicolai Ceausescu, was haranguing a crowd and the crowd’s cheers turned to jeers, and a look of astonishment came over his face.)
When the Moderate Machine was routed from its last stronghold, the State Senate, the facade behind which it wielded power was shown to be surprisingly hollow. The dirty little secret that no one talks about is that the Machine was only able to wield power for so long through a system of self-dealing and patronage. Continue reading
What happened in Boston last week was both shocking and horrific
to say the least…
People were killed and several were maimed during the running of the Boston Marathon. It was definitely a crisis situation. The bombers had to be caught so justice could be served – but at what cost?
I know this may sound a little paranoid and that my viewpoint is
definitely in the minority, but do people realize that Boston was just
subjected to Martial Law? Continue reading
A group of Kansas City residents are trying to bring the prospect of a one-terminal airport to a citywide vote. Meanwhile, a group of Ontario residents are voting whether or not to annex KCI.
*******
It’s close to May and the Kansas City Royals are in first place with their team slogan, “This Year We’re Trying to Win.” I still looking for the “TRYING TO PAY” option for season tickets on my VISA Card.
******* Continue reading
The verdict is in…
From Bill Maher to CNN, post Boston Marathon, everyone seems to agree that what passes for privacy these days is a thing of the past.
Big Bro’s watching and if he misses something – not to worry – some clown with a cellphone will pick up the slack.
“How anybody thinks they can get away with anything in this age when everything is photographed at all times is amazing to me,” Maher said Friday, re the soon to be nabbed Marathon suspects. Continue reading
Note to self…
Having returned from a week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, do your homework before asking stupid questions of movie stars next time out.
A couple of examples, I’m definitely not proud of:
The first was with Harrison Ford who was at the convention to promote his November 1st Lionsgate release ENDER’S GAME.
I asked Ford whether he was surprised at how well “42” had performed at the box office. Well, not only did that not come out right, it didn’t seem to please Ford either. Continue reading
Let’s not get carried away like the writer at a certain local alt weekly did but…
As long as death seems to be the topic of the day, deceased Divinyls lead singer Chrissy Amphlett definitely deserves a shout out.
Who didn’t see the sultry Australian redhead’s 1991 video of the song, “I touch myself” on MTV and conjure fantasies of…well, you know.
It didn’t hurt that Amphlett’s sexy stage persona went down in ultra short skirts and garter belts and low cut tops.
The Pitch erroneously calls the Divinyls a “one hit wonder.” Continue reading
A mere 72 hours after Sporting Kansas City beat the Red Bulls in NYC, the boys in
blue were on the pitch again – this time in sunny southern California.
Entering the match, KC hadn’t conceded a goal in an astonishing 545 minutes of game play, a streak that extended back to early March. But it seems that tired legs and travel did finally catch up to Peter Vermes‘ Eastern Conference-leading squad. Continue reading
This one almost got lost in the Boston Marathon confusion…
Lumpy died.
That’s right, Frank Bank – who the New York Times writer Anita Gates described as the “sweet teenage nitwit” on the sitcom “Leave it to Beaver” (1958-1963) died April 13, the day after his 71st birthday in Los Angeles.
You may recall that Bank – who later became a stock jock – moved to KC in 1992 to practice the fine art of counseling people on investments before moving back to LA in 1997.
The 50 year-old Bank told the Star at the time that, “It wasn’t the snow that enticed us. The people are wonderful.” Continue reading
When is it OK to drop the F-Bomb on live TV?
I guess when a really bad situation finally resolves itself in a good way.
Case in point this past Saturday when Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz slipped one into his pregame speech before beating the Kansas City Royals. Continue reading
Not so fast, my friend…
Make no mistake super good guy, FYI writer Tim Engle is a fan of KC Confidential. Why else, given the chance to corner Kansas City comic Jason Sudeikis – ostensibly for a schmooze piece about his improv gig tonight at the Midland – would the crafty Engle (and his headline writing copy editor) lead with the “news” that Sudeikis is not getting married in Lawrence?
Gee, I wonder where anyone got that idea? Continue reading
I’m migrating this story over in part from KCC’s sister site in LA…
Because while everyone in Lawrence knows how incredibly bad the South Wind 12 movie theater there sucks, they need help in calling attention to the situation. Do they ever.
And here’s why. Continue reading
A funny thing happened on the way to Knuckleheads in Kansas City…
The “Sons of Anarchy” tour that went down last night at the Midland with actress-singer Katey Sagal was supposed to play the East Bottoms club on May 11th.
That’s because Knuckleheads owner Frank Hicks – a motorcycle dude of the first stripe – had parlayed a brainstorm and a few phone calls into what was have been a one off, mega biker blowout with Sagal.
“Nobody had any interest in her at all, but I did,” Hicks says. “So I called her agent and told him we wanted to fly her in for a show and that I’d hire local musicians to back her up.” Continue reading
