Glazer: Scribe Hatches Plan to End Terrorism

Nahr_al_Bared_Palestinian_terrorist_campIt’s been several weeks since the terrorist attack on Paris…

Since then United States, France and other allies have done hit job after hit job on people we believe to be terrorists in Europe and in the Middle East. It seems the United States and our allies have acted quickly and with strength to slow down the attacks. But is it enough?

The problem with our enemies is vast.

We know they recruit on the Internet and all over the world. And that they’re willing to die to make us suffer. Suicide is part of their insanity. This makes them a very new and desperate enemy. Maybe the biggest problem besides finding them all over the world is they don’t really seem to know exactly what they want from us.

Making it hard to negotiate any peace with all these groups whose leaders are really only in charge of death and terror, not a nation or even an ideology. Well, their idea is kill anyone who doesn’t believe in what they believe, which apparently i includes their own people of course. Continue reading

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New Jack City: Tarantino Forces Film–And Then Some

hateful-eight-tv-spotSay what you will about Quentin Tarantino, he’s become one of America’s hardest hitting directors and filmmakers…

Many of Tarantino’s cinematic achievements have reached cult status!

From DJANGO UNCHAINED to INGLOURIOUS BASTARDSRESERVOIR DOGS to KILL BILL: VOLUMES I & II and PULP FICTION.

All are mini-classics in their own right.

Well, Tarantino is about to make history again. And not just with moviegoers but in the movie industry itself!

His latest motion picture is called THE HATEFUL EIGHT. It’s a post-Civil War drama of betrayal and deception.

It is being released by The Weinstein Company on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.

But it’s HOW it is being released that’s shaking the status quo! Continue reading

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Glazer: Hanging With The Stallone Brothers

MCDJORA EC030It’s hard to deny Sly…

He’s one of the most successful and brilliant Hollywood stars ever. His new movie Creed is doing well and has been considered a major comeback for the Rocky franchise. I hope he gets a much deserved academy award nomination for best supporting actor.

Like most people in the film industry I always hoped to meet all of my film heros.

Sly was one of them. So a walk down memory lane is called for here. One of my best friends, actor Sonny Landham (48 Hrs. Predator, Lockup) made it possible for me to hook up with Stallone.

Sonny was hired to play – what else? – a bad guy in Lockup starring Stallone. So Sonny took me to Stallone’s gym to work out with the two of them. I’d just gotten out of the joint so I was in pretty good shape to lift with them. I was on the set of Lockup and watched Sly and Sonny work together for a couple weeks. John Flynn the director and I had a project together at the time and Sly couldn’t have been nicer. He did hit on my then girlfriend Christine Dupree of Penthouse fame (she was the centerfold in Madonna issue).

Maybe a bigger irony, just after that movie finished, Sonny was financed for a small budget action picture called Billy Lone Bear. And he offered me a co starring role as an attorney in the picture. We shot it in Calgary Canada in the mid 1990’s.

The film had a couple names including Brian James (The Player, Blade Runner) and Chuck Nappier (Silence of The Lambs). Most of my scenes were with Frank Stallone, the bad guy in the movie. In fact Frank killed my real life girlfriend Laurie King of Kansas City in the first few scenes of the picture.

Sonny, who directed the movie, let her fly up and have a small part. Continue reading

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Valentine: Local Chef Renee Kelly Debuts on Bravo’s ‘Top Chef’

ReneeKelly

Original art by Mark Valentine

Kansas City has really good taste…

It surprises people when Kansas City comes out on top. Frankly, it even surprises us.

So this is fair warning, Kansas City is going to have a Top Chef on The Bravo Network.

“Top Chef” is a very popular cooking show. In fact, this will be its 13th season. The December 2 aunch will be a two-night edition to kick off the national competition. The Bravo Network has selected 17 contenders this season. All of them are from California except for Renee Kelly.

She’s from Kansas City.

She is the tasty choice. Continue reading

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Glazer: Bills Could Pave Way to Chiefs Wild Card & NFL Picks

cd183dd1a1e60ea15361d57553e16d9bThe Chiefs play a wounded Buffalo Bills team at home and are a 5.5 point favorite..,

Bill QB Tyrod Taylor is hurt with a collar bone injury and may not even last the entire game. And the Chiefs’ defense can prove it’s a for real elite defense today. We’ll see.

The Bills should be ready to take a fall.

They played Monday night, lost, didn’t look very good and their playoff hopes could die at Arrowhead today. That would move the Chiefs to 6-5 and need they would need just four more wins to lock up a wild card berth. Maybe only three more.

Strange year.

So who’s the top dog out there? Continue reading

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Glazer: Talking Turkey NFL Sunday

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady holds a turkey leg after an NFL football game against the New York Jets Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012 in East Rutherford, N.J. The Patriots won the game 49-19. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Las Vegas Insider power rankings have the Kansas City Chiefs ranked No. 5…

WTF! Y

That’s right, ahead of Denver, Green Bay and the Steelers. So the Chiefs are the best .500 team in the NFL?  In a more believable review, CBS POWER RANKINGS have KC ranked No. 11 – that sounds more like it.

Las Vegas (and the public) think Dallas’ Tony Romo is a monster quarterback. Some even think Dallas will run the table and win its division. Right now they’re 3-7.

I say NO WAY.

But Vegas has the Panthers tomorrow losing to Dallas in Dallas.

The undefeated Panthers are a 1 1/2 point dog at Jerry’s World/Dallas. Green Bay is an 8 point fav over the Bears and the Eagles are – oh, who cares  – they’re about a 2  1/2 point underdog to the Lions. Continue reading

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Valentine: The Trouble With Judging Historical Figures Out of Context

WoodrowWIvy League students at Princeton University are protesting…

They want Woodrow Wilson’s name removed from university’s buildings. Because the attitudes he had 100 years ago are clearly racist by today’s standards. He was president of Princeton in 1903 and a two term president of the United States in 1913. Every university associated with a U.S. president has a building with their name on it.

However, let’s let that pass. Judging historic figures out of their historical context must be our new standard.

Next in line should be Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

FDR defined 20th century Liberalism, yet he ordered Japanese-Americans to be held in prison camps. Any president who would arrest and jail US citizens based on their ethnicity should be pilloried in the public square. Harvard students should rise up against him or be condemned themselves.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy will be a painful addition to the hit list. Continue reading

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Jack Goes Confidential: ‘Creed’ Scores Big for Stallone & Jordan

UnknownI’m going to be honest…

I almost skipped the critic’s screening of CREED a couple of weeks back.

Did I really need to see another ROCKY?

But I am here to tell you that missing that movie would have been a huge mistake.

CREED is definitely NOT the seventh installment in the Rocky series.

Instead it’s a smart spin-off, action-melodrama with twists and turns that take the storyline in an entirely new direction.

Here Adonis Johnson, illegitimate son of Rocky Balboa‘s former rival Apollo Creed, is pursuing the fight game in a small way on the west coast and south of the border.

It’s not enough for him to follow in the footsteps of his famous father.

But then again he wants to make it on his own—out of dad’s shadow.

That’s why Adonis heads to Philadelphia and searches out the aging Rocky who spends his days and evenings running his Italian restaurant.

Adonis seeks Rocky’s help. He wants him to become his trainer and mentor. But Rocky is not interested, spending any free time he has visiting Adrian’s grave.

Well, you guessed it, young Adonis finally convinces Rocky to be in his corner. But not before the story takes some unexpected turns.

Make no m mistake, this is good, entertaining filmmaking by BOTH Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan as Adonis. Continue reading

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Lefsetz: Adele Flexes Muscles @ End of an Era

Screen Shot 2015-11-23 at 4.43.59 PMThis is not a victory for the rank and file…

The artists railing against streaming applaud Adele’s success after keeping “25” from Spotify, et al. They just don’t know it’s the last gasp of a dying paradigm and the birth of a new one. That’s right, you won’t see albums released in the fourth quarter for sales impact anymore, but we will see the most popular acts dominate the chart.

Hope. That’s what people want.

And if Adele can play by the old rules and win, by golly, so can I! But this is untrue. Not only is Adele a phenomenon, she and her superstar brethren are hoovering up all the profits in music. It’s no different from Apple winning in mobile handsets, she’s an iPhone and you’re HTC or Microsoft or Sony or one of the manufacturers who’ve left the business.

How did it come to this?

First and foremost, mindshare. It’s nearly impossible to get in today’s cluttered, cacophonous society. Used to be you got on radio and then MTV and you reached everybody. Now, except for Adele herself, no one can do this.

Quick, sing a 1D song! You can’t, but they just won big on the AMAs. And you can pooh-pooh that awards show, or you can just admit that music has changed. It’s not that you’re old, it’s just that the biggest acts are niche and if you’re not one of them, god help you in making a living.

Even radio… there’s pop and everything else. Quick, what’s number one on the Active Rock chart? You probably can’t even name one of the tracks in the top ten!

And the popular squeezes out the less popular and you end up holding the bag, and there’s nothing in it, only shattered dreams.

Same deal in touring, where the real money is.

You can’t get a good seat at the arena to see the star and you can’t get anybody to come see the barely known in the club. Continue reading

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Glazer: Believe It or Don’t, .500 Chiefs Electrify KC

tempFF_EB_006--nfl_mezz_1280_1024They did it!  

So now the Chiefs are the best bet to land the final wild card in the AFC, according to ESPN’s Mike and Mike! And it could happen – based on their improved defense, easy remaining games and that they’re on a roll. Yep, four wins in a row and two back to back road wins against division rivals.

Shades of head coach Andy Reid‘s first year here when we played team after team that was injured or weak or using back up quarterbacks. However, we did just beat San Diego and Philip Rivers on the road. Nice. However they were 2-7 and now they’re done for the year with 8 loses.

So who’s left?

The Bills who play here following a Monday night game at New England. The Pats should win that one and Bills will be tired that Sunday. Then on the road KC plays a sudden struggling Oakland. However, they’re dangerous and will probably be favored. At home with Chargers, the Chiefs should win that one. At the Ravens – a pick’em game – the Ravens will be favored at home. The Browns here and Raiders here both should be wins if KC plays as well as they have lately.

So Chiefs finish 9-7 or maybe, just maybe 10-6. Either likely gets you a wild card.  Continue reading

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Mancow: ‘Feminist Men’ Alert

 

dowd-2005-book1Syndicated columnist Maureen (pronounced Moron) Dowd said,”Hollywood is filled with feminist men who somehow got warped”

And that “it’s as bad as the Catholic Church or Saudi Arabia” (ahem) and that “less than 1.9% of the last 100 blockbuster movies were helmed by women”…

Here’s the thing:

Hollywood isn’t filled with feminist men. It’s filled with business men.

All the rest is pandering.

Continue reading

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Leftridge: Things to Avoid This Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving_The-First-Thanksgiving_cph.3g04961-EThanksgiving is approaching this Thursday and there’s nothing we can do about it…

Like a particularly virulent strain of the Asian flu, it thrusts itself upon us annually whether we’re cool with it or not. No one is immune. And since it cannot be defeated, we can only hope to survive.

Submitted for your approval, here are my thoughts on things to stay away from, should you too wish to avoid the pestilence.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

This used to be cool when it was all just giant, inflatable cartoon characters you knew like Beetle Bailey and Mary Worth, but now every other float is a 14-year-old Disney star you’ve never heard of singing something sugary and shitty about texting at the mall, and the helium-filled demigods are “beloved” characters like “Powerpuff Girls” and “Some Japanese Character Your Creepy Nephew Knows.” Unless you’re a pedophile, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade should be avoided at all cost. Continue reading

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Glazer: Chiefs & Chopper Plus This Week’s Picks

Charcandrick West

Charcandrick West

Here comes Kansas City…

Our Chiefs are a 3 point favorite at hapless San Diego Sunday. A win moves them to 5-5 with six games to go. What’s more, a win makes them a for real wild card contender. A big surprise after a 1-5 start. As we’ve discussed KC has no real offense even though QB Alex Smith has at least two, if not three, solid or better receivers. Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce both look very good if Smith can get them the ball.

New running back Charcandrick West has been a pleasant surprise replacing the injured Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs defense has improved as well, setting up their offense in good field position by grabbing interceptions. However Smith has not been up to the task  And as we all know, with Alex Smith there is no real future or any talk of a Super Bowl down the road.

The NFL has several under .500 teams or just a game better in the hunt.

So far the only one who looks dangerous are the Steelers with Big Ben if he stays healthy. Everyone else is just whistling Dixie and wanting at least a post season game or two, even if going deep is unlikely.

We have no area college teams doing anything. And it seems Alabama is back as the big bad wolf of the NCAA again. Continue reading

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Jack Goes Confidential: ‘Spotlight’ Shakes Catholic Church to the Core

spotlight-xlargeThis may be a bit premature but I am declaring SPOTLIGHT the best motion picture I’ve seen all year…

Of course, that can change with some yet to be screened Christmas releases, but I seriously doubt it.

SPOTLIGHT is the sensational true and shocking story of a tough subject matter.

It’s title stands for the investigative unit within The Boston Globe newspaper which in 2001 shocked the city by proving the on-going sexual abuse of kids by priests within the Roman Catholic Church.

There was the shuffling of suspected priests–i.e. parking them out of sight and possible legal reach.

And the incredible cover-up by church officials that shook the institution—and for that matter—Boston to the core.

The expose earned the Pulitzer Prize for The Boston Globe and ultimately forced the Archbishop to resign.

But while we’re talking extremely sensitive  subject matter here, the film approaches it from a journalistic point of view.

Think ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN. Continue reading

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Lefsetz: Screw You, Adele

adele-0312-4-VO-WELL43_200725714690How the hell can we solve the world’s problems if the music business itself can’t do what’s right for the populace?

Sixteen years after Napster, after living through P2P, track sales and now streaming, blind greed continues to reign in the music business. People do what’s right for themselves, never mind what’s good for the customer – never mind what’s good for the business.

Adele?

You’re not that fucking good.

You’re not the Beatles. We can live without your music. We just focus on you because everybody else is so bad, everybody else is whored out to the corporation and bitching they can’t make the money people do in the tech sphere.

Even Bono’s off the rails, forcing an LP upon those who don’t care and then going on the road and not even going clean in arenas. That’s right, after selling out stadia, U2 can’t sell every ticket indoors. Because the music just ain’t that good. And it’s all driven by the music. And we’ll find out what the people think, a year from now, when we see if they’re still listening, on streaming services, which is where “25” will be after this dash for cash is done.

Hell, we’re not even going to have this fourth quarter madness a year from now.

Because physical will be dead and track sales de minimis. I’d say this is the last gasp of a dying industry but the truth is music will survive, as it has the past 16 years, because people love to play it and the public loves to hear it.

Who needs this money?

Adele, you played small venues last time around – you didn’t take all the money from the corporations. Why this turnaround? Are you that ignorant?

Even car companies are hipper than you, they’re leaving CD drives out of their vehicles. Continue reading

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Jack Goes Confidential: ‘Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2’ Arcs Out the Future

mockingjaypostersmall_0How sad it is to see Katniss Everdeen bid this power franchise adieu…

Maybe that’s overstating matters a bit as MOCKINGJAY-PART 2 brings the highly successful ‘Hunger Games’ storyline to a worthy conclusion.

The good news is that its millions of young fans will be pleased as director Francis Lawrence pretty well sticks to the printed pages in winding things up.

But make no mistake, this final outing takes on a deviously darker tone. Gone are many of the previous and ever so popular futuristic action sequences. They’ve been replaced by darker underground scenes and more philosophical story aspects leading to the ultimate confrontation and showdown between Katniss and evil president Snow.

Because Katniss now realizes the stakes are no longer just for survival—they’re for the future! Continue reading

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Starbeams: Santa Sells Out, ‘Gone Girl’ Lights Plaza & Getting Rich KC Style

SantaArrival$35 to $75 for the Santa Experience at Oak Park Mall!  Some parents are complaining this morning, but I’ve paid more to sit in someone’s lap.

                                                  *******

One thing I’ve learned in the past week: If my dad was worth $20 million I could start a hunger strike at Mizzou and get a lot of people fired.

                                                  *******

The website “Money Under 30” says Kansas City is one of the top 10 places to get rich if you’re young.  Especially if you’re a mechanic who specializes in front end alignments. Continue reading

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Glazer: (Yawn) Chiefs Could Make Playoffs (Yawn)

 

 Chiefs Broncos FootballAfter the big win in Denver for KC Chiefs yesterday – the first against Peyton Manning as a Bronco – are the Chiefs back in the hunt?

Yep, we went to Denver and beat a 7-1 Bronco team that had a quarterback break the all time passing yards record early in the first quarter. Do you believe that?

Only three teams are in front of KC in the wild card hunt now. What’s more, all of them seem just as shaky as the Chiefs. Only the Pittsburgh Steelers with Big Ben look impressive. The other pretenders are the Jets and Bills. Of course we have Oakland in our own division as well, but hey, who cares if a 4-5 team like KC can get there in this mess of a season called the NFL playoff hunt?

Yes, Kansas City won and the game was over at halftime.

Manning did all he could to give KC the game by throwing to Chiefs defenders with horrible passes in the first half, and all our points were set up by his weak arm. Yet other than one drive our offense couldn’t move the ball hardly at all. So we kicked 99 field goals with set ups at mid field or in Bronco land all day. True West had a few nice runs as did Alex Smith, our quarterback. That’s about it for KC’s offense.

So was our defense really that great or was Manning showing us the end of his career? Continue reading

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Glazer: Charlie Sheen’s Aids Cover-Up

thNews sources say Charlie Sheen will announce he is HIV positive to the world tomorrow…

Oh boy.

He’s known about it for several years according to media sources. We’ll get more details tomorrow, but the rumor’s been out there for some time. Sheen has been the total party boy for several years and his wild behavior escalated a couple years back to the point that he was fired from his smash hit series TWO AND A HALF MEN. The show went on without him for a brief period, but is now off the air. Sheen went on to star in the series ANGER MANAGEMENT. Continue reading

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New Jack City: 10 New Movies Set for Thanksgiving

TheNightBeforeTrailerTen new movies will be competing for KC’s entertainment dollars during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday..

And what’s more, there’s not a turkey in the bunch—well maybe a couple.

Here’s the latest KC holiday release schedule.

Opening Friday, November 20:

* “THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY-PART 2”

  Jennifer Lawrence and the gang’s swan song.

* “THE NIGHT BEFORE”Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie = Debauchery.

* “BY THE SEA” (Limited Engagement)-Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie‘s trip into voyeurism.

* “SECRET IN THEIR EYES”Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Chiwetel Edijofor murder thriller.

* “SPOTLIGHT” (Limited Runs) Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci.

(Note: This is the best picture that I’ve seen so far this year!)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Continue reading

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