Hearne: Cinetopia 18 & AMC Town Center Square Off as Hostilities Appear Headed for the Courtroom

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Hearne Christopher Jr.
AMC main man Gerry Lopez

AMC main man Gerry Lopez

The stage is set…

Just over four months ago Oregon-based movie exhibitor Cinetopia plighted its troth in Kansas City with its opulent Overland Park 18 theater and restaurant in the upscale Prairie Fire shopping and residential development.

The sky was the limit for Cinetopia’s grand, new multiplex with four-story tall screens and state-of-the-art Meyer Sound Systems with Dolby Atmos multidimensional surround technology. Factor in its gourmet concession offerings, plush, spacious seating and trendy luxe interior and Cinetopia appeared poised to take the South Johnson County movie market by storm.

Just one problem… 

Kansas City-based movie exhibitor AMC Theatres wasn’t about to lay down and merely watch as the brash, new upstart encroached on the turf of its nearby AMC Town Center 20 in Leawood.

Net result: a movie war with the two theaters splitting blockbuster releases instead of playing all the movies in what the industry calls “day and date.”

Thus each theater has been handicapped by getting only half of the new movies.

It’s Cinetopia though that’s been getting the short end of the stick. Continue reading →

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Lefsetz: Sticking Up for ‘Coddled, Crybaby’ Millennials

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Bob Lefsetz

Screen Shot 2014-09-22 at 11.49.46 PMThe music business is going to be all right…

The number one lesson I took from the U2 / Apple kerfuffle was not you shouldn’t invade people’s devices without permission, but how few people knew who U2 was. In case this link eluded your inbox, check it out, it’s edifying.

The point being time marches forward every day, and what’s big today will almost certainly be forgotten tomorrow. Even the Beatles. Certainly “Yesterday” will live on, but “For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite” and the rest of “Sgt. Pepper’s”? Highly dubious they’ll make it into the next century.

And few of us will live that long, but Baby Boomers will expire and the youngsters will take over, and I hung with a bunch of those youngsters this weekend in Utah.

Yes, I was nearly the oldest person at the Summit Series event at Powder Mountain.

Huh?

That’s how the new world works. The inner circle convenes and you don’t even know about it. Kind of like that Amazon convention featured in Monday’s New York Times: “A Writerly Chill at Jeff Bezos’ Campfire.” Continue reading →

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Glazer: The Absurdity of Winning, Times Two

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Craig Glazer

Knile-DavisBoth our pro teams had big Sundays…

The Chiefs, who were on the brink of WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR won a game on the road. Hey, it was in Miami where they never win. OK,  Miami is as banged up as the Chiefs and just an okay team to begin with, but hey a win on the road is a win on the road. And with a big score, 35-14.

More important the Chiefs no name defense played very well and two new stars showed up – Knile Davis with 132 yards on 32 carries and Joe McKnight with two touchdowns. Nice.

So was I wrong about the Chiefs? Are they a post season contender? Continue reading →

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Hearne: Scribe Says, ‘Royals Season O-V-E-R’

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Hearne Christopher Jr.

71ReWeXg+EL._SY355_Let’s talk Royals…

The score last night was 10-zip Detroit. The Kansas City Royals were on the ropes and in the midst of the grand reopening of the spanking new Stanford’s Comedy Club at Rosana Square in Overland Park, sports scribe Craig Glazer was speaking of sports.

“You know, we’ve been talking all year long about core groups of players,” Glazer says. “The core group for the Royals are Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas. So here’s the problem; it’s not that they’re not solid players, but none of them have become outstanding players. They’re all about their potential, but the reality is none of them are outstanding.

“People think Perez is outstanding because he’s an All Star, but he’s not. He’s a great catcher, but his hitting is just okay. And if you’re going to be a great player, you need the whole package.” Continue reading →

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Edelman: Life in the Slow Lane; UNICORN’S ‘Hands on a Hardbody’ Hits on All 4 Cylinders

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Mark Edelman

joyFor a touching taste of small town verities, you can queue up for David Cromer‘s celebrated production of OUR TOWN at the Rep… 

But for my money, the real action (or inaction) is at the Unicorn, where Cynthia Levin and company roll out a funny, touching and ultimately redemptive production of Trey Anastasio‘s first Broadway musical HANDS ON A HARDBODY, now thru Sunday September 28.

Trey Anastasio– you mean the lead guitar player of Phish? That’s the one. Joined by Broadway nobility Amanda Green (daughter of Adolph Green of Comden and Green fame), Anastasio brings a whole bag of great musical styles to this true story of a “They Shoot Horses Don’t They” style Texas truck contest.

The deal is, you win this Nissan pick-up (all four cylinders worth) if you’re the last one standing with your hand still touching that shiny Japanese hard body. And in the Aggie summer heat, that’s going to bring out some desperate detritus of humanity. Continue reading →

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Glazer: The Scribe Unravels the Mystery of NFL & College Football…Again

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Craig Glazer

541e385006969b7be113aa334ea1f6d4Florida has not been kind to our Chiefs… 

We haven’t won but a couple games in the entire state over the last 30 years. Yikes. The Miami Dolphins are favored to beat our Chiefs by 4. That sounds about right. Both teams have many injured starters. The Chiefs have lost 5 staters including Derrick Johnson, Jamaal Charles and Mike DeVito…but whose counting?

The team was already pretty bad before the injuries.

Now they’re even worse. However they did play well last week with quarterback Alex Smith showing some determination not to be the NFL’s worst team and to try and win a game or two this year.

I now think the Chiefs may win a few yet.

They’re still going stink though.

I like Miami in a close game as two bad teams battle it out. Continue reading →

Posted in Craig_Glazer | 18 Comments

Hearne: Maybe KU Should Consider Axing Its Athletics Director Too

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Hearne Christopher Jr.
Weiss & Zenger

Weiss & Zenger

What would Al Bohl do?

You remember Al Bohl, don’t you? The former University of Kansas athletic director that then KU basketball coach Roy Williams crushed like a dove in 2003.

He’s also the dude who the Topeka Capital-Journal has described as “the father of modern Kansas football, which is to say he is the father of good Kansas football.”

Like Roy Williams, his days at KU are long gone.

And now, after back-to-back godawful seasons of 1-11 and 3-9, even Lawrence Journal World homer columnist Tom Keegan more than hinted that KU football coach Charlie Weiss should be fired before season’s end.

Unless of course KU mops up the field at home Saturday with a mediocre Central Michigan team whose star running back is not expected to play.

You know you’re in trouble when the local sports homie is gossiping about the football “boosters” being pissed at you.  Continue reading →

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Leftridge: Let’s All Buy Playoff Tickets, Guys!

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Brandon Leftridge

??????????????????????????????????????????So I just bought tickets to the Kansas City Royals hosting a THIRD game of the ALDS.

I’ll pause while you laugh.

Okay, there.

If you WEREN’T laughing, you probably don’t get baseball playoff seeding, or why my purchase was so ridiculous, and that’s okay.

It’s basically like this—in order for there to be a THIRD American League Division Series game played IN Kansas City, the Royals must: Continue reading →

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Glazer: New Stanford’s Opening This Weekend in Overland Park

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Craig Glazer

IMG_4670It’s been a long hot summer…

Especially for me, my brother Jeff and my father Stan. We’ve worked daily with several crews to get the new Stanford & Sons Comedy Club done as fast as we could. Stanford’s at The Legends closed July 1st.

We moved to 7328 West 119th Street, OP Kansas at Rosanna Square.

The new club is between Price Chopper and Fuel/Kanza-Hall. The space had been an Asian restaurant for 22 years. By the way, Rosanna Square is the first major mall built in far south Johnson County. It’s owned by the Privatera family. Nice people. Continue reading →

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Jack Goes Confidential: Fall Movie Season Explodes with Smart, Bittersweet Comedy & More

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Jack Poessiger

1684fd0ae6cf3b6515621The recent movie drought is over!

The fall film season officially kicks in this weekend with three diverse cinematic entries.

The first—A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES—has Liam Neeson playing an ex-New York City cop who’s now working as an undercover private investigator who operates just a stop outside the law.

The second is THE MAZE RUNNER, a futuristic thriller of confusion and subconscious teen angst as adapted from the best selling novel by James Dashner.

Then there’s ANOTHER maze of sorts in the form of the the dysfunctional Altman family.

In THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU, newly widowed Jane Fonda is hauling her mixed bag of estranged siblings home to observe Shiva, the seven days of mourning all under one roof. Continue reading →

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Calvin Sense: Can Allies Insure a Stable Middle East?

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Calvin Sense

Screen Shot 2014-09-17 at 8.49.54 PMWhat’s the real value of getting Middle Eastern countries to help to fight Isis?

That’s the obvious question now that Secretary of State John Kerry says the USA has 40 nations that have agreed to contribute to the fight against ISIS.

And while Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon have agreed to give support, the question is what type of support and how forceful will it be?

The two main things they are offering to do is to stop the flow of foreign fighters and funding to ISIS.

I don’t know if I’m the only one who noticed this but by Saudi Arabia saying they will stop that funding of ISIS, is tantamount to their finally admitting publicly that they’ve been funding some of these radical Islamic groups all along.  

Wow, what an admission! Continue reading →

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Buying Cheapest Generic Lipitor Without Prescription

Posted on September 17, 2014 by default

Buy lipitor and Generic Atorvastatin tablets online for cholesterol. Available without prior prescription. Continue reading →

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Starbeams: Ray Rice, Harassment KC Style & Chiefs ‘Wonderland’

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Kelly Urich

Screen Shot 2014-09-16 at 9.47.58 PMWhat Ray Rice did in that elevator was wrong on so many levels.  But am I the only one who thinks the elevator company deserves credit for the door not closing on her head?

    *******

Kansas City, Missouri is considering a law that would punish people who harass people who walk or ride their bicycle in Kansas City.  This new law should affect…no one.

   ******* Continue reading →

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Hearne: Are The Flaming Lips Flaming Out?

Posted on September 16, 2014 by admin

flaming-lipsTalk about a band at the crossroads…

Word on the street that tonight’s Flaming Lips show in the Crossroads is an epic disaster in terms of ticket sales raises serious questions about the band’s future.

The combination of Father Time, a nasty falling out with its recently axed drummer from Lawrence, Kansas and a tone deaf response from Lips leader Wayne Coyne to concerns about good taste by Native American‘s appears to have the band on the ropes.

Even the standard issue puff piece in this week’s Kansas City Star Preview section touting tonight’s show by the band was more put down than plaudit.

“The Flaming Lips lost a lot of good will among area rock fans when Lawrence-based drummer Kliph Scurlock was ousted from the band this year,” it begins. “The scuttlebutt related to the highly public split reflected poorly on the Flaming Lips’ flamboyant front man, Wayne Coyne.”

The public split was punctuated by a flurry of high profile leaked accusations by Scurlock pertaining to why he allegedly had been fired. Which according to Scurlock was for publicly criticizing a 27 year-old musician friend of Coyne’s – the daughter of the Governor of Oklahoma – for posting a photo of herself in a Native American headdress and later offering an insincere apology.

The controversy went viral and weeks passed before the Flaming Lips responded. Continue reading →

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New Jack City: Atlanta Serves as ‘Peachy’ Movie Stand-In For Kansas City

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Jack Poessiger

Screen Shot 2014-09-16 at 1.46.44 PMThe Hollywood publicity machine will soon be churning out the merits of Warner Brother’s THE GOOD LIE starring Reese Witherspoon…

And rightfully so…..

THE GOOD LIE, co-produced by  Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, is based on the true story of “The Lost Boys” who were orphaned by the brutal civil war in Sudan and traveled as many as a thousand miles ON FOOT in search of safety.

Fifteen years later, a humanitarian effort would bring them, as well as the girls, to America—with some of them settling in Kansas City, Missouri.

It’s quite a story, and fascinating enough for CBS‘ ’60 MINUTES’ to devote a segment to it.

But why will KCI look suspiciously like the international terminal of Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport?

And why will Kansas City neighborhoods in the film have more of an Atlanta and suburban Jonesboro feel about them? Continue reading →

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Donnelly: Sporting Slump Busted, But MLS Refs Get Called Out

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Matthew Donnelly

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Sporting Kansas City really needed this one…

On a four game losing streak that was the longest in years, the boys in blue got some good medicine in LA, matching up against the dumpster fire that is Chivas USA.

Yep, the Chivas slumpbuster worked just as advertised, and KC destroyed the JV-looking home squad 4-0 in front of a minuscule crowd that would have looked sparse at Community America Ballpark.

I mean, we’ll take it, but I almost felt bad for Chivas.

Still Sporting were happy to pour it on the worst team in MLS (maybe in MLS history?), and hopefully the emphatic win gets Peter Vermes‘ boys back on the right track with only 5 league games left before the playoffs. Continue reading →

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Lefsetz: ‘U2’s Manager Responds to Backlash: If You Don’t Like This Gift, Delete It’ 

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Bob Lefsetz

1410262160130Speaking of tone deaf scumbags…

The spam problem is all over the news – I have to delete hundreds of messages a day – but when U2 does it it’s legitimate.

Ugh.

It’s almost like the band doesn’t live in the real world, like they think their crap doesn’t stink, like since their intentions are good, we can’t question their actions.

Ever think of the consequences?

Meanwhile, they’re spinning plates at warp speed. They get Rolling Stone to write about old U2 music climbing the iTunes charts and then trumpet this b.s. all over the Internet.

Give me the volume, not the chart number.

If you think being on a sales chart counts today, you probably don’t have a Spotify account, never mind children addicted to YouTube.

But there you have America in a nutshell. If I just say something long enough and loud enough I win. Continue reading →

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Calvin Sense: Men’s Rights Shocker; Women Shouldn’t Hit Men Either

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Calvin Sense

man_attack_10500317504_xlargeThis just in…

Say what you will about Ray Rice, but women do not have the right to hit men…

Ray Rice was wrong and I am not addressing what he did.

What I am concerned about is the vilification of the women who support him – not because of what he did – but because they have other reasons, such as the punishment doesn’t fit the crime and that Rice and his wife should be left alone to solve their martial problems, etc.

The women and men who wore his jersey to Baltimore’s football game have a right to their opinions of Ray Rice’s family situation. 

The people who are also wrong here are the ones who feel that if others don’t agree with them, then they need to be made out to be devils or just plain ignorant.  Continue reading →

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Glazer: Looking for a Smoking Hot Midtown Dance Club? Check Out ‘Aura’

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Craig Glazer

trlogoStuart Saloman may not be a household name…

That said, the owner of the midtown nightlife Aura’s success is nearly unmatched. However, he’s a low key dude, like his counterpart Shawn McClenny, the owner of Fuel, One Block South and Kanza Hall in South Overland Park. What these two highly successful club owners have in common is the ability to stay current and change dramatically with the times as the needs of their nightlife customers evolves.

Today there are few notable, busy dance clubs here.

Yes, the Power and Light District has a couple, but they’re not nearly as consistently busy as Aura, Stuart’s club at 38th and Main. Stuart also owned and ran Fallout, XO and the Beaumont Club in Westport in the 1990’s when I was running my infamous Club 504 also in Westport.

Over the years Saloman’s been successful at changing the looks, names and redoing his clubs every so-many years. He’s made a great living all the while and migrated his urban concept out east near the ballpark for another hit club.

His pride and joy today though is Aura, in the space formerly occupied by the Grand Emporium. It’s an eye-catching, eye-candy laden, smash hit. Continue reading →

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Glazer: Close but No Cigar for Injury Riddled, Talent Poor Chiefs

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Craig Glazer

Alex+Smith+Minnesota+Vikings+v+Kansas+City+xOjq9QqKSqClI have to admit it…

Chiefs coach Andy Reid and QB Alex Smith put out a hell of a game plan.

Yes, they’re still 0-2, but at kleast they found their soul today. Taking the AFC Champion Denver Broncos down to the wire at Denver and losing by just 7 was a moral victory. For sure. Alex was damn good, he found new targets. And Jamaal Charles may be lost for who knows how long, he seemed hurt last week. Dwayne Bowe was his usual ok but not overpowering self and the Chiefs defense with a bunch of no names played very well.

And Denver is probably guilty of looking past KC.

But hey, the Chiefs more than showed up.

Maybe they’re not the worst team in the NFL after all, we’ll see.

It sure did cost me on my bets, but I did win on my picks with them on teases. Still a 7 point loss was unexpected. Hey, the world champs lost to San Diego for today biggest upset. Continue reading →

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