Kansas.com: Entertainment

New Guns misses target

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:38 CST

'Chinese Democracy'

(Wingdings 171) ½ (Black frog/geffen)

BY GLENN GAMBOA

Guns N' Roses' new album, "Chinese Democracy," took Axl Rose and dozens of musicians and producers an estimated $11 million and 13 years to complete.

It wasn't worth it. That probably goes without saying -- especially since this particular album contributed to the downfall of Geffen Records, the layoff of hundreds of workers and the high-profile exits of numerous band members, producers and music execs.

Movie Maniac: Coming-of-age tale 'Mister Foe' gets weird, but it's not repulsive

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:38 CST

"Mister Foe" was originally titled "Hallam Foe" when it premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2007, where it won a jury prize. After that, the film went on to a successful international festival run before having a limited theatrical release in the United States this past summer (it never came to Wichita).

The film is now available on DVD (Magnolia Pictures; rated R for strong sexual content and language), and it's a dark, twisted yet hypnotic coming-of-age tale based on the book by Peter Jinks.

We follow the troubled, mournful, 17-year-old misfit Hallam Foe (the charismatic Jamie Bell, now grown up from his big break in "Billy Elliot"), who lives in the Scottish highlands with his wealthy father (Ciaran Hinds), sister and stepmother (Claire Forlani).

It's been about a year since the seemingly accidental death of his mother. His sister is now leaving home for college, and Hallam feels he's about to get the boot next, in a scheme he thinks is being devised by his manipulative stepmother.

He refuses to leave home. But when his stepmother discovers Hallam's diary -- with drawings and writings that detail his voyeuristic obsession of watching other people's lives and activities -- she threatens to expose him unless he leaves the nest. Instead, he threatens to have her arrested, thoroughly convinced that she, in fact, killed his birth mother.

'Stomp' uses unusual 'instruments' to make music

BOB CURTRIGHT — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:38 CST

To hear Sam Weaver describe his job of keeping track of all the brooms, garbage cans and big plastic water bottles, you might think he's some sort of janitor.

But Weaver, a former ballet dancer from Georgia, is the guy who ensures that the performers of "Stomp" have all the "instruments" they need to put on their dynamic percussion, choreography and comedy show as they travel across the country.

The eight-member troupe, which was here two years ago as part of the Theater League season, will be back for two performances in Century II this week, squeezed in as an extra show rather than part of the regular 2008-2009 season.

Without Weaver and his carefully researched network of suppliers, who can ship replacement goods to theaters on the spur of the moment, the young musicians and dancers would find themselves up the proverbial creek without a drum stick -- or a metal folding chair, a hickory hammer handle or, lately, tractor tire inner tubes called doughnuts that are the newest element of the show. Weaver makes sure that about 200 items from his 53-foot tractor-trailer are in place before every performance.

"The trick is getting what you need to the right theater on time," Weaver says. "Some shipments have arrived after we left and have to be put in storage until we come through again. I remember opening one shipment to find kitchen equipment that was supposed to be headed to soldiers in Iraq. They apparently got our stuff. We got quick replacements. I don't know about Iraq."

'Mentalist' produces TV hit

LYNN ELBER — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:38 CST

In a ho-hum TV season in which most new shows have been greeted with a collective shrug and a click of the remote control, CBS's freshman "The Mentalist" has managed to deduce what viewers want.

It offers tousle-haired charmer Simon Baker ("The Guardian," "The Devil Wears Prada") as Patrick Jane, a faux psychic jolted by personal tragedy into newfound ethics and a job helping California state crime fighters.

There's the appeal of a mystery wrapped up within each episode, joined with Patrick's quest to catch the serial killer who took the lives of his wife and child.

And there's creator and executive producer Bruno Heller, fresh off the triumph of HBO's miniseries "Rome" and looking for a new challenge, who's deftly mixed a traditional whodunit with the journey of an emotionally wounded hero.

During shooting on the Warner Bros. lot recently, Baker looked very much the part of the carefree actor with a hit series: He blithely pedaled a bicycle, a gift from his family, between his studio trailer and a cabin standing in for a witch's house.

Review: 'Twilight' captures action, perfectly imperfect teen romance

CARLI CHRISTAIN — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:28 CST

Squeals, claps and giggles burst out from the audience of the Thursday midnight premiere of "Twilight" at the west-side Warren Theatre.

The moment many teenage girls (and assorted moms and boys) had anticipated had arrived: Hearthrob vampire Edward Cullen graced the big screen for the first time.

Based on the New York Times best-seller by Stephenie Meyer, "Twilight" centers on the relationship between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire-boy-of-her-dreams Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).

No worries, avid "Twilight" readers: Director Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen" and "Lords of Dogtown") stays true to the saga -- except for a few minor parts -- and manages to capture the teen-angst of this love story.

Bella moves from Phoenix to Forks, Wash., to live with her dad, Charlie, the small town's police chief. Despite being quiet and clumsy, Bella attracts the attention of teenage boys at Forks High School. Naturally, she barely shows interest in them, and instead focuses her attention on Edward, whom fate chooses as her biology partner.

'Twilight' time

RICK BENTLEY — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

You could almost feel the anticipation in the air for "Twilight." Fans have devoured the novels by Stephenie Meyer with a bloodlust. They also have burned up the Internet with good and bad comments.

Now the speculation can end. The fans can see what director Catherine Hardwicke has done to their beloved book.

Stop worrying. Hardwicke's is a very loyal big-screen version of the lengthy book. A few minor scenes have been deleted. A couple of sequences got condensed. But overall, the film unfolds the same way the pages turn.

That's not necessarily a great thing. More on that later.

Hardwicke tenderly builds the love story of the emotionally lost Bella (Kristen Stewart) and BVOC (Big Vampire On Campus) Edward (Robert Pattinson). Their relationship develops under cloudy skies. That's not being metaphorical. It seems vampires have blingish skin that sparkles in direct sunlight.

Vienna Boys Choir not just singers

CHRIS SHULL — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:44 CST

Boys will be boys -- even if they are members of the most famous kids' choir in the world.

The Vienna Boys Choir is in the middle of a nine-week tour of the United States. Blog entries suggest that, after singing songs by Schubert and peppy polkas by Johann Strauss, the most popular tour activities are playing soccer and eating pizza and french fries.

"These are just normal kids," said choir director Kerem Sezen, who with three others is chaperoning the ensemble across the United States. "They love to be at the beach; they love to play American football; they love to shop at Wal-Mart. You wouldn't guess that these kids are the Vienna Boys Choir when we are going out not in the uniform."

The Vienna Boys Choir will sing today at the Orpheum Theatre. In addition to its usual repertoire of classical, sacred and pop tunes, the choir will sing Christmas selections, the first night on the tour it will do so.

Don't let the name fool you -- the Vienna Boys Choir today is an international operation. The 100 singers are divided into four 25-voice choirs that set off once or twice a year on long concert tours. Singers are recruited from around the globe. The choir visiting Wichita includes a boy from San Francisco. Director Sezen was born in Turkey.

It takes a Gingerbread Village

DENISE NEIL — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

Work on the popular Gingerbread Village event starts long before November.

First, tireless volunteers scour Wichita grocery stores, testing graham cracker after graham cracker in search of the most durable variety.

Then, an even larger team of volunteers spends hours armed with serrated knives, cutting the crackers into pointy roof and rectangular wall shapes.

The Life Cereal shingles must be purchased. The gumdrop, M&M and Skittles decorations must be found. And then all that frosting glue -- an incredibly adhesive mixture of meringue powder and water -- must be mixed.

Gingerbread Village, the annual Assistance League of Wichita fundraiser at Church of the Magdalen, has grown into one of Wichita's most popular holiday attractions. Now in its 14th year, the event -- which runs today through Sunday -- offers kids and parents everything they need to assemble edible holiday gingerbread houses.

JAZZ SAXOPHONIST AT FRIENDS

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

Jazz saxophonist Bobby Watson will perform Monday at Friends University with the school's jazz ensembles. Here's what you need to know about the acclaimed musician:

1) He was born in Lawrence and grew up in the Kansas City, Kansas, area. He's now director of jazz studies at the University of Missouri -- Kansas City Conservatory of Music.

2) Watson's music has taken him all over the world. He has played with many notable musicians, including Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Max Roach, and Sam Rivers, and vocalists such as Diana Reeves, Lou Rawls and Carmen Lundy.

3) He was the musical director of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, a group created in 1955 by the late drummer. It showcased a rotating cast who eventually became members of a "who's who" of modern jazz. Watson performed with the Jazz Messengers from 1977 to 1981, eventually becoming the musical director for the group.

4) Watson lived in New York for most of his professional life, serving as a member of the adjunct faculty at William Patterson University from 1985 to 1986 and the Manhattan School of Music from 1996 to 1999. He is involved with the acclaimed Thelonious Monk Institute's yearly "Jazz in America" high school outreach program.

THREE ITEMS AT JIMMY'S EGG

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

The new breakfast and lunch restaurant -- part of an Oklahoma-based chain -- opened Monday at 7777 E. 21st St. (316-668-6900). It's open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. Among the menu items:

1. Biscuit debris: From the breakfast menu, served all day, is this concoction of two buttermilk biscuits with country creamy gravy, grilled sausage and ham topped with melted cheddar cheese and served with home fries or hash browns.

2. Jimmy's garbage breakfast: Hash browns topped with grilled onions, bell pepper and sausage. Served with two eggs cooked to order and choice of homemade white or wheat toast or biscuit and gravy.

3. Chicken fried steak sandwich: Chopped steak that's breaded, fried crispy and served on a bun with choice of french fries, curly fries, home fries or fresh fruit.

A GOOD DEAL

No cooking or cleaning required

DENISE NEIL — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:24 CST

The stove is broken. The dining room is too small. Cooking is just too... messy.

Whatever the reason that you're not cooking a traditional Thanksgiving meal, plenty of Wichita restaurants are willing to help out.

The following will be open and serving turkey and all the fixin's on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.

• Bishops Family Dining, 4200 W. Kellogg, 316-943-0393. Buffet is $10.99 for adults, $10.49 for seniors, $4.59 for ages 3-10, free for ages 2 and under. Drinks included. Served from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. No reservations.

• Cibola, 1900 N. Rock Road, 316-631-3700. Buffet is $25.95 for adults, $12.95 for children 11 and under. Served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations recommended.

Love machine

HOWARD COHEN — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

Can a robot garbage compactor without a mouth in a movie without dialogue for its first 20 minutes -- except for the tinny background strains of a song from the old "Hello, Dolly!" movie -- break your heart?

You betcha.

"Wall-E," now available as a "3-Disc Special Edition" (Disney Pixar DVD; $39.99; G), is a wondrous work for kids and adults from the director and storytellers behind other Pixar projects, "Ratatouille," "Finding Nemo" and "Cars." Wall-E is a Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class, i.e. a robotic trash can that scours Earth for the detritus we've left behind. That's all he does, for 700 years into the future, as humans, grown obese because robots do all the work for them, float about in a space station many miles above their discarded home. Wall-E packs and stuffs junk into his metal belly and pops it out into tidy piles that he stacks into skyscrapers of junk.

Wall-E only stops to take pleasure in a friendly cockroach who skitters alongside him for company and a VHS tape (remember those?) of the 1969 musical "Hello, Dolly!" which, for some reason, enraptures the device.

We know this because the animators at Pixar are so skilled, they manage to put as much expression into the oblong, metallic, blue eyes of this computer-created character as those found in a human actor.

Oak Ridge Boys return to roots

ALAN SCULLEY — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:44 CST

It's been years since the Oak Ridge Boys had a major hit on country radio. Some might even say that, like many veteran country acts that had success in the 1970s and early '80s, the Oaks belong to a different era.

But you won't hear William Lee Golden, the bearded, booming bass vocalist of the Oak Ridge Boys, complain about what has become of country music over the past couple of decades.

And while radio seemingly has put the Oak Ridge Boys into its oldies category, Golden doesn't think the music recorded at the peak of the group's popularity is that different from today's country music.

After several recent gospel-oriented albums, the Oak Ridge Boys' current CD, "Front Row Seats," has a modern country feel to it, he said, and fans see it as a return to what the group does best.

"We got back to what we felt like were the roots of the Oak Ridge Boys music, and that was more of our uptempo, with the accent, which is (like) the current music that is happening now," Golden said in a recent phone interview. "It fits within our big hit records of 'Bobbie Sue,"Elvira,"Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight'... that more high-energy country music. So our fan base has been very receptive to all of this new music. For them it's back to the old Oak Ridge Boys music."

Fat Ernie's now even bigger

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:45 CST

Fat Ernie's, the popular south-side diner, is now Fat Ernie's Bar & Grill.

The restaurant has expanded into the space next door to it that was formerly occupied by the Tradewinds bar.

The bar side allows smoking and features food, drink specials ($5 pitchers on Saturdays and 50-cent Jell-O shots on Wednesdays) and karaoke four nights a week. The restaurant side remains nonsmoking.

Fat Ernie's is at 2804 S. Hydraulic.

New deal

Four more holiday events

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

1) Santa Claus, Ronald McDonald and KAKE anchor Susan Peters will help light the 35-foot-tall tree at Bradley Fair shopping center Saturday. The annual event begins at 5:30 p.m., with free horse-drawn carriage rides beginning at 6 p.m. Donations will be accepted for Ronald McDonald House of Wichita. For more information, call 316-630-9990.

2) The Holiday Wreath Festival at Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, 204 S. Main, ends today. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event includes shopping for holiday gifts, decorations, wreaths and baked goods. Admission is $4, or $2 for kids 6-12 and free for children under 6. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for $12. For more information, call 316-265-9314.

3) Santa Claus will arrive at Towne East Square at 2 p.m. Saturday with a parade, marching band and games. Admission is free. For more information, call 316-686-3341.

4) Prairie Pines Christmas Tree Farm, 4055 N. Tyler Road, begins its holiday musical today. "Guys on Ice (the Ice Fishing Musical)" includes dinner at 7:15 p.m. and the show at 8. Tickets are $32. The musical runs through Dec. 23. To make reservations, call 316-303-2037.

For more holiday events, see Page XX

Holocaust film 'Pajamas' moving but manipulative

ROD POCOWATCHIT — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is sad -- really sad.

We're not expecting a feel-good comedy given the subject matter -- the Holocaust -- but still, it's hard to believe this heartwrenching story is based on a children's book (by John Boyne).

The story is told through the eyes of 8-year-old Bruno (the wonderfully expressive Asa Butterfield), who must move from Berlin to the country with his soldier father (David Thewlis), caring mother (Vera Farmiga) and too-impressionable teenage sister.

Bruno doesn't want to move away from his friends, and, once in his new home, he quickly becomes bored. with no one to play with.

Then one day, he peers out of his window and sees a "farm" in the distance, noticing children there, too.

Witty satire of Hollywood gives animated 'Bolt' its zip

ROBERT W. BUTLER — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:39 CST

Disney's "Bolt" is the studio's best non-Pixar animated movie in ages.

It's smart enough to keep adults on their toes and exciting enough to keep even an ADHD kid glued to his seat.

The film begins with an amazing action sequence in which the super-powered Bolt and his owner Penny outrun, outfight and outsmart an army of bad guys against a photo-realistic San Francisco. The animation, the timing and the visual pizzazz of this intro is astonishing -- one can only wonder how mind-blowing it will be in digital 3-D.

When the dust settles we realize that the whole adventure was planned for the cameras. Bolt is the star of a TV show, though he doesn't know it. The pooch has been raised from childhood to believe he's a superhero and, like Jim Carrey's character in 1998's "The Truman Show," Bolt is unaware that hidden film crews follow him wherever he goes.

So when he gets lost and finds himself shipped across the country to NYC, the canine celeb assumes he'll be able to use his superpowers to get back home. Except that for some reason they don't work.

OAK RIDGE BOYS

ALAN SCULLEY — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:56 CST

But you won't hear William Lee Golden, the bearded, booming bass vocalist of the Oak Ridge Boys, complain about what has become of country music over the past couple of decades.

After several recent gospel-oriented albums, the Oak Ridge Boys' current CD, "Front Row Seats," has a modern country feel to it, he said, and fans see it as a return to what the group does best.

CNN's new face ushers in new era

NEAL JUSTIN — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:40 CST

The newest member of the CNN family is also its unlikeliest. D.L. Hughley dropped out of high school, joined a Los Angeles gang, then turned his life around with a comedic career based on making audiences squirm.

Despite the nontraditional resume -- and his unabashed support of Barack Obama -- he's the host of "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News," a one-hour program jam-packed with skits, interviews and in-your-face observations, with many of the news network's tools and personalities at his disposal.

We phoned Hughley as he prepared for the show's fourth episode:

You spent election night interviewing folks in Times Square. How did you celebrate once the cameras were turned off?

I probably can't tell you that. Maybe I lit some ceremonial fires.

VIENNA BOYS CHOIR

CHRIS SHULL — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:24 CST

Boys will be boys -- even if they are members of the most famous kids' choir in the world.

"These are just normal kids," said choir director Kerem Sezen, who with three others are chaperoning the ensemble across the United States. "They love to be at the beach; they love to play American football; they love to shop at Wal-Mart. You wouldn't guess that these kids are the Vienna Boys Choir when we are going out not in the uniform."