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Movies

Who is this guy? Rachel McAdams hasn't a clue. (It's Channing Tatum.)

Screen Gems

Who is this guy? Rachel McAdams hasn't a clue. (It's Channing Tatum.)

Repeated ‘Vow’: Comas, amnesia and romance in the movies

Feb 8, 10:35 PM

Rachel McAdams can’t remember. She can’t remember the car wreck involving a Meat Loaf song, she can’t remember her hottie husband and she can’t remember making “The Notebook.” Like "The Vow," opening Friday, lovers have been dealing with amnesia and the deepest of slumbers on the big screen since Disney’s first full-length feature.

Music

Beautiful Bodies will play at the Val-O-Ween bash.

| From the artists

Beautiful Bodies will play at the Val-O-Ween bash.

Music is a benefit at weekend fundraisers

Feb 8, 9:47 PM

Music often is the straw that stirs the fundraising drink. Friday night, the Millennial League throws its third annual Val-O-Ween, a fundraiser for local AIDS service organizations. Also Friday, several bands will put on a show to help finance the MidCoast Takeover, the two-day showcase of Kansas City bands at this year’s South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas.

Timothy Finn

The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn goes solo for the sake of a challenge

In 2012, for the first time in eight years, Craig Finn is on the road without his band, the Hold Steady. On Saturday night, he will headline a show at the RecordBar. He recently talked to The Star about the dramatic difference between his solo record, “Clear Heart Full Eyes,” and solo tour and the manic ways of the Hold Steady.

Previous Columns

Back to Rockville

Television

Operator of radical Muslim site to plead guilty

Feb 9, 3:20 AM

A Muslim convert from Brooklyn who ran a website that posted threats against the creators of the television show "South Park" for supposedly insulting the prophet Muhammad is expected to enter a guilty plea.

Star TV listings

Get TV listings online with Star TV, including Best Bets, Critics Choice, sports listings, movie descriptions and more.

The 2012 Academy Awards
Academy Awards Best Actor nominees Brad Pitt, left, of

Chris Pizzello | AP Photo

Academy Awards Best Actor nominees Brad Pitt, left, of "Moneyball" and George Clooney of "The Descendants"

Clooney, Pitt, other pals gather for Oscar lunch

Feb 7, 11:33 AM

George Clooney says the best thing about Academy Awards nominations is not necessarily the prizes. It's hanging with old and new friends.

Theater

Robert Trussell

Theater, museum become allies for ‘Billy Bishop’

The new production of “Billy Bishop Goes to War,” directed by John Rensenhouse, is the second collaboration among the National World War I Museum, the Kansas City Actors Theatre and the UMKC Theatre Department. It starts Friday and runs through Feb. 26 in the museum's J.C. Nichols Auditorium.

Previous Columns

Central Standard Theatre’s ‘Miss Daisy’ prepares for a road trip

Feb 8, 10:13 PM

Central Standard Theatre’s memorable production of Alfred Uhry’s “Driving Miss Daisy” gets one more weekend of performances before jetting Down Under. After this weekend’s performances at Metropolitan Community College-Longview, the show — featuring Harvey Williams, Marilyn Lynch and Bob Paisley — the actors head to Australia for the annual fringe festival in Adelaide, Australia.

Fine arts & books

Artist Marilyn Mahoney’s ‘Cinematic’ has tiny details, grand scope

Feb 8, 9:10 PM

Marilyn Mahoney’s show in the Thornhill Gallery at Avila University has an enigmatic title, “Cinematic.” In its broadest definition, the name aptly conveys the essence of the work. Its scope is grand, yet Mahoney manipulates the most minute details with precision and dramatic flair.

Photo Galleries

         

The Kauffman Center

Parsons Dance is eclectic yet accessible in Harriman performance

Jan 29, 8:19 PM

Visually arresting by way of incredible physicality, dynamic lighting and eclectic movement vocabulary, Parsons Dance is a proudly accessible modern dance company. Its debut performance Saturday night in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts marked the company’s 11th appearance as part of the Harriman-Jewell Series.

Stargazing

Ellen fires back at Million Moms group

Feb 8, 3:57 PM

While still basking in the glow of a federal appeals ruling to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage on Tuesday, Ellen DeGeneres sounded off on her "haters" during a show taping that will air Thursday.

Dining Out

The interior of Mestizo, at 5270 W 116th Place in Leawood.

DAVID EULITT | The Kansas City Star

The interior of Mestizo, at 5270 W 116th Place in Leawood.

Mestizo’s mixed Mexican cuisine yields mixed results

Feb 8, 8:27 PM

“Mestizo opened in November, and after our late December visit I wasn’t too eager to go back, so I gave it a few more weeks,” Steve Paul writes in his review of the Leawood nuevo Mexican restaurant. After a second visit, “Things seemed to have improved quite a bit, though our experience of the food and the place remained somewhat short of stellar.”

Ink

Party Pics | Patrick Lentz Band at The Well

Feb 8, 10:58 AM

The Patrick Lentz Band was at The Well over the weekend playing its covers of today's hits.

Meet Annie Cherry and Damian Blake, Kansas City’s sweethearts

Feb 8, 10:58 AM

Around town, Annie Cherry and Damian Blake are known foremost as performers, and it can be easy to assume that all the on-stage hoopla is nothing more than choreographed chemistry. Except that it isn’t.

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Contact us

Steve Paul Senior writer and arts editor

A member of the staff since 1975, Steve Paul supervises the A&E section, books and cultural coverage and writes about architecture, the arts and restaurants.

Keith Robison Preview and entertainment online

Keith Robison, deputy features editor, studied journalism at the University of Kansas. His work at The Star includes overseeing features content and presentation on kansascity.com and editing the weekly entertainment section, Preview.

David Frese Entertainment

Entertainment editor David Frese is a native Kansan and graduate of Kansas State University.

Sharon Hoffmann Movies

Sharon Hoffmann, a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism, worked at newspapers in Rochester, N.Y., before returning to Kansas City in 1999. She has worked at The Star in both the newsroom and in features and now oversees movie coverage and copy edits.

Aaron Barnhart Television

Aaron Barnhart has been television critic for the Kansas City Star since 1997. He also edits the Faith Walk column.

Tim Finn Pop music critic

Tim Finn is a graduate of the journalism schools at the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas and worked at the Detroit News and USA Today before coming to The Star. He lives in Liberty, and says he loves covering this city’s vibrant and growing music scene.

Dan Kelly Entertainment calendars

Dan Kelly compiles and coordinates entertainment calenders. A University of Missouri alum and former instructor, he has experience at newspapers from the Newton, Kan., to the Miami Herald.

Joe Klopus Jazz

Joe Klopus is a longtime Kansas City Star copy editor and jazz afficianado.

Patrick Neas Classical music

Patrick Neas is program director and host of the morning show for Classical KXTR, 98.1 FM HD2, 1660 AM and streaming at www.KXTR.com. His Classical Beat column appears weekly in A&E.

Jill Wendholt Silva Restaurant critic

Jill Wendholt Silva is The Star's food editor and restaurant critic. She has received writing and editing awards from the Association of Food Journalists and the James Beard Foundation. She has been featured in Best Food Writing 2008, and is the author of the Star's Eating for Life Cookbook. She is a past president of the Association of Food Journalists.

Alice Thorson Visual arts critic

Trained in art history at Northern Illinois University and the University of Chicago, Alice Thorson has been the art critic for the Kansas City Star since 1991. She began her career in 1982 as managing editor of the non-profit New Art Examiner. She taught at the Corcoran School of Art, was the gallery columnist for the Washington Times and later The City Paper in Washington, D.C. and contributes articles to national publications, including Art in America.

Robert Trussell Theater critic

Robert Trussell has been theater critic since 1990. He also covers other performing arts and popular culture.

Elaine Garrison Copy editing and design

A copy editor and page designer at The Star for 11 years, Elaine Garrison previously worked at publications around Missouri and Iowa. She is a graduate of the University of Central Missouri, with a degree in mass communications.

Kris Knowles Page designer/copy editor; TWKC

Kris Knowles is a page designer and copy editor in the Features department. He has worked in journalism 22 years and has a broadcasting degree from K-State.

Joyce Smith Business reporter

Joyce Smith covers restaurant and retail news throughout the metro – openings, closings, expansions, locally made products, lawsuits, restaurant health code violations and more.

Michelle Smith Copy editing and design

Kansas City native Michelle Smith is assistant features editor in charge of the copy desk. She has worked 21 years in newspapers, the last 11 at The Kansas City Star.

Sara Smith Copy editing and design

Sara Smith has a degree in journalism from Kansas State University with a concentration in creative writing. Before joining the Star in 2003, she led the award-winning nightside design team at the Wichita Eagle.

Paula Southerland Copy editing

Paula Smith has been a copy editor at The Star since 1998. A University of Kansas graduate, she previously worked at USA Today and at newspapers in Rochester, N.Y., and Sioux Falls, S.D.