It's all filmed in Barney's impeccably sexy style, through a glimmering, color-saturated veneer. The screening begins at 7:30 p.m. at Tivoli Cinemas (4050 Pennsylvania). Other installments in the five-part Cycle screen on September 15 and 22. Tickets are free but required; for reservations call 816-561-4000. -- Joe Miller
ArtEthnic '04 adds to First Friday's palette.
9/3-9/4
Regarding the monthly First Friday art openings in the Crossroads District: We've noticed a lack of diversity. This weekend, though, a collection of organizations, including the Gem Cultural and Educational Center and the Mattie Rhodes Art Center, addresses the issue with a First Friday first: ArtEthnic '04. The street fair evolved "out of a sense of nonrepresentation of people of color at other outdoor events," says Gem President Pat Jordan. "The way to draw people of color is to exhibit artists of color."
More than twenty African-American, Hispanic, and Caucasian ("We don't want to be exclusionary," Jordan says) artists share the block with musicians, dancers and food vendors. ArtEthnic '04 happens from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday and from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday on Walnut between 20th and 21st streets; call 816-842-2364 for more information. -- Steve Walker
Prepare for the Verse
Life and death in just two hours.
FRI 9/3
As summer drifts away and autumn breezes in, the atmosphere seems ripe for poetry, an art form that excels at eulogizing and celebrating simultaneously. This Friday's readings by Kansas City poets Ann Slegman and Phil Miller at the Writers Place (3607 Pennsylvania) seem like a perfect way to mark the seasonal transition. Miller's most recent collection, Branches Snapping, and Slegman's just-published Conversations gather poems that explore the diametric aspects of existence -- touching on the most serious and most ridiculous facets of life and death. The readings start at 7 p.m., with a suggested donation of $3 for members and $5 for nonmembers. Call 816-753-1090 for more information.-- Christopher Sebela
Film Fiesta
SAT 9/4 The 13th Latin American Cinema Festival of Kansas City starts this weekend, showing films at 11 a.m. each Saturday for the next five weeks. The screenings cost $5 ($20 for a festival pass the first day). Films are in Spanish with English subtitles at the Rio Theatre (7204 West 80th Street in Overland Park); audience discussions follow. This Saturday's installment is Common Places (Argentina, 2002). Call 913-383-8500. -- Annie Fischer
