✓
REVIEW
restaurant review // DEMPSEY'S
the taste of the town. one meal at a time.
Dempsey's, 623 Vermont St., is an unassuming burger joint that packs in masses of people daily and boasts arguably some of the best burgers in the Midwest. Robert Krause, a local chef, began serving these "top-shelf" hamburgers in 2009, and the Burger Stand at Dempsey's has been gaining momentum ever since.
During my visit to Dempsey's, I dined on the falafel burger (a delicious vegetarian option), the Kobe burger, sweet potato fries and truffle fries. With homemade condiments such as cherry-
$ ^ { \cdot } $ pepper ketchup, pickled cauliflower and apple chutney, the gourmet offerings don't end with the burgers.
The restaurant offers a relaxed venue, yet maintains the local flair that draws crowds during both lunch and dinner. A no-frills approach to fine dining, Dempsey's combines order-at-the-counter service with quality fare worthy of white linen.
The culinary experience
at Dempsey's proves to be delectable and affordable, especially considering the high-quality food you are sure to receive. Dempsey's has merited the constant patronage of locals through its supreme offerings, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Visibly distinguishable from other, run-of-the-mill hamburger joints. Dempsey's has created a burger sure to be the favorite of many Lawrencians.
// SASHA LUND
Kansan file photo
music review // DOOM—'UNEXPECTED GUESTS'
KJHK's weekly guide to sonic consumption.
Fresh off the buzz of his comeback album Born Like This, which hit shelves earlier this year. DOOM (AKA MF Doom) returns with Unexpected Guests.
It's a collection of guest appearances DOOM did on other rapper's albums that spans more than 10 years. Hence, it's a disc that will appeal most to hardcore fans looking to get their hands on every damn thing he's done.
Highlights include "Project Jazz," in which DOOM trades bars with Talib Kweli and Hell Razah over funky jazz riffs. Some smooth Fender Rhodes keys make the KMD-assisted "Sorcerers" a treat. There are even a few J Dilla collaborations.
However, there are times when the album just doesn't gel right. Even when viewed as a mixtape, it lacks any kind of cohesiveness. Also, there are a couple head-scratching moments where DOOM is completely absent from the songs.
Overall, it functions as a spotty retrospective for an accomplished rapper people tend to love or hate. DOOM can't write a hook to save his life, but what keeps his listeners coming back is that intelligent, non-sequitur, word-associationlike, conversation-type flow. No other rapper does it quite like he does.
DANNY SPENCE KJHK ROTATION DJ
movie review // 'THE ROAD'
As far as I'm concerned, John Hillcoat's The Road is the feel-good movie of the year. No other film this year will make you feel as grateful to be alive in these troubled (but hopeful!) modern times. Alternately inspiring and unnerving, this harrowing portrait of a father and son's struggle to survive an unspecified apocalypse will warrant serious consideration in the expanded Oscar race.
Hollywood hits, indie flicks and everything in between.
In a year in when Hollywood's love affair with armageddon reached new levels of uninspired excess, The Road sets itself apart from tepid end-of-the-world epics such as 2012 and Terminator Salvation by concentrating less on soulless special effects and more on the power of intimate drama.
A painfully emaciated Viggo Mortenson gives the performance of a lifetime as a character we know only as "the man," whose boundless love for his son drives him to endure the end times at any cost. Relative newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee astounds in his portrayal of "the boy," a child whose simplistic notions of heroes and villains are permanently distorted when his father starts committing evil in the name of survival. Other performances of note include a nearly unrecognizable Robert Duvall as an aging prophet of doom and Charlotte Theton as the man's despondent wife (seen only through a series of heartbreaking flashbacks).
The Road is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, the same rugged existentialist behind No Country For Old Men and All The Pretty Horses. Like the aforementioned works, this film exemplifies the very best and worst of humanity, exploring our infinite capacity for kindness and cruelty. McCarthy's lean but lyrical dialogue meshes perfectly with the masterful direction of John Hillcoat, whose first film, the minimalist Australian western The Proposition, already seemed like a lost McCarthy tome.
Hillcoat's version of The Road is a remarkably faithful adaptation, given the source material's incredibly bleak subject matter and disturbing content — including a particularly unsettling scene where a child is taught how to painlessly commit suicide or another that weighs the moral pros and cons of cannibalism. But every scene of The Road is utterly indispensable, and I was pleased to note that hardly anything from the original novel had been omitted or censored. And for that rare feat alone, The Road should be considered essential viewing for audiences in search of something more than sulking vampires or giant warrior Smurfs.
LANDON MCDONALD