Filmmaker John Landis who worked with David Bowie on Into the Night, in the mid ’80s, once recounted seeing the so-called “Chameleon of Rock ‘n’ Roll” turn his persona on and off in the streets of New York. Bowie and the director were having a stroll, and Landis, who recalled…
Erasure’s Violet Flame Tour With Nina Fillmore Miami Beach Friday, September 12, 2014 Much respect to Erasure for this past Friday night. The British duo of singer-songwriter Andy Bell and songwriter-keyboardist Vince Clarke know that their bread and butter lies in the early part of their career, and they are…
In celebration of the reopening of Little Havana’s beloved art house, Tower Theater, the Miami International Film Festival has announced a four-day mini-film festival featuring exclusive premieres, an opening night party, guests, and a seminar. The festival’s director Jaie Laplante has dubbed the little festival MIFFecito in the spirit of…
Only a few days ago a panhandler in a wheelchair was shot and killed not too far north of downtown Miami. The motive of the suspected shooter — who was taken into custody after a police chase — remains unknown, but it’s doubtful the deceased, 58-year-old Israel Zequra, had enemies…
As news develops on the detention of immigration activist Jose Antonio Vargas, the director of the award-winning documentary film Documented, Miami might soon have a second opportunity to see his film. Local immigration attorney Joseph Lackey has booked the encore screening of the film, and has positive a perspective on…
As an ER physician, Dr. Ryan McGarry is probably the only filmmaker Cultist can forgive for calling in for a scheduled interview five hours late. Speaking via phone from New York City, where he moved last year to work at Cornell Medical Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the 32-year-old doctor…
Isabella Rossellini is bringing her quirky nature lectures focused on the sexual habits of animals she calls “Green Pornos” to Miami Beach. In her shorts, which began online for the Sundance Channel, the former-model-turned-actress blends deep insights on nature with a cheeky humor and a lo-fi Michel Gondry aesthetic. They…
When the traveling indie documentary filmmaker Vincent Moon visits Miami for a retrospective of his work and a two-day workshop, he hopes to find something to add to his catalog of 600-plus films. “I don’t really know the city at all,” he admits, “and I think the project I’m going…
When the traveling indie documentary filmmaker Vincent Moon comes to Miami for a retrospective of his work and a two-day workshop, he hopes to find something to add to his nearly 700-strong catalog of films. “I don’t really know the city at all,” he admits, speaking via phone from Rio…
When his new film, Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed, practically swept the 2014 Goyas, Spain’s equivalent to the Oscars, writer/director David Trueba was taken aback. What he thought was just another sincere entry in his 20-year career of filmmaking made off with wins for Best Actor (Javier Cámara), Best…
For the first time in his life, actor Brontis Jodorowsky will have a few days to get to know Miami. Speaking via Skype from his home in Paris, the son of the legendary cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky says he has only ever known the city from within Miami International…
There are filmmakers. There are auteurs. Then there is Alejandro Jodorowsky. No other movie director has shown such spirit open to creativity while holding such disdain for the commercialization of art. His first film, 1968’s Fando & Lis instigated fights in movie theaters. His second, 1970’s El Topo, heralded the…
To call The Dance of Reality, the new film by Alejandro Jodorowsky, a personal film, would be an understatement. Writing in his native Spanish, from his home in Paris, the legendary director says, “The purpose of all true art is to reveal to man the beauty of your own soul.”…
To Jose Antonio Vargas, Miami feels like home. “I love Miami because it reminds me a lot of Manila,” the Filipino-American filmmaker explains. “I don’t know why, but it does. There’s the weather, there’s the beach, and I just like getting lost in Miami… I mean, I can’t leave the…
With his debut documentary feature, Documented, director Jose Antonio Vargas craftily reveals the plight of the undocumented immigrant as ubiquitous by placing himself at the center of the story. It’s not a filmmaking strategy that always bears fruits of sympathy. Sometimes it comes across as eye-rollingly egotistical. Vargas, whose mother…
After years waiting for approval to serve his devoted cinephiles beer or wine to accompany an art film, Dana Keith, Miami Beach Cinematheque’s director, received some troubling news. He learned the multi-plex down the street can now serve alcohol, but his small boutique theater still cannot. On Wednesday, Miami Beach…
The TM Sisters want to fill a void in Miami’s cultural landscape, and they hope the Knight Foundation can help. The sibling artist duo has a plan that could benefit the entire Miami art scene: an artist co-op. Tasha and Monica Lopez De Victoria are one of 75 finalists in…
Who says vintage sci-fi movies and dated educational media material on 16mm film don’t matter in 21st century science? With an ongoing series of screenings featuring vintage 20th century educational science and sci-fi film, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science has educated museum-goers while keeping them entertained. Informed…
If you heard local musicians moaning about the new ownership of Churchill’s Pub, you’d think the powers that be were about to tear down the place and put up a Starbucks. But to many, they might as well be. The former owner, Dave Daniels, has been central to the development…
Don’t let the archaic graphics created by Bleeding Palm deceive you. There’s a well-informed wit behind the work by the group of talented minds that make up the collective. “Our stuff is pretty naive,” Ronnie Rivera admits with a laugh, “but we are capable of doing the more professional and…
Michelangelo Antonioni towers as one of the greatest visionaries of Italian cinema. His visuals were so stunning they often took a back seat to easily coherent narrative. It’s no wonder the Wolfsonian-FIU has chosen to show L’Eclisse (The Eclipse) as part of its exhibition “The Birth of Rome.” The film…
When Cultist sat down for an outdoor chat with John Turturro in the garden of The Standard Hotel, the actor and director was coming down from the high of the night before. His new film, Fading Gigolo, which he directs and stars in opposite Woody Allen, just played to a…
