What is it about Sunday that makes reggae music the day’s ultimate soundtrack? The Sabbath has become the most important day of the week for roots and dancehall fans alike, with any number of radio programs and loungy nightclub evenings dedicated to bass-heavy Jamaican music. “As long as I can…
The Illusionist is one of those films that can either be staggeringly dull or eternally brilliant. It’s shot in what might be called brown-and-white, a sepia tale (based on Steven Millhauser’s Eisenheim the Illusionist) of love, class, and magic set in old Vienna. Edward Norton is the titular star who…
Tonight the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival will screen Quinceañera, a gritty indie film about a girl who loses her way on the path toward adulthood and lands in a gaggle of gay guys instead. Whoops! A quinceañera is the Mexican celebration of a fifteen-year-old girl’s birthday as she…
Fear is an emotion so powerful it can ignite confrontation, hypercritical politics, domineering religion, and violence. Sounds like a perfect recipe for a cinematic trilogy. Filmmaker and Canadian resident Deepa Mehta holds her native India close to her heart. In the spirit of challenging tradition, she created the “Elements” trilogy…
Short on running time but long on edgy deconstructions of contemporary life’s weird minutiae, the films slated for this year’s Optic Nerve promise an enticing poke in the peepers. MoCA’s popular annual festival spools short films and videos by talented homegrown auteurs and will feature fifteen films stretching from one…
World Trade Center is about just that — the attacks on, and the collapse of, the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. But 45 minutes in, a viewer might easily forget the movie is set during that nightmarish day. There is little talk of terrorism and scant suggestion that a…
If only. No one buys the farm in this Heathers-wannabe teen “satire,” a term used so loosely it’ll fly off in a stiff breeze. But the title is difficult to argue with, unless it’s to maintain that we’d all be better off if the film’s entire roster of characters had…
The audience waiting for the curtain to rise for The Mystery of Irma Vep at Actors’ Playhouse was a thicket of blue-hairs strafing the room with chitchat louder than gunfire in Compton, yakking about where to get their grub on after the matinee. Thankfully they were silenced by a stern…
Norberto “Bert” Rodriguez is an artist with a knack for applying the headlock. His works are relentlessly clever, crow-barring the protective layer off of the mundane, exposing and altering the muck underneath. Spectators encountering his work often walk away reeling, as if given the business, feeling conned instead. His stuff…
Big Juicy Paintings (and more): “Juicy” features nearly 50 works from the permanent collection, including a number of new acquisitions making their Miami debut. The brawny exhibit is complemented by a handful of works on loan from area collectors. This marks the first time since 2002’s “Miami Currents” that MAM…
Brick (Universal) Rian Johnson’s feature debut as writer-director will wind up as one of the year’s best films. A film noir set in a modern-day high school, it’s Sam Spade roaming Ridgemont High; kids get doped up and knocked up and even rubbed out while speaking pulp-novel slang, but the…
In 2004, Jason Hall, the head of Warner Bros.’ new videogame division, did something remarkable: He promised to end bad movie tie-ins. By then, gamers had become well acquainted with the suckiness of movie-based games. Ever since Atari’s E.T. — a game so bad, tons of unsold copies were buried…
Adam and Steve (TLA) Back Woods (Terror Vision) Beautiful People: The Complete Series (Sony) Clone (Image) Damon Wayans’ Last Stand (Fox) Frat Boy Collection (Fox) Gilles’ Wife (Koch Lorber) Ghost in a Teeny Bikini (Image) Grounded for Life: Season 3 (Anchor Bay) The Hidden Blade (Tartan) Inside Man (Universal) Jayne…
It just seems you can’t escape this thing called global warming. They’re pumping it everywhere – on TV, in movies, books, magazines, and newspapers. One might think it could actually be a real problem. No, surely not, what with twelve-mpg Hummers still allowed on the road. But you are hearing…
August is traditionally a dry month for throwdowns in these parts, but the Pelican Hotel and Restaurant is prepared to introduce you to the Italian celebration Ferragosto. In 18 B.C., the Roman emperor Augustus declared the month would be dedicated to festivals, known as Feriae Augusti. The moon, fertility, maternity,…
After our Wednesday deadlines are met, we begin hearing the call of grouper and bloody marys. But with little cash in our pockets, we are always on the lookout for a good deal. Tonight from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., Tarpon Bend, Max’s Grille, and City Cellars are hosting the monthly…
You might recall from grade school how Teddy Roosevelt led the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill. The future prez busted a cap in a Spanish soldier, watching him fall like “a jackrabbit.” American sailors, blockading Santiago Harbor, called their dustup with Spain a “turkey shoot.” Catch mementos of the…
It’s too hot to go to the beach. Or maybe, It’s just too humid to walk. Sound pathetically familiar? The love/hate relationship is tiresome; we boast about the sun but complain about the heat. This weekend, and select weekends through September, you can get a touch of the outdoors at…
We usually revel in the light of the full moon, stripping off our clothes and taking a ceremonial dip in the ocean. But this month we are a bit peeved that bad lunar timing is going to diminish our viewing of the Perseid, usually the best meteor shower of the…
We among others often criticize Miami sports fans for their fickleness. Pondering the approaching Miami Dolphins season raises some justification for the schizo nature of local sportsgoers. Our teams themselves are about as loyal as a crackhead — to themselves. These teams — Marlins, Panthers, even the Heat, and certainly…
The proprietors of Jake’s Bar tout their establishment as “a watering hole for grownups.” Indeed the plush corner pub comes across as the kind of highfalutin bar where a drink might cost well into the double digits. Despite the gleaming mahogany and dim lighting, the place still feels as welcoming…
Anyone who has had to suffer the indignity of a lengthy security pat-down, or who has endured a screening of Tom Hanks’s immigration dramedy The Terminal, can tell you: Airports are no fun. But when life handed Paul Tei two back-to-back delayed flight experiences, he found the inspiration for Terminal…
