If not for Hong Kong exploitation films, master movie plagiarist Quentin Tarantino would still be working at a video-rental store. If not for Bollywood, a billion fans of high-end motion pictures would be lost, unable, of course, to rely on Hollywood for anything exceeding schlock. Despite the staggering financial aspects,…
Waltzers, fox-trotters, and swing dancers need not apply. With so many other dances to learn, those American jives won’t be missed one bit at the IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance and Music Festival, which runs today through Sunday, July 16, and is unique to South Florida. Consider yourself lucky to be surrounded…
No, we will not begin this story with “To be or not to be.” Nope, not a chance. Besides the obvious cliché, it has absolutely nothing to do with the play we are about to mention. The only reason we would open with it is because we have never actually…
The fact that 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was such a hit had much to do with viewers’ prelaunch expectations, which were approximately none. Who could have been blamed for thinking a Gore Verbinski-directed, Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie based on a theme-park ride would proffer…
Slipped into the summer movie season like acid in your Happy Meal, Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly is a blockbuster of counterprogramming. No matter that the dude from The Matrix is its star — or would be, if he weren’t half-hidden under a thick swath of digital paint. Linklater’s return…
It may not be an “iconic manifestation of civilization,” as documentarian Ken Burns proclaims, but the New York Times crossword puzzle is undoubtedly an institution — and director Patrick Creadon wants to understand why. His sweet, lightly amusing, and largely superficial documentary brings the story to a climax at the…
Ella: It’s ten years this month since songstress Ella Fitzgerald died. Fitzgerald, whose romantically distinctive voice has gently passed from generation to generation since her first recordings in 1936, didn’t so much have her own songs but rather made anything she sang an Ella experience. In the past year, Florida…
On a recent visit to Faktura Gallery, the place looked more like a punching bag than the toast of the town. Located on a garbage-strewn dead-end street in Little Haiti, its gritty façade was pocked by concrete bruises doctored in a jalapeño green coat of paint. A ratty car seat,…
I’m So Much Better than You: Magnus Sigurdarson’s installation features four tons of Miami New Times papers interlocked like bricks to form a curving hip-high wall. It houses a DVD player and monitor where the artist is seen performing a puppet show in Xiamen, China. Sigurdarson, who was born in…
The Matador (Weinstein) Richard Shepard’s spec script, sent to Pierce Brosnan’s production company out of desperation, wound up as 2005’s best buddy pic — damned if I can recall a funnier movie from last year, except the one with the middle-age virgin. Brosnan, not afraid to don cheerleading skirts and…
When Rockstar Games, the company behind the infamous Grand Theft Auto series, announced it would be making a title for Xbox 360, gamers naturally envisioned a game featuring next-gen hookers. But then Rockstar revealed that the game was actually going to be an elaborate Ping-Pong sim, and fanboys the world…
Charlie’s Angels: The Complete Third Season (Sony) Cyberteam in Akihabara: Complete Collection (ADV) Eastern Horror Double Feature: Satan’s Slave and Corpse Master (Brentwood) King of the Cage: The Superstars of KOTC (Brentwood) The Kinks: The Live Broadcasts (Classic Rock Legends) The Legend of Prince Valiant: The Complete Series, Volume One…
Like verbose rapper E-40, the crunk-challenging hyphy movement, and screeching car sideshows, the gorgeous chanteuse Goapele remains one of those California phenomenons who, for some inexplicable reason, hasn’t made it to the mainstream. Because of her family-owned record-label roots and nonconformist music, she has not yet found a place in…
In Rania Zada’s culture, belly dancing is considered an art form. Women undulate in a sensual manner, but the dance is as ancient as the pyramids, and the keepers of the tradition are heralded as paragons of beauty and artistic significance. The marked difference in perception slapped Zada in the…
It’s what keeps the barbarians at the gate, separates us from the lesser world, makes livin’ in the U.S.A. so sweet. It is supposedly what kids in Iraq and Afghanistan are dying for. Yet in this century our nation has not been able to run free elections without protest and…
Look! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s just two flat images placed side-by-side, forcing your brain to create an artificial depth perception. With Superman returning and brining with him another re-emergence of 3-D cinema (apparently our 2-D world is just too flat for a man from Krypton), it’s…
It is Monday morning and you have nothing to wear. Eh, no big deal. Clothes are so overrated, and isn’t it more comfortable to be naked, anyway? Take it all off in celebration of Nude Recreation Week. Yeah, that’s right. The Naturist Society (www.naturistsociety.com) has been singing the praises of…
Pleasure seekers need not waste precious partying time searching for recreational activities in distant corners of the city. Lovers of life can now experience all kinds of fun in one stop. Music, art, conversation, food, drinks, and more come together every Sunday at the Lovelife party. The chill evening soiree…
Do you remember the one about the mango? Seinfeld’s fifth season opened with an episode about George questioning his performance “south of the equator” and talk of fake orgasms. He then suffered from stress-induced impotence that was miraculously cured by a taste of succulent mango. In light of the fourteenth…
In the wake of yet another unsuccessful American attempt at the World Cup, the 2006 Kick-It 3v3 Tour seems like a good way to improve at the game and lessen the xenophobia. Sponsored by Sports Illustrated for Kids, the 3v3 Tour is a two-day soccer tournament open to all ages…
If your once-overflowing source of inspiration has run dry, you best get yourself to One, Cornerstone’s first anniversary celebration. According to event organizers, tonight’s festival — featuring a diverse crowd of poets, musicians, actors, dancers, and visual artists — will “draw upon a theme of oneness through community and art.”…
From Guaraní to Spanish, Italian to German, Argentina is a blend of cultures and influences. This can be seen in the country’s language, architecture, and dance. Although Argentina is best known for the tango, that sexy spectacle is only one of many maneuvers perfected in the land. There’s the flirtatious…
