Miami filmmakers are having a very good year. With movies screening at both Sundance and its indie counterpart, Slamdance, everyone seems to recognize that Miami has become a major hub for up-and-coming filmmakers. Everyone but the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, it seems. Monday afternoon, Joey Daoud, coproducer of…
Seth Meyers is one funny dude. You don’t need to watch NBC’s Late Night or even have to know his previous work on Saturday Night Live, where he spent 13 years as head writer, to enjoy a night with him. You do, however, need to get a kick out of…
This weekend at the Coral Gables Art Cinema, there was a double feature of films starring silver screen legend, Geraldine Chaplin. On Saturday, David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago screened for its 50th anniversary, and on Sunday, it was Robert Altman’s turn. His beloved Nashville played to a nearly-full house, 40 years…
Just as there are many ethnicities of human, there are many breeds of dog. Chihuahua dads, German shepherd moms, pound-puppy parents — each will argue that their breed (or mixed breed) is best. But dachshund lovers are in a class of their own. Fans of the hot dog tend to…
Miami has been the fictional home of some of television’s most iconic television shows: The Golden Girls, Crockett and Tubbs, and Dexter all lived in the Magic City. But if those are the only shows you can think of, then you’re missing an entire genre of amazing television filmed in…
The Miss Universe Pageant returned to Miami last night, and it was everything you expected it to be. Which is to say: leggy women wearing way too much makeup while strutting and smiling and showing off their bikini bodies in the name of national pride. The pageant may be a…
This Tuesday, the Miami Jewish Film Festival will feature a series of experimental, avant-garde films by two of contemporary movie-making’s greats. Bill Morrison and his regular collaborator composer, Michael Gordon, will appear for an evening of seven short films, conversation, and live music at the Miami Beach Cinematheque. Morrision and…
Ever since the documentary Blackfish pulled back the curtain on the lives of captive orcas, SeaWorld has seen some serious backlash. Corporate sponsors such as Hyundai Motor America, Panama Jack, Southwest Airlines, and Virgin America have cut ties with the company, celebs have distanced themselves, and attendance is down. Now,…
If you ran the Miami Marathon yesterday (or sacrificed sleep to hold up witty signs on the sidelines), we salute you. You’re probably sore, tired, and feeling (deservedly) self-satisfied. If only we had your motivation — and ability to function before a few cafecitos. As a reward for your amazing…
When Seth Meyers was tapped to take over Late Night, it wasn’t that surprising. Already a year into the gig, and Meyers has been able to set himself apart from his predecessors Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, and David Letterman, by injecting his own brand of witty humor into Late Night…
Like few other rivers, the Nile has captured humankind’s imagination from antiquity to today — a source of life and inspiration, but of conflict as well. Just ask the men and women who integrate the group of performers, educators and activists known as the Nile Project. Incredible music springs from…
When Miami-based filmmaker Kenny Riches got the call from the Sundance Film Festival, he could barely hide his excitement from close friend Robert “Meatball” Lorie. Riches’ film, The Strongest Man, had been accepted and Lorie was the film’s lead. They were both working on building the VIP section at Design…
Ted Baker’s aesthetic is at once buttoned up and cheeky, the ideal wardrobe for someone who understands it’s all in the particulars. “I’m a huge fan of Ted Baker because it doesn’t lack any flair for hidden details,” said the MANnequin Party’s Gino Campodonico, a Miami fashion blogger and ambassador…
In the immortal words of Loverboy, “Everybody’s working for the weekend. Everybody wants a new romance.” And, yes, everybody does — indeed — need a second chance. This weekend, Miami fulfills Loverboy’s always-relevant weekend needs: a chocolate festival for romance, the poetry of T.I., and laughs from nationally recognized comedians…
Mortdecai is creeping into theaters with the flushed shame of a debutante who expects to be pelted with tomatoes. It’s a pity. In 1965, Mortdecai would be the hit of the year. Director David Koepp whips through this pop-colored caper about crooked art dealer Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) — one…
This week Tigertail Productions presents its second ScreenDance Miami festival, which will highlight mostly local choreographers and filmmakers who are working with movement and dance on film, and dance on camera. Many dance makers are experienced with using video and film to record and preserve dance compositions and performances, or…
Writers and literary minds, rejoice! Perhaps one of the most prestigious writing workshops in the country is making a move and taking up a permanent residence at the University of Miami. The Voices of our Nations Arts Foundation, better known as VONA, is relocating from the West Coast to our…
We’ve already written about our excitement over the films at the Miami Jewish Film Festival and interviewed festival director Igor Shteyrenberg, but we haven’t had a chance to talk about what we’re looking forward to, as well as what we’ve checked out and loved. With MJFF already underway, it’s about…
There’s a thin line between painting and directing. Both inherently visual mediums, painting and directing can often inform each other. Vincent Gallo, Steve McQueen, and Jean Cocteau all had their creative starts in the visual arts, before moving on to direct plays and films. For local playwright Wendy White, the…
The most pleasurably ludicrous highlight of The Boy Next Door comes a half-hour in, before the sex and murders and something-is-in-the-mirror-behind-her! jolts that stud the film like Flavor Crystals. The high-school English teacher played by Jennifer Lopez is dazzled by a gift from the handsome student (Ryan Guzman) who has…
There’s something bracingly honest about The Humbling, Barry Levinson’s movie about a 67-year-old Shakespearean actor, played by Al Pacino, who, after being struck with crippling anxiety, gets his mojo restored — some of it, anyway — by a manipulative muse (Greta Gerwig). Based on the 2009 Philip Roth novel of…
Each year, screenwriters kill off enough offscreen children to fill a Chuck E. Cheese’s. A dead son or daughter gives a movie the illusion of depth plus an easy explanation for whatever the script ladles on the surviving parents. Binge-drinking? Nymphomania? Sudden bouts of break dancing? Blame the wee coffin…
