Arts & Culture

Dennis Miller is the second-most entertaining, freedom-loving, semi-intellectual, autodidactic, libertarian funnyman in the nation. (The first is Penn Jillette.) You know the resumé, more or less: Saturday Night Live, the HBO shows, the radio programs, the rants, the guest appearances on Fox News where he plays gleefully to the resentments…

Sex. Romance. Jealous lovers. Murder. Tragedy. An episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey? Nope, it’s Georges Bizet’s Carmen. If you thought people were messed up on reality programming, try this 1875 opera. Carmen, a Gypsy, twists the heart of her lover, Don Jose, into such agony that it’s…

Kicking off a Saturday night with comedy is like kicking a soccer ball into a goalie’s groin. It’s kind of funny, and you might even score (if you’re on a date, that is). The goal — or should we say gooooooooal! — of stand-up comedy is to make audiences laugh…

Hannibal Buress has a big year ahead of him. His one-hour stand-up special is scheduled to premiere on Comedy Central this spring. He is also developing his own sitcom for Fox, which will feature Jonah Hill as executive producer. Buress’s writing credits already include Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock…

It was a cold January night — North Florida cold. “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” lingered in the background as we played connect the dots on Orion’s Belt using a laser pointer we’d found earlier in the day at a Goodwill store. But somewhere between Alnitak and Mintaka, shit…

Miami City Ballet is on fire as it enters 2012, appropriately the Year of the Dragon. After a string of international accolades in 2011, MCB kicks off its Program II at the Adrienne Arsht Center Friday at 8 p.m. with a world premiere from Liam Scarlett. He’s the uncommonly gifted…

The Marlins have been signing star shortstops and chasing Albert Pujols. The Heat are readying themselves for another title run. The Dolphins are doing that thing where they’re terrible every year. Meanwhile, our local pro hockey team has been silently kicking some serious hockey ass this season. You probably haven’t…

In 2004, a film critic for the arty mag ArtForum coined the term new French extremity to describe a genre that is “suddenly determined to break every taboo, to wade in rivers of viscera and spumes of sperm, to fill each frame with flesh, nubile or gnarled, and subject it…

Let’s reflect on all the amazing things Ray Charles gave the world before he succumbed to lung cancer in 2004. He basically helped invent soul music by mixing up R&B and gospel with raw, emotive singing and lyrics. And he accomplished all of that as a native of a remote,…

Jackie used to do and sell drugs but now is clean, working a legit job, and looking to live the straight life. But his old lady Veronica is still a cokehead who might or might not be cheating on him. When he finds a man’s hat in Veronica’s apartment that…

Both timely and haunting, “Global Caribbean III: Haiti Kingdom of This World” is a resonant survey of a group of nearly 20 contemporary artists whose work explores the chaotic state of nature and upheaval reigning in the turbulent island nation. The exhibit, which borrows its name from a novel by…

Local children of all ages have something to look forward to this month. That’s right, y’all, the circus is coming to town. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Fully Charged will take over the American Airlines Arena, and it’s coming loaded with trained animals, kooky clowns, and death-defying daredevils. In…

If trivia’s your game, you’re probably thrilled that today is National Trivia Day. And if you actually knew today was National Trivia Day, then we’re rewarding you a bonus point. For Q&A connoisseurs in search of a celebratory game gathering this week, we’ve got a few hot trivia spots for…

As we enter 2012, things will feel different in the Wynwood Arts District. Most things will look the same, but there will be one establishment in particular we’ll miss. The nonprofit Edge Zones on NE 25th recently announced the end of its run as a gallery. The Edge Zones entity…

Fashion Breakdown: Feather vest from Sarasota boutique Simply Spoiled; dress — “no idea”; BCBG boots; Anthropologie necklace; earrings a Christmas gift from her boyfriend…