No writer ever gazed deeper or more despairingly into the prison of middle-class American conformity than Richard Yates, which might explain why none of his books sold more than 12,000 copies in his lifetime and why it has taken more than 40 years for one of them to reach the…
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is certainly curious — a modest F. Scott Fitzgerald story, about a man born in the twilight of life and gradually regressing toward dawn, that has been adapted into a two-ton, Oscar-season white elephant. Directed by David Fincher from a screenplay by Eric Roth,…
Some say South Beach is no place to catch a wave, but dudes in the know would beg to differ. Sure, it ain’t Waimea, but SoFi isn’t only the coolest place to live — it’s also the place where you’ll catch a wave that would make Matthew McConaughey throw his…
If only we had a dollar for every time we heard a variation on this sentiment: “Fill-in-the-blanks will change the city!” Or “If there were a few more like so-and-so, downtown Miami would be a cultural and nightlife mecca.” We’re sad to say it, but we calendar editors have seen…
The latest flick from Broken Lizards, the comedy troupe behind Super Troopers and Beerfest, takes aim at a scene that seriously deserves to be taken down a notch — fancy Miami dinning. The Slammin’ Salmon, like many of its real-life counterparts, is a Miami restaurant with an obnoxious celebrity owner,…
As a lawyer, Barbara Levenson leaped head first into some controversial free speech battles. In 1987, when she was chairwoman of the American Civil Liberties Union’s legal panel, she protested the placing of a 100-foot-tall cross at Tamiami Park during Pope John Paul II’s visit to Miami. Two years later,…
2009 is looking to be a huge year for the Rakontur Films. Not only will they be teaming up with super-producers Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer to turn their Cocaine Cowboys documentary into an HBO series, but they’ve also announced on their blog they’re developing a half-hour series for Adult…
Russian Dreams … Through February 8. Bass Museum of Art, 2121 Park Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-7530, www.bassmuseum.org. Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. At the Bass, this selection of cutting-edge works by contemporary Russian artists — which includes painting, photography, video, and…
Monday night Jazz Jam, winner of our 2007 Best of Miami award, is not a well-kept secret. It’s more like an institution. But a reminder is still in order: if you haven’t gone, you’re missing some of the best regularly-scheduled live music in Miami. The first time I went, the…
Close your eyes and imagine a world where you can see sounds and hear colors, where primal drumbeats leap off the works of Picasso and Brancusi. In a world where you could sense improvisational jazz riffs arranged in a cubist masterpiece, you might also experience the plaintive wail of a…
We and millions of other Americans vowed to slim down once the clock struck 2009, but this year, laziness and procrastination have a strange new bedfellow, and it kinda almost rhymes with robbery. You got it, the economy. And since we have millions of Americans to commiserate with, we’re forced…
The South Beach Comedy Festival is just around the corner, and this year’s lineup includes some known quantities in the world of funny. We’re talking about roastmaster general Lisa Lampanelli, ruling raunch king Jim Norton, sputtering politico and Daily Show fixture Lewis Black, and the sizzling star of The Soup,…
Donna Blake is the Speedin’ Granny. At 60 years old, she’s active in the local car show competition circuit, entering events and winning trophies from South Dade to Broward. You can catch Granny in her 1968 Barracuda convertible, or at least you can try. She’s one of the organizers behind…
The song begins with the lone twang of an electric guitar pulling you toward the dance floor. Your two left feet scoff and think, So what? You can’t get me going with one stupid axe. Then the electric bass boom-de-booms its way into the groove, the drums tis-tis-tis, and a…
When the Miami Heat faced off against the New Jersey Nets two weeks ago, Dwyane Wade matched a season high by pouring in 43 points on Dirty Jersey. The game featured three of the NBA’s top 10-point scorers in Wade and the Nets’ Devin Harris and Vince Carter. While going…
Baroness Vladka decides that feeding her raging alcohol addiction is more important than delivering melodic arias to audiences night after night, so she turns to ingénue Gwendoline Josephine Bellevoix Bouvier to fill in the operatic blanks. Soon the senior diva resents the junior’s verve, the younger believes her turn in…
Your snobby South Beach acquaintances and trendy downtown hipster friends might scoff, but we’re here to tell you there’s a neighborhood scene that’s been simmering to a boil in a long-forgotten corner. South Miami has become what Coconut Grove used to be and what Coral Gables wishes it were —…
At first blush, the trading card phenomenon Pokémon might seem like it’s just for kids. All of your adult sensibilities will cause you to roll your eyes when you hear the word Squirtle, which of course is a kind of Pokémon that looks like a turtle and squirts liquid at…
In 1917, the Russian city of Petrograd went to sleep with its streetlights shut off in fear of bombardment by zeppelins. Unlike Goodyear blimps, which tend to circle in the sky like happy cows, the airships of World War I bristled with weaponry. The Germans sent them on (slow, very…
Say what you will about Andrew Lloyd Webber — the composer of Broadway smashes involving magical mystery hippie Jesuses or half-masked pervs who lurk underneath stages — but the man can really name a cat. “McCavity” and “Griddlebone” blow out of the water old favorites such as “Muffy” and “I…
This Friday at 7:30, a legion of card-carrying Republican white men shall descend on the Bank Atlantic Center to see a 31-year-old former bodybuilder named John Cena beat the shit out of a guy who catastrophically broke his collarbone last June (that’d be “Legend Killer” Randy Orton). And for the…
Once your alarm clock hums the arrival of Friday morning, eschew the Monday-to-Thursday routine of hitting the snooze button and let the sun’s rays wake you for work. We know your weekend actually started last night and gave you a hangover for breakfast, but if you can just make it…
