A painting of blood-vomiting is not traditional movie theatre décor, nor are promotional posters of a plump, hairy man in tighty-whiteys with the words, “Miami Underground Film Festival.” Actually, as the festival-pass clearly states, the only rule is there are no rules.So, as the founder, Rafael Diaz Wagner stood next…
Into the Wild (Paramount) Sean Penn waited a good decade before adapting Jon Krakauer’s book about Chris McCandless, who graduated college in 1990, then disappeared into the American unknown, re-emerging as Alexander Supertramp before his final, tragic farewell in the Alaskan wilderness in ’92. Penn’s patience is evident in every…
Archie’s Funhouse: The Complete Series (Classic Media) Army of the Dead (Maverick) Arranged (Film Movement) Ben 10: The Complete Season 3 (Turner) Billy Wilder Film Collection (MGM) Dead Moon Rising (Anthem) Half Moon (Strand) Lonesome Dove: Season One (Echo Bridge)Magnum P.I.: The Complete Eighth Season (Universal) Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium…
Blake Fisher — with the help of some scissors — discovered early on what would become his calling. At an age when most kids would be playing catch in a sandlot, Fisher could be found holed up in his room with scissors and a stack of magazines, squirreling away pictures…
Animals: Although you won’t find a Napoleon, Bluebell, or Snowball in Juan Erlich’s mutant menagerie, his eye-popping c-prints on Plexiglas evoke a sense of Orwell’s Animal Farm. His bizarre beasties appear in lush natural settings devoid of any signs of human life, hinting at a dystopian future, or the aftermath…
Semi-Pro is much better than Blades of Glory, which wasn’t nearly as good as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, which was a little better than Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which was almost as funny as Old School, which was better than everything else Will Ferrell had…
Mataharis: Three women who work as private eyes at a Madrid detective agency find that their cases illuminate troubling aspects of their own lives. Ines (María Vázquez) goes undercover at a factory and winds up enmeshed in a power play between the company and union workers opposed to its outsourcing…
Obsessed with gaining the profitable favor of King Henry VIII (Eric Bana), the Duke of Norfolk’s original plan was to have niece Anne (Natalie Portman) become Henry’s mistress and give him the son — and heir — that his wife, Katherine of Aragon (Ana Torrent), has not. After Anne overplayed…
Many of us are misery junkies, pure and simple. We adore the early records of Elvis Costello and think Cormac McCarthy is entirely too cheerful. We distrust happy endings on principle, for we know most happy endings are wholly inappropriate. Life, after all, contains only one real ending, and it…
Spamalot: Strictly speaking, Spam is a cooked-meat product containing bits of many long-dead animals — pigs, chickens, turkeys, clumsy factory workers — jammed together and canned for the gastronomic pleasure of Hawaiians and normal people alike. Spamalot is not a dissimilar product. It’s a Tony Award-winning retelling of Monty Python…
Improv — the kind you see on Whose Line Is It Anyway? — was born in Italy in the 1500s. In those days, it was called “commedia dell’arte.” A troupe of 10 would get together on a street and play out a scene without a script and with only a…
This month marks the fifth anniversary of the United States-led invasion of Iraq, but if you forgot, we don’t blame you. We haven’t exactly been making huge sacrifices for the war effort, either. Our political leaders make it easy to buy Hummers and eat overflowing plates of unrationed food without…
Pablo Francisco is widely known as a comic with a gift for doing funny voices and making all sorts of sounds, but that perception is a little narrow. Francisco is actually a talented impressionist who uses a variety of voice effects and odd vocalizations to help bring his impressions to…
Dancing is therapy. Just the act of putting on some fun tunes and tapping your toes feels good. It feels even better to let loose, get on your feet, and express your emotions through movement, regardless of your ability. That’s the basic philosophy behind Karen Peterson and Dancers, a truly…
For centuries, intricate guitar-picking, skillful foot-stomping, and precise handclapping have made flamenco reverberate worldwide, but the genre’s musical cries are what carry its full emotional impact. Most historians figure the form was born many Andalusian moons ago as a result of a cultural convergence of that region’s gypsies, Moors, and…
If your workweek was especially grueling and no happy hour in town could cure your sickness, the wonderful weekend has brought solace for your woes. And no, it doesn’t include a trip to the flea market for some ammo. It’s MeZuNeen at Circa 28, and if the promise of tattooing,…
If you don’t know what Blue Man Group is by now, you’re probably the most sheltered kid in your backwoods, apocalyptic Christian militia. The trio of earless, bald entertainers covered in blue paint has infected every major Western metropolis with its charming theatrical routines, but nothing in those shows can…
During Field Work sessions this winter, performance artist and choreographer Octavio Campos found himself treading in strange waters. “It was a really humbling experience for me. I think The Field is something every artist should go through,” he says. The Field’s 10-week workshops brought painters, dancers, performers, video artists, and…
One of our favorite scenes in one of our favorite movies has gotta be from the 1979 classic The Jerk. No, not the part where Navin discovers his “special purpose,” silly. We’re talking about the sweetest part of the movie, when Navin and Marie walk along the beach and sing…
Four years ago, if you were scoring something from a meeting with Miami’s mixtape superstar Rick Ross, it wasn’t an exclusive interview. But since then, he’s jumped from rollin’ in a rickety, smoke-filled Toyota Tercel to a BMW with oversize wheels – or even a polished-up boat. This rise to…
Brazz Dance Theater’s latest program, Pé de Samba (A Foot for Samba), presents the famous Brazilian dance in a more traditional way than the oft-portrayed sequins and feathers Carnival version. Agusto Soledade brought the company to Miami in 2004. Since then, he has garnered several awards and grants for his…
The Miami Heat has won a total of one game in 2008. The team is the embodiment of utter craptitude. Even when the players give their best effort, they somehow blow the game. The losses are mounting, and every matchup is an exhilarating journey into Suckville. Each game is the…
