Given the more than 100 films screening at this year’s Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, the quality is bound to be uneven. So it’s pleasing to come across a find like Aurora Borealis, a small, unassuming film without any grand ambitions. The film unfolds over a few snowy months in…
The Weather Man, starring Nicolas Cage as a disappointment of a son and a failure of a father, was screened for critics in the spring. But its April release was pushed to October, ostensibly to allow for the off chance that Cage or Michael Caine (as Cage’s father) might be…
It seems like the spirits are smiling on Jude Papaloko Thegenius. Five months ago he was abruptly forced to find a new home for his Jakmel Art Gallery, uprooting the colorful, creative haven from its Biscayne Boulevard outpost to less calamity-prone territory. Now Papaloko has rebuilt his gallery into a…
THU 3 Owing to Hurricane Wilma, stuff is a mess, stress is high, and nothing is stable, so you should probably call to verify the status of all calendar listings. We found a few Night & Day picks for you, but we’re also offering some special in-the-dark and “snow day”…
When considering things Haitian, the first lesson is that spelling doesn’t count for much. Consider Rasin Festival, the annual blowout celebrating the island nation’s culture. It takes its name from a term for roots music. But rasin is also musique racine or simply racine. Sometimes it’s spelled raisinn. And actually…
Hitting the beach with buds and suds NOW 24/7 The crazy people who couldn’t wait to get out and walk along South Beach after the storm were rewarded with a bevy of disaster-porn photo opportunities. Leveled lifeguard houses and toppled palm trees couldn’t stop us from huffing down to the…
Splattering the enemy FRI 11/4 Paintballers of the world will unite in Miami for a chance to grind opponents into cat food and take home a $50,000 prize. With in-your-face monikers like the D.C. Arsenal, Miami Rage, LA Infamous, the Orange County Bushwackers, and the Scotland Naughty Dogs, nearly 200…
If Jarhead, director Sam Mendes and writer William Broyles, Jr.’s adaptation of Anthony Swofford’s 2003 Gulf War memoir, seems at all familiar — like, say, a DJ’s mashup of Full Metal Jacket and Three Kings — there’s good reason for it. Swofford, twenty years old during Operation Desert Storm in…
Titanic: Special Collector’s Edition (Paramount Home Video) Loved and loathed in equal measure, Titanic nonetheless is among the few modern-day movies deserving of lavish treatment; this boxed set, three discs with three hours of new stuff, feels almost as big a production as the feature itself. Writer-director James Cameron, never…
We’ve all been kicked in the junk by Marvel superheroes before. Watching Elektra was like two hours of nut-pummeling by a relentless, sac-hating donkey. But superhero films — even bad ones — gross bazillions of dollars. So it’s no surprise that Marvel is cashing in with a slew of licensed…
ABBA: The Movie (Universal) AC/DC: And Then There Was Rock (Chrome Dreams) Alias: The Complete Fourth Season (Buena Vista) Audioslave: Live in Cuba (Sony) The Beat That My Heart Skipped (Wellspring) Bewitched (Columbia/Tristar) The Day of the Triffids (Pro-Active) Dominion: A Prequel to the Exorcist (Warner) Face (Image) Herbie: Fully…
Gutsy Andrew Reach is an artist with steel in his spine. His show, “Beyond Pain,” on exhibit at Tip Freeman’s Paintings and Art Gallery, features nearly 40 riotously color-saturated digital works that chronicle his gritty comeback from two life-saving surgeries. His large archival Epson pigment prints on Somerset velvet paper…
Pagans, rejoice! ‘Tis the scary season once again, and Halloween in all of its ghastly glory is listed as the second-largest commercial holiday, one that’s slowly sneaking up on Christmas. According to the National Retail Federation, this year alone consumers will spend an estimated $3.3 billion in their quest for…
Stranger things than Ethel exist in classical music, but not many. Then again, classical is not exactly the right word for this string quartet that plays nothing but decidedly new, often bizarre music. In the House of Ethel — a site-specific spectacle at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens — is…
When one watches Where the Truth Lies, a film noir about a young celebrity journalist’s obsession with a comedy duo from the Fifties, a single question arises again and again: Why? Why have the immense talents of Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth, who are excellent in this movie, been squandered…
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s mandate from the Jim Henson Company was to take four million dollars and create something in a similar vein to The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, movies that bombed on initial release but have steadily grown in popularity over the years. Thanks to a lack of…
Talk about striking while the iron is hot: It’s been only a year since Saw became an instant cult hit, as well as a topic of debate among horror fans. Was it an innovative new classic, or did the occasionally lackluster acting and ludicrous final twist doom it to also-ran…
Since its inception, reggae has often been tied to politics, and many, including the promoters of the Family Reggae Festival, see the music as Jamaica’s most important export. Because of this, many, not including the promoters of the Family Reggae Festival, try to limit reggae by mandating a certain roots…
Halloween fraud alert: The thrilled revelers you see collecting fat envelopes of costume contest money at this year’s competitive celebrations might not have designed those clever concepts themselves. A quick survey of the job listings on Craigslist.org reveals the disappointing truth — that uninspired pretenders are plotting to split their…
SAT 10/29 Instead of listening to stories about what Florida was like back in the day, experience pioneer life this weekend at the Cutler Days heritage celebration at the Deering Estate at Cutler (16701 SW 72nd Ave., Miami). Children can enjoy sack races before filling up in an apple pie-eating…
Drinking and dancing for the dead TUE 11/1 Traditionally the Mexican Dia de Los Muertos celebration is observed by families seeking to reunite with their dead relatives in a spirit of joy and remembrance. Across the USA, Day of the Dead festivities have morphed into raucous events featuring skull-rattling parades,…
The Dolphins bust a move to celebrate 40 years THUR 10/27 Larry Csonka is the Miami Dolphins’ career rushing leader, with nearly twice as many yards (6737) as number two Mercury Morris (3887), although it should be noted Csonka had nearly double the attempts as any other running back. Morris…
