Where were Howard Fast, Joe Adler, and Bob Rogerson when Mr. Nelson, my high school history teacher/wrestling coach, sidled up to the lectern to teach the American Revolution? That war, as I remember it, was a series of lively anecdotes about converting Boston Harbor into a giant cup of Earl…
Things seem to come in waves in South Florida. We have hurricane season, snowbird season, and come spring, film-festival season. There seem to be dozens of them, rolling in with the regularity of summer thunderstorms. Next up is the seventeenth Israel Film Festival, a presentation of Israel’s latest cinematic fare…
Presently sitting in a very peaceful meditational facility. First time here. The location (which shall remain unnamed so as to maintain nondenominational vibe) was selected specifically for the loving creation of this review, as it provides an almost perfect contrast to The Center of the World, the new motion picture…
Usually found in its storefront space in North Miami, M Ensemble Company, the oldest African-American theater organization in Miami-Dade County at 30 years of age, has certainly been around. From its beginnings in a Liberty City warehouse to an eleven-year tenure at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center to a…
On the seventh day God created Mobil. And God said unto Adam and Eve: “I have provided you with enough fuel for your eternity in the garden. I call it petroleum. Use it in thy scooter and in thy compact car. It is clean; it is infinite; it is pure…
Classic noir is the color this season in West Palm Beach. The Cuillo Centre for the Arts’ current production, The Betrayal of Nora Blake, is a musical comedy billed as “musical noir.” This spoof of the film-noir classics of the Thirties and Forties takes all the late-night B-movies you’ve ever…
Miami is getting the vibe of a bigger city. April’s bunch of openings was a good example, keeping many of us happily busy. And this time around it was Coral Gables that had some of the most interesting shows: Cuban veteran Flora Fong at Cernuda Arte; Neoexpressionist works by Carlos…
There is no good place to begin with Harry Shearer, because he doesn’t sit still long enough to allow one the chance to focus. He is a blur, forever in motion–on his way to the radio station, on his way from the movie studio, on his way to the publisher’s…
This year’s Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival concludes with the South Florida premiere of Susan Seidelman’s Gaudi Afternoon, an entertaining mystery-comedy. Headlined by the always excellent Judy Davis, the cast includes champs such as Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher Bown, Lili Taylor, and Juliette Lewis. Imagine a cinematic cross between…
It was easy to get all geared up to see Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World by Q. Allan Brocka. It was gay animation, after all. There’s not much of that around, and it could prove a bit risqué as well. But it was not…
Excuse me, but can somebody explain the movie world’s fascination with Las Vegas? The town without p(ersonal)ity crops up year after year as Hollywood’s favorite location. It’s not as though Las Vegas has some kind of special energy. There are tawdry casinos and cruising cars and neon nightscapes all over…
Treasure is inside. She’s been in and out of so-called correctional institutions most of her 21 years. Now, on her birthday, she’s moving from a juvenile joint to a tougher state women’s facility, where she hopes to reunite with the mother she’s never met. Without irony she explains the transfer’s…
Many well-known houses have sprung up around Miami over the years. Coming to mind immediately is Vizcaya, the opulent Italian Renaissance-style villa with lush adjacent gardens built on the fringe of Coconut Grove by International Harvester scion James Deering in 1916, and now a must-see for tourists. A few years…
Joe Simon doesn’t read comic books anymore, and not because he’s an 87-year-old man with far better ways to spend his time. The former and, perhaps, future comics writer and illustrator simply doesn’t get them anymore; he doesn’t know who they’re for, what they’re about, why most of them even…
At best the revival of a classic stirs our sensibilities much like a remarkable piece of music. A chord is struck that reverberates from antiquity to the present, reuniting us with the universality of our most human emotions. At its worst a classic only manages to transport us as far…
Seems like only yesterday Miami had no Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. And here comes the third one. Like the previous two, this festival is stacked with movies of all shapes and sizes: They come in the form of documentaries, Hollywood features, short series, gay-themed, lesbian-themed, animation, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish,…
What exactly is a gay film? A film about gay characters? A film by gay filmmakers? Or is gay cinema a marketing construct to attract a niche audience for a film in trouble? The last of these appears to be the correct answer when it comes to Julie Johnson, a…
Ah, summer love! Most adults can hark back to the days of their youth, especially that first wild, unforgettable rush of sexuality. Many stories try to capture those breathless moments: the first kiss, the first love, the awakening of desire. Imagine a picture-perfect Spanish beach town, pleasant summer weather, and…
It may be an odd occurrence for Miami, home to so much political strife in the recent past, but an inordinately large gathering of piecemakers will take place this weekend. Notice that’s piece. Not peace. Piece as in squares of colorful fabric. As in quilts. And quiltmakers. Banded together. Strong…
Denise Duhamel gets things all wrong brilliantly. In her prosey poems, a Barbie doll winds up at a twelve-step meeting — and ends up enjoying it. (“She wished she could clap like the others/when there was a good story about recovery.”) In another the poet mistakenly reads the word Pope…
Paul McGuinness has never thought of himself as a teacher of life lessons, so it comes as a bit of a surprise for him to hear it relayed that Kelly Curtis considers him an adviser–hell, a mentor. It comes as even more of a shock to discover that Curtis recalls…
If Robert Johnson made a deal with the Devil, then Bessie Smith drank gin with him — and put him under the table. As soon as she steps onto the set of Florida Stage’s production of The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith, Smith (Miche Braden) sets…
