Miami's foremost documentarian, Rakontur's Billy Corben, has had a busy couple of weeks. Since news of Nevin Shapiro's alleged improprieties with University of Miami football players broke last week, Corben has become the de facto spokesperson for everything related to UM scandal - and really, who better than the guy a made "The U." He's been a recurring interview on local and national sports shows and hasn't shied away from chiding his alma mater. He's also taken issue with the diminutive Ponzi fraudster and those who blindly take all his accusations as gospel.
But this week Corben is back to doing what he does best - producing and promoting his film work. His latest, Limelight, represents a change for what has been an entirely Florida-centric studio. Make the jump to see the trailer.
Limelight follows the rise and fall of the New York club owner and eye
patch wearing Peter Gatien, who owned the club of the same name and also
Tunnel, the Palladium, and Club USA. The clubs were the successors to
Studio 54 in the pantheon of great NY clubs and served as the unofficial
birthplace for a number of music genres (punk, hip hop, techno, etc)
and bands.
But, as happens with most clubs, their meteoric rise to prominence
eventually gave way to a fall from grace. In this case, the rampant drug
culture in the club (big surprise) seems to have been specifically
targeted by NY officials who wanted to make an example of Gatien and his
nightclub empire. Suits and pols never quite get the fact that what makes New
York special isn't law and order, but lawlessness and craziness.
Limelight debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in April and opens in New York on September 23. The film opens in Miami on Thursday, October 13 at O Cinema (90 NW 29th St., Miami).
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