It took the creative giants behind MIIB (a.k.a. Men in Black II) five years to come up with a disappointingly flat and uninspired sequel that not only treads familiar ground but does so with far less pizzazz than the original. It took the forces behind Stuart Little 2 a mere…
The founding fathers of democracy, the greatest warriors and fearless revolutionaries who shaped modern societies and died for their causes, have been reduced, over centuries, to meaningless symbols that decorate parks and national plazas. Their bronze statues are seen in grand majesty throughout the world, but as the Colombian film…
Goulds. It’s a place that sounds as if it belonged somewhere else. Goulds, West Virginia, maybe. Or Goulds, North Dakota. Certainly not Goulds, Florida. But more than a few lifelong South Floridians have driven a little too fast down U.S. 1 and certainly missed the town, which developed in the…
Not far from South Beach in the patio of a Little Haiti stronghold, young adults indulge in personal expression that goes beyond tank tops and bling bling. The desire for fun and freedom unites these people, but the main draw every Monday night is body language, voice, and music employed…
A pal asked last week, “Who you writing about?” Told him, “Art Linson,” which screwed his face into a big ol’ question mark. “He’s a movie producer. He made Heat, Fight Club, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Untouchables, Car Wash…” Said said friend upon hearing that last one, “Dude…
MAM’s “Ultrabaroque: Aspects of Post-Latin American Art,” the exhibit curated by Elizabeth Armstrong and Victor Zamudio-Taylor that landed here from San Diego, presents works by artists from Latin America who negotiate contemporary global trends within their own local traditions. But this is not a witty or humorous label. To categorize…
This is not your average film festival, of which we know there are far too many. This is a multimedia mix that’s all about archival images; if that sounds out in left screen, it’s maybe because it is. Documentaries from Ron Mann (one reviewed below) are some of the most…
Utter the name Skipper Chuck to a long-time Miami kid and he’ll be transported back to a world of “peace, love, and happiness,” where a gentle host held his young audience in thrall, plying them with cartoons, puppets, sidekicks (including zany Scrubby and wholesome babe Cher), and games such as…
Elizabeth Marsh’s hobby allows her to slip into flowing dresses with draping sleeves and four-foot trains. When she dines, she uses only a knife and spoon. And all her cohorts address her as “Your Excellency.” In the so-called mundane world (reality), Marsh is a broadcast coordinator at Florida International University…
They stream in and out, all day and all night, one after the other: band members, producers, business associates, friends, family, strangers, hangers-on who stare at the familiar face made infamous long ago. The tour bus, this parked sanctuary where he can roll his joints and drink his bottled Starbucks…
At 82, Eric Rohmer is the oldest of the original group of French New Wave directors — the others include Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard — whose careers in film started with the journal Cahiers du Cinema. Yet as is apparent from his latest film, The Lady and…
Like a Jawbreaker that changes color every few seconds that you suck it, MIIB: Men in Black II delivers a quick buzz, lots of stuff to look at, and a totally nonnutritious joy that can only be attained with the aid of artificial flavorings and Yellow #5. In a nutshell,…
Take about a dozen people lubricated with beverages, alcoholic and not, appetites whetted by spareribs with Hoisin sauce. Put them in a luxuriously sparse kitchen showroom in the Design District. Add a patient instructor offering directions while wielding a spatula and well-seasoned wok — cast iron, please, not carbon steel!…
Cigar-chomping, fatigues-wearing Fidel Castro impersonators. Flamboyant flamenco dancers in drag. Political humor geared toward older Cubans, who erupt in laughter at the thought of Fidel’s brother Raul scurrying about in a tutu. Until recently live theater on Eighth Street (with a few exceptions) has included such a hodgepodge of acts…
Ancient festivals served as markers for human progress, celebrating the passing of time and the progression of the community. Although seasonal changes, harvests, and rites of passage are not the focus of today’s festivals, these celebrations still provide a forum for assessing a community’s evolution. Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “Life must…
In dramaturgical terms, a play by a man about men is called theater — from Hamlet to Nixon’s Nixon, male playwrights, actors, and themes are not distinguished as “men’s theater” (and thankfully so). In contrast a play by a woman about women is frequently dubbed “women’s theater,” “touchy-feely,” “man hating,”…
In an ongoing endeavor to develop, understand, and communicate “art,” our definitions are constantly morphing. At the speed that we identify and recognize, we deny and re-create, each time pushing the walls of the “white box” to a point of distension. Since the advent of modernity — when artists decided…
Talk about trading down: Adam Sandler now stands in for Gary Cooper, Winona Ryder for Jean Arthur, screenwriter Tim Herlihy (The Waterboy, Billy Madison) for Robert Riskin (It Happened One Night, Meet John Doe), and director Steven Brill (Little Nicky) for the immortal Frank Capra. The mind reels at the…
One hundred five years: Not long in the life of most cities, except if you’re Miami. Our town has changed radically over its brief lifespan. A glance at area buildings that reflect our history reveals just that. Dade County pine houses and bungalows offering porches and expanses of windows exemplify…
When Maria Stevenson learned about John Feight’s Foundation for Hospital Art, inspiration struck. According to www.hospitalart.org, since founding the organization in 1984, the Atlanta-based artist — with help from more than 100,000 volunteers — has completed in excess of 20,000 paintings for nonprofit/charity hospitals and nursing homes in 165 countries…
Steven Spielberg just might turn into a great director if only he’d stop sabotaging his movies. For the second time in as many films, he demolishes his product with a third act that renders all that’s come before it void. It’s as though Minority Report, set in a near future…
If it’s possible for a film to be simultaneously ambitious and banal, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys is it. There’s little here we haven’t seen repeatedly in some form or another — growing up Catholic is popular fodder for filmmakers, as is growing up in the American South, usually…
