Chess hasn’t been this sexy or subversive since The Thomas Crown Affair. A French film directed by Caroline Bottaro, Queen to Play follows a middle-aged hotel maid Hellene (Sandrine Bonnaire) who, after seeing a couple engage in some seriously, sexually tense chess on their hotel balcony, decides to take up…
photo from myspace.com/murderousrampage444Watch out Zombie Strippers, Murderous Rampage has just released a video for their song “Programmed to Kill.” And the topless zombie chicks are way more brutal than Jenna Jameson (no matter how much Nietzsche she reads). They don’t strip, they just want to kill you. Or maybe just…
Photo by Kara StarzykAstari NiteHalloween won’t fall on a weekend again until 2014, and it won’t fall on a Saturday again until 2015. So Palm Beach residents will have no excuse Saturday. No “next year,” no “I’m too tired after working all week.” This is a call for them to…
Sweet Bronco performing at The BubbleThis Halloween, indie space the Bubble (810 NE Fourth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale) will again be Broward’s hub for local art and rawkin’ local bands. Some of the bands/acts include: Sweet Bronco: Largely the solo project of Chris Horgan, Sweet Bronco delivers the kind of lyric-centric,…
Photo by Rebecca Smeyne Surfer BloodEvery day, RollingStone.com publishes news on the music industry as part of its Rock and Roll Daily blog. Each day averages about 25 stories. And yesterday, between “Led Zepplin II Turns 40” and “Lenny Kravitz: I Want to Work With Jack White,” the site’s Hype…
Among states, Florida ranks sixth for unintended teen pregnancy, and receives the second-highest amount of abstinence-only education funding — falling just behind Texas, which has the third-highest teen birth rate. This isn’t college football. We don’t want to beat Texas. For 90 years, Planned Parenthood has made it its mission…
The most famous film festivals conjure up images of cinema royalty gracing the red carpet and rubbing elbows with indie up-and-comers. By contrast, there are loads of festivals you’ve never heard of that take place in neighborhoods or remote farms around the world. In its 24 years of existence (a…
Tantric Tourists follows a group of wealthy, Western, New Age-types in their journey across India and toward enlightenment — or so they believe. Their mantra is “Breathe and squeeze.” (Squeeze your asshole, that is. But you must do it without squeezing your butt cheeks.) And with all this squeezing and…
Most documentaries about Hurricane Katrina — and there have been a lot in the past four years — address its many disasters, whether political, natural, man-made, and/or moral. A Bridge Life: Finding Our Way Home doesn’t shy from such material, nor does it avoid the painful, shameful memories. It recycles…
Grrrly Talk is a new feminist column serving up pop culture commentary and local music news on, for, and by those of the XX-chromosomed variety. News broke yesterday that Lady Gaga will be spending New Year’s Eve in Miami after canceling her tour with megalomaniac Kanye West earlier this month. When I…
Pop-singer and fashionista Lady Gaga will be coming to the James L. Knight Center in Miami December 31. The diva’s recent tour with Kanye West fell through because West “needed a break.” Can West just drop out of the limelight for a few months? Get his ego in check?She counts…
Although the days when skateboarders were viewed as non-conforming hooligans/destroyers of public property are not that far behind us — it would be hard to find any skater who hasn’t been harassed at some point by police or security officers — the sport has been a suburban phenomenon and established itself as a legitimate career…
Without a calendar, it’s difficult to mark the beginning of fall in South Florida. There is no sweater weather or pretty foliage. Commencement of football season arrives too soon to mark our seasonal blip. And the September equinox is only eventful because we get to doze for an extra hour…
People sometimes incorrectly equate Burlesque dancers with strippers. Well, they’re not (Not that there’s anything wrong with stripping, but that’s a whole other dissertation-worthy topic). Miami troupe Shameless Burlesque will celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month Wednesday with its titillating lineup of tease and comedy. There’s no cover, but all donations…
The ultimate event for cat ladies and others obsessed with our feline friends, Cats Exclusive Cat Show, the largest pedigree cat show in South Florida, will take place Saturday and Sunday. Similar to a dog show, 39 exotic breeds of cats will compete for best-in-show. If you like to annoy…
Students from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and Miami International University of Art & Design will go open-toe to open-toe Friday and Saturday for Style Wars. Each student team will have to create a fashionable item from scraps of fabric in an hour or less. (Project Runway on steroids?)…
Tobacco Road and People United for Medical Marijuana will come together for the Natural Cure Festival Friday. Over 19 acts will perform for free in order to gather people/signatures for a petition promoting the legalization of medical marijuana in Florida and to make a statement that the only madness associated…
The Roaring Twenties marked a profound shift in American life. Technological innovations like the telephone and radio allowed for increased communication, while advances in art and design reflected a new interest in pop culture and exposed some troubling trends toward consumerism. But nothing symbolized New America more than the automobile…
The bluesy, punkabilly Dex Romweber Duo is a must-see for any roots rocker. Fronted by Dexter Romweber, the brother/sister pair (or at least Dex, who played in the iconic underground group Flat Duo Jets) has been cited as a major influence by numerous artists such as Cat Power, Neko Case,…
The bluesy, punkabilly Dex Romweber Duo is a must-see for any roots rocker. Fronted by Dexter Romweber, the brother/sister pair (or at least Dex, who played in the iconic underground group Flat Duo Jets) has been cited as a major influence by numerous artists such as Cat Power, Neko Case,…
Every year for about three weeks, Fort Lauderdale becomes a veritable hub for filmmakers and film geeks. They come from all over the world to celebrate the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF), held at our neighborhood arthouse Cinema Paradiso. The festival doesn’t start until October 23, but in the…
Miami folkie duo Raffa and Rainer’s sound possesses the calm beauty of a flower that’s just emerged in the morning dew: uncluttered, naturally charming, and potentially moving. The sweet Raffa Jo Harris floats her jazzy vocals over understated guitars (her own and her partner Rainer Davies’). The quirky melodies sound…
