Jim Florentine hangs up the phone and grabs the mic THU 4/21 Politely refusing an unwelcome telemarketer’s tantalizing offers of Tube Sock Monthly subscriptions, volcano insurance, and beachfront time shares in North Dakota is not an option for comedian Jim Florentine. While earning his living headlining at comedy clubs throughout…
Among the many mysteries surrounding The Interpreter is the one that finds Sydney Pollack heralded as a major American director, a maker of serious and important movies. His filmography, marked by mawkish mediocrities (Out of Africa, as vibrant as a coffee-table book; The Way We Were, its romance as plausible…
“No more soccer!” declares small-time thug Sing (writer/director/star Stephen Chow) as he vigorously stomps on a child’s ball. In the context of Kung Fu Hustle, it’s a pathetic attempt by Sing to make himself look tough. The larger signal, however, is to followers of Chow’s work — it’s a direct…
Amanda Peet. Ashton Kutcher. Romantic comedy. Who’d have thought it could work? And yet A Lot Like Love is an entertainment success, a triple threat of fresh writing, inspired directing, and, yes, good acting. Fortified with a healthy dose of intelligence, it manages to leap clear across an entire field…
If nothing else, give Dana Brown credit for enthusiasm. A documentary filmmaker in name only, he is really the camera- and microphone-equipped president of several booster clubs — among them what might be called the International Society of Beach Bums and, thanks to his latest exercise in hero worship, the…
When the great playwright Arthur Miller died in February, many admirers took stock again of his most enduring creation, Willy Loman. A delusional idealist who finds himself failed and felled by the American Dream, the tragic hero of Death of a Salesman has for half a century been the most…
Marriage of convenience is not a new subject. In films, in novels, and in countless television shows, we have been invited to witness both the drama and the comedy of the setup: Two people who barely know each other enter into what must appear to be a devoutly serious emotional…
Kyle, a likable young man with a slightly geeky aura, sits alone at the edge of the stage and talks disarmingly to the audience. He is an astronomer, so he talks about the stars. He loves poetry too. Most of all, though, he loves Zoe: his first high school crush,…
As owner Terry Michael Kost likes to say, his RaZoo Gallery “may be America’s only self-service, do-it-yourself art gallery.” He’s referring to his tendency to leave his funky little art space open but unattended. Indeed, on my last two visits, he was nowhere to be found, and I had to…
If you’ve ever wondered what an artist of only modest talent does to express himself, look no further than “Pop-ups, Illustrated Books, and Graphic Designs of Czech Artist and Paper Engineer, Vojtch Kubasta (1914-1992),” which is nearing the end of its run at the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts…
Ladies’ nights typically consist of cheap drink specials, mud/Jell-O wrestling, or a Girls Gone Wild combination of the two. Most women have come to realize that perhaps these promotional evenings serve XY chromosomes better than the XX. In retaliation, estrogen-fueled droves of dames have been taking the high road for…
THU 21 After seven days and more than 150 films, including 11 world premieres, six U.S. premieres, and 43 Florida premieres, the Palm Beach International Film Festival finally calls it a wrap at 7 p.m. at the Muvico Parisian 20 at CityPlace (545 Hibiscus St., West Palm Beach). The closing…
“I wish it was drinking-related, but it wasn’t,” comedian Dave Attell joked apologetically after calling almost an hour late for his scheduled interview. Yeah, right, Dave… sure. He went on to explain that, after a long stint on the road, he’d forgotten to reset his clocks for daylight-saving time. Completely…
SUN 4/24 Palm Beach County’s sun-drenched beaches and mild tropical climate may seem like the area’s defining characteristics, but with $60 million of sweet corn harvested during April and May alone, it’s the yellow stuff that’s bringing in the dough. And while you may associate the Corn Huskers with Nebraska,…
Wherefore art the popcorn? THU 4/21 If you thought Santa Claus was in for a serious case of writers’ cramp from responding to all his mail, you should see how many letters a day are addressed “Dear Juliet” — to the fictional heroine of Romeo & Juliet fame. A farmer…
Beer. Fest. Mmmm… two great words that go great together! Hitting up the New Times Beerfest — now a local tradition — requires a stealthy approach. First, judge yourself against the “you know you’re a drunkard when…” list on www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com. Do “you always finish your drinks because there are sober…
THU 14 Motley Crue did it. Poison did it. And Kiss did it best. So why shouldn’t King Diamond dust off his Caboodles makeup case, capitalize on his 19-year-old accomplishments, and cobble together a few bucks for his permanent retirement? Back in 1986, it was still possible to get Tipper…
It was brief and so close to perfection that nobody noticed it wasn’t Christopher Walken. That deliberate and apoplectic voice reading Goodnight Moon to terrified children in The Simpsons episode “Insane Clown Poppy” was ball-busting comedian Jay Mohr. “They asked Walken to do it and he wanted too much money,…
Meet the people behind lowbrow art SAT 4/16 Lowbrow art is a lot like Michael Jackson. Which is to say, the genre is often creepy, sometimes surreal, but almost always entertaining. Also, you don’t want it around your kids. However, unlike Michael Jackson, lowbrow art has found a way to…
Miami gears up for finals run SUN 4/17 While flipping the calendar to April means no more college hoops, it also means pro hoops finally get serious. The two-month, post-All-Star-break swoon is over, as squads have been gearing up for the playoff run since the fourth month rang in. The…
The art of Timmy Tatts SAT 4/16 Even when he was 6 years old, Timmy Tatts (a.k.a. Tim Sellers) was scribbling cartoons and caricatures on notebooks and blackboards — to the dismay of many uptight teachers. Now, Timmy spends the days putting ink to skin as a tattoo artist; in…
Says, “We are the gumbo” SAT 4/16 B.B. King once sang, “The blues had a baby, and they named it rock ‘n’ roll…” He wasn’t suggesting that the blues had unprotected sex — he was just layin’ down a metaphor. So what’s the progeny of blues and a cooking show?…
