About a millennium and a half ago, Buddhist teachings from India began seeping over the Himalayas and into China. Yuan Hong, an emperor of the Wei dynasty, had a Buddhist monastic institution set up for an Indian scholar monk known as Bhadur. The temple, built in the forest at the...
Hitler as artist... Hitler as artist... Damn. So much for the ol' "summarize plot, tease overpaid actors, pontificate wildly" formula. Reviewing Max -- about the wonder years of Der Führer (Noah Taylor) and his fictional Jewish benefactor, Max Rothman (John Cusack) -- looks to be something of a task. Set...
Everyone has remembrances of flings past, especially that once-in-a-lifetime first time. Playwright Richard Nelson's take on that oft-told subject is Madame Melville, an intriguing wisp of a tale now playing at the New Theatre in Coral Gables. In it, Nelson depicts the coming of age of an awkward American 15-year-old...
Remember, Miriam is downstairs: It isn't just the Rev. Dozell Varner Jr. who feels that Broward Supervisor of Elections Miriam Oliphant has been targeted by those who are of questionable character or ethics ("Miriam for President," Susan Eastman, February 6). It isn't just a borderline economic issue in the minority...
The most noticeable thing about Francisco Ferreras is his chest. He is otherwise an imposing presence -- tall, muscular arms, broad back, shaved head bronzed by the sun. But it is the chest that impresses. It is prodigiously expansive, but not in the way bodybuilders become musclebound with bulk. Ferreras'...
This should really piss you off: What follows is a story about a very funny movie you will have absolutely no chance of seeing any time soon. The powers that be who distribute movies--who copy prints, print up posters, deliver them to theaters, collect receipts, split profits (well...)--do not want...
Ever since Tommy Iommi invented doom rock, drugged-out bands all over the world have done their best to outsludge one another. Outfits like Godflesh, Eyehategod, and Sleep ruled the '90s doom scene with drop-tuned guitars, shrieked vocals, and plodding tempos, leaving burnouts, metalheads, and ex-punkers drooling happily in their wake...
In the cultural Gobi desert that is the American public school system, choir practice might lead somewhere later in life. Forced to practice patriotic dreck like "In the Spirit of Hope" in Mrs. Fazoli's class, our youth have only screeching some abominable Whitney Houston song on American Idol to aspire...
I'm into poetry. I wrote a few lines. Don't worry; I offer just a few. This one details the passing of time: "The past is thirsty, and the present is an athlete with no feet." Do you like it? How about this one? "In the branch of hell, there are...
John Edwards has all the gravitas of John Boy and is almost as proven as a national leader. John Kerry has no presidential legs, but he's got effete. Joe Lieberman combines chronic charisma deficiency with a serious identity problem -- is he Democrat, Republican, or Likudnik? And Dick Gephardt... well,...
Arranged in a semicircular bouquet of white gloves and tuxedos, 14 "gentlemen songsters" from Yale decorate the table of American culture with a cappella harmony almost a century in bloom. For the past 94 years, the Whiffenpoofs have passed on a musical tradition that includes classic ballads, jazz standards, and...
There has been a lot of talk lately about the so-called Law of Unintended Consequences: that any course of action will produce an array of surprise results. I can't be certain exactly what the Actors Playhouse in Coral Gables was intending with its season opener, Comic Potential, but the results...
Wearing dark sunglasses that masked his eyes, Seminole Tribal Councilman David Cypress strolled to the witness stand in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on December 13 and for the next five hours astonished observers. On trial were three former Seminole employees charged with embezzling millions of dollars. The trio's defense...
Ataris guitarist Kris Roe has lived the pop-punk dream. He escaped his shitburg Indiana hometown by passing along a demo to the Vandals' Joe Escalante. Offered a record deal over the phone, Roe informed Escalante that he didn't have a drummer. "No problem, kid; I know lots of drummers," Joe...
Will Luna always stand like a wallflower, picked last for every dance? The band's ten-year mission -- fusing fragrant guitar melodies with potently acerbic lyrics -- has gone rather well. Somehow, though, unreservedly praising Luna would be like saying Foghat was your favorite band -- representative of the style, sure,...
Based on the true story of three young Aboriginal girls who walked 1,500 miles across the Australian Outback to be reunited with their mothers, Rabbit-Proof Fence might well be subtitled True Grit in recognition of the courage and single-minded determination that drove the trio to undertake such a perilous journey...
If you think that a kimono is a Japanese bathrobe and that obi is the first name of Luke Skywalker's Jedi mentor, do yourself a favor and head over to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens this Saturday. The museum hosts "The Fabulous Kimono Show: A Century of Traditions and...
Everything about Catch Me If You Can, the loosely based-on-fact tale of a teenager who swindled millions while posing as, among other things, a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer, is breezy and easy to swallow. Its maker, Steven Spielberg, hasn't had so much fun in two decades,...
Book and lyrics by Mark Saltzman, with traditional Neopolitan music arranged by Louis Forestieri; directed by Mark Woldrop. With John Paul Almon, Natalie Hill, Andy Karl, and Adam Monley. Presented through February 2 by the Coconut Grove Playhouse, 3500 Main Hwy., Miami, 305-442-4000.
Written by Claudia Shear; directed by Joseph Adler. With Ian Hersey, David Kwiat, and Margot Moreland. Presented through February 2 by GableStage at the Biltmore, 1200 Anastasia Ave., Coral Gables, 305-445-1119.
Progressive dance music as conveyor of the gospel? Well, the conventional Christianity administered by Andy Hunter on Exodus, his solo full-length debut, isn't that far removed from the Peace Love Unity Respect movement of the early rave scene -- and here the British trance DJ draws from both backgrounds. Born...
Since her days with Northwest acts Goodness, Hammerbox, and short-lived project the Rockfords, Seattle diva Carrie Akre has built a loyal following with her shrewdly powerful vocals and tough-but-eloquent songwriting. Her solo debut, the two-year-old Home, saw Akre step away from embracing the alt-rock side of her former endeavors to...
No hip-hop artist is more deserving of the title Supa Dupa Star than Missy Elliott. (Sorry, P-Diddy. You're like 7-Up: Never had it, never will.) Not to dis Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Kool Herc, and Run-DMC, but nobody can transcend the genre the way she has. Missy's a top-notch producer and...
