http://www.miamiherald.com/275/index.html http://media.miamiherald.com/images/logos/rss_sitelogo.gif http://www.miamiherald.com/275/index.html 140 25 News, sports and entertainment from MiamiHerald.com en-us Copyright 2008 MiamiHerald.com Weekend 60 Mon, 12 May 2008 04:51:59 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys miamifeedback@miamiherald.com http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525418.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525418.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Hollywood has been trying to make a live-action movie out of Speed Racer since the early 1990s: At one point, Johnny Depp was set to play the hero. But it was The Matrix creators Larry and Andy Wachowski who figured out how to transplant the 1960s Japanese anime TV show into the world of flesh-and-blood while still retaining the colorful palette and outlandish physical action the show was famous for around the world. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525419.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525419.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Were Larry and Andy Wachowski just really, really lucky when they made The Matrix? Speed Racer, the brothers' live-action, special-effects intensive adaptation of the beloved TV cartoon, is such a dull, clunky, joyless mess, it's hard to believe the people who made it understand much about movies. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525420.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525420.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT The latest uptight chick/slacker dude romantic comedy is so formulaic, you could win big if you placed bets on what's going to happen next. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525421.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525421.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT The best directors can take on practically any genre, no matter how hoary or formulaic, and turn a film into something dynamic and interesting by approaching it from their particular vantage point. In Redbelt, David Mamet enters the realm of sports drama and Rocky-underdog clichés and discovers it's a surprisingly good fit. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525648.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525648.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Is love just another four-letter word? That's the question that haunts Casper Andreas' well-crafted, deceptively light-'n'-fluffy romantic comedy. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525422.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525422.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT The directing debut of Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt, Then She Found Me, is less noteworthy for its erratic parts than for its atmospheric whole. Here's a film that whips loss, romantic yearning and the accelerating ticking of a woman's biological clock into a moody dramady that is by turns touching and exasperating. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525647.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525647.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Sensitively adapted from the achingly sad, luminous novel by Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces is a story of unspeakable loss and how it eats at the souls of survivors. Made with an unerring visual dazzle -- its dark corners are shadowy, deep and melancholy, its brilliant seascapes the sparkling embodiment of why we must all find a reason to carry on -- the film follows the life of Jakob Beer, a young Jewish boy plucked from his hiding place under a pile of leaves after a Nazi raid on his Polish village... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525417.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525417.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT To say Bill Maher is politically incorrect is about as much of an understatement as is possible. In fact, the wry comedian was so politically incorrect regarding 9/11 that ABC canceled his show, Politically Incorrect. Seems Maher disagreed with the popular sentiment that the suicide bombings were an act of cowardice, and the ensuing uproar sealed his fate. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525426.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525426.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Indie-rock faves Modest Mouse made a brief splash into the mainstream when the band's minor hit Gravity Rides Everything was featured in a Nissan commercial. Hardcore fans, however, know there's a lot more to love about this band, which formed in Issaquah, Wash., 15 years ago. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525429.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525429.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT POP CLAY AIKEN On My Way Here RCA/19 Clay Aiken has a message for his Claymates, that odd cult following that maintains an obsessional devotion for the singer. On The Real Me, written by Natalie Grant, the American Idol runner-up sings, ``I'm tired of the song and dance / Living a charade / Always on parade / What a mess I've made of my existence / But you love me even now.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525789.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525789.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT What happens when you mix one part contemporary art gallery with one part retro British Invasion, and sprinkle it with a bit of sexy? You get Thursday nights at Red Bar Gallery, a colorful fixture on the Brickell nightlife scene. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525435.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525435.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT The hot mess known as summer is upon us, but don't worry. Sweat is the new black and we'll all be sporting plenty of it in the coming months. Luckily there's the Gansevoort's rooftop Plunge Bar, where ocean breezes mix with the haughty airs of those who think their sweat doesn't stink to create a bizarre cooling effect. Tonight, 944 Magazine celebrates its first anniversary there with Macy Gray as the host, headliner and DJ. According to publisher Alan Roth, the anniversary party, from 8-11 p.m... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525433.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525433.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT ``Hey there, you're not going to believe this. I finally met a great guy on Match.com.'' She waited for a response, but I said nothing. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525436.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525436.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT When you're a single guy, there is usually one woman you can always count on (and, no, I'm not talking about Chastity at your friendly, neighborhood strip club). http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525425.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525425.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT BY HOWARD COHEN Teeth, a 2007 Sundance Film Festival jury award winner for lead actress Jess Weixler, toys with the idea of ``female empowerment.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525428.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525428.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Regina Belle, Love Forever Shines (Pendulum Records). The Black Angels, Directions to See a Ghost (Light in the Attic). http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525431.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525431.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Multiplatinum R&B singer Erykah Badu and the band Roots perform at 7 p.m. May 20 at the Centre for the Arts Amphitheater at Mizner Park, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. For tickets, www.livenation.com or TicketMaster; $49-$86. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525440.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525440.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT 'Wonderful, authentic' Thai and Vietnamese cuisine brings Arturo Codina to Siam Bistro at least once a week. 'It's one of my favorite restaurants in Miami,' says Codina. The food is 'excellent with very nice appetizers and dessert. The presentation is very beautiful.' You'll also find 'attentive and friendly' service -- and don't miss the Thai or Vietnamese beer or coffee. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525649.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525649.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Comedy and mystery entwine in Thumbs, a play by Rupert Holmes (yes, that Rupert Holmes, the guy who wrote Escape, aka The Piña Colada Song). Barbara Sloan and Angie Radosh team up to catch a serial killer in the play that opens Friday and runs through May 25 at Actors' Playhouse, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables. Performances are 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (additional matinee May 14). Tickets for the gala opening are $100. Regular prices are... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525432.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525432.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Lee Blessing's mysterious, award-winning play A Body of Water is a puzzle involving identity, relationships and shifting truth. Carbonell Award winners Kim Morgan Dean, Beth Dimon and Ken Clement star in the chamber piece opening Friday and running through June 1 at Mosaic Theatre in the American Heritage Center for the Arts, 12200 W. Broward Blvd., Plantation. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $32 ($27 seniors, $15 students... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525438.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525438.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT It's time for another Gallery Walk in the Wynwood Art District. Here are some highlights of what's new at Saturday's event: At the Dorsch Gallery, 151 NW 24th St., the group exhibit It'sOk to Cross Now features work by Karl Vohwinkle, Luis Garcia, Robin Griffiths, Chin-chin Hsu, Cristina Molina, Carrie Montano, Hugo Montoya, Jon Peck, Toot, Tony Kapel, Travis Pendlebury, Enrique Quintero, Brian Reedy, Guillermo Ruballo, John Sanchez, William Soto, Brandon Sparling, Kyle Trowbridge, Maitejosune Urrechaga... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525424.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525424.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Youth Without Youth: After a self-imposed 10-year exile from movies, Francis Ford Coppola has returned to filmmaking, vowing to make nothing but personal pictures. This is most certainly a personal work, so personal in fact that I can't imagine anyone but Coppola being able to sit through it. A relentlessly dull and uninvolving fable about a linguistics professor (Tim Roth) who gains strange powers after being struck by lightning, the movie waddles in metaphysical hokum while forgetting to do what... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525427.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525427.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Despite a 61 percent decline in sales, Mariah Carey's E=MC2 remains atop The Billboard 200 for a second straight week, moving 182,000 copies in the U.S. to top Leona Lewis' Spirit, which sold 96,000. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525430.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525430.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT The Miami International Piano Festival continues through Sunday with three wide-ranging recitals and the traditional Concerto Night closer. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525439.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/525439.html Fri, 09 May 2008 03:01 EDT Just follow the balloons to Sunday Afternoons of Music for Children and the special Saturday edition honoring mothers. Led by conductor Robert Longfield, The Greater Miami Symphonic Band will present ''Strike Up The Band -- Sousa-Style'' at Gusman Concert Hall at the University of Miami. Come early and kids can ''play'' the musical string instrument petting zoo. Instructors from the Allegro Music Center of Coral Gables will be on hand to work with children. Peter-the-Mime will entertain until... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/515905.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/515905.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Indiana Jones? Check. Batman? Yep. Will Smith? Him too. There will be no shortage of box-office draws during the 2008 summer movie season, which is so loaded with potential blockbusters that it may surpass last year's record-setting summer grosses of $4.15 billion, the highest in Hollywood history. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516640.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516640.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT On the comic-book rack, Iron Man has never come close to achieving the popularity of all-star Marvel Comics superheroes such as Spider-Man or The X-Men. But the character turns out to be a natural for the movies. Unlike the colorful -- and, let's face it, silly -- tights and capes most other do-gooders run around in, Iron Man's gleaming yellow-and-red armor has the sheen and polish of a showroom sports car, and it's loaded with an entire Batcave's worth of trinkets and gadgets. It's a fantastic special... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516641.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516641.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT If we held a competition among Grey's Anatomy stars to evaluate who made the best adult romantic comedy in recent memory, Katherine Heigl (27 Dresses) would crush Patrick Dempsey under her stilettos without even breaking a sweat. (Not that Heigl sweats; one suspects she exudes fragrant mist.) http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516642.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516642.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Seductive and intoxicating, playfully surreal and inexplicably moving, Jellyfish is almost impossible to pin down or even categorize. Artistic, daring, surprising, it resists fitting into words. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516643.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516643.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Were the World Mine closes the 10th Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on a musical, fantastical note. The movie, which director Tom Gustafson expanded from his short film Fairies, takes the familiar scenarios of high school angst and adolescent crushes and gives them a wonderful musical spin, complete with elaborate sets and choreography. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516649.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516649.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT British pop singer Natasha Bedingfield, who performs Saturday at SunFest, catapulted to fame in 2005 with her infectious songs Unwritten and These Words (I Love You, I Love You) dominating Top 40 radio for months. Two years after its release, Unwritten lost out to Christina Aguilera's Ain't No Other Man for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammys. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516936.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516936.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT NEIL DIAMOND Home Before Dark Columbia ½ If 12 Songs, Neil Diamond's striking 2005 collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, renewed your love of Diamond's songwriting, the pair's follow-up, Home Before Dark (out Tuesday) is a must-have. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516647.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516647.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Grand Theft Auto IV is all about the American Dream. An immigrant comes to this country with dreams of escaping his past and building his fortunes. But instead of finding streets paved in gold, he finds a city where hookers and hustlers work the streets and crime is a way of life and the only way to survive. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516666.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516666.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Although some people are in denial about the state of the economy and continue to max out credit cards on thousand-dollar bottles of cheap vodka to prove they're doing just fine, clubland is undeniably feeling the pinch. One club owner who wanted to remain anonymous told us that if it weren't for corporate events, he'd be out of business. Said owner added that he's giving out more drink tickets because people who do want to be able to turn their lights on when they get home just aren't spending like... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516665.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516665.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT I moved into a new apartment five months ago and finally started to unpack. In one box, I found my old books including the Choose Your Own Adventure series I read in middle school. I loved these thin paperbacks filled with illustrations because, well, they're thin and filled with illustrations. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516652.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516652.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT He has jammed with George Harrison, laid down tracks with Van Morrison and collaborated with everyone from jazz guitarist John McLaughlin and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart to the Kodo drummers of Japan. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516668.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516668.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT I had the pleasure of attending an open casting call last weekend for International Lovers, an aspiring television show that was billed as the ``latest addiction to reality TV.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516653.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516653.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony will wrap up their 20th anniversary season Saturday night with a reunion concert at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Twenty NWS alumni who have gone on to take positions in leading orchestras around the country will join Tilson Thomas and the New World for an all-Russian program of ballet music featuring Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring and Act 3 of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Concert time is 8 p.m. at the Knight Concert Hall, 1300 Biscayne... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516646.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516646.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT When first we meet Texan Congressman Charlie Wilson in Charlie Wilson's War (Universal; $29.98; R), he's naked in a Vegas hot tub with coke-sniffing strippers who find his sudden fascination with images on a nearby television puzzling, given the amenities they offer. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516673.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516673.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Eileen Kominsky stumbled upon China City when she was antique-shopping in Cooper City, but she thinks it's too easily missed. 'I'm concerned that this little mom-and-pop restaurant is hurting for business. Nobody knows it's there.' And China City is worth discovering, says Kominsky. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516650.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516650.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Mariah Carey earns her sixth No. 1 on The Billboard 200 as her E=MC2 bows on top, selling 463,000 copies in the U.S. to become her biggest debut sales week. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516671.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516671.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Don't know what to do to celebrate Mother's Day? The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and FAB! Films For Kids has your answer. Here's an early Mothers Day event for the family starting at 10 a.m. Saturday will afford mom some time off while she watches a romantic comedy. The kids, get to watch four short films about Moms and make Mother's Day gifts with the guidance of Counselors from Camp Jernee. The children's short films include: A Lesson In Time Management, where a girl struggles with... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516644.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516644.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Ninth annual event continues with screenings of diverse films that offer insight into the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience; screenings take place at the Gusman Theater, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami (GUS), The Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach (COLONY) and Flamingo South Beach, 1504 Bay Rd., Miami Beach (FLAMINGO): through Sunday; $13, $10 members, unless otherwise noted. 305-534-9924 or mglff.com: http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516672.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516672.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Time to don your sombrero and head to Cinco de Mayo celebrations in South Florida. Tequila Ranch is having a party at 5 p.m. Monday with DJs, a mariachi band, $3 Dos Equis bottles and draft beers. Enter a bull-riding contest for the chance to win $200. No cover. It's in Seminole Paradise, 1 Seminole Way (off U.S. 441 north of Stirling Road), near Hollywood. Call 954-556-7430 or visit tequilaranch.com. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516937.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516937.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Mindi Abair, Stars (Peak Records). Smooth-jazz saxophonist shows her pop side. Clay Aiken, On My Way Here (RCA). http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516639.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516639.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Actor and stand-up comedian Nick Swardson, of Comedy Central, is performing at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $26.50. Swardson, who started doing stand-up at age 18, has starred in the films Grandma's Boy, Blades of Glory and Benchwarmers, and has a recurring role on Comedy Central's Reno 911. He will be featured in the upcoming Adam Sandler movie, Don't Mess with the Zohan coming out June 6. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516645.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/516645.html Fri, 02 May 2008 03:01 EDT Bella (PG-13) ½: ''Bella'' won the People's Choice Award at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, but it's hard to say why. The film, about a chef with a secret who spends the day trying to talk a pregnant co-worker into having her baby, feels more like propaganda than drama. The filmmakers obviously intend New York City to be a magical world where miracles happen, but it's not even clear the film is set there until someone mentions it, and the foregone conclusion provokes more... http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/490120.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/490120.html Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:01 EDT Every Friday night, Alexis Newell leaves her South Miami home for Miami Beach, where she plops down on cushioned outdoor seats on Lincoln Road and orders a beer and a hookah, a long, ornate water pipe with roots in the Middle East. Usually joined by a few friends, her group lounges for hours, passing the fruity smoke-exuding pipe around, munching on falafel between puffs. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/481066.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/481066.html Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:01 EDT In Leatherheads, director George Clooney proves all the Cary Grant/Clark Gable comparisons right by casting himself in the kind of crowd-pleasing entertainment Grant and Gable made throughout their careers. Essentially a screwball comedy with a sports theme, the movie takes a comic look at the birth of America's pro football league in 1925, when players shared the field with grazing cows and a turnout of 20 people was considered by team owners to be a good day. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/471984.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/471984.html Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:01 EDT Southland Tales, director Richard Kelly's follow-up to his acclaimed debut Donnie Darko, premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, where it was widely derided, and then sneaked into theaters last November in a much shorter and reportedly easier-to-understand cut. It quickly vanished after a few weeks. http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/463810.html http://www.miamiherald.com/275/story/463810.html Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:01 EDT The images are notoriously familiar: leering U.S. military men and women standing over various torture victims, some of them on leashes, some naked, bloody and in humiliating poses. The soldiers pose as if on spring break, their faces carefree, their sense of right and wrong as absent as the sun at night.