The Doctorow Is In
If you haven’t heard of Cory Doctorow, you’ve probably at least heard of Boing Boing, the site he co-edits. And if you have heard of him, it’s probably from one of two ways, either author or activist. A sci-fi writer and hardcore supporter of free file sharing, Doctorow has gained notoriety for releasing his books [...]
The Riotous Body Politics of “Frankenhooker,” Playing Sunday as Part of Splatter-Rama
Advertised as “A Tale of Sluts and Bolts,” in which a man rebuilds his dead fiancée with the body parts of prostitutes, Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker (playing Sunday as part of the monthly “Splatter-Rama” at Cinema Paradiso) on the surface reads like it could just as well be called Fratboystein. The film’s original selling point, a [...]
Characters in Charles Dubow’s “Indiscretion” Inspire Intense Rage, and We Love Every Line
Sometimes it’s possible to determine how much one loves a novel by considering how much hate the characters inspire. I despised two of the central characters in debut author Charles Dubow’s Indiscretion. It is also already on my list of best books of 2013 (yes, we’re only one month in, but I’m pretty sure I’ll [...]
All Aboard WEIRD MIAMI Bus Tour, Making the Rounds Sunday
Have you ever had the amused displeasure of seeing a Duck Tour guide urging his or her flock to do the YMCA? Did your stomach turn when all those normy tourists quacked in unison as they pulled up for cocktails at Wet Willies? Have you thought, “Wow, that could be fun if I didn’t hate [...]
Saturday Night: At Sea in Search of Miami, Our City of Gold
“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship…” — theme from Gilligan’s Island Last Saturday, the Miami-based arts group SPRING BREAK (headed by Patti Hernandez and Domingo Castillo) realized an idea of artist Carlos Rigau’s in collaboration with [...]
Dave Barry Appearing in Our (And His) Insane City Sunday
“Rollicking adventure” is one of those ridiculous terms that no one actually says in normal conversation but which reviewers love to use (“madcap romp” and “laugh-out-loud hilarious” are some other favorites). I hate to use such a cliché when describing Dave Barry’s Insane City. However, that is the perfect way to describe the Pulitzer Prize-winning [...]
Oscars Blind Spot: Rafi Pitts’ “The Hunter”
The Foreign nominations in the Oscars has always been a bit weird. Essentially, it’s one category for the rest of the world, but somehow Britain always makes the cut on Best Picture, giving the sectioning a neo-colonial bent. Last year, the Academy awarded A Separation with an Oscar. It was the second Iranian film to [...]
An Evening With the Onion Riffs on South Florida Weirdness Live on March 10
Real life news events are often stranger and more pathetic than fiction — especially in Florida! So is it funny or tragic that the headlines in the Onion, the long-running fictional newspaper turned “news” broadcast, often seem totally plausible? Call the publication prescient, because what started out as a student paper has become a go-to [...]
“Law & Order” Creator Dick Wolf at Books & Books Tonight
I’ve never had any qualms about expressing my love for the simultaneously predictable (Ripped from the headlines! There will be a plot twist!), yet unpredictable (What will that twist be?) Law & Order franchise. Actually that’s not totally true: I’m not particularly fond of Criminal Intent (Vincent D’onofrio’s character is one of the most irritating [...]