This Dracula Begins-style sword-and-fangs curio plays like someone said, “What if we took a vampire flick but did a find-and-replace, swapping out all that bare-neck sensuality for some videogame ass-kicking?” Or: “Remember what the Star Wars prequels did for Darth Vader? Let’s foist the same kind of tragic love story…
It was a mystery that reporter Gary Webb would have jumped on: a man who’d made powerful enemies allegedly committing suicide with two gunshots to the head. The tragedy is that Webb was the deceased. Michael Cuesta’s earnest, ire-inducing Kill the Messenger is a David-and-Goliath story where truth is the…
The best that can be said of The Pact 2 is that its existence might draw the attention of more viewers to The Pact, a superior indie creep-out from 2012 whose creator, the writer-director Nicholas McCarthy, fashioned it according to three inviolable principles. One: Get the heroine (Caity Lotz) into…
A gloom hangs over writer/director David Ayer’s brutal war drama Fury that only the audience can see. It’s April 1945, and we know that in weeks the Nazis will surrender. The war is already over — Hitler just hasn’t admitted it. American sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt) suspects as…
The big news: In its first half, before it bottoms out with the rankest feel-goodery, Theodore Melfi’s too-familiar ain’t-he-irascible comedy-drama St. Vincent features scene after scene of Bill Murray actually trying to make you laugh. How long has it been? He plays Vincent, a drunk-driving Brooklynite whose look suggests science…
Should we trust artists to tell the story of artists? On the plus side, who understands them better? If there’s a secret language of imagination and creativity, then the members of this sprawling tribe must be the ones who speak it best. On the other hand, could there be anything…
The tragedy of Jason Reitman’s Men, Women & Children is that it was released the year it was made. A snapshot of today’s cultural disconnection, in which Facebook, texting, World of Warcraft, and streaming smut lure people away from dinner with their families, the film’s so current that its observations…
You can’t live in New York for more than 10 days without meeting some truly dreadful people: couples who fret about having to choose between buying a summer home and having a second child, even as you’re struggling to pay your monthly rent; large groups of people getting together for…
If it seems like you can’t log a mile on your pedometer app lately without running into a block party, the roped-off neighborhood jam may have finally reached its height in popularity. While there is something to the communal experience of getting together under the sticky grill mist of food…
Love food, but hate genetically modified organisms having anything to do with the stuff you eat? Chipotle Mexican Grill has vowed to be GMO-free, and you can too. On Thursday, support GMO-Free Florida’s World Food Day and head to Chipotle Mexican Grill in Fort Lauderdale for lunch or dinner. The…
By taking to heart Franklin Roosevelt’s quote of educating the youth for the future, the GBDC Entrepreneurship Institute has worked with about 40 teenagers each summer to develop social entrepreneurs through training, business coaching, and technical assistance. Annette Gray, the institute’s founder said in a recent news release that “the…
If you love all things Fort Lauderdale and the traditional city events that make living in Broward County so unique, you might want to attend a special fundraising event known as the Founder’s Dock, Dine & Dance party, now in its 20th year. Presented by the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society,…
Known as the “Bastard Son of Broward County,” Damien Figler headlines the kickoff party for the national Hellbound Comedy Tour this Saturday in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale. Tall, tattooed, and barrel-chested, Figler comes across as a Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller fame) type who has undergone a rock…
You know those Red Bull Flugtag events with cool-looking, potentially aquatic and/or aerial contraptions that are launched with much fanfare and violent aplomb into the water? Yes? Well, this is nothing like it. Hollywood Marina’s Cardboard Boat Race is way more hard-core and potentially more of a maritime disaster than…
There’s no way you can forget about Fort Lauderdale’s burgeoning arts community thanks to events such as the fifth-annual Art Fallout, hosted by Girls’ Club. Dedicated to supporting the efforts of local artists, Girls’ Club continues to assemble this festival in honor of National Arts and Humanities Month. Boasting a…
Observing art from a distance evokes a handful of feelings and emotions, depending on how we relate to it. Because there is more to art than its physical presence on a community mural, on the streets, or in an exhibition, the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale is hosting Miami-based artist…
Florida has a deep love for and sordid history with human oddities, and no, not just who we elect to the governor’s office but with the actual community that once made its living on the circus sideshow circuit. Lobster Boy, the Half-Girl, Rubber Faced Man, and Human Blockhead have all…
The popular app Tinder utilizes a user’s Facebook page to create a quick and easy-to-sum-up profile that then is available to other users within a pre-set geographical parameter. This is matchmaking in the digital age, and if it remotely sounds like an amalgam of voyeurism/espionage/digital stalking and smart-phone addiction, you…
Need an excuse to party? Well, now you have one, thanks to Dirty Blondes Sports Bar and Wild Turkey American Honey. Throughout October, there will be a reason to drink as you play for the gold during the inaugural Bar Olympics. Every Thirsty Thursday, teams of two or four will…
If you love beer — especially local beer — you probably love talking and learning about it too. If that’s the case, join New Times beer writer Doug Fairall as he discusses the local craft beer movement and scene with Gerard Walen, author of Florida Breweries, on Friday at the…
Expect a lot of Zen and harmony at local hair-salon-cum-coffeehouse the Beat Cup’s Folk Fest. The highlight of this event is attendees partaking in yoga alfresco while listening to live acoustic tunes. What could be more tranquil than sitting outside on an October day and bending into a one-legged king…
This time of year in South Florida might as well be called “5K Season” or “Run/Walk Season.” But just when you thought all those charity ambulations have lost all meaning and inspiration, one comes along that will have you lacing up your sneakers again: bacon. That’s right; when the going…
