The auditorium at Florida Stage in Manalapan.By Hap Erstein I remember arriving in West Palm Beach in early 1994 to become the theater writer for The Palm Beach Post and being given a personal tour of the Kravis Center. I was told all the pertinent facts about Dreyfoos Hall, how it had the same stage dimensions as the Metropolitan Opera House (for some indiscernible reason) … [Read more...]
Film commentary: See ‘Punchline’ before ‘Funny People’
Adam Sandler in Funny People.Editor's note: There are no new ideas in Hollywood – only new spins on old ones. This occasional column looks at new releases and argues why you should see old ones first.By John Thomason Stand-up comedians are self-absorbed, narcissistic, snobbish, petty, antagonistic people. It’s a blanket statement, but it’s born of a stereotype that I’ve found … [Read more...]
ArtsPaper Books: ‘Getting Green Done’ offers plenty of angst, scant strategy
By Bill WilliamsAuden Schendler believes that climate change is the “defining problem of our time” – one that demands another American Revolution.This is hardly a new message. Many others, including former Vice President Al Gore, have said much the same thing. Getting Green Done does offer useful tips and strategies, but in the end it is not clear if Schendler is optimistic or … [Read more...]
Commentary: TV’s Maher gets off to shaky start in new season
Comedian Bill Maher.By John ThomasonThe seventh year of Real Time with Bill Maher (10 p.m. Fridays, HBO) began on a clunky note.The opening monologue Friday of the comedian/provocateur’s first show since November yielded only a couple of memorable quips, comic gold hidden among pyrite bombs like, “Sean Penn showed up in a rented huff,” to the Oscars because of the tight … [Read more...]
Commentary: Let the grousing begin over Oscar nominations
The late Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight.By Hap ErsteinThe Academy Awards went largely for dark dramas in its Best Picture nominations, announced this morning, but not dark enough to include 2008 box office champ The Dark Knight.Christopher Nolan’s somber, slam-bang latest installment in the Batman series had to settle for a few nods in the technical categories and … [Read more...]