Ginnifer Goodwin voices Judy Hopps, rabbit cop, in Zootopia. Film: As the name suggests, Zootopia is a contemporary city populated by a menagerie of animals, and it is also the best animated film that Disney Studios has produced in many a year. This tale of an ambitious little female bunny who long yearned to join the police force absolutely has one level of humor for adults … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Feb. 6-8
George Clooney in “Hail, Caesar!” Film: Ever since they burst onto the scene in 1984 with their idiosyncratic take on film noir, Blood Simple, a new film by Joel and Ethan Coen has been a much anticipated event. Certainly that is true for the incessantly promoted Hail, Caesar, opening this weekend at area theaters, and it does not disappoint. This snarky valentine to the days … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Jan. 9-10, 2016
Film: Last year’s Oscar-winning director, Alejandro Iñárritu (Birdman) is back with another tour de force saga, this time far from the urban canyons of New York City. It is called The Revenant, which means “one who returns from the dead.” Indeed, fur trapper Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is mauled by a bear in the bitter cold Old West wilderness and is left for dead by his … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Nov. 20-22
Film: Its expansion delayed for a couple of weeks to maximize its impact and exposure for Oscar consideration is a small, but powerful film, Spotlight, certainly one of the year’s 10 best and a sure competitor for Best Picture honors. Spotlight is the name of the Boston Globe’s small, elite investigative team, which launches a major project to look into the city’s … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: Sept. 4-7
Theater: Fort Lauderdale’s Thinking Cap Theatre has produced the area premiere of Dave Hanson’s clever Waiting for Waiting for Godot, a takeoff on Samuel Beckett’s highly influential existential comedy. Set backstage at a playhouse where Waiting for Godot is being performed, this wry tale stuffed with inside show business jokes focuses on two understudies who while away the … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 17-19
Film: You’ve got to wonder whose idea it was to release Bill Condon’s first-rate, literate and cerebral Sherlock Holmes tale, called simply Mr. Holmes, in the middle of the summer when it is bound to be crowded out by superhero blockbusters and dazzling animation. Had it been released in the fall, it would surely be vying for Oscars and other awards, particularly for Ian … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: July 11-12
Music: Here’s a good sign that summers are more active than ever in South Florida. On Saturday night, no less a musical eminence than Deborah Voigt will kick off the second annual Miami Summer Music Festival, singing with the MSMF Orchestra led by festival founder Michael Rossi at Barry University’s Shepard Broad Performing Arts Center. Voigt will sing music by Richard Strauss … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 29-31
Film: Pass on the apocalyptic nonsense of San Andreas and head instead to a muted French film, In the Name of My Daughter, about a triangular tug-of-war in Nice. Catherine Deneuve plays the manager and part owner of a tony casino, Guillaume Canet is her lawyer and business advisor Maurice and Adèle Haenel is Agnes, her daughter, who returns home from Africa, fresh from a … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: May 8-10
Theater: Douglas Carter Beane’s sly comedy on the intersection of show business, the art of negotiation and sexual orientation, The Little Dog Laughed, is receiving a savvy and sexy production by Island City Stage at Empire Stage in Fort Lauderdale, through May 17. This is due largely to Chris Crawford as a sexually confused television star trying to make the leap to the movies … [Read more...]
Weekend arts picks: March 14-15
Theater: Cole Porter’s 1934 shipboard farce, Anything Goes, contains a score of hits that remain standards of the American Songbook 80 years later. The script — dusted off and freshened up by two contemporary wags, Timothy Crouse and John Weidman — is a string of groan-worthy jokes, but at least it delivers the songs efficiently. Now playing the Kravis Center through Sunday is … [Read more...]