2010.10.14

The Story Matters

Calendar p.14 Don’t miss Buried Alive! opening next weekend at the Miami Seaquarium.

Just one ghoulish event around town.

Vol. XXV No. 39

October 14, 2010

Visit us at sunpostweekly.com

REEL DILEMMA Is There an Arthouse War Brewing in Coral Gables?

MAYHEM P.4

PROFILE P. 6

POLITICS P. 8

NEWS P. 8

CALENDAR P.14

FILM P. 18

ART P. 18

MUSIC P. 18

411 P.20

GO! P. 22

SEE PAGE 10

FASHION P.24

SEX P. 26

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kim Stark kim@sunpostweekly.com SOCIETY EDITOR Jeannette Stark jeannette@sunpostweekly.com COPY EDITOR Mary Louise English

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CALENDAR EDITOR Jake Orsinni calendar@sunpostweekly.com

SALES DIRECTORS Jeannette Stark Manny Duran

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jeffrey Bradley Charles Branham-Bailey Stuart Davidson Marguerite Gil Jennifer Fragoso John Hood Dr. Sonjia Kenya Joshua Malina Ruben Rosario Mary Jo Almeida-Shore Michael Sasser Kim Steiner

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Covering Miami Beach, North Bay Village, Surfside, Bay Harbor Islands, Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami, North Miami Beach and Aventura, Coconut Grove, Brickell Avenue, Downtown, Design District, Wynwood, Upper Eastside, and Miami Shores.

www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 3

Tropical Mayhem BITS AND PIECES OF MIAMI LIFE

Miami through my iphone

MIAMI TRADITIONS

by Ines Hegedus-Garcia - miamism.com - ines@miamism.com The Columbus Day Regatta is one of those Miami traditions you need to experience at least once in your life time. Elliot Key becomes, in the words of a good friend, total debauchery! Mix that with a bit of alcohol and stupidity and you have the formula for a very memorable day....and that's without even paying attention to the actual regatta! Word out is that this year was the last one....will let you know how that pans out.

Pink Snail Art Installation Glottman Family Day What does light mean to you? Family day at the Glottman this October 16, is going to be super fun. Graffiti the windows with your interpretation of the wonder of light. Mario Nanni, one of the most famous designers in the world and part owner of Glottman's lighting company Viabizzuno, began his project, Experimenting with light, in 2005 when he asked renowned architects, What does light mean to you? This year he brought the project to school children ages 0-14. During family day at Glottman your children will have their own chance at recording what light means to them and to tell us all about their ideas on the Glottman kid cam. Complimentary drinks and snacks will be served. 12-4pm. Glottman, 3930 NE. 2nd Ave. Design District. For info: glottman.com.

D’ya remember Christo? When he wrapped the Beach Islands in shocking pink? Well, the guys from Italian-based, Cracking Art Group, want to do something similar. Instead of fabric, they plan on creating clusters of pink and magenta snails the size of a Mini Cooper along several Miami Beach roads.

The six-week exhibition, which would be in place before, during and after Art Basel will run about $100,000 paid for by the artists. There will be 26 large and 20 small snails. Some snails will be lighted with solar up-lights for a nighttime effect. They will be anchored and filled with sand or water for stability, and treated with anti-graffiti coatings. Sounds fabulous. Bring it on!

POP UP GROCERY The newest Miami craze is Pop Up Shops, and now starting Wed. Oct. 20, you can get fresh organic produce at the Organic Pop Up Shop at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Put together by Once Upon a Carrot, an organic grocery shop, the Garden will become a pick-up point and resource for fresh, local and organic produce, grass-fed beef, free-range chicken and eggs, and assorted seasonal foods from local growers. You sign up for the Wholesome Grocer service, pre-order in advance from a grocery list posted to carrot’s website and then pick up at the Garden. There is no application fee or minimum order. Home deliveries may be arranged.

Vendors at the Garden will also offer a variety of seasonal, organic items. 2-5pm. For info: 305-496-4591 or onceuponacarrot.org.

Page 4 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

www.miamisunpost.com • The SunPost • October 14, 2010 • Page 5

PHOTO: MAGICALPHOTOS.COM / MITCHELL ZACHS

PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY YOU SHOULD KNOW

Laura Quinlan Music for the People Compiled By Kim Steiner WHO ARE YOU?

I am a Miami Beach native, mother of three amazing young people, concert presenter.

WHAT DO YOU DO IN REAL LIFE?

I am executive director of The Rhythm Foundation, a non-profit cultural organization that presents the best World Music artists to South Florida audiences. We are the leading presenters of World Music in the region, with more than 450 concerts and festivals since we began in 1988.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING MUSIC IN MIAMI BEACH?

I started working at the legendary rock venue Cameo Theater in South Beach just after I finished school in the late 80s. My now-husband James hired me to be the promotions director when I approached him with a film series idea. The Rhythm Foundation grew out the Cameo concerts, with the desire to add a cultural aspect to the work being done there and to take part in the renaissance of Miami Beach as an arts and entertainment mecca. I love working at Miami Beach venues – the Fillmore, the Colony Theater, the North Beach Bandshell!

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

I do a little bit of everything and I enjoy all parts of it! I love the big picture stuff like being in touch with artists and colleagues around the world, putting to-

gether a season, working on exciting marketing campaigns. I love physically selling tickets and flyering little shops. I even love doing bulk mailing. But the best part of all is actually being at a successful show, enjoying something special together with a sold-out crowd, knowing that we have brought something memorable to life.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE BANDS THAT PLAY?

We don’t work with a set calendar or venue, so I have a lot of flexibility in what we present. The calendar is a well-rounded blend of established World Music legends, traditional rhythms, groove music, and emerging young artists working in new genres. A “Rhythm Foundation” show is one that we are really excited about, and that we know our audience will share that passion.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO SHAKE UP THE MIAMI MUSIC SCENE?

It’s a lot of work to run an independent cultural organization for all these years.

I am happy to be surviving and thriving - maybe shake up will come next.

WHAT EXCITES YOU MUSICALLY?

My personal cup of tea is pretty diverse. I love the fusion that some artists make from combining electronica with world music rhythms. There are some amazing bands based here in Miami, with our own specific Latin funk-dub mix Miami sound, that are among the best I have heard anywhere. If you look back

Page 6 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

at the Rhythm Foundation schedule, you might guess my personal favorite musics include Brazilian, dub reggae, Afrobeat, Colombian, Indian and French pop. And you would be right!

WHAT DO YOU DO NOW, THAT YOU DID NOT DO 5 YEARS AGO?

Now my kids are older, I finally have more time for myself and my friends. I am in a book club and a music club, and I even just started doing yoga! Spending time with friends is important.

SOMETHING NEW, THAT YOU HAVE JUST DISCOVERED ABOUT YOURSELF?

I try to keep my eyes, ears and mind open all the time, keep learning new things every day.

WHAT ARE YOUR GUILTY PLEASURES?

I am hopelessly hooked on Mad Men. I spend way too much time thinking about that amazing show.

ONE LUXURY THAT YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT?

Only one? Impossible to choose. But I could live without anything except my family.

THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE YOU?

Work In Progress

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www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 7

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Can He Say That?

COLUMN

Boo! Ghosts, Goblins & Rick Scott, Too

By Charles Branham-Bailey sobefla@gmail.com

“...AND WHO ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?” It’s the perennial, Halloween-night question that we pepper the costumed, goody bag-toting tykes and snot noses who come to our doors.

Darth Vader? Wonder Woman? Frankenstein?

And – wait a minute, buddy, aren’t you a tad too old to be trick-or-treating? – what of this tall, lanky, middle-aged man with the chrome dome – sans costume? Who’s he supposed to be?

Well, if some notable opinion polls in recent weeks are correct (Rasmussen and Quinnipiac, to name but two) they would have us believe he is Rick Scott, our next – and Florida’s 45th – governor.

They foretell us that Sunshine Staters on Election Day are about to appoint a relative political nobody, a blank slate, to the lofty position of CEO of the nation’s fourth most populous state, leader to 18 million of us.

And what if this man were to show up on your front doorstep on Halloween night? It prompted me to imagine the scenario – (Doorbell rings.)

RICK SCOTT: Hi, I’m Rick Scott and I’m running for governor.

VOTER: Uhh...okaaaaay. You know, you’re kinda too, uh – how do I put it? – mature to be trick-or-treating, mister, don’t ya think?

SCOTT: Oh, no, I’m not here to ask for any candy. I’m here to ask for your vote on Tuesday.

VOTER: Uh-huh.

SCOTT: So, can I rely on you to turn out and vote, and bring along whoever else you know?

VOTER: Well, I’d like to ask you a few questions first. I mean, I’d like to know a little more about the guy who’s asking me for my vote.

SCOTT: Sure, fire away.

VOTER: I keep hearing about all this stuff about when you were CEO of Columbia/Health Corporation of American. Your company was engaged in rampant Medicare fraud, which resulted in an FBI investigation and record fines of $1.7 billion.

SCOTT: Uhhh... yeah... uh, let’s not go there.

Page 8 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

VOTER: Whaddaya mean? It seems like a legitimate issue.

SCOTT: I’d rather talk about what my plans for Florida.

VOTER: Well, I’d like to talk about this Medicare fraud. You were forced to resign after the investigation and you’ve been evasive about your role in the fraud ever since. Did you actually participate in fleecing us citizens and making a personal killing off it?

SCOTT: Uhh...I beg to disa– VOTER: And I read that you signed annual company reports that repeatedly warned Columbia/HCA’s actions ran afoul of the law.

SCOTT: Well now...

VOTER: And that you refused to release depositions you gave in civil lawsuits that alleged fraud and criminal wrongdoing at Solantic, that chain of urgent care centers you founded. I recall reading that you invoked your Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate yourself 75 times in that case.

SCOTT: Like I said then (chuckling), “I plead the Fifth.”

VOTER: Hey, wait a minute, I’m not a grand jury! And you’re not under indictment. Why can’t you just level with me?

SCOTT: I really have nothing to add other than what I said then, and besides I want to focus on Florida’s future.

VOTER: Excuse me, I do, too, but part of “focusing on Florida’s future” is are we choosing a governor who has some sort of ethical problems that make him incompetent and untrustworthy of the job?

SCOTT: Listen, I’m not here to stir up any trouble. I just want to know if I can count on your vote.

VOTER: The Bradenton Herald, in endorsing Alex Sink, said that all of your lack of candor “portends a governorship with little regard for transparency and accountability” and raises questions about your honesty. And Florida Today calls your record an “ethical black hole” that deems you “untrustworthy and unfit for office.”‘ What do you say

STEAMPUNK RICK SCOTT

to all that?

SCOTT: They have a right to endorse whomever they want, but, frankly, they’ve distorted my record and made me out to be somebody I’m not.

VOTER: What’s it gonna take to make you go away? Some Jujubes? Tootsie Rolls? Candy corn?

The whole bowl of candy?

SCOTT: I’m not here for the candy. I’m here for your vote.

VOTER: And I read that you’ve spent over $50 million of your fortune for a job that pays only $133,000. (Fishing around in the candy bowl) I know I’ve got a 100 Grand bar in here you might like...

SCOTT: But I’ve already said I’m not going to collect a penny of it if elected.

VOTER: Well, that’s reassuring. It’s only a drop in the bucket compared to all the millions you’ve already spent trying to buy the office.

SCOTT: Come now, that was a low blow.

VOTER: Was it?

SCOTT: Listen, I’m just here to ask for your vote. So, can I count on you Tuesday?

VOTER: Well, let me put it this way, Mr. Scott, in terms you might appreciate: I’d like to plead the Fifth on that.

SCOTT: (laughing) So you’re going to play hard-to-get, right?

VOTER: Okay, mister, you’re apparently having some trouble catching my drift. So let me put it this way: Here’s a Milky Way bar, here’s some Good and Plenty, and here’s a Snickers. I can only snicker at your request for my vote, for I’ve got good and plenty of reasons not to waste it on you, and there’s no way in the Milky Way you’re ever gonna get it.

Got it? Great! Now goooood night!

SCOTT: But – (Door slams shut.)

Politics COLUMN

Jerry Skids

By Jeffrey Bradley

“You don’t want to be the idiot staring down the barrel asking which button makes it go boom.”

—Gertrude Leadership, as expressed by that dismal science, politics, seems concussed and thrown into apathy, and if we’re not to linger in some wardheel limbo, a fresh approach to our recurring problems must be ipso facto put into play.

At City Hall, above all else, confusion reigns. After a lengthy and grueling battle of the budget it suddenly seems politic to go back and revisit the numbers—at least, according to Commissioner Jerry Libbin. As his Proposal to Refund Miami Beach Millage Increase press release attests, “Although we now have approved the budget and a millage increase, commissioners have the time to continue to direct the city administration on cuts that we want.”

As opposed to having passed one containing cuts they didn’t want? We’re confused.

Nevermind. The commissioner aims to give deserving taxpayers a refund check—admirable, admirable—by revisiting cost-cutting and revenue-raising options left unconsidered upon the table. But here’s the thing. As one of the commissioners who approved the budget and tax hikes in the first place, does this mean he was for it before he was against it? (Ask the politician with the long face what happened with that.)

The Commissioner is all about establishing a City escrow account to hold the newly-saved and freshly-generated ducats that will surely accrue. And from this leathern bag, at year’s end, largesse will be doled among the elect in a kind

of political potlatch.

The idea, however, was met by other commissioners with all the warmth of frozen yogurt in Reykjavik.

In an it’s marked Back and Forth leitmotiv, Commissioner Libbin explained that “I’m now reopening that door’” because “none of us wanted to vote for a millage increase.” OK; let’s say we squirrel that one away in the Things That Make You Go Hmmm file, there’s still others not so charitable. Consider Commissioner Deede Weithorn’s remark that “I’m not a big fan of this refund business” (she claimed she voted for a tax increase but against the budget because, you know, she wasn’t given the time to vet things), or Commissioner Jonah Wolfson’s sharply observing that “it’s hypocritical” to complain about the tax increases after having requested them for two years running. May we suggest a steel-cage, no-holds-barred, fightto-the-finish MMA bout wherein the most righteous surely emerges victorious? Well, we do have a thing for gladiator movies.

Commissioner Jorge Exposito, whose campaign pledge not to raise taxes was undone by his volte-face in doing exactly that, remains conspicuously silent.

Libbin peckishly noted that past refunds had been met with applause. He refers, of course, to that exemplar of Dermerite Suburbanite Autocentricity, ex-Mayor David Dermer himself (teaching history now at Beach High where, we hope, it’s not revisionist history). And who are we to point out that altho’ the ex-Mayor masterminded those givebacks, he also fell victim to a quasi-commission revolt that turned aside his backdoor bid of reappointment?

LIBBIN

WOLFSON

But here. Even before the commission finalized its budget, voices were heard bewaring these Ides of March.

Henry Stolar of the Planning Board pointed out that obviously refunds then could’ve been cached and applied to increases now. Ain’t it funny how good ideas always come outside of City Hall?

To paraphrase Stolar, those checks didn’t add up to squat, and certainly not enough to change anyone’s life. ‘’A lesson should be learned,” he intoned. Give

search for refund money means cutting back government, then he got it exactly right; unfortunately, the dichotomy of this administration, any administration, really, is their ardent wish to cut government without cutting government personnel... which is a little like trying to fish without all that messy business of worms and hooks and sunburn. Without letting go government workers, something City Hall bargained away when they meekly accepted the union yoke of not

tiche of altered projects that loud voices, misplaced activism and compliant officials truncated and twisted so out of proportion as to bear no resemblance to the original vision. Another name for this is wardheelism, the quid pro quo politics of “I’ll fix your pothole in return for your vote”, with the net result of a commission that approves patching and retrofitting every pothole in a colossal wasted effort instead of repaving the street. (No doubt they wouldn’t want to offend anyone with “all that construction”.)

Applying this insight to tax rates and give-backs, the smart thing would obviously be to bank that money for future budgetary shortfalls—which are as certain as taxes—and eschew grandstanding that looks good but means little. Of sorely needed leadership on this issue, there’s been none. Besides, we’ve never heard of any business giving back money unless they’re copping to a poor job or wrongdoing.

And, from The Irony In the First Degree Department, the Miami Beach News, “Published in cooperation with

“The Commissioner aims to give deserving taxpayers a refund check— admirable, admirable—by revisiting cost-cutting and revenue-raising options left unconsidered upon the table.” ‘em hell, Harry!

Commissioner Libbin remains unperturbed. He wonders if people wouldn’t be better off spending that money themselves rather than trusting the government: “Why wouldn’t everybody be happy about this?”‘ Ah, Commissioner, Commissioner… here’s one explanation: it’s a pretzely logic indeed that gives back “givebacks” that’ll only be given back when the same recurring financial fissures open again next year—shortfalls in the budget made up by raising taxes, we mean—necessitating the giving-back of the given “give-backs.” Is’t clear?

(But we will give him this: if his

contemplating layoffs for three long years, we’re left cutting what—Holiday menorahs and Christmas lights? Those hanging potted plants along Arthur Godfrey? Bus service?—in a clear case of ever-diminishing expectations.)

Another reason is leadership—or lack thereof. If the true role of government is to get ahead of the curve and keep focus on the big picture (it is), then compare this with our status quo for addressing problems piecemeal and haphazardly as they arise. This is the political safe way, with results evident all over the Beach by way of NIMBYism and balkanized neighborhoods. There’s seemingly no political center; only a pas-

The Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce” (says so on the masthead), ran two Page One stories that reflect how political rip-currents form by colliding interests. Right next to Jerry Libbin’s piece on exactly why we need to revisit the budget issue is Miami Beach City Manager Jorge Gonzalez’s article defending the in’s and out’s of why we don’t. Fascinating stuff; do you think these gentlemen knew what the other was writing, let alone that they’d be published in tandem? Neither do we. But it shows that our leading politicos have a humorous side, if inadvertent.

www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 9

THE CORAL GABLES ART CINEMA

COVER STORY

REEL DILEMMA Is There an Arthouse War Brewing in Coral Gables?

R

Written by Ruben Rosario CONTRIBUTING WRITER

obert Rosenberg is acting positively giddy. tarian and founder of the Miami Gay and Lesbian “Would you like to see the projection room?” Film Festival (MGLFF) plans to inject some highbrow he asks this reporter as he opens a door to movie culture into the increasingly upscale neigh-

reveal a state-of-the-art 35mm projector. Two Latin borhood. “It’s a perfect fit, something I’ve been buildAmerican men, presumably be-

ing to all my life,” says

hind-the-scenes technicians, are

Rosenberg earlier that day

sitting next to the unspooling reels

during the press conference

having lunch on this sunny Thurs-

that preceded the preview

day afternoon in late September.

screening of the theater’s first

Rosenberg has plenty of reasons

commercial release, the non-

to play the role of the kid in a

fiction adaptation of the best-

candy store. As the director of the

seller Freakonomics. It’s a

new Coral Gables Art Cinema, the

shrewd,

Emmy-award winning documen-

choice to kick off this venue.

audience-friendly

The theater, which is located across from Books & Books on the ground floor of a city-owned parking garage, opens its doors to the public this weekend following a red-carpet gala fundraising screening and party Friday night. The venue had its genesis in 2006 as a partnership between the City of Coral Gables and the non-profit 501(c)3 film arts organization Coral Gables Cinemateque, Inc. “They did it the right way, in connection with the municipality,” says Cesar Hernandez-Canton, a former theater owner who launched the Absinthe House in the Gables with business partner Johnny Calderin back in 1998.

It’s an ambitious, go-for-broke undertaking, one that’s being received with some ambivalence by Miami’s other arthouse managers. The source of their reservations is not the venue itself, but some of the wording in Rosenberg’s email blasts and on the

LEFT TO RIGHT: DANA KEITH OF MB CINEMA, ROBERT ROSENBERG OF CG CINEMA AND KAREEM TABSCH OF O

Beach’s Historic City Hall on Washington Avenue. The move comes after eight successful years at their cozy 50-seat venue on Española Way. In the meantime, he is showing movies at the ballroom of the Raleigh Hotel

press conference, all the way from Mexico. “It’s an international consortium of all kinds of people from the industry coming together and making a commitment to what we’re doing,” he says. The cinema is able to screen films in multiple formats, including 16millimeter and Digi-beta, all set to a Dolby Digital sound system.

Keith remains unfazed when asked about the new venue’s bells and whistles. “[The MBC’s new space] will have state-of-the-art digital projection with fiber optic sound, and several other formats, but flexibility of formats is not the key to success,” he said.

The more pressing question here becomes the effect the Coral Gables Art Cinema will have on the city’s

to have afternoon screenings every day, as early as 1 pm for Freakonomics during the weekend.

Having more showtimes, suggests Daylong, will attract interest from distributors. “It will give him access to things that would not play at the Cosford. In terms of retaining our audience, that’s going to be the real trick,” he says. Daylong doesn’t have anything to feel ashamed of regarding this year’s movie slate at the Cosford. Previous releases include The Complete Metropolis, the restoration of Fritz Lang’s 1927 socialunrest sci-fi masterpiece (it screened earlier in the year at the Miami Beach Cinematheque), as well as the final half of the saga of real-life French gangster Jacques Mesrine, Mesrine: Public Enemy #1, which

“I’m happy that art film has come of age in Miami, and I’m happy more awareness means more appreciation and interest.” - Dana Keith

COVER IMAGE: JAMES FRANCO IN HOWL

theater’s website. Even though there hasn’t been a single public screening at the time of this writing, the reminder letter for the press conference declares the cinema “will be what we consider the best and most comfortable venue for experiencing independent, alternative and international film in South Florida.”

Not so fast, says Dana Keith, founder and director of the Miami Beach Cinematheque (MBC). “The public will decide what is ‘best’ and ‘most comfortable.’

Being those things is much more than having good equipment and seats,” he says via email. Keith is currently putting the finishing touches on the Cinematheque’s new home on the ground floor of Miami

on Collins Avenue, including Tamra Davis’s documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, which screens this weekend.

“We don’t like to comment specifically on other venues,” says Rosenberg when asked to comment on the aggressive, we’re-better-than-they-are rhetoric in his promotional materials. “I hope it wasn’t too much hubris for me to say that,” he adds with an impish smirk on his face.

Admittedly, the new theater’s auditorium is an impressive, stadium-seating array of 144 plush, blue-colored chairs which were donated, as founder and president Steve Krams informs the journalists at the

Page 12 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

other space for showing arthouse fare, the University of Miami’s Bill Cosford Cinema, which reopened its doors in its current refurbished form in August of 1995.

“It is definitely going be a challenge for both of us,” says Blyth Daylong, assistant dean for Operations and Scheduling for UM’s School of Communication.

Daylong sat down with the SunPost on the courtyard of the Frances L. Wolfson Building one week after Rosenberg’s press conference.

“We’re appealing to the same basic audience, and we’re in the same part of town,” he observes. “There are pros and cons to both. He definitely has an advantage in that he is open seven days a week.”

Rosenberg emphasizes this feature repeatedly during the press conference. “We’re a full-service, full-on theater. [Patrons] won’t have to run to see [a film] that second, because they’ll have an opportunity to see it all week long,” he says. Rosenberg even plans

screens this weekend.

Rosenberg could hardly contain his excitement regarding the “dizzyingly diverse” lineup he has planned for the fall. As MGLFF’s former program director, it comes as no surprise that two gay-themed titles will screen at the Coral Gables Art Cinema: Howl, the fiction feature debut from documentary filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman starring James Franco as Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, and Eyes Wide Open, Haim Tabakman’s provocative look at homosexuality in Israel’s Orthodox community.

Even more intriguing is the fact that Rosenberg plans to pursue and screen films with no distribution in the States, such as the female-boxer drama La Yuma. The film, Guatemala’s answer to Million Dollar Baby, is the country’s first fiction feature in two decades and screened at the Miami International Film Festival earlier this spring. “If we like the film we will work directly with the filmmaker to set up a way to

THE MOVIE EYES WIDE OPEN

show it here,” he says.

Finding the right marriage of films and audience proved to be the magic formula for Calderin and Hernandez-Canton. “It was an uphill battle for us, because it was not easy initially to get distributors to give us firstrun films,” Hernandez-Canton recounts from his Brickell office. “A lot of those distributors were not familiar with the venues that existed down here.”

Hernandez-Canton’s solution was to put on a suit and fly out to New York City to meet with Tom Prassis, who was then Vice President of Distribution and Film Sales for Sony Pictures Classics. The film in question was Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother, and Hernandez-Canton was keen on acquiring it for a first-run showing. “It was a double-edged sword, because you needed to prove that you were capable of bringing in the crowds, but you couldn’t do that unless you had a film that had the legs to run for an extended period of time,” he says.

All About My Mother was a runaway hit at the Absinthe House. The Foreign-Language Film Oscar winner outgrossed the film’s run at Regal South Beach Cinemas by a margin of nearly 50% and, in its earnings, ranked 18th in North America. Its run at the Absinthe House lasted almost five months. “After that, things started falling into place,” Hernandez-Canton says, although it took him well over a year to reach that place.

His suggestion for the current dilemma that Rosenberg and Daylong face is to find common ground. “All of these exhibitors should somehow work in tandem.

If they can form a working alliance, whereby they’re not cannibalizing from each other, but rather being a unified front as an alternative to the megaplex, they could provide considerably more value to the local

market,” he says.

It’s a sentiment echoed by current MGLFF program director Kareem Tabsch. “Everyone is working hard to be the best for their respective communities, and that is okay by me,” he says. Along with partner Vivian Marthell, Tabsch has been attempting to open O Cinema in the Wynwood district.

Daylong remains skeptical about the chances he and Rosenberg will work in perfect harmony, but is optimistic about the increased exposure the opening of the Coral Gables Art Cinema will have on the rest of Miami’s film community. “Yes, we’re competition, but I don’t think that’s all we are,” he says. “The more [new] places open, the more visibility they will bring [to the rest].

Ultimately, it helps everybody.”

And what does Keith think?

“There is no reason to get all grand about who is best and who will program better,” he says. “I’m happy that art film has come of age in Miami, and I’m happy that more awareness means more appreciation and interest.” As for his future plans, he’d like to send a message to all of Miami’s cinephiles: “Rumor has it that the new MBC will make a debut in this year’s Art Basel, and will be off to an incredible start! That allows Robert to be ‘best’ for a month and a half.”

Fasten your seat belts, folks.

It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD SHOWING AT MB CINEMA. BELOW: MESRINE: PUBLIC ENEMY #1

www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 11

Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK

LAUREN ANDERSON

Page 14 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

October 14

October 15

BOOKS Sara Gruen

DANCE Miami City Ballet

Sara Gruen, the author of the award-winning, bestselling novel Water for Elephants, reads from her newest novel, Ape House, which opens the animal world to us in ways few novels have done. Free tickets for this event are available at Books & Books. 7:30pm. Temple Judea, 5500 Granada Blvd., Coral Gables. For info: booksandbooks.com.

The highly anticipated 25th season of Miami City Ballet opens with the Company premiere of Jerome Robbins’ Fanfare. Program I also features George Balanchine’s Bugaku and Theme and Variations. Don’t miss the amazing Edward Villella, when he returns to the stage as the Narrator. Honored tonight will be MCB founder, Toby Lerner Ansin and her legacy with an onstage tribute from her family and dancers who have appeared in the company throughout the years. $19 - $169. Ziff Ballet Opera House, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. For info: miamicityballet.org.

October 14

October 16

BOOKS Miami Poetry Collective Join the poets of Tigertail, A South Florida Poetry Annual: Selected Collective Poetry, Prose and Projects by the Miami Poetry Collective for an evening of lively reading and frolics as they celebrate their new anthology. 8pm. Free. Books and Books, 265 Aragon Ave; Coral Gables. For info: booksandbooks.com.

October 15 THEATRE Tarell Alvin McCraney

MUSIC Myriam Hernandez Chilean songstress and TV personality, Myriam Hernandez, will hit town this weekend to perform some of her sultry romantic ballads from her eight albums. The Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave; Miami Beach. For info: livenation.com

In Jenny McCarthy’s fourth book, Love, Lust, and Faking It, McCarthy turns the lights on for a funny, no-holds-barred look at the essence of relationships: love and sex. She talks about finding first love and dealing with heartbreak; the importance of playing doctor and other nice and naughty fantasies; and so much more. Tickets are required for this event and are available at all Books & Books locations.

Purchase the book to receive one ticket to this evening of cocktails and candid conversation.

Cash bar opens at 6pm. Epic Hotel, 270 Biscayne Blvd. Way, Miami. For info: booksandbooks.com.

DANIEL TOSH

COMEDY Daniel Tosh Hitting town this weekend is comedian Daniel Tosh for his stand-up Tosh Tour Twenty Ten. Tosh is the host of Comedy Central’s Tosh.0, a weekly topical series that delves into all aspects of the Internet featuring razor sharp humor and biting commentary. He has been known to dabble in sex, abortions, religion, Google and boob jobs. $45 - $61.45.

7:30pm. The Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave; Miami Beach. For info: livenation.com

October16 HALLOWEEN Dr Wilde’s Creepy House

October 15

BOOKS Jenny McCarthy

Learn everything you ever wanted to know about Art Deco at a course given by the Miami Design Preservation League on Art Deco and Miami Modern architecture. The curriculum, established by the Academy’s founder and director Jeff Donnelly Ph.D., focuses on the history of the Art Deco District, its architecture, and the efforts by MDPL and others to preserve it. Attendees will participate in walking tours and various lectures. The program also trains participants to become a MDPL tour guide. 10am to 4pm. $40 and includes two walking tours, lunches, briefing materials, an architectural guide, information about the architecture MDPL is committed to preserving, and information about Miami Beach history. Art Deco Welcome Center, 1001 Ocean Drive. For info: 305.672.2014.

October 16

Award-winning - international playwright and actor, Tarell Alvin McCraney, is donating a gift to New World School of the Arts to celebrate his 30th birthday. McCraney, along with actor Glenn Davis and fellow Steppenwolf Ensemble member Jon Michael Hill, will perform selected scenes from his Trilogy including The Brothers Size, and In The Red and Brown Water. All proceeds will benefit the Tarell Alvin McCraney Audition Fund for NWSA High School Students. 7:30pm. $30. Louise O. Gerrits Theater, 25 NE 2nd St; Miami. For info: nwsa.mdc.edu.

October 15

LECTURE Art Deco + MiMo

From the fun fools at Zoo Miami comes, Dr. Wilde’s Creepy House, a 7,000 square-foot haunted house, guaranteed to chill. Roaches take over the kitchen while cats take over the home of a deceased grandma. Nice! Look forward to the interior of a freezer and its gruesome defrosted zookeeper contents. Yum! Through October 31. $5. Parental discretion is advised for young children. Noon to 5 p.m. Zoo Miami, 12400 SW 152 Street; Perrine. For info: miamimetrozoo.com.

SAVE THE DATE: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22 - 24, 2010

BURIED ALIVE! REAPING HORROR, THRILLS AND FEAR, BURIED ALIVE! RISES UP THIS HALLOWEEN WITH SEVEN TERRIFYING NIGHTS OF HAUNTED HOUSES, UNLIMITED CARNIVAL RIDES, LIVE DJS AND NIGHTMARISH FRIGHT. EXPERIENCE PURE TERROR AS, LIFELESS CORPSES AND MAD CHARACTERS MALICIOUSLY ROAM A 5-ACRE FIELD OF SCREAMS. 7PM. $13. ADMISSION INCLUDES HAUNTED HOUSES BURIED ALIVE AND ST ANNE'S SANATORIUM; UNLIMITED CARNIVAL RIDES; GAMES AND LIVE DJS. NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER 13 YEARS OLD. MIAMI SEAQUARIUM, 4400 RICKENBACKER CAUSEWAY, KEY BISCAYNE. FOR MORE INFO. GO ONLINE TO: BURIEDALIVE2010.COM www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 15

Calendar WHAT TO DO IN MIAMI THIS WEEK

JENNY MCCARTHY

October 17

October 19

FESTIVAL Kites for Autism

THEATRE Lights, Camera, Murder!

Join the kites from Skyward Kites and hundreds of others soaring through the sky as they fly for Autism at the 18th Annual Kite Festival at Haulover Park. The free event will feature activities for kite lovers of all ages, including kite-flying competitions for the highest-flying kite, paper kite-building classes and demonstrations by expert kite-makers from Cuba and Haiti, live music, BBQ food vendors, bounce houses and face painting for the children, games, high-flying kites of all shapes and sizes, and kites for sale. noon to 5pm. Free. Haulover Park, 10800 Collins Ave., Miami Beach. For info: 305-893-0906 or skywardkites.net

Halloween Is Murder! a one woman interactive murder mystery play with Barbara Fox and Mystery on the Menu will include mystery, wine and chocolate. Participate, share clues and help solve the crime. Tickets at $20.

Advance reservations required. 7pm. miami Beach Botanical Garden, 2000 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach. For info: 305864-2430.

October 17 MUSIC Gospel Sundays Perhaps the most visible gospel singer in the world, Pastor Shirley Caesar has been serving up the best gospel tunes for more than 40 years. A multiple Grammy Award winner, she has sung for presidents and world leaders, and released over 30 solo albums. Her signature style, coined as “takeyou-straight-to-church” music, is both timely and timeless.

Caesar is a true gospel icon, and her performance is the perfect way to kick off the new Gospel Sundays season at the Arsht. Featuring the Miami Mass Choir and 93rd Street Baptist Community Church Choir. 4pm. Free. Knight Concert Hall, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. For info: arshtcenter.org.

October 17

October 19 THEATRE Dreamgirls Direct from Harlem’s world famous Apollo Theater in New York City, comes the Tony and Academy Award-winning musical, Dreamgirls. Full of onstage joy and backstage drama, Dreamgirls tells the story of an up-and-coming 1960s singing girl group, and the triumphs and tribulations that come with fame and fortune, resounding with unforgettable hits including: And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going, One Night Only, and Listen. 8pm. $25 - $76. Ziff Ballet Opera House, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. For info: miamicityballet.org.

ABOVE: PASTOR SHIRLEY CAESAR. MIDDLE: DREAMGIRLS. BELOW: MYRIAM HERNANDEZ. RIGHT: HILARY DUFF

FUN Playboy Playmates Playboy Playmates Tyran Richard, Jaime Edmondson and Lauren Anderson will host a public Meet and Greet at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek this Sunday in the Nectar Lounge. Bring your cameras because these three divine dollies will be posing and signing autographs. 21-and-over only. 3pm. Free. Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, 5550 NW 40th St., Coconut Creek. For info: 954-977-6700 orseminolecoconutcreekcasino.com.

October 18 BOOKS Tasha Cunningham He may not have been that into you, but the bastard who just broke your heart will be a distant memory after reading Don’t Date Him Girl Presents: So the Bastard Broke Your Heart, Now What? Written by DontDateHimGirl.com founder Tasha Cunningham. Cunningham will be on hand to discuss her book this Monday night in Bal Harbour. 7:30pm. Free. Books & Books, 9700 Collins Ave. Bal Harbour. For info: booksandbooks.com

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FOR KIDS Friday, October 15 Hilary Duff ACTRESS, SINGER AND AUTHOR, HILARY DUFF WILL AUTOGRAPH HER NEW BOOK ELIXER AT BOOKS AND BOOKS BAL HARBOUR THIS FRIDAY NIGHT. IF YOUR KID IS A FAN OF THIS YOUNG POPSTER, THEN THIS IS THE PERFECT EVENT TO GENERATE LOTS OF GIGGLES AND SCREAMING. HER NEW BOOK IS A MYSTERY THAT YOUR TWEEN GIRL WILL LOVE. YOU MUST PURCHASE A COPY OF ELIXIR AT BOOKS & BOOKS TO JOIN THE SIGNING LINE. LINE OPENS AT 6PM. SIGNING BEGINS AT 7PM. FREE. BOOKS & BOOKS, 9700 COLLINS AVE. BAL HARBOUR. FOR INFO: BOOKSANDBOOKS.COM

Art

WHAT’S SHOWING IN MIAMI THIS WEEK OCTOBER 14

Pre-City Gallery Diet is showing Pre-City, a solo exhibition of collaborative works by Gean Moreno and Ernesto Oroza. The pre-city is a series of codes that have yet to be arranged and coupled into larger assemblages. The exhibition will include “diagrammatic lamps”; “photographs” made out of materials printed in newspapers, magazine and catalogues; a new tabloid; domestic tableaux; and collages. Gallery Diet, 174 Northwest 23rd Street, Miami. For info: gallerydiet.com or 305.571.228

OCTOBER 14 The Rhetorics of Patriotism Country or Freedom!: The Rhetorics of Patriotism is showing as part of Miami Dade College’s Art Gallery System. The powerful, thought-provoking exhibition explores totalitarian governments, patriotism, freedom, nationalism, and identity through various forms of mixed media. Past is History – Future is Mystery and Patria o Libertad! Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd. Miami. For info: mdc.edu.

OCTOBER 15 A Sense of Place A Sense of Place, is a group exhibition curated by Guerra de la Paz and featuring works by: Francis Acea, John Bailly, Ananda Balingit-LeFils, Cassie Marie Edwards, Mark Messersmith, Jonathan Rockford, Douglas Voisin, David Willett, Jessica Wohl, John Zoller. Opening reception 7-11pm. Through Nov 14th. Carol Jazzar, 158 NW 91 St., Miami. For info: 305 490 6906 or cjazzart.com.

OCTOBER 15 Three solo shows Rene Barge: The Making of a Porous Body, Brian O'Connell: The Illusion of Plans and Robert Thiele: 8-Four-9 is exhibiting at the Dorsch Gallery, 151 NW 24 St; Miami. For info: 305-576-1278 or dorschgallery.com

OCTOBER 15 Ways of Worldmaking Ways of Worldmaking: Notes on a Passion for Collecting is an exhibition highlighting more than 85 original works by more than 70 contemporary Cuban and Cuban-American artists. The artists featured represent a who’s who of Cuban and Cuban-American artists many of whom are living and working in South Florida, including Gustavo Acosta, Mario Algaze, Luisa Basnuevo, Maria Brito, Adriano Buergo, Pablo Cano, Consuelo Castañeda, Arturo Cuenca, Liliam Cuenca, Ana Albertina Delgado, Christian Durán, Silvia Lizama, Rubén Torres Llorca, Rogelio López Marín (Gory), Beatriz Monteavaro, Heriberto Mora, Gean Moreno, Glexis Novoa, Jorge Pantoja, Lidia Rubio, Baruj Salinas, George Sánchez-Calderón, César Trasobares, Pedro Vizcaino and Ramón Williams, among others.

The work of artists from the early exile group (several now deceased) who in some cases have been erased from the history of art in Cuba, such as Eduardo Michaelsen, Agustín Fernandez, Rafael Soriano, Guido Llinás, and Jorge Camacho, is also highlighted. Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd.

Miami. For info: galleries@mdc.edu.

OCTOBER 15 Art Never Ends Miami based artist, Skip Van Cel presents Art Never Ends at the Little Haiti Cultural Center Gallery, through November 5th. In this photographic exhibition, Van Cel documents the cat and mouse game between taggers, graffiti artists

and the authorities; by turning the lens toward the myriad of buildings and walls on the streets of Little Haiti and Wynwood, that have become a default space for Miami’s “unofficial” creative community. Little Haiti Cultural Center, 212-260 NE 59th Terrace Miami. For info: 305.960.2969.

OCTOBER 16 Living to Die, Dying to Live Local artist Rick Falcon opens his second solo exhibition at the Butter Gallery in Wynwood. 2303 NW 2nd Ave; Miami. 6pm. Through November 6. For info: 305-3036254 or buttergallery.com

OCTOBER 16 Cristina Mendieta Glottman features experimental, artistic and limited edition furniture, objects and performance in company of 19-year-old Cristina Mendieta. Glottman, 3930 NE. 2nd Ave. Suite 204, Design District. For info: glottman.com.

OCTOBER 16 Storytelling Artformz is showing the work of artists Natasha Duwin, Donna Haynes, and Mary Larsen. Storytelling has always played a role in art, whether through words or images. The three artists collaborating for the Artformz October exhibition encourage the public to join them in a visual experience of stories and journeys. 171 NW 23rd Street, Miami. artformz.net.

OCTOBER 16 The Road to Calle The Road to Calle: Republic of China, a solo exhibition of works by Claudia Calle. The artist will feature a series of socio-cultural images, which represent China’s controversial mass production issues, globalization, copyrights and propaganda. Luis Perez Galeria/Awarehouse, 550 NW 29th Street. For info: claudiacalle.com.

OCTOBER 17 Abstract Miami The Miami School of Abstract artists marks a new diPOSTER, NACH CUBA UND MEXICO [TO CUBA AND MEXICO], C. 1935. DESIGNED BY OTTOMAR rection in painting led by Guggenheim Fellow and Miami ANTON (GERMAN, 1895–1976). PUBLISHED BY HAMBURG–AMERIKA LINIE, HAMBURG, GERMANY. Master Darby Bannard. Artists exhibiting Include: COMMERCIAL COLOR LITHOGRAPH. THE WOLFSONIAN–FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, THE MITCHELL WOLFSON, JR. COLLECTION, XX1992.62 Darby Bannard, George Bethea, Andy Gambrell, David Marsh, Sean Smith, Kathleen Staples and Kerry Ware. CVC is located next to the Margulies Collection in Wynwood. 541 tions with La Habana Moderna, in the Wolfsonian Teaching Gallery at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum. This small exhibition, on view through April NW 27th St., Miami. For info: visual.org 24, 2011, examines how international cultural and commercial links contributed to the emergence of a modern identity for Havana in the decades beOCTOBER 17 fore the Cuban Revolution. Frost Art Museum, 10975 SW 17th St; Coral Gables.

Constructions Edge Zones Art Center is showing Constructions, the second solo exhibition of Angel Vapor. Vapor crafts his pieces out of bronze, clay, and oil paint, but in OCTOBER 19 these constructions there is always a tension. 47 NE 25th St. Miami. For info: Embracing Modernity Embracing Modernity: Venezuelan Geometric Abstraction; Sequentia by edgezones.org Xavier Cortada; Florida Artists Series: Selections from Anomie 1492-2006

by Arnold Mesches and La Habana Moderna in the Wolfsonian-FIU Teaching OCTOBER 17 Gallery as part of The Frost Art Museum’s Target Wednesday After Hours proSilvia Rivas: Landscape to Be Defined Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts is showing its newest exhibition, Silvia Rivas: Land- gramming series. Free and open to the public. Frost Art Museum, 10975 SW scape to Be Defined. Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts, 2043 N Miami Avenue, 17th St; Coral Gables.

Miami. For info: dlfinearts.com

OCTOBER 20

OCTOBER 18 Time Bomb David Castillo Gallery is presents Time Bomb, Pepe Mar's third solo exhibition with the gallery. Time Bomb debuts three new bodies of work which continue Mar's playful investigation of the history of assemblage, painting and popular culture. David Castillo Gallery, 2234 NW 2nd Ave., Miami. For info: davidcastillogallery.com

OCTOBER 18 La Habana Moderna The Wolfsonian–Florida International University continues its series of exhibi-

Unveiling Guest curators Laura and Henry Aguilera kick-off the Deering Estate's Fall Fine Art Exhibit with Unveiling. A juried group show, Unveiling highlights historical and contemporary techniques in painting, sculpture and mixed media.

Nine artists, Roberto Weiss, Ada Balcacer, Carlos Regalado, Lidia Godoi, Rey Carulla, Rosana Tossi, Mari Sanchez, Mildrey Guillot, and Armando Martinez, primarily from Latin American backgrounds or influenced

by Latin American art, will be featured as part of this group show. 7pm. Free.

16701 SW 72 Ave., Miami. For info: deeringestate.org.

www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 17

Cinema REVIEW

Stranger Than Fiction

By Ruben Rosario (ruben@sunpostweekly.com) I don’t get people’s aversion to documentaries.

They’re boring, they claim, just a bunch of people giving long-winded answers to heavy-duty questions.

Here’s my favorite line: They’re not real movies. Considering that 2010 has been a stellar year for nonfiction film, maybe it’s time for some of my closed-minded acquaintances to change their tune.

What’s that? You’re saying your only exposure to the genre consists of that Civil War dude and the fat guy from Michigan? Not bad, but as many fans know, there are as many kinds of documentaries as there are real-life stories left to tell, and this weekend you could do far worse than going to the brand-spanking-new Coral Gables Art Cinema to check out Freakonomics, the latest anthology feature from Paris, je t’aime producer Chad Troutwine.

Adapting Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s economics-for-dummies bestseller as a series of documentary shorts was an inspired idea. What makes this bright, genial omnibus film so valuable for viewers unfamiliar with the current state of nonfiction storytelling is that Troutwine has assembled some very talented directors whose previous work should already be in your Netflix or Blockbuster Online queue.

Seth Gordon, for instance, rocked my world back in 2007 with The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which follows some gifted gamers as they battle to be the top score in the arcade classic Donkey Kong. For Freakonomics he helms the brief interludes, featuring the book’s authors, that tie the four shorts together, and while they hardly stand out, they also illustrate some of the concepts that got readers hooked on Levitt and Dubner’s book, like the real estate anecdote that

opens the film. It doesn’t help matters, though, that the grating, aggressively whimsical music score make the segments feel like mini infomercials.

In terms of chronology, Troutwine knows what he’s doing. The first short, A Roshanda By Any Other Name, backs up my contention that Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock might just be a one-hit wonder. In exploring how an ethnic first name can result in a less auspicious financial outlook for minorities, he takes intriguing subject matter and renders it trivial and weightless. The problem is that Spurlock, who was nominated for an Oscar by going on a 28-day McDonald’s binge, keeps the tone cutesy and precious, much to the source material’s detriment. He also lets the graphics do the heavy lifting, a mistake none of his other colleagues makes.

Freakonomics is on surer footing with Pure Corruption, an absorbing peek into the secretive world of sumo wrestling from Alex Gibney, the politically minded director of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (another one for your queue) and, earlier this year, a Jack Abramoff exposé. Like much of his work, Gibney’s segment is dense, inquisitive, and really well photographed. Japan is a culture of shame, which has enabled the sumo fighters to continue to get away with rigging matches. Gibney peels back the layers of this rigidly structured hierarchy to help us understand how the authors were able to use rigorous number crunching to uncover this bit of eastern malfeasance.

The film’s most provocative argument comes courtesy of Eugene Jarecki, who, in the dazzling tourde-force It’s Not Always a Wonderful Life uses animation, archival news footage and scenes from Frank

FREAKONOMICS

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HELEN MIRREN IN RED

Capra’s Christmas chestnut to connect the passing of Roe v. Wade in 1973 to the sharp decrease in crime during the late eighties and early nineties. Aided by Melvin Van Peebles dispassionate voiceover narration, Jarecki refuses to play up the more sensationalistic aspects of Levitt and Dubner’s controversial assertion, and as a result has made a short worthy of his terrific Iraq War chronicle Why We Fight, which took Dwight Eisenhower’s prophetic warning about the military-industrial complex as the point of departure to investigate this conflict. (Into your queue it goes!)

Troutwine saves the best for last. In Can a Ninth Grader Be Bribed to Succeed?, writer-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady explore incentives in a school setting. Specifically, they look at two teenage boys who agree to enroll in a program that would give each of them cash for every report card if they’re able to keep all their grades above a C. What sets this segment apart from the rest is the way Ewing and Grady humanize their subjects, the students as well as their mothers, so that they’re able to tap into the againstthe-odds narrative thrust that propels films like Jeffrey Blitz’s rousing National Spelling Bee documentary Spellbound. Far less than the other shorts, Ninth Grader doesn’t feel like a scholarly analysis of abstract concepts. As in their previous effort, the poignant portrait of Pentecostal kids Jesus Camp (feed the queue), Ewing and Grady display an uncanny ability to make young people open up for the camera. They grab you from the start and make you cheer for these underachievers the same way I kept rooting for this uneven but worthwhile omnibus film, which at its best exemplifies how a nonfiction filmmaker’s unblinking gaze is capable of nothing less than changing the way you view the world.

Readers in the mood for more escapist fare should check out Red, a lighthearted assassin romp that proves an overqualified cast coasting on its charm can sometimes be just enough for a fun night out at the movies. In bringing Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner’s graphic novel to the screen, Flightplan director Robert Schwentke sometimes OD’s on the material’s smart-alecky

playfulness, but he’s able to coax relaxed performances from Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren as over-the-hill government operatives (thus the code name: Retired and Extremely Dangerous). The story kicks into gear when Frank Moses (Willis) survives an attempt on his life in his Cleveland home by some professional gunmen. His reaction? Fly out to Kansas City to kidnap Sarah Ross (an adorably neurotic Mary-Louise Parker), the pension operator with whom he’s been having a phone flirtation. Her first impression: “I was hoping you’d have hair.”

It appears somebody’s bumping off CIA retirees, and to find out who’s behind the hits, Moses reassembles his old team: elder statesman Joe Matheson (Freeman) and paranoid technophobe Marvin Boggs (Malkovich). Lord of the Rings‘s Karl Urban more than holds his own against these seasoned pros as the agent hot on their trail. Red doesn’t fully come to life, though, until Mirren enters the picture. As Victoria, a former MI6 spy with an itchy trigger finger and a penchant for interior decorating, the Oscar winner gets to let her hair down after a string of serious roles. (Not as rare as you might think. Seek out Shadowboxer, the film Lee Daniels made before Precious, which stars Mirren and Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a hitman couple).

Production designer Alec Hammond (Donnie Darko) must have had a blast creating Victoria’s impeccably tasteful Eagle’s Nest home, which looks like a Martha Stewart Living photo spread. When the character finally gets to pump metal with an assortment of machine guns, Red fires on all cylinders. I still wonder what someone like Richard Donner or Get Shorty-era Barry Sonnenfeld could have done with this material, but I can’t be too hard on a movie that casts Ernest Borgnine as a CIA file keeper. His performance mirrors the movie: slight, breezy and easy to digest.

Freakonomics screens over the next two weekends exclusively at the Coral Gables Art Cinema.

For more information go to cinemateque.org. Red is currently out in wide release. Make sure to catch it before Martha Stewart sues for plagiarism.

Music INTERVIEW

The Flaming Lips

By Alan Sculley

Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne is well aware that the group’s latest CD, “Embryonic,” is a risk for the band.

“Embryonic” represents a notable turn for the Flaming Lips away from the more structured, easily accessible grand pop side of the band toward more of a free-form, psychedelic sound that is anything but concisely crafted and easily digestible.

Coyne said even he and his bandmates weren’t sure what to make of the music they were creating as the CD came together.

“I think we were scared as well,” Coyne said of the songs during a recent phone interview. “Like, you know, there’s not really a hook in there, but I like it anyway. There would be times when we would be baffled by it. We couldn’t really say why we liked it, because it didn’t fall into the categories we would normally create for our songs. It would simply be like, I don’t know, I like it. I sing along

even though it’s not really something that easy to sing along with. It’s just caught in my mind. So we kind of felt we were either losing our minds or we were gaining a new piece of our minds, and we don’t know which one to trust.”

The fact that Coyne and his main songwriting collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd, were willing to follow their musical intuition, not knowing if it would take them to new heights or send them tumbling into the abyss, says a lot about the creative ethos they bring to the Flaming Lips, which also includes bassist/keyboardist Micheal Ivins and touring drummer Kliph Scurlock.

“On some level, you have to just do what you like,” Coyne said, distilling the creative outlook into a few words. “If a band like us, if we’re not able to just follow that gut instinct and do what we like, what group would? It’s easy to put people like Lady Gaga or Justin Timberlake (together) and say

they’re trying to make safe, commercial music. But they’re trying to, and we’re not. If we can’t get lost and turn into some other monster in the middle of the night, then who can?”

Coyne’s candid observations about “Embryonic” are right on target. This is the Flaming Lips going free-form and to all sorts of sonic extremes.

There are tracks that verge on the concise structures of the recent CDs (such as “Convinced Of The Hex” and “I Can Be A Frog”), but even these songs are built as much around a vibe than obvious pop hooks. And when the group lets go, the songs (such as “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine,” and “Your Bats”) feel more like sound collages than anything with conventional elements of a song – verses, choruses, bridges, intros or outros. The music ranges from cacophonous and wild (“Aquarius Sabotage”) to ambient and gentle (“Evil” and “Gemini Syringes.”)

Such an album from the Oklahoma City-based group, though, isn’t without precedence. Formed in 1983, the group’s early CDs went more for something of a feedback-laced psychedelic sound with plenty of manipulated sonics. The height of the group’s experimentation came in 1997 with “Zaireeka,” a four CD set in which each disc was meant to be played simultaneously.

Coyne, though, said that to view “Embryonic” as a journey into the Lips’ past is only partly accurate, noting that “Embryonic” is more advanced than the albums the Lips created in the 1980s and 1990s, and is also informed by the music of the

three previous, more structured pop CDs — “The Soft Bulletin” (1999), “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” and “At War with the Mystics” (2006).

“I would say on one level, it’s a return, but it’s a return because we never left,” he said. “I would say it’s really a leap forward because it’s things that without us doing ‘The Soft Bulletin,’ without doing ‘Yoshimi,’ we wouldn’t have found that we liked the sounds, these colors, these shadings of music that we can put on top of it. So it’s probably both. It’s probably a little bit of we’re still progressing, but we’re still, we go backwards at the same time.”

Although “Embryonic” has been in stores since last fall, the group is has only been doing occasional short runs of concerts in the United States.

Coyne said the group will still employ many of the familiar stunts of recent tours. The band will also play plenty of fan favorites from its recent more pop-oriented CDs, while weaving in some material from the latest CD. “In the beginning, we thought (this album) would be weird to play live, but it’s not,” Coyne said. “I mean, our audience can easily go from something as silly as ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’ to something that’s heavy on the new record.”

The Flaming lips will play South Florida on Saturday, October 16 at the Sunset Cove Amphitheater, 12551 Glades Road, Boca Raton.

Show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $48.60. For info: livenation.com

www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 19

The 411

Above left: Francesco Sacco & Evelyn Lozada and Above right: Francesco Sacco & Malinka Max at the Dulce opening

Beau Beasely with Cohiba Clipper

COLUMN

Membership Has it’s Privileges

By Mary Jo Almeida-Shore maryjoshore@sunpostweekly.com

Curtis, Jones & Smith with Cohiba

Benjamin Stein, Ashlee Harrison, Marco Marquez at Gemma Lounge

If you’ve been blessed with beauty, talent, creativity, connections and some spending money, consider applying for membership to the newly minted, private Soho Beach House, the latest, greatest incarnation of founder, Nick Jones’ Soho House brand, which officially opened this week, after a month of exclusive gatherings for its top tier founding members. Soho Beach House, Jones’ third North American property, is right next door to the Fontainebleau on the ocean. The soft opening Founders’ party featured limitless lobster, and other seafood; steaks, black truffle risotto (where the chef was doling out the truffles as if they were chocolate sprinkles) and just about every other delicacy imaginable; a live band and gorgeous crowd- leaving the guests of the Founding members and anyone in the vicinity exclaiming, “Sign me up!”

In order to join, you will need: a proposer- an existing member, to recommend you for this Holy Grail of memberships and a couple of grand, (if like us you are barely over the age of 27-those 27 and younger need only fork over about half). Once you’ve taken care of that, “The Committee” will review your application. Be warned, if you don’t already know a member, one may be tough to come by: the House is so tight lipped about its members you’d think they were in the Witness Protection Programphotos on Facebook and Twitter are verboten!

But ahhhhh… once inside you’ll receive white glove service from the second you arrive until the moment you leave, provided by a hand-picked, young, vibrant, beautiful staff of creative types: writers, artists, designers, musicians…much like the members themselves. Are you seeing a pattern here? Nick Jones’ philosophy is that the House should be a haven where creative folks can stay and play- with an emphasis on bathing suits over business suits.

So how is this different than the crowd at any other upscale South Beach Hotel or nightclub? It’s hard to describe. But being that we are prone to hyperbole, we can say that once inside the Soho Beach House, the food tastes better, the air smells sweeter and everyone looks beautiful; mostly because it does and they are. But also, because part of what makes the Soho House brand so appealing is textbook psychology- anything is more desirable when surrounded by a velvet rope or glass case. It dates back to the first book of the Bible- would anyone have chosen an apple over a mango otherwise?

That said, we highly recommend you apply for membership: as we will

Ashlee Harrison, Michael Leondas Kirkland, Marnie Howard, Marco Marquez

Page 20 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

not be reporting any of the specific goings on for fear of banishment. However, we will tell you a little bit about the place. Envisioned by Nick Jones together with designer Martin Brudnizki, the Soho Beach House boasts 50 hotel guest rooms, available in six different sizes, decorated with one off pieces of antique furniture and featuring king-size beds and rainforest showers stocked with Cowshed products. In stark contrast to most hotels which grace our shores, the rooms are decorated with-color (walls in blue, green or yellow hues and colorful floor tiles). Most of the cozy, stylish bedrooms overlook the ocean and/or waterways and a select group of rooms boast free standing marble bathtubs and private terraces overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Good luck scoring a reservation. While the press release states that the hotel at Soho Beach House is “open to the public.” If you go on the website to attempt a room reservation, you will find that the hotel is completely sold out until…forever. We suspect this is in an effort of keeping tight control over the crowd who stays (and plays) there. Of course, members can book any time and even receive special rates- so better have a member friend make the rezzie for you until your membership gets approved.

And what do you get for said membership? Invites to lots of unique, cool member events such as pre-release and special movie screenings in the tiny theater (Dustin Hoffman recently showed up at the screening of The Graduate in the LA House), access to the Cowshed spa and private upstairs 1940s Havana-inspired bar, private pools, priority bookings for events and dinner at Cecconi’s, beach lounges, a gym, free exercise classes, a library stocked with handsome old hardcovers and board games, and hanging out with the coolest people this side of anywhere. While “mum’s the word” about whom the members are, over the past few weeks, we’ve seen just about everyone we’ve ever met- ever-at the House. Only the fabulous Tuscan restaurant, Cecconi’s, is open to the non-member, non-guest public.

Most importantly, the Soho Beach House is just a great place to “be.”

And as I sit here, writing this week’s story in the drawing room, along with other members engaged in similar pursuits, looking out on to the beautiful terrace café (as a local television station films a segment), I get the feeling that we share a collective sentiment: “We have arrived, now let’s stay awhile.”

Katrina Campins, Jennifer Williams & Evelyn Lozada at the Dulce opening

Above and Below: The Soho House

OTHER HAPPENINGS A few noteworthy events drew our attention away from Soho Beach House last week: if only for a short while. Michael Leondas Kirkland celebrated his October birthday-week with his Miami milieu of artists, writers and creative-types beginning at Michael’s Genuine Food and Drink with Iran Issa-Khan and Sam Robin, who were also on hand mid-week at Mandolin Aegean Bistro for an intimate dinner of ten, including Sarah and Austin Harrelson, and Marco Marquez, among others.

The celebration continued ‘til weeks-end with cocktails at Soho House, (we did say “short while”) followed by an intimate evening hosted by Marnie Howard and Ashlee Harrison at Gemma Lounge: among guests; BJ Parra, Sean Flannery, Nisi Berryman, Josette Wys Katz, Justin Keeperman and Benjamin Stein to name a few.

On Thursday night, reality show star, Evelyn Lozada, hosted a private event celebrating friend and renowned shoe designer Francesco Sacco at Lozada’s high-end accessories boutique Dulce, located in Miracle Mile.

The gathering afforded a few of Miami’s trend-setters a sneak peak of the Italian designer’s new collection. Lucky guests included: Lozada’s fellow cast member Jennifer Williams, wife of former NBA star Eric Williams, who like Lozada modeled her favorite pair of Sacco stems; True Blood actress Aisha Hinds and Katrina Campins.

At SET on Friday night, Coltrane Curtis, Roman Jones, Eric Milon and Blair Smith celebrated the launch of Cohiba Cigar’s Red Dot Ritual and the official Opium Group Cohiba Cigar. Tastemakers sipped on Hennessy Privilege cocktails as Opium Group honcho’s Jones and Milon admired the new stogie.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: On Friday night at The Forge Restaurant | Wine Bar, former UFC champ Chuck Liddell had dinner with a group of 18. The large group dined at The Forge’s “communal table” in the newly renovated second dining room where they celebrated the birthdays of three guests.

At Cameo on Saturday night, Busta Rhymes took to the stage, performing his hits Arab Money and Hustlers Anthem for a packed house which included Fat Joe. Rhymes also sang a few reggae songs in honor of the Soca Carnival crowd which packed Miami this weekend.

Sunday night Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade and girlfriend Gabrielle Union had a romantic dinner at STK Miami. Wade stayed in game mode drinking water while Union enjoyed a glass of red wine. The two were seen sharing from each other’s plates of including Chef Ralph Pagano’s newest menu addition of Truffle Mushroom Risotto.

Paulina Rubio dined at hotspot Mercadito Midtown on Monday night with her husband and her mother.

Teen heartthrob, actor/singer/songwriter Nick Jonas of The Jonas Brothers was spotted at Equinox South Beach on Monday, working out with his personal trainer.

Jessica Goldman Srebnick, Gail Meyers, Carole Seikaly, Thom Collins & Susie Wahab

Carole Seikaly, Terry Schechter & Susie Wahab at the Elle Magazine’s evening with MAM and Versace at Versace Bal Harbour

Thom Collins & Sarah Harrelson at the Elle Magazine’s evening with MAM and Versace at Versace Bal Harbour

Leslie Wolfson & Carolyn Travis

Susanne Birbragher & Carmel Dubuque

www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 21

GO! UPCOMING SOCIAL EVENTS

A Social Mix

By Mary jo Almeida-Shore

THE EH TEAM IS BACK “The EH Team!” returns to Cafeina on Friday, October 15 with your favorite Canadian DJ trio ESS & EMM and Maxwell Blandford, along with special guest hosts Tiffany Calil, Elizabeth Calil and Miss Miami 2010 Jaife Calil. Attendees will enjoy complimentary Canadian cocktails (how’s that alliteration for ya’?) inspired by our neighbors to the north from 9 to 10 p.m.. Emerging jewelry designer TAudrey will be on hand at the Wynwood haunt to showcase its latest collection of playful, yet sophisticated accessories for ladies “on-the-go.” Cafeina will also raffle off the Audrey Hepburn-inspired pieces for a few lucky guests throughout the evening. RSVP required to abbey@supermarketcreative.com.

maryjoshore@sunpostweekly.com

SIGNATURE CHEFS & WINE EXTRAVAGANZA It’s not too late to RSVP for the March of Dimes Signature Chefs & Wine Extravaganza at Jungle Island, (1111 Parrot Jungle Trail) starting at 6:30 tonight, October 14. Throughout the event, guests will sip on wines and champagnes from the world’s finest vineyards and distilleries, courtesy of Southern Wine and Spirits, and nosh on small bites while enjoying entertainment as well as live and silent auctions. The best part: it’s all for a good cause—all proceeds go directly to March of Dimes. Tickets: $150 per person in advance; $175 at the door.

Limited tickets for both the Extravaganza and an exclusive VIP Champagne Reception are $250. For more information and to RSVP, visit the website: marchofdimes.com/florida.

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE, BEAUTIFUL BAGS On Thursday, October 14, from 5 to 10 p.m., join the Sassy City Chicks for a fantastic Fashion Bash Sample Sale. Shop the event for Beautiful People handbags, among other fabulous designers with exceptional savings. Sassy City Chicks Fashion Bash sample sale will take place at the Moore Building 4040 N.E. 2nd Avenue; general admission $5 and Sassy Tote Ticket $15, which includes a gift bag, complimentary spa service and Smirnoff cocktail sampling.

GO AHEAD, WINE ALL YOU WANT! Embrace your inner oenophile at the 9th annual Miami International Wine Fair (MIWF) this weekend. MIWF welcomes a heightened culinary program of Miami’s most talked about restaurants including Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, Q American BBQ, Devito’s South Beach, Mercadito and more this year. Open to the public on both Friday, October 15 and Saturday, October 16, 2010 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., participating eateries will serve up bites, gratis, to all fairgoers at the Miami Beach Convention Center (1901 Convention Center Drive, Hall A). For $75 per person, per day, or $130 for two days, the Grand Tasting Hall brings together more than 1,800 wines from 500 producers and 20 countries under one roof. Upping the ante, for VIPs at $125 per entry or $220 for two days, the Fair will offer connoisseurs access to the Grand Tasting one hour early at 3:00 p.m.; free entrance to the seminar “How to Taste Wine – Objectively”; a two-bottle wine pack with an award-winning selection from Rioja and Bordeaux; two professional lead-free crystal wine glasses; no cover and one free drink to all three MIWF after-parties including Liv at Fontainbleau, SET and MOKAI nightclubs. Tickets to the Fair and to seminars are available online at miamiwinefair.com or by calling 866.887.WINE. A portion of proceeds will benefit the Florida Chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food (“AIWF”) – a non-profit organization founded in support of gastronomy as essential to the quality of human existence.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY WEAM Well into its fifth year as one of Miami Beach’s most treasured and international attractions, the World Erotic Art Museum (WEAM) will celebrate its fifth anniversary with owner/curator Naomi Wilzig hosting a joyous extravaganza, Saturday, October 16, from 8 p.m. to midnight. The evening will feature a lavish buffet and entertainment by famed performance artists Geraldine and Shanaya. Adding to the glamour and fun will be Miami Beach’s most popular divas, including Adora and Victoria as “princesses of the court.” There is also talk that Wilzig will bestow crowns on all who attend. All proceeds of the evening will benefit the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicin. The World Erotic Art Museum is located at 1205 Washington Avenue. Open Monday through Friday, 11 A.M. to 10 P.M., Friday and Saturday 11 A.M. to Midnight. Tickets cost $15, (no one under 18 admitted). For more information call (305) 532-9336 or weam.com.

PILATES FOR PINK Join Equinox Fitness Clubs’ renowned Pilates instructors and SHAPE magazine as they host “Pilates for Pink,” an event supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Bring a friend and participate in classes held at the Delano on Sunday, October 17th: For a $10 suggested donation, (100% proceeds go to BCRF) guests will receive a tote bag with goodies donated by event partners. Bring your own mat and towel.

Spots are limited. RSVP to pilatesforpink@equinox.com to request a space in the class.

KEY TO THE CURE Join Saks Fifth Avenue Dadeland (7687 North Kendall Drive) for Key to the Cure, a charity shopping weekend event to help raise money and awareness for women’s cancers from Thursday, October 21 through Sunday, October 24. The kick off cocktail event will be held Thursday, October 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. featuring Capital Grille hors d’oeuvres and live entertainment. A percentage of the weekend sales will go towards Baptist Breast Center. For more information or to RSVP, call 305.662.8655, ext 262 or email rsvpdadeland@s5a.com.

Page 22 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

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www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 23

Music INTERVIEW

It Takes A Thief

By Jennifer Fragoso (jennifer@sunpostweekly.com)

Thievery Corporation, a name when uttered or put in print during the past month has elicited shrieks of excitement from just about everyone including me. Upon reading the first email regarding this interview the initial shrieks (yes, plural) ensued along with high jumps, fist pumps and a feeling of euphoria much like that of a lottery winner moments after being told they hit the jackpot.

Seriously! Then as my unofficial press release, i.e.

Facebook status update, went live friends from every corner of the world who heard the news of this interview were so vocal in expressing their love of Thievery Corporation. Having enjoyed the band’s music for over a decade this wasn’t a complete shock but it certainly got my wheels spinning.

Why did Thievery Corporation generate such a frenzied reaction from so many different people?

Almost immediately after I noticed this phenomena I underwent a Thievery Corporation immersion program if you will. Basically I started listening to their music almost non-stop in order to gain a better sense of the passionate reactions coming from the myriad of people who heard the news. Of course, “because they’re rad”, is a totally appropriate answer to the frenzy question. However, upon re-visiting tracks like “Lebanese Blonde” and “Amerimacka” it appears to be more than that really. How does this duo trump the “rad” answer you say? Well, at their core, at least as it is conveyed through their music, seems to be inclusion.

Everyone is represented in Thievery Corporation’s catalog. From Brazilian bassa nova to Jamaican reggae the group’s sound, dubbed “outernational”, infects everyone who listens due in part to its global familiarity. Eric Hilton and Rob Garza have somehow encapsulated an audible commonality that is usually only found in nature and given us, the listening public, Thievery Corporation.

Yours truly took to the telephone to ask Rob Garza about their latest album, It Takes a Thief, a retrospective and the upcoming tour with Massive Attack. Feel free to shriek and read without any judgment.

The SunPost: Your tour with Massive At-

tack begins October 18, 2010. Do you get nervous before a tour or is it second nature to you now after all these years?

Rob Garza: It is like second nature now but after being on tour for a while it can get pretty grueling. Touring is a lot of work. Sometimes I feel tired before the tour because I know what’s coming. The days go on and on between traveling and playing. One day just goes into another. Tours are definitely hard work.

In the band’s bio Eric Hilton is quoted, and I’m paraphrasing, “music finds its audience”, how does Thievery Corporation find its music?

RG: It is a natural and organic process. Eric and I were already fans of different kinds of music.

So we thought it made sense and naturally lean towards our many influences and personal taste when we make our own music.

Was making It Takes a Thief like taking a trip down memory lane or did you approach it like an educated do over?

RG: The story of It Takes a Thief is really less glamorous. A distributor from Greece asked us to put out a Best Of CD and then distributors in other countries latched on and wanted to their

Page 24 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

own so we decided to put the retrospective together and began looking at it as a vehicle to introduce Thievery Corporation to a new audience in the U.S. It has been fourteen years since the release of Thievery Corporation’s debut album, Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi, where do you see yourselves in the next fourteen years?

RG: Honestly, we don’t think that far in advance. We certainly didn’t think we would be still

be doing this after fourteen years. There is no master plan. We take things one-step at a time, one record at a time, one tour at a time. It’s really that simple.

Everyone I’ve told about this interview has gone gaga and proclaimed their love for Thievery Corporation. Who makes you go gaga?

RG: I’ve always loved Caetano Veloso and was recently in Brazil and had the opportunity to sit and watch him rehearse. David Byrne is another favorite. It was also really nice to collaborate with Perry Farrell and we still have lots of artists, like Jorge Ben Jor, that we would love to work with in the future.

The fact that Thievery Corporation’s music can reach the world seems to be the result of an uncluttered process based on my conversation with Rob. Let’s celebrate the band and their music when they take to the stage at Bay Front Park Amphitheater on October 26, 2010.

Log on to thieverycorporation.com to purchase It Takes a Thief or for additional tour dates and destinations.

Theatre INTERVIEW

Scary Times in the Magic City

By Marguerite Gil The newest spectacle to ghoulishly entertain our indifferent crowds here in South Florida is: El Circo de los Horrores. This invasion of the undead, is taking place through Halloween week at the James L. Knight Center and (in this humble writers opinion) it is rather scary, but…it’s fun entertainment with a wink too.

A Span-glish production, that has been seen by over 2 million people in Europe, the morbidly humoristic show offers viewers a visually stunning assortment of top-notch acrobats, dancers, jugglers, tightrope walkers, contortionists and of course the eerie, macabre clowns and pushy monsters (pushy meaning that for all of you seated in the first three rows, you’ll probably get, fondled, accosted, pushed, intimidated and ruffled). Beware!

Spectators entering the Knight Center will possibly encounter the Narrator (who else but), Nosferatu, a bizarre half/human, half/ghost, entity who guides visitors into his cold, dark graveyard/ underworld. Nothing is sacred in this production which untimely torches a little girl and brings out her remains in the form of burned clothing. Oh no!

Expect blood-curdling sounds, heads rolling, a demon/devil howling and tons of other special effects. Nosferatu told me that, “a show such as this, brings in young people who would probably never go to the theatre, if it wasn’t a terror filled show.

We want to get young people to go and appreciate the theatre”. Then he approached me and said, “Aye merda, te voy a morder.” I survived the interview…but barely.

Oh and once again…if you’re seated in the first row…beware! Horrible things may happen to you, like getting picked out from the crowd, forced to stand in front of hundreds of laughing guests and then…oh shame, have the cast force you to pull down your pants. I’m warning you! Remember what your mother always told you… wear clean underwear!

For more info: circodeloshorroresusa.com

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www.sunpostweekly.com • SunPost Weekly • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • Page 25

Sex COLUMN

Office Ordeal

7

By Dr. Sonjia Kenya

Sonjia@drsonjia.com Do you defecate at the dinner table? Unless you’re wearing diapers and reading this from a high chair, I assume you stopped doing that long ago. Funny how it takes kids a couple of years to understand why food and poo are best celebrated separately, yet adults who’ve been using the restroom for decades still argue over amor at the office. Should you date your work mate?

Of course your instincts tell you to look elsewhere. But you spend so much time at the job and talk to your co-workers more than anyone else. If you’re normal, some of your work friends become your real friends and you eventually make plans to see them socially. You promise not to talk about work but it inevitably comes up and you bond over a shared irritation for the incompetent office manager. Soon you discover your work friend also loves the same special cookie from the cafeteria and you know it’s a done deal. Now you’re in lust. And for the first time in your life, you can’t wait to go to work.

A pretty entertainment attorney in Sobe knows the feeling. “In the beginning all the secrets are fun. The eye contact, the gestures, the private lunches. But the secrets become the problem because they’re hard to keep. I once dated a colleague and we were in sweatpants shopping at Costco on Sunday when we ran into another co-worker. He laughed, winked at us, and whispered, “Your secret is safe with me.” It was embarrassing and of course he told other people at work.

But the worst part is when you break up because one of you has to leave the job. And in this economy, that’s no longer an option.”

Fortunately, the economy hasn’t ruined the options at the Ritz’s bottomless brunch, which is where the debate continued last Sunday. Two lawyers, four doctors, one artistic director, and one human resources manager indulged in endless champagne while considering the pros and cons of coitus among colleagues. I considered this a perfect mix of experiences and opinions because everyone at the table had something serious at stake if a work relationship went wrong. Whether its beef with the boss or an affair with the administrator, each person exceeded expectations for years to create their current career and wasn’t looking to lose it over personal problems at work.

However, these jobs also require long hours of labor which limits opportunities to interact with others outside of work. As a triple board certified doctor declared, “You have to date the people you work with.

Who else is there? When you spend so much time at work, it’s going to end up being someone from the Page 26 • Thursday, October 14, 2010 • SunPost Weekly • www.sunpostweekly.com

job or the hot bartender from down the street.”

Laughter erupted,champagne glasses collided, and the HR manager extolled his expertise, “It’s OK when two people are at the same level because employees in other ranks aren’t affected too much. But when it happens between people at different levels, you usually have to find a reason to fire one of the employees when it ends. One person is usually still in love and their performance problems will have a ripple effect on other employees, creating an environment that puts the whole company at risk.” Ouch.

Someone gets fired after their heart gets broken?

That’s harsh.

Unfortunately, that’s also reality in a harsh economy. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), money paid out in sexual harassment suits averaged 47.8 million for the last 12 years. In 2009, that number skyrocketed to 376 million. What’s behind the significant increase? Many believe the sluggish economy is to blame, including Sandra Solovay from Workplace Answers, a compliance services company in San Francisco. “Employees who fear for their job are making sexual favoritism complaints as a means of ensuring their own job security.”

Referred to as retaliation lawsuits, these claims are filed when someone believes they were fired to prevent a discrimination complaint against their employer. Retaliation lawsuits rose by 23% in 2008, and again in 2009 when they accounted for more than a third of all discrimination claims. What’s even worse than retaliation when you’re dissolving a love affair?

How about third-party lawsuits filed by employees that weren’t even involved in the affair, but claim to suffer as a result of it? For example, if a couple at work breaks up and one becomes a jerk at the office, an uninvolved employee can file a third-party lawsuit, claiming that a spoiled love affair spawned a discriminatory work environment.

Despite the legal risks, not all companies frown on co-mingling among colleagues and some corporations even encourage office affairs. Southwest Airlines, Princeton Review, and National Public Radio advocate for in-house flings because they believe workplace romances foster more committed employees. The Naked Employee, a book written by Frederick S. Lane III, argues that co-worker couples spend more time at work, take fewer sick days, and are less likely to quit compared to those involved with people outside of the office.

Love contracts, signed agreements promising that

Be mutual affection among employees will not interfere with work, are another approach some companies are beginning to use. While the intent is noble, love contracts may minimize, but cannot stop, salty breakups known to inspire evil ambitions against an employer. Consequently, companies are fighting back to protect themselves against such claims and using your lunch hour to do it. Don’t be surprised when your boss makes you spend several lunch breaks sitting through sexual harassment and workplace discrimination videos. They’re simply protecting the ability to pay your salary instead of legal settlements.

Educating the workforce is admirable, but most companies are still pretty confused about the best way to handle coupling among colleagues.

Just 13% of companies surveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management had a written policy addressing intimacy among employees. A whopping 14% of companies claimed to have an unwritten policy on the issue, but like every other undocumented idea, interpretation is subject to error. So there you have it: less than 30% of companies surveyed had specific policies on relationships among workers. If huge corporations can’t figure out how to approach intra-office affairs, how can individuals be expected to make the right decision about romancing their co-workers?

Well, you could try the approach I used a couple of years ago when I moved to Miami as a single girl to work for the largest employer in the county. I knew the chances of finding love outside of work were slim and everyone thought I should pursue the cute single guy in the office. What did I do? I listened to my colleagues and learned my office mate was a really great guy with lots of single friends. Everyone knows birds of a feather flock together, so I was pretty confident this guy had some eligible bachelor buddies. I gradually became another one of his single friends which made it that much easier to fall in love with his best friend as soon as we met. Two years later I’m engaged to his best friend, who possesses many of the same great qualities as my colleague but doesn’t work at the same place. What can you learn from my good fortune? Before falling in love with your work-mate, ask them if they have any hot friends to date.

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PERSONAL FITNESS IN YOUR POOL * We do not use any foam buoyancy equipment