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Sun Layover & Jake” by Craig Rubadoux is on display at Dabbert Gallery

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

ALLYN GALLUP CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY 1419 5^TH St., Sarasota (366-2093 or allyngallup.com). Photographs by Tom Carabasi and collages and monotypes by Gustavo Ramos Rivera will be displayed through Feb. 27. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Free.

ART CENTER SARASOTA 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (365-2032 or artsarasota.org). F.A.B. (Fabulous Arts Boutique) Sale and Exhibit will be held Feb. 11-14 with an opening reception 6-8:30 p.m. Feb. 11 and closing 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 14. Contact Kathie Hayes at 923-8554 or visit fabsarasota.com for more information. Red Hot! Love, Romance and Humor will be displayed through March 6. Regular hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. Free.

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— Rep. Vern Buchanan shows Panama’s ambassador to the United States around Port Manatee, in an effort to help solidify stronger trade between the Central American nation and the Suncoast.

— In a Sarasota speech, Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice talks about failed states, the recession and how history will judge that President Bush made us a “safer” nation. One word is missing from Jeremy Wallace’s story, though: Iraq.

— The Sarasota Film Festival: officially set to go down April 9-18.

— Hannah Wallace discusses downtown business affairs with Karen Magee, one half of the ownership team behind the now-defunct Jake’s Downtown. Best quote: “It’s not the customer’s job to support your business. It’s your job to provide them with something they want at a price they want to pay.”

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A famous actor is viewed through the eyes of a young boy, who by sheer happenstance, lands a role in Julius Caesar. Richard Samuels (Zac Efron) passes by the decrepit Mercury Theater one day in 1937. Orson Welles (Christian Mc Kay) is standing on the steps outside. Richard performs an impromptu audition and Orson Welles chooses him to appear beside him in the Shakespearean play. He offers no pay, but a chance to get a start in show business. Richard is dazzled by Welles’ charm. The teen eschews high school for the bright lights of Broadway.

The film is based on a novel by Robert Kaplow. It’s an in-depth look at the theatrical world and a coming-of-age piece. A teenager works with Welles and learns a lot from him. He also sees Welles as a completely ruthless and narcissistic character. The boy thinks he’s in love with acting and Sonja Jones (Claire Danes), Welles’ production assistant. High school is a walk in the park compared to the intrigues Richard experiences at the Mercury Theater.

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Washed-up country singer Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) falls for a reporter half his age (Maggie Gyllenhaal) in Crazy Heart

[RECOMMENDED] Crazy Heart
Written and directed by Scott Cooper. Starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall. Rated R. Opens Friday.

You have to give it up for Jeff Bridges, who delivers a fearless performance as circling-the-drain country singer Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. The actor sacrifices all vanity in his portrayal, raising the bar of disgust with each passing scene. When we first meet Bad, he’s stumbling pants-undone out of his rusted truck after a long drive. The singer stumbles into the venue of his latest gig — a rundown bowling alley — ambles up to the bar and asks for a drink. Sorry Bad, your manager called ahead and said no booze. Shaking and broke, Bad makes his way to the local liquor store. Good thing the guy working the counter is a fan.

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COVER STORY

— Special fiction section: “Sarasota Sleeping” by Lee Redfern, a powerful portrait of Sarasota’s homeless community, told through fiction by someone who was there.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Image of the week: 2010 Lust List sneak peek.

— The week that was: I’ve been workin’ on the railroad, the school tax, Ann Coulter, the Palm Avenue garage.

— .Com-ments: Stephen Keen, Main Street Oyster Bar.

— Face reality: MC Coolidge on how Sarasota’s Police Advisory Panel can really make a difference.

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“After the Rain – Arlington Park” by Bernice Gaines is on display at The Dancing Crane Gallery

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

2010 SARASOTA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN SUMMIT Ringling College of Art and Design, 2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (351-5100 or sarasotadesignsummit.com/2010). Held for the first time in 2006, Ringling College’s Sarasota International Design Summit convenes speakers and attendees from diverse disciplines to explore how to use design as a strategic approach for differentiation and competitive advantage. Check website for event times Feb. 4-6. Full Summit registration fees are $495 with various discounts available for promotional partners, government employees, and Ringling students and alumni.

BIRD PHOTOGAPHER ARTHUR MORRIS First Congregational Church Fellowship Hall, 1031 S. Euclid Ave., Sarasota (355-1709). World-famous bird photographer Arthur Morris will present some of his award-winning nature and wildlife photos. 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8. Free.

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It’s hard to believe, but Mel Gibson hasn’t starred in a movie since 2003’s The Singing Detective, a flick I’ll cop to having no recollection of at all. (Robert Downey Jr. co-starred!) It’s not that he disappeared: In 2004 Gibson directed The Passion of the Christ, bludgeoning religious moviegoers into grizzly submission at the box office; and in 2006 he made Apocalypto, perhaps running slightly ahead of our current Mayan end-of-the-world craze. 2006 was more notable for Gibson’s DUI arrest, during which he made anti-semitic remarks to the arresting officer and claimed to own Malibu. After a 20-plus year ride as a Hollywood golden child, Mel Gibson fell out of view.

But hey, this is America; we’re a forgiving bunch, right? Anyone expect Tiger Woods to still be on the shit-list if he resolves things with the wife and starts dominating major golf tournaments again? Doubtful. And while I don’t condone what Gibson did (both the DUI and the jackass comments were stupid), the man is still a fine actor. Case in point: Edge of Darkness, a new revenge fantasy/political espionage thriller from director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale). Gibson plays Thomas Craven, a Boston police detective whose daughter is gunned down right in front of him. At first, the cops figure it must have been a blown hit on Detective Craven, but as he starts investigating it becomes clear that the killers got their intended target.

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I write this final article with a heavy heart, actually this is the hardest article I have ever had to write. I am surrounded by my boxes as I finish packing the small things that make up my life. I have always been efficient and moved/lived with enough to fill a car. The film Up in the Air really hit home with the character’s small life. Change has always scared the bejeebers out of me, and I bet it always will. I have been told and read that the universe gives us exactly what we need when we need it. That may be true, but I am not gonna turn this into some touchy-feely post I promise. I just wanted to say goodbye to the friends I have made during my time in Sarasota. The great folks that I met in the Rosemary District, the geeks at Darkside Comics, my writing and research hangout at Borders, Cooper and the amazing folks at Creative Loafing, and The Scenetress. I will miss the great music of  Tim Sukits and the stunning photography of Cliff Roles. I give three beeer-ains to my many undead friends that created the SRQ Zombie Pub Crawl, but most of all you, Cheerleader Shelly and the Scarecrow.

Sorry… that was cheesy, but that is who I am. Stay classy, Sarasota.

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I never cared for Guy Ritchie’s film Snatch with Brad Pitt mumbling all of his gangster’s lines. But the director does a fine job with Sherlock Holmes, creating a solid chemistry between the two best friends, Sherlock Holmes and his partner in crime-solving, Doctor Watson.

The two men live in sooty Victorian London, chimneys belching thick black smoke into perpetually grey skies. The Holmes and Watson of Ritchie’s film are not like the prim and proper characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s imagination that I remember from the old black-and-white movies I saw on T.V. in my youth.

The only similarity: two brilliant minds working together on Scotland Yard murder cases. This film opens with thundering horses’ hooves and a carriage bringing Holmes and Watson to a potential crime scene. Thanks to their quick intervention, a damsel in distress is saved and the evil serial killer and sorcerer, Lord Blackwood, is apprehended. Doctor Watson attends his hanging and pronounces him dead for the authorities to bury. Amazingly, Lord Blackwood continues to terrorize London by escaping from his grave and wreaking more havoc on British citizens who cower in fear of his black magic.

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Nine the musical opened on Broadway in 1982 and starred Raul Julia as director Guido Contini. It won two Tonys for best musical and score, and was based on Federico Fellini’s film 8½ with Marcello Mastroianni in the lead role.

The film version was adapted for the screen by Michael Tolkin and Anthony Minghella, best known for The English Patient, which I always wanted to see but never did. The beginning of the movie Nine, in stark black and white, takes place in 1965, the setting: the famous Cinecittà studio in Rome. The fictitious director, Guido Contini, is surrounded by all the adoring women he loves, including his dead mother, played by film legend Sophia Loren. The first female in this group with a song is Guido’s mistress, Carla (Penélope Cruz), who sings “Who’s Not Wearing Any Clothes?” It’s a very over-the-top  display.

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