Star Wars

John Williams Is Coming to Phoenix; Here Are His Five Most Iconic Scores

Legendary film composer John Williams is scheduled to appear at a benefit performance by the Phoenix Symphony on September 28. It's not like he needs to tour to help raise money for his kids' college fund, and he's probably busy with the Jurassic Park IV and new Star Wars soundtracks. There's no rea ... More >>

Big Brain Awards 2013

Watch This New York City Barista Draw Tiny, Intricate Foam Portraits in Lattes

There's plenty of art-related reasons to make a trip to the Big Apple. It's got the Guggenheim, the Met, and MoMA. And the City That Never Sleeps now is home to the king of latte-art portraiture, Mike Breach. See also: - The Coffee Chop Kicks Off Coffee Class Series at Crepe Bar in Tempe - Coffee ... More >>

Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend

Hey ya, the weekend is here. So get off the couch and go dancing, Phoenix. Maybe these shows: Our Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend.

10 Star Wars Songs To Ease Your Rage Now That Disney's Killed LucasArts

Ever since Disney's acquisition of LucasFilms was announced, the prognosis by fans has been mixed. Three new Star Wars movies is good news, right? Sure, but what about yesterday's news that Disney has shut down LucasArts? Yeah, the future of the saga a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away is up ... More >>

It's A Trap

Top Five Must-See Shows This Weekend in Phoenix

It's finally the weekend, and you're ready to cut loose, aren't you? You're ready to toss a few back and really party. Us too. There's a lot of chatter on the message boards re: rumors that Disney's upcoming stand-alone Star Wars films will concern the adventures of Yoda, Boba Fett, and a young Han ... More >>

Pinback, Crescent Ballroom, 1/31/13

Pinback @ Crescent Ballroom|1/31/13After interviewing singer/guitarist Rob Crow and having an at-length discussion of Star Wars, my expectations for Pinback's live show were set pretty high. He said somewhat vaguely, "Everybody agrees these are the best shows that we've ever played," which made me f ... More >>

Pinback's Rob Crow Has A Lot of Thoughts Concerning Star Wars

San Diego's post rock-meets-subdued pop duo Pinback has kind of been under the radar for the past five years. Rob Crow and Zach Smith took a break from recording new Pinback songs to focus on side projects and family, all while taking Pinback out for occasional tours. But the duo returned in late ... More >>

10 Movies to Watch in 2013

Top Five New Years Eve Parties in Metro Phoenix

If it ain't one apocalypse, it's another, right? First December 21 rolls on by with nary an earthquake or a giant dragon emerging from the sky and burning us all to death with his flaming volcano mouth, and now we're perched on the edge of the dreaded fiscal cliff. But chances are things will proba ... More >>

Wolfgang Gartner @ El Santo Cantina

DJ Area4 on Being a Jedi and How Hip-Hop Culture Helped Saved His Life

Of the many pearls of wisdom that Yoda dropped on Luke Skywalker's ass in The Empire Strikes Back ("Size matters not," "Wars not make one great") it was the green-skinned Jedi guru's Zen-like mantra of "Do or do not...there is no try" that probably resonates the most with Joe Maldonado. That's beca ... More >>

With Argo, Ben Affleck Asks Us to Love Hollywood Again

Weird Al Yankovic, Comerica Theatre, 8/5/12 (Video)

Weird Al Yankovic Comerica Theatre Sunday, August 5, 2012 "He who is tired of Weird Al is tired of life." -- Homer Simpson If some massive holocaust does, in fact, bring about Armageddon at the end of December, there are a few things that are guaranteed to survive the ginormous conflagration: Cock ... More >>

Five Freaking Awesome Acapella Covers We Found on YouTube

If the Skifcha cat has already messed with your perception of dubstep, prepare to have it once again shaken up with an acapella cover of "Bangarang." Dutch choir Dario Fo released the song last week and brought up important questions such as "is Skrillex really saying 'salsa on my balls boys, weed b ... More >>

Club Candids: Star Wars Turns 35 at Rips

The year 1977 had a slew of watershed moments for both science fiction and pop culture as a whole. In theatres across the country, George Lucas' bombastic space opera flick Star Wars was blowing up like the Death Star and changing the cinematic landscape. Every child who was lucky enough to witnes ... More >>

Firestone Walker Wookey Jack

Beer: Wookey Jack Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Style: Black IPA ABV: 8.3 percent Beer names and the stories that inspired them fascinate me. Take Firestone Walker's beers, for example. Was Sticky Monkey named after a pet Capuchin that got into the glue? Did they designate Good Foot as such ... More >>

Hypnotica Music Festival

Level Up: Seven Musicians With Geeky Backgrounds

Say what you will about our sustainability, the heat, or our wretched politicos, but Phoenix is a haven for nerds. We have The Minibosses, who play heavy covers from video games like Super Mario Bros. and Double Dragon; and Mega Ran, who raps over Final Fantasy and Mega Man soundtracks. Both are tot ... More >>

Karina Longworth Looks Ahead to the Most Anticipated Films of 2012

Nine Films to Anticipate in 2012

WTF for the Holidays: Seven Wacky Holiday Records

After Thanksgiving comes and goes, it seems like just about everyone gets into the holiday spirit. Even the creepy, strange and misguided among us (which describes most of the lovely Up on the Sun staff, now that we think about it). We're not sure what these artists were thinking when they relea ... More >>

Dorkness Rising

Paul: Too Many Sci-Fi References, Not Enough Kristen Wiig

Quick PHX: Collections

Williams-Sonoma Pimps Handmade, For a Price

​I got a laugh at the cover of the Williams-Sonoma holiday catalog.Notice the headline? "Handmade for the holidays."At first, I thought, isn't that nice? Giving homemade treats as Christmas presents? I had a momentary vision of spending a leisurely day making goodies to give out, perhaps putting t ... More >>

Sophomore Slump?: A Look at a Few of Indie Rock's Soon-To-Be Second-Album Flops

"Weird Al" Yankovic at Celebrity Theatre Last Night

Victor PalaganoWeird Al on stage at Celebrity Theatre.​Weird AlCelebrity Theatre, PhoenixAugust 12, 2010Last night, I went to a multimedia pop extravaganza: A virtual who's who of past and present Top-40 artists was represented, from Michael Jackson to the Biebs to Lady Gaga!Except they weren't th ... More >>

Pot Roast and Summer Vacation

​We decide to make a pot roast mainly because our husband spent the vast majority of his childhood summer vacations sharing the backseat of a silver stationwagon with his two brothers, while the family made their way from Philadelphia to Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina. They were on the ... More >>

MC Chris

Revenge of the Nerd

Costume Party: Phoenix Comicon Is Here

John Dougherty, Ex-New Times Award-Winning Staffer, to Run for U.S. Senate -- Really

John Dougherty: Candidate for U.S. Senate​ In the we-really-aren't-making-this-up department, our ex-colleague John Dougherty tells us that he's filed documents today with the Federal Elections Commission as a first step to run in the upcoming Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat. ... More >>

Forgive Durden, Atreyu, and Other Band Names Stolen from Pop Culture

The Fringe Connection

Cult icons come out of the woodwork in Mesa

Movie Star Wars

Soiled space princess kicks ass and names names

Wookiee of the Year

Chewbacca and pals give Valley nerds a thrill

The Lost Picture Show