This crime-fiction author has earned her nut — many times over — with her V.I. Warshawski series (which, as few of you will recall, was turned into a stink bomb of a movie starring Kathleen Turner in 1991). Paretsky’s taken an odd, but welcome, turn in the last few years,…
The word “paradise” means different things to different people, but here’s our definition: a world without speed limits, stop signs, cops, speeding tickets, or other stupid-ass drivers. Believe it or not, this automotive Shangri-La actually exists at Firebird International Raceway, 20000 South Maricopa Road in Chandler, during “Run What Ya…
You’re paying $3 per gallon and think you’ve got it bad. The daft and inventive indie flick Blood Car – made by Atlanta native Alex Orr for $25,000 — imagines a hellish world in which fossil fuel costs $40 per, and, not surprisingly, no one can drive. One of the…
The Valley gets a rare leg up on New York City and the rest of the planet with this screening of Jieho Lee’s new film, based on a Chinese proverb that says life is composed of four emotional elements: happiness, sorrow, pleasure, and love. The flick, which won’t open in…
Phoenix artist Urso will take rock-carving tools in hand to dismantle a heavily adorned 350-pound boulder and create instant “chip art” that viewers can take home. She’ll also show her video Conversation Scribble Tangle. New Orleans native Berry unveils a new video installation with the Hurricane Katrina devastation at its…
The documentary, screened in conjunction with the library’s “Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings” exhibit, features commentary by the five surviving victims of the Nazis’ sodomy statute (Paragraph 175), which led to the imprisonment or murder of approximately 100,000 German homosexuals between 1933 and 1945…
Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, why are we directing you to the Rogue Bar and Coach & Willie’s for New Year’s Eve? Easy. They’ve got the banginest bashes in the Valley. Coach & Willie’s presents the third annual Ritmo Latino New Year’s…
Sure, the Arizona Cardinals will end yet another season without a winning record, but – and we can’t believe we’re saying this – Ken Whisenhunt has ’em headed in the right direction. Pigskin hardcores who can’t wait ’til next season get one last dose when the Cards host the St…
The Cardinals are perpetually pilloried. The Suns are scrutinized like lab rats. The Diamondbacks get love even in the off-season. The Phoenix Coyotes are just ignored, and that’s the worst thing you can say – or not say – about a pro team. Sports-radio buffs that we are, we’ve only…
Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, why are we directing you to the Rogue Bar and Coach & Willie’s for New Year’s Eve? Easy. They’ve got the banginest bashes in the Valley. The Rogue hosts Adios Motherfucker New Year’s Eve Massive, which features…
Cabin boy Leo DiCaprio and society princess Kate Winslet sucking wind on the bow of the Titanic – yeah, that’ll happen. Director Stephen Low’s doc Titanica tells us what did happen, picking up the story where Titanic discoverer Robert Ballard left off. Narrated by Leonard Nimoy, Titanica offers the straight…
There’s no way the teams playing in the 2007 Insight Bowl – the Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12 and Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten – can top last year’s un-freaking-believable game between Texas Tech and Minnesota, but they’ll give it a go. Mon., Dec. 31, 4 p.m.,…
Among other carny-style curiosities, the 1979 kung fu film The Crippled Masters features an evil hunchbacked warlord, a warrior who lost the use of his legs when the warlord poured acid on ’em, and another hunchback victim who had both arms severed for some undisclosed slight. Andrew Borntreger of Badmovies.com…
Eat a deep-fried chimi, then work it off. Hell, eat a dozen, ’cause love handles are an endangered species at the muy picante Latin dance night called Caliente Friday featuring DJs AL3 and Manic Hispanic. Fridays, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., 2009…
The ’07 Atlanta Falcons suck, victims of quarterback Michael Vick’s dog-fighting debacle. But we don’t have to tell you that the Arizona Cardinals historically suck against other teams that suck, and we’ll see if the trend holds true. The game is officially sold out. Try www.ticketmaster.com/trade. Sun., Dec. 23, 2:05…
Actors Theatre’s A Christmas Carol is — and we say this lovingly — the cockroach of local theater. The sky could be falling, it could be raining nukes, the sun could blow up and the annual holiday extravaganza would go on without pause or fail. Need we tell you –…
The Phoenix Suns’ December 5 schooling of the Toronto Raptors on the latter’s home court stretched Phoenix’s winning streak against the birds of prey to seven. The Sunnies try to make it eight straight with a rematch. The game is officially sold out. Try http://teamexchange.ticketmaster.com. Sat., Dec. 22, 7 p.m.,…
Unless you count “Fairytale of New York” by Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor — which we don’t, necessarily — what’s the last popular song that entered the collective Christmas consciousness? (Don’t say Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.” Them’s fightin’ words.) And how about Hollywood? The dream factory specializes in pumping out…
If your gift list’s long and bank account short, we suggest a pit stop at Artist Alley. Local artists and artisans will be selling their handcrafted goods at prices ranging from $1 to $30 — and there’ll also be tamales and mini cakes. Yum. Sat., Dec. 8, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.;…
We pansy-ass boutique shoppers are pretty ambivalent about the new Tempe Marketplace megashopolopolis, but we do dig the big-box nirvana’s Third Thursday at Tempe Marketplace series, which features big-name acts for zero dinero. This edition features California hardcore crew Unwritten Law and local power-popsters Good With Grenades. Thu., Dec. 20,…
The Suns Gorilla will take one for the team at this shindig, at which the Great Ape will be situated on the Marketplace’s District Tower for 24 hours or until the 100,000th vote is cast in an effort to send our Suns stars to the NBA All-Star Game. If team…
You probably already know this, but Urban Cowboy was a bunch of bull. Englewood, New Jersey’s John Travolta on a mechanical mount? Cleveland Heights, Ohio’s Debra Winger in ropers? A whole generation grew up believing — to quote another egregious example of Wild West revisionism by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen…
