Octavia Spencer, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2011 for The Help, recently went on record saying that there are still too few good film roles for black women. It’s not that big a leap from 1930s Hollywood, the setting for By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, whose…
Marilyn Burns, the actor who portrayed Sally Hardesty in 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, recently passed away at the age of 65 earlier this month. You can celebrate her performance in the classic slasher flick and its 40th anniversary on Thursday, August 21.What begins with Sally, her brother, and…
After a long, hot summer, there’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not there yet, but we’re happy to suspend our disbelief during the Fall Arts Kick Off at Tempe Center for the Arts this Friday, August 22.We can think cool, but with arts center’s air…
If we have to have a lit-inspired NFL team, we’d dump the Baltimore Ravens for the Providence Cthulhus in a heartbeat. If you’d don a jersey with a tentacle-faced logo, then you’ll want to check out the fourth annual Phoenix celebration of H.P. Lovecraft’s birthday on Wednesday, August 20. Radio…
Ernesto Moncada wears a lot of hats in his downtown Phoenix adventures: writer, poet, comedian, performance artist. Each one contributes to his mischievous and raunchy alter ego Ernasty, the goth-eyed host of Firestage, the unpredictable variety show and open mic that celebrates its sixth anniversary on Friday, August 15.Between jokes…
It’s pretty hard to overlook Brad Williams’ short stature and, in fact, it’s what drives his unique and hilarious point of view. Nonetheless, you’ll get to see that he’s kind of a big deal on Thursday, August 7. Comedy nerds dream of being plucked out of the audience by their…
It might be a myth that dinosaurs have provided us with oil, but those prehistoric reptiles have certainly fueled imaginations. For those with all sorts of terrible lizards on the brain, the second edition of the Phoenix DinoCon stomps into downtown Phoenix this Saturday, August 2.The biggest score this year…
It’s been forever since arcades were staples of the shopping mall experience. One of the most beloved companies in video gaming is coming to town to give a blast from the past and a sneak peak at the future with the Play Nintendo Tour on Friday, July 25. Nintendo’s popular…
We’ve officially hit the part of summer where everyone’s tired of dodging the sun, and we need our senses fully indulged. You can party arty and soak in the sights and sounds of RAW Artists Phoenix’s latest shindig Communique on Thursday, July 24.RAW Artists Phoenix rolls massive with artists of…
Earlier this year, the iPhone-based game Flappy Bird hit critical mass and frustrated millions with its easy to learn but hard to master mechanics of steering a barely-flying bird through obstacles. Within months, its lone wolf Vietnamese developer, Dong Nguyen, had a meltdown. Participants in the Phoenix Makes Games Jam…
Geek culture has grown by leaps and bounds and it’s about time the Dungeons & Dragons dorks met the theatre nerds. The opening night for The Brelby Theatre Company’s production of the dragon-slaying off-Broadway hit She Kills Monsters is Friday, July 11.Spawned from the mind of chief geek and co-founder…
Carmen Lynch has traveled the world, first as the daughter of a naval officer, and now as a comedian, entertaining troops abroad. The Last Comic Standing finalist pops up in Scottsdale on Friday, July 11.With a Spanish nurse for a mom and a childhood spent in Spain, Lynch is able…
The searing heat of the summer makes it easy to take refuge underwater in the backyard pools of the Valley. No Festival Required’s presentation of the 1968 film The Swimmer, screening on Thursday, July 10, is a cautionary tale about swimming your life away.NFR’s ongoing mission to spotlight forgotten films…
Independence Day fireworks draw the eyes to the spectacular side of this great nation while helping us forget that truth, justice, and the American Way aren’t always as simple as waving the flag. The Arizona Artist Collective looks beyond the bombast of the Fourth of July on Friday for its…
After a long day in the rat race, it’s easy to get nostalgic for the simple days of childhood fun and games. Instead of just daydreaming about days past, Valley dodgeball warriors funnel their fury through various National Dodgeball Organization outings such as Open Gym Night on Wednesday, July 2.The…
The rising temps are enough to make you hallucinate, so you might as well be swept off to a far away land. On Saturday, June 28, Phoenix Art Museum hosts Noh theater performances, which theatrically weave dance, music, and drama to transport attendees to ancient Japan.Since August 2000, Theater Nohgaku…
The flood of tweets, Instagrams, and twonks when people go out make us long for the age when nightlife was on the QT and cool clubs required sly patrons to drop a password at the door. The Pop-Up Speakeasy: A Return to Cattleman’s Bar takes a stroll into the Prohibition…
To paraphrase that swingin’ dude, Friedrich Nietzche, stare long into the abyss and the abyss stares into you. An American expedition team tries to contain a mysterious life form before it harms them first in The Thing, on Saturday, June 21.John Carpenter’s 1982 sci-fi horror masterwork features Kurt Russell and…
Even our most interesting days tend to fade away in memory. Acclaimed author Stella Pope Duarte is well versed in shaping memories of days passed into narratives that draw us in and she shares her insight at Changing Hands Tempe on Tuesday, June 17.Born and raised in South Phoenix, Duarte…
The United States Men’s National Team entry into the World Cup was heightened by their draw into what’s been called the “Group of Death.” The Americans’ first challenge is Ghana, which you can watch live on FilmBar’s big screen Monday, June 16.While #2 Germany and #3 Portugal are further down…
If meeting Kane Hodder, the man behind the hockey mask as Jason Vorhees of the Friday the 13th film series, is on your bucket list, considerthis Friday the 13th your lucky day. The Mad Monster Party and its slew of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy celebs is up your darkened alley…
You may have believed that your time to party with major stars like Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor has passed — but you’d be wrong. The hand of Valley artist Larry Willis brings larger-than-life personages to the opening reception for his latest exhibition, “CINAMATIC,” on Friday, June 6.While depicting realistic…
