Yakuza Apocalypse Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike’s latest movie Yakuza Apocalypse has been called “inspired lunacy.” This action thriller, packed with martial arts, supernatural beings, and lots of blood, should get you in the mood for Halloween, and it’s screening at FilmBar, 815 North Second Street, October 9 to 13. But…
Repellent Fence It’s a truth that comes in many forms to the border areas between the United States and Mexico: If you can’t reach through the fence, reach over it. That same concept drives Postcommodity, a long-term social collaboration between artists and activists Raven Chacon, Cristobal Martinez, and Kade L…
“Sirens and Serpents” If “Sirens and Serpents: The Art of Tara Sharpe” had a rating, it would probably be “R,” for nudity and post-impressionist expressionism. {9} The Gallery, 1229 Grand Avenue, is hosting the exhibit on Friday, October 2, and the installation will feature hand-pulled block prints and works on…
Heaven Can Wait Your spirit’s in limbo, and your body’s toast. Turns out you died by mistake, destiny-wise, and the admins need to send you back. So you occupy a murder victim’s body, but now you have to avoid people who want to kill you — well, kill him —…
“New Graduate Student Exhibition” Class is in session, and the graduate students at ASU’s Art School are busy as ever. How else could they present a gallery show a mere month after their first day? Working in media including paint, metal, fibers, and ceramics, 16 artists share their work in…
Jonathan Evison Writing is not unlike talking into a void – at least until you introduce (what might be) writing’s most crucial element: the reader. New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Evison will be leading a workshop about the importance of the reader at Changing Hands Phoenix, 300 West Camelback…
“Scientology’s Dirty Tricks: Then and Now” with Tony Ortega While it’s easy to make Scientology into a punchline, thanks to its celebrity followers and sci-fi roots, what shouldn’t be ignored is the church’s ability to draw in adherents and keep them in its clutches. Journalist Tony Ortega, formerly of New…
Gallery Talk: Ehren Tool and Garth JohnsonEhren Tool found ceramics as a creative outlet after serving as a marine in Operation Desert Storm. The veteran handcrafts cups covered in imagery referencing the effects of military service on veterans and the impact of war on societies. Serving as both social commentary…
“Cactus and Coral” It is a rare moment when one can see the world from someone else’s point of view. Through Each Others Eyes, promotes that concept via cultural exchange, placing photographers in unfamiliar settings to understand how they see things. With the “Cactus and Coral” exhibit, photographers from Australia…
Cumbia Dance Night Our Southwest city is no stranger to celebrations of salsa and flamenco dancing, and now Cumbia, hailing from Colombia’s costal region alongside the Caribbean Sea, is making a name for itself. DJs Nico and M.Rocka, the duo behind local group Clandestino, bring La Diabla from Tijuana and DJ…
Spillers Storytelling nights seem to be sweeping the city these days — with New Times’ monthly Bar Flies among them — and this week a new series starts. Spillers: Short Fiction and Tall Drinks features six storytellers performing edgy, and often funny, short fiction in 10-minute sets. Speakers include creator…
“Border of Dreams” The image evokes triumph, frustration, and heartache with a black-and-white capture of a man, arms outstretched in a Christ-like way toward a barren background. Towering near him made of slanting barbed wire, the U.S.-Mexico border fence. The photographer behind the shot? Award-winning photojournalist Nick Oza. “Border of…
Your guide to the best things to do in Phoenix and Tempe from August 17 through 21. Felicia Day The Internet is a strange place, which probably means that you’ll fit right in. That’s how Felicia Day frames the world in her memoir You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)…
“Statement Piece” Pottery goes political at ASU Art Museum Brickyard, as curator Garth Johnson presents “Statement Piece,” an exhibition pairing works from Danish-born war objector Erik Gronborg and American veteran Ehren Tool, who served in Operation Desert Storm. Though from different backgrounds, the two have used functional ceramics in their…
C Is for Clown If you’re coulrophobic, you fear clowns, but if the clowns you fear are red-nosed, frizzy-haired, birthday-party and circusy types, you’ll be okay attending C Is for Clown from Pandanda Players, the troupe that practices Alphabet Shakespeare. For one thing, Pandanda has assured audiences that there will…
Hair 1968’s Hair was a groundbreaking Broadway musical with a killer soundtrack, all about hippies and love and drugs and stopping the war and resisting the Man, man. Seriously. And hair, of course. Those days might be the last time the elements of a musical drenched our culture so thoroughly…
The Midnight Society Stuff from the early to mid-1990s is now, by definition, vintage. And since trends are cyclical, and you are old — but pop culture nostalgia is still pretty fun — downtown cinema FilmBar and local film collective Theater 13 occasionally team up to host a little thing…
New Times’ guide to five artsy things to do this week is here. Emerging Arts Leaders Happy Hour Tired of yelling into the void? Want to discuss your opinions of the art scene freely and with people who actually give a crap about what you have to say? You just…
Beyond Musketeers: Utopia Lost Apparently, we can’t get enough dystopian future in our entertainment. (As though the past and present haven’t been dystopian enough.) So Brelby Theater Company reaches into the past to create a play set in just such a future, Beyond Musketeers: Utopia Lost. One of the adjustments…
Young Frankenstein We can’t get over the fact that Mel Brooks wrote the words and music to all of the songs in the stage musical version of Young Frankenstein (except for “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” or, as the monster sings it, “Oo atha Rih”). Dude is mad talented – he…
“Hidden Histories in Latin American Art” When an artist is creating, he or she often includes unintentional content – images or themes that reveal information about the artist’s psyche or environment, or events and movements that will, over time, provide historical context. In the case of the works in Phoenix…
New Summer Shorts Body-shaming glossy magazines question whether your legs are “ready” for new summer shorts. Screw that. Your legs, along with your brain and your funny bone, are super-ready for New Summer Shorts 2015, Theatre Artists Studio’s eighth annual compilation of short plays by Studio members. This year’s lineup…
