The new documentary by Gary Hustwit (Helvetica) takes a look at manufactured objects and gadgets and how they affect our daily lives. It features in-depth interviews with internationally known product designers such as Karim Rashid, Jonathan Ive, Naoto Fukasawa, Fiona Raby, Hella Jongerius, and Anthony Dunne. Hustwit will attend the…
We had an epiphany the other day: modern music that’s heavy on the woe-is-me whine or anything that’s cute is, well, not good. Agent Ribbons, who are like a rocking, what-the-crap-are-you-looking-at version of Vermillion Lies, is pretty much the opposite of these things. The band’s sound is firmly rooted in…
Late in the infectiously frisky documentary The Cove, an older man calmly gate-crashes an international conference on whaling with a television screen strapped to his chest, showing bloody images of the mass slaughter of dolphins in a pretty cove off the coast of Japan. It’s a show-stopping publicity stunt by…
The aliens have been with us already for 20 years at the start of South African director Neill Blomkamp’s fast and furiously inventive District 9, their huddled masses long ago extracted from their broken-down mothership and deposited in the titular housing slum on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Unlike the space…
In the same week that the South African import District 9 gives us a Johannesburg beset by alien invaders, the latest film by animation legend Hayao Miyazaki envisions a small Japanese port town turned upside down by visitors from the bottom of the sea. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s…
It’s a wonder I haven’t driven off the road and straight into a lamppost by now. I’ve spent my entire adult life craning my neck at passing buildings as I drive by — buildings I’ve seen a hundred times; buildings I know I’m about to pass and that won’t have…
Unless you’re a comic fanatic, a Mary Kay representative, or a hardcore Trekkie, chances are you haven’t haunted the halls of a convention center in a while. But don’t let that stop you from exploring the new public art projects installed earlier this year at downtown Phoenix’s impressively expanded Convention…
Artlink, Rosson House Foundation and local artist Sean Deckert have joined forces to put together yet another addition to First Friday. Only this time, we’re getting back to our roots.For the first Friday art walk in September, Heritage Square Park will host its first outdoor art gallery, scheduled for every…
You know how little boys make fun of girls for having dolls, and then go and play with “action figures” themselves? A similar thing happened with the now famous KidRobot Munny figure, a cute, bulbous little vinyl doll that comes totally naked. (Remove head from gutter. It’s blank so artists…
Macehualli Day Labor Center Director Salvador Reza is in a pinch: Despite valiant fund raising efforts, the 6-year-old day labor center is in imminent danger of closing due to financial woes. The story could easily be the subject of local writer James Garcia’s plays, so it’s only appropriate that the…
Awww, it’s a miniature flower…soooo cuuuuute!Take something, make it little and it’s automatically ten times more appealing. Have you seen those tiny Coke cans? Adorable! Or how about Converse shoes for toddlers? I look at those things and my heart melts. And then, of course, we can’t forget babies. Baby…
First, a quick happy note: Childsplay has received donations of vehicle repair, maintenance, and a promotional color van wrap from Purcell Tire, FastSigns, and the reality show NASCAR Angels. This fabulous collection of valuable services will greatly benefit the award-winning professional children’s theater (which tours like a mofo so that…
Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff will dedicate a memorial to astronomer Robert Burnham, Jr. on Saturday, August 15. Almost 12 years ago — in September, 1997 — it was Phoenix NewTimes that shocked astronomers around the world with news that Burnham had died four years earlier and almost no one knew…
Between this, this and this, I don’t know what other incentive New Times has to provide in order to get you out of the house tonight.But, if you’re still unsure (what’s wrong with you, anyway? Agoraphobia?), I’ve got one last blog with which I will try to bait you…
Roosevelt Row can be a little overwhelming on First Friday. Every month, I wade my way through a sea of people for a couple hours, then burn out and head home. Of course, I inevitably miss a couple items on my “to see” list. This Friday will be jam-packed for…
Ivan Neville was almost famous once. His 1988 album If My Ancestors Could See Me Now featured the soul-pop gems “Falling Out of Love” and “Not Just Another Girl,” the latter which cracked the Billboard Top 40. His pop-star career stalled after that, but if you’re a member of the…
he ultra-contentious issue of illegal immigration has divided our community into warring camps: sign-toting nativists versus pro-Latino supporters. While it’s unlikely the parties will reach common ground anytime soon, both sides might enjoy Pro Wrestling Revolution’s luche libre night at Celebrity Theatre. Por que? Because the main event is a…
Maybe we keep bad company, but most people we know judge weddings on only two criteria: the quality of food and the quantity of alcohol. If you’re looking to get a head start on your night of gluttony and binge-drinking, uh, wedding planning, make your way to US Airways Center…
Now in her 50th year, Barbie, festooned in all kinds of lavish outfits, has had more special editions than Star Wars. In comparison, Munny is the hard-scrabble kid from the wrong side of the tracks, as bare as the day the eight-inch vinyl figure was created by toy juggernaut Kid…
“I started going to the library doing what most people do: looking at books,” says Phoenix photographer Peter Sills. “One of the things I noticed was the incredible northern light. It started to become my photo studio.” Hence the new “Peter Sills: Library Portraits 2009” exhibit. Sills’ large color prints…
“I started going to the library doing what most people do: looking at books,” says Phoenix photographer Peter Sills. “One of the things I noticed was the incredible northern light. It started to become my photo studio.” Hence the new “Peter Sills: Library Portraits” exhibit. Sills’ large color prints are…
What’s the difference between the transient pervert who sits outside the Circle K with a mirror on his shoe and a celeb like Kid Rock? Money, of course, or at least the appearance of having it. Hollywood hip-hop has taken this highly offensive subculture even further, bumming lyrics from the…
