Two things about the Thermals: The Portland, Oregon indie-punk band made its first album, 2003’s More Parts Per Million, for approximately six dollars (they recorded it at home on six one-dollar cassettes) and it was released virtually as-is by Sub Pop; and prior to forming the group, Thermals principals Hutch…
Linda Hattendorf’s documentary centers on 80-year-old artist Jimmy Mirikitani and the war vet’s painful journey from homelessness to healing. Sun., May 24, 1 p.m., 2009…
This’ll be good news to some, sad tidings to others: The D-Backs, sans postseason hopes that were dashed back in May, host their final home game of the season. Your last chance to see breakout star Mark Reynolds swat one out comes, fittingly, against the Diamondbacks’ National League West partners…
For those who are bummed that ASU Baseball isn’t ending the season against the Arizona Wildcats, and thus missing the chance to clinch its third consecutive outright division title against the kitty cats, don’t you think you’re getting a little greedy? You should just be thankful that the Devils are…
This Grammy-winning virtuoso violinist (who’s widely considered to be on the greatest musicians in the world) will be accompanied by the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra as they perform Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 and other compositions. Sat., May 23, 8 p.m., 2009…
In 1996, Chuck Palahniuk wrote a novel about a pussy tormented by our consumerist society who creates a fight club and, in order to get over his aforementioned lack of balls, a badass alternate personality called Tyler Durden. Years later, four dudes from Seattle named their band Forgive Durden for…
One can’t help but chuckle at Igo and the Red Elvises’ appropriation of cheesy American culture — the colorful bow-tie tuxedos, the lopsided pompadours, singer Igor Yuzov’s lounge-lizard panache. The band’s flair for fusing Russian folk music with American surf, rockabilly, and even disco led to interesting concoctions like “I…
After conducting a thorough scientific evaluation (involving an array of test tubes and beakers, a Bunsen burner, and some heavy duty tongs) of Fleetwood Mac’s 17 studio albums, I’ve concluded that the veteran Anglo-American band’s music is 8 percent classic and 92 percent booooring. You may or may not agree,…
Both warning and advertisement, the Terminator films are technophobic teases, selling tickets by promising this decade’s model of killing machine: the classic V8 1984 Schwarzenegger; the bullet-streamlined, liquid-metal ’91 Robert Patrick of T2: Judgment Day; Kristanna Loken’s 2003 T-X (with burgundy pleather upholstery). Terminator Salvation, a departure in many ways,…
Walk through SMoCA’s “Seriously Funny” exhibition and you’ll be entertained. But don’t expect every piece to make you, um, lol. At first, I was disappointed with the show. I naively thought the collection would make me cackle. But this exhibition is seriously funny — not just funny. And once I…
Writer-director Rian Johnson fashions a universe in which time is a fluid thing — where everything takes place in a familiar today and an otherworldly yesterday, where the audience is at once agreeably comfortable and inexplicably unsettled. When his characters don’t look out of place in their derbies and dusters,…
“Okay, so, the guy was like a total loser.” “No way!” “Way. His Facebook photo is like 20 years old, and he hasn’t worked since March.” “I thought this was the one!” “Yeah, me too. Not! I’m going to die old and alone.” This was the conversation that took place…
I sure do appreciate places like Hoodlums. It’s a music and movie store so it’s automatically cool and they’ve been rotating some pretty great local art. Not to mention, every art show comes with an art opening that’s not all stuffy like the fancy galleries. Nah, at Hoodlums, it always…
I’ve got to hand it to Scottsdale Public Art. Recently, they’ve been cleverly using every square inch of uninhabited space in Scottsdale for temporary public art installations created by local Valley creatives. That includes a series of installations SPA has labeled “Bell’e Art” mounted in the monastically quiet passageway slicing…
When I first heard of this exhibition, I had my doubts. Which was pretty silly of me. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with the Grand Canyon. There’s just no denying that it kicks butt.The concept for “Charting the Canyon” by Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe is quite simple…
Shannon Whirry and Steven J. Scally play people with problems in Bug. I could see from the promo photos that iTheatre Collaborative’s production of Bug re-uses Christopher Haines’ evocative cheap-motel box set from Eat the Taste earlier this season, which is great by me. I can think of several other plays that would also look…
I just told my boyfriend my idea for this blog and he said, “I think it’s good. Everyone likes round-ups…especially when you throw in a couple jokes.”Well, I’ll try…I really couldn’t pick a favorite of all the good stuff happening tonight so I thought I’d put the pressure on you…
Much blood is, indeed, let in this horror/gore fest directed by Sean Tretta (The Great American Snuff Film, Death of a Ghosthunter) and filmed in Arizona. This screening represents the world premiere of the flick, which centers on a p.o.’d mutha bent on enacting revenge on her daughter’s killer. The…
The four squads in the all-woman league — Bad News Beaters, Brawlarinas, Bruisers, and Surly Gurlies — put metal to hardwood and elbows to cheekbone in this season-ending rumble. Sat., May 16, 7:30 p.m., 2009…
Arizona Women’s Theatre Company puts the female agenda on the front burner with the 2009 version of its annual juried fest. This year, the program features staged readings of new works by 14 Arizona playwrights, including Micki Shelton, Judith Eisenberg, Mary Caroline Rogers, Julie Amparano, and Gaea Steinbach. Fri., May…
Leralee Whittle and Paul Sprawl call their nationally touring show a “multimedia performance about the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq, and American minds.” The two present the performance via song, dance and audio/video recordings. While the show is innately political, it’s worth noting, as the duo does, that Occupied is…
It’s not often an album I’ve never heard before makes me nostalgic for my high school days, let alone one that came out last year and is sang partly in Japanese. But so it was with Toybox’s five-song EP, Five Seconds To…, which really took me back. Despite the fact…
