The 2006 feature-film debut of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck tracks the waning days of the East Berlin secret police (Stasi) and the all-powerful control the organization exerted over the citizens of the German Democratic Republic in the days prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Wed., Jan. 28, 6:30…
A plea to the National Hockey League: Stop. Just stop now. Stop what, you ask? The blasted regular season. If you call it quits pronto, the Phoenix Coyotes will make the playoffs, something the team hasn’t accomplished since 2002. But once the ’yotes begin the second half of their season…
It’s mid-January, which means that about 35 percent of Americans have already broken their New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you’re still doing crunches and avoiding carbs, but if you’re like us, you’re already tucked into a giant meatball hoagie watching the latest episode of The Mentalist. Luckily, we can keep our…
In 1939, before Capitol and Motown, some fine fellows named Alfred Lion, Max Margulis, and Francis Wolff started a little jazz label. Blue Note, as it was called, continues to crank out hits by unforgettable artists, ranging from Thelonious Monk and Clifford Brown to Madlib and Norah Jones. On Wednesday,…
Valley sports lovers have a lot to celebrate right now, with the once-laughable Arizona Cardinals hustling their way from the toilet bowl to the Super Bowl. But forget football: Fans of the pigskin are a bunch of beer-swilling slobs. Who wants to celebrate the glory of sports with that lot?…
It’s common practice for big-name bands, à la U2 and the Stones, to sell out stadiums not merely across North America, but on a worldwide scale, as well. When it comes to comedians, however, inherent subtleties of material or persona are often lost in translation. Chris Rock comes close to…
Before tax specialists H&R Block admitted to overstating its earnings for 2003 and 2004 by $91.1 million, founder Henry W. Block used to appear in its TV commercials, itemizing “the 17 reasons why you should let us prepare your income tax.” Taking a subliminal cue from the Block head himself,…
There’s nothing like being in a public place without the public. We’ve achieved this higher state of being twice, and we’re not about to tell you where or how. Find your own deserted public crib to crash. As an example, take the Phoenix Zoo, a facility that’s difficult to navigate…
One of photography’s powers is the ability to mythologize and exoticize space, inviting viewers to journey afar by psychic means. The images in “Odyssey: The Photographs of Linda Connor” – an exhibit featuring 70 of the artist’s works spanning the last three decades to the present – have this kind…
Three Girls by Michael Carson. Sometimes, it’s the familiar things in life that bring the most comfort. Your old neighborhood, a worn in pair of jeans or the sweet, sweet sound of the air conditioner lulling you to sleep in the summer…so niiiiice!Same goes for art. While I’m always down…
Say it out loud, hookers: “Dixie Longate.” Mmmm, they sure do. Photo by Bradford Rogne. Hey, it’s another one-person off-Broadway touring show that features a lot of audience interaction. This trend is probably a good thing, with all these big expensive new Valley venues to fill up with stuff. So the late Spalding…
Saturday Night’s Poe Show, a macabre fiesta put on by local lit group Anthology, Inc. in celebration of Poe’s 200th b-day, was completely sold out. The dude was rumored to be a drunk, a drug addict, a pedophile — although his marriage to a 13-year-old cousin makes that last one kind of…
Get ready for a whole lotta this…I realize Art Detour, the annual weekend-long downtown art event, is a way’s off. The spectator’s portion of the weekend doesn’t happen until March 7th and 8th. But, if you want to be a participant this 21st year of Art Detour, you better get…
Eduardo Montalvo, David Tinsley, and Jade Johnson in Revenge of a King. Photo by Laura Durant. Messing with Shakespeare can be a very good thing. It introduces audiences to a variety of genres and styles of theater that they might have overlooked or avoided in the past. The cross-pollination runs…
Where will you be watching Sunday’s big game?Tomorrow is shaping up to be one of the biggest days in Phoenix sports history. It all depends, of course, on how well the Arizona Cardinals do against the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s NFC Championship game. Will the Red Birds defy the predictions…
It’s Chihuly…again! Check our fabulous slideshow.Well, Arty Girl got caught in the crossfire between two other bloggers in the Valley and, consequently, was called out on dropping the ball on today’s previous Arty Girl blog.The free weekend at the Desert Botanical Garden has apparently been booked up, as was pointed…
Will there be a special Academy Award for Best Aryan Costume Design this year? Everywhere you turn in the movies, it’s swastika flags and SS uniforms. Although the Holocaust movie has been on hiatus for a while, it seems lately as if everyone is trying to squeeze in their Schindler’s…
Notorious, about a crack dealer who becomes an iconic rapper who becomes a tragic legend, is the first film George Tillman Jr. has directed since 2000’s Men of Honor, about a sharecropper’s son who becomes the first black diver in the Navy who becomes the first amputee to return to…
Before his death last month, Dale Wasserman was among a handful of Americans to whom the title “Broadway legend” applied — although it seems likely that the famous (and famously grumpy) playwright would have disdained that title. Yet it was true. Wasserman wrote more than a dozen plays and musicals,…
About the only thing this swank culinary experience will lack is, uh, Barack Obama. Tea Loft owners and Virginia natives Glynis and Eric Legrand aim to capture this “amazing moment in time” with an evening-long celebration to warm even the most crimson of Red State hearts. Amenities include a cocktail…
The parade in honor of the late civil-rights leader will include floats, marching bands, and pep and cheer squads. The fest, which immediately follows the procession at nearby Mesa Amphitheatre, 201 North Center Street, features three hours of tribute. Mon., Jan. 19, 11 a.m., 2009…
Three and a half decades after Spencer Block and his Swedish wife, Kerstin, opened their first tiny clothing-consignment store in Tucson (Kerstin liked the Americana-tinged sound of the word “buffalo”), the now-nationwide chain celebrates with giveaways, entertainment, and more. The Exchange at 730 East Missouri Avenue in Phoenix will also…
