Arts & Culture

Anyone who’s survived a few Phoenix summers recognizes that there’s a subtle linguistic thing going on with the phrase “under the stars.” Many arts groups fall back on it this time of year, but no one’s trying to fool you. They’re just doing the semantic shuffle to tempt you from…

Crispin Glover doesn’t want to be misquoted. He’s worried that journalists don’t understand his peculiar new film, What Is It?, so he asks that interviews about the movie be conducted via e-mail. In fact, Glover is so concerned that his oddball movie will be misunderstood that he only allows it…

When you have a successful book and a syndicated column featured in 35 newspapers, what’s a Mexican to do next? Well, we asked the Mexican, and here’s what he told us: see the country and meet the ones who made you famous. “Without my readers, I’d be just another unemployed…

One review of the flick She’s Got It – which opens the Celebrating Israel at 60 Film Festival – used the descriptors “goofy,” “adorable,” and “hijinks ensue.” These are not notions typically associated with Israel, that shy, studious nation that grew up to work for Mossad, but Yankul “Jacob” Goldwasser…

We recently discovered that we’ve been taking Dennis Rowland for granted, especially after the most prominent straight-ahead jazz vocalist in town schooled us last month during an effing amazing rendition of “Lush Life.” Since that night, we’ve been scouring the Internet looking for upcoming performances. The place he, and we,…

You knew this day was coming. Ever since America’s favorite acronym hit the mainstream in America’s quintessential get drunk/get laid flick American Pie, you knew your perv fantasies would leap from the big screen and into real life. Be a real-life Stifler during the Hot Mom Contest. Fridays. Starts: April…

Mike Park boasts quite the résumé. He fronted the legendary ska-punk band Skankin’ Pickle, founded the Plea for Peace Foundation – which is Park’s effort “to promote the ideas of peace and unity through music” – and established Asian Man Records, a bastion for affordably priced releases from ska, punk,…

Digital Summer is one of the most popular bands in the Valley. Their shows attract hundreds of screaming fans who crowd the stage and sing along with such hard-rockin melodic songs as “Suffocate” and “Sweet Misery.” Their stage antics involve a lot of high-energy leaps and bounds. Get a taste…

If Peter Pan owned a gallery, it would be Trunk Space, that Neverland on Grand. Our dauntless Lost Kids strike again on with their SuperFun Activity Challenge!, featuring the unveiling of artist books “inspired by those thick, cheaply made coloring books from days of yore,” says Trunk’s Wendy – er,…

Thirteen, an unlucky number to many, is actually an impressive figure if you’re talking about the life span of a typical indie business in Phoenix. Maybe that’s why Arizona’s most renowned tattoo/piercing destination is throwing a big-ass party to celebrate its 13th birthday. The Club Tattoo Anniversary Party goes off…

Oh, the lovely, majestic butterfly. There isn’t a person in the world who could hate these gorgeous critters. They give unattractive people hope that morphing from a fat blob to a stunning beaut is, indeed, possible. Little kids love them because they’re reminded of the dramatic climax to Eric Carle’s…

In this hell-ride of a season, the ASU Baseball team is looking to play somebody (anybody!) that isn’t a powerhouse program. You’d think that Loyola Marymount would provide said relief. Not so, as the 2008 Lions have chalked up impressive wins against Oregon State, USC, and Cal. Sat., May 10,…

Heed our command, insignificant humans: Attend Pagan Fest USA or we lords of Asgard shall smite thee with our mighty gavel, Mjolnir! The thundering Norse beasts we have selected to pummel your puny Midgard include Finnish “Viking metal” bands Ensiferum and Turisas, Switzerland’s Eluveitie, Germany’s Suidakra, and the terrifying Tyr…

We were leaning against the DJ booth at Homme for the Thursday-night weekly FALLOUT when someone’s shadow sidled up and queried, “So, you a rivethead or a cybergoth?” Granted, we were wearing a black, nylon trench coat, but honey, please, it’s a Marc Jacobs. We quickly turned, unhinged our jaw,…

Get a sneak peek — a free one at that — at this Arizona-made film from UofA alum Georgina Garcia Riedel. The movie, which opens nationally May 16, centers on three generations of women in a Mexican-American family. A reception precedes at 7. Tue., May 13, 7:30 p.m., 2008…

The planetarium’s sky has been dark for more than six months during renovation, but the facility’s back — and looking pretty slick — after a big-time makeover. New features include a state-of-the-art NanoSeam Dome that provides 3-D and high-def graphics, a Digistar 3 projection system and astronomy package, a Bowen…

By Joseph Golfen Art is all about trying new things. Artists at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursday stuck to that concept as they explored the relatively untapped potential of magnets. Local art groups such as Alpha Monster Art Collective, Spraygraphics and Consp!re turned out for the launch…

By Jonathan McNamara Let’s cut to the chase here. There are a lot of great things going on this weekend, but none of them are as important as seeing Mini Kiss as written about in our Cinco De Mayo Guide. I saw a video of this awesome foursome on Jimmy…

If there’s one celebration that P-Town knows how to do with style, it’s Cinco de Mayo. Nearly everyone in the Valley’s gonna be living la vida loca and feting Latino culture nonstop from Thursday, May 1, until Monday, May 5. Myriad Mexican-themed parties are on tap around the PHX, offering…