Most of us spend our 20s trying to understand the mix of parental influence, pop culture, personality and irrevocable decisions that put us on our current path in life. Figuring out how and why you became the person you are is the most basic puzzle one can try to solve…
Roald Dahl’s inner child was evidently a contrary lad — precocious, dark-minded, contemptuous of adult supervision, and fueled by a sense of justice that often proceeded via cruel whim. In Dahl’s twisty children’s stories, villains throw kids out of windows, beautiful women turn out to be hideous witches in disguise,…
Me and You and Everyone We Know, the new film from writer/director/performance artist Miranda July, walked off with prizes at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. An audience and critical favorite, it follows an ensemble cast of characters, each of whom is longing to connect with another human being…
Movies based on comic books have become dime-a-dozen events — appropriate given that the cover price of these titles was 10 cents when they debuted decades ago. It wasn’t so long ago Warner Bros. teased the release of Richard Donner’s Superman by insisting, “You’ll believe a man can fly”; now,…
Critics of Phoenix’s downtown art scene love to bitch about how its plethora of painters, mixed-media masters and other creative types have forgone imagination and simply mailed it in. As much as scenesters would hate to admit it, it looks like those pugnacious pundits are correct, at least when it…
As a professional ghost hunter, Christopher Moon says he’s been scratched, pushed, beaten, and suffered third-degree burns courtesy of some seething spirits who refuse to cross over to the other side. Obviously, this guy can’t take a hint. On Saturday, July 16, the Valley native — and owner of Colorado-based…
SAT 7/16Dante got it wrong: There are actually 10 circles of hell, and local filmmaker Nicholas Holthaus has been there and back making Dante’s Arizona, which premières Saturday, July 16, at the Alwun House, 1204 East Roosevelt. “Four people have died during the making of this film, including my mother…
SAT 7/16Sorry to be the bearers of bad news, booze hounds, but despite having a hops-happy handle, the latest event in the Fat Tire Triathlon Series on Saturday, July 16, at Tempe Town Lake, 80 East Rio Salado Parkway, won’t include any competitive chugging of the famous amber ale or…
FRI 7/15 Throw a rock in the air this weekend and chances are you’ll find a party in honor of the July 16 release of the sixth Harry Potter installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. But you’ll find very few with their own troupe of fire-dancers as entertainment, old-school…
SAT 7/16Fans of lesbians, music, and Showtime’s The L-Word get a bite of the Big Apple on Saturday, July 16, when the cable series house band, Betty, takes the stage at Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness, 3031 East Indian School. The lovely ladies of Betty — siblings Amy and Elizabeth Ziff (cello…
“Super Heroics” by Mark Newport at Arizona State University Art Museum: Fiber artist and ASU professor Mark Newport pokes fun at traditional gender roles by using the feminine art of knitting to make manly superhero costumes. His empty Daredevil and Spiderman suits hang flaccidly from the museum walls, waiting for…
THU 14 You pretend you’re joking around, trying to be funny by singing “The Greatest Love of All” at karaoke. But your friends can tell by the spirited way you grind out, “They can’t take away my dignity!” that you’re serious about this singing thing. So why not take a…
THU 7Tequila snobs understand why “silver” tequila from the blue agave cactus beats the hell out of that cheap “gold” tequila with the gimmick worm floating around the bottom of the bottle. We’re told that silver tequila has a more intense flavor, since all of its sugars come from the…
Mark Newport makes goofy art about subjects that are anything but goofy. He knits superhero costumes from the sort of overly bright, plastic-y acrylic yarn elderly ladies sew into afghans. Aquaman, Batman, Daredevil, Spider-Man, they’re all here in his “Super Heroics” show at Arizona State University Art Museum. At least…
“Surrealism U.S.A.” at Phoenix Art Museum: This spirited exhibition that includes works by artists such as Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Joseph Cornell and Robert Motherwell is the first major survey of American surrealism in 25 years. Some of the works are as melodramatic as a 13-year-old’s art project. But whether…
Mark Newport, 40, knits costumes for the likes of Batman and Spiderman, mixing the womanly art of sewing with the manly world of superheroes, and making fun of gender stereotypes in the process. The fiber artist’s life-size costumes and embroidered comic book covers are on display in a solo exhibition…
If you’re short on reasons to be grateful these days, look no further than March of the Penguins, the astonishing if imperfect nature documentary from first-time director Luc Jacquet. Hard times may have befallen you, but at least you are not a penguin, an animal destined to repeat a devastating…
Hans Fjellestad loves making a run for the border, especially if he’s heading for Tijuana. One could conjecture the 37-year-old San Diego-based filmmaker and musician, whose documentary Frontier Life screens Friday, July 8, at Modified Arts, journeys down Mexico way for a narcotic-fueled binge of illicit behavior and sexual depravity;…
Do you ever wish Andrew W.K. would just die? Well, thanks to the creators of Punk Rock Holocaust, which screens Friday, July 8, at the Paper Heart, you can watch the W.K. and several bands on the 2003 Vans Warped Tour be murdered in disgusting, bloody, and all-around violent ways…
SUN 7/10Ever seen a melodramatic series filled with conniving story lines, sexual innuendos and wanton women who live only for sensuality? Nope, it isn’t Desperate Housewives. It’s Carmen, the 1984 film version of the famed 19th-century Georges Bizet opera. At 2 p.m. Sunday, July 10, the Phoenix Art Museum, 1625…
SAT 7/9Word on the street is that Phil Buckman, front man (okay, only man) of I Hate You When You’re Pregnant, is going to hang up the thong and go in other musical directions. Fans from Baltimore to San Pedro are preparing for a time when live performances of “Desiree”…
FRI 7/8Local junior-welterweight boxer Jesus Soto is humble about his skills in the ring. When asked about his strategy in regard to the upcoming match at Fight Night at the Den, Friday, July 8, at Glendale Arena, Soto says, “I just try to be prepared, go for the best, get…
