God bless Johnny Depp. For the second time this year, the man has almost single-handedly redeemed an action movie that would otherwise be indistinguishable from the pack. Introduced right up front in Robert Rodriguez’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico, he’s first seen dressed up like Prince in purple glasses…
Most will deny it, but inside every grown man lurks a hypersensitive adolescent girl. Allow me to tell you all about mine and to share some of my poetry . . . Whoa! Relax. Put away that gun. Just seeking to emphasize that in the case of director Catherine Hardwicke’s…
Edible clothing is always in good taste. And this Thursday evening, it’s elevated to an art form, as a dress fashioned from gumdrops hits the auction block at Artlink’s Third Annual Wearable Art Auction. When the folks developing the Phoenix Family Museum enlisted the talents of six Valley children, ages…
Mexico’s Fourth of July is September 16, commemorating the day in 1810 when Miguel Hidalgo incited the revolutionary war against Spain. Hidalgo was executed a year later, but his cry of “Mexicanos, Viva Mexico” still sounds at Fiestas Patrias celebrations. Revelry typically includes music, dancing, food, and an El Grito…
9/13-1/4 For as long as civilizations have existed, artists have shined a telling light on the social and political issues at play in their homelands. In Mexico, the folk artist has long filled the role of social commentator, documenting the struggle of a resilient people in overcoming adversity and achieving…
Sat 9/13 The name you’re given at birth can go a long way toward charting your course in life. Take the case of “Grapple Girl,” a young woman whose handle instantly ruled out any career involving ladylike comportment. Who needs manners, however, when the trilogy of martial arts, a fenced-in…
9/13-10/4 Taking the concept of a core curriculum to extremes, creepy Mrs. Gorf turns her pupils into apples. The wacky Wayside School — where the 30 classrooms were accidentally stacked vertically rather than built side-by-side — inspires a slew of such tall tales, and Childsplay Theatre Company brings them to…
Fri 9/12 During its heyday in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the sport of women’s roller derby proved that ladies with skating skills and a penchant for foul play made for great entertainment. Some 30 years later, the derby keeps a lower profile, a condition that a group of…
9/12-10/5 Putting the “community” in community theater, Teatro Bravo launches its Triple Rep Fest this weekend, addressing “important contemporary, even urgent issues of concern to various segments of our community,” according to artistic director Guillermo Reyes. Arizona’s only bilingual theater company opens the curtain Friday, September 12, with an 8…
Tursday, September 11 Two years ago, after the terrorist attacks on New York and near Washington, D.C., people truly started to wonder if it would ever be possible to laugh again. It took some time, but we completely regained our chuckling capacity — thank goodness. On Thursday, September 11, commemorate…
Kathy Taylor is not a nut-box. She’s an artist who mixes the ashes of your dead pet into paint, and then uses the concoction to create a portrait of the late Bowser (or Spot or Boots or whomever) for all to admire. Taylor, who can also make a clay vessel…
The theater season is about to start — and not a moment too soon. With next to no theater to look at for the past several months, I’ve taken to watching television — and the worst possible programs, too. It’s with more than a little shame that I admit to…
The 1990-’95 run of Saturday Night Live, when the show was a playground populated by the likes of Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Dana Carvey, Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Kevin Nealon, Mike Myers and David Spade, was a low point in a show with a longer history of making you groan…
As one who assesses creative works, you try to separate the individual artist from the output they produce. Watching Bedtime for Bonzo, you don’t want to think about Reaganomics. Viewing The Pianist tends to produce thoughts of the Holocaust, not of drugged and raped girls. Going back a little further,…
Dino Hawkins, a.k.a. “Volume 10,” has dedicated his life to the art of hip-hop in its purest form. Spending late nights at the Good Life Café in Los Angeles’ Crenshaw district, Dino saw bands such as Jurassic 5, The Pharcyde, and Freestyle Fellowship take off and make names for themselves…
Thursday, September 4 If you still haven’t had a chance to see Phoenix Art Museum’s exhibition “Sculpture in Silk: Costumes From Japan’s Noh Theater,” Thursday, September 4, is the perfect time. That’s when Janet Baker, the museum’s curator of Asian art, gives 30-minute ArtBreaks talks at noon and 7 p.m…
For all its amazing qualities, one of the great failings of the human race is its consistent inability to balance its needs with those of nature. The result of mankind’s rape-and-pillage attitude toward the environment can be seen in the ecological struggles of an ever-growing number of areas worldwide, struggles…
9/5-9/30 How low can LoDo go? Lower than you’d expect from a cutting-edge gallery: 100 smackers. To celebrate its new name and nonprofit status, downtown’s Studio LoDo/Phoenix Center for Contemporary Art greets the fall arts season with “The $100 Show.” Launching with a 7 p.m. reception on First Friday, September…
9/8-9/14 A new hobby can be like a mail-order bride — before you know you like ’em, you’re committed. The prospect of pricey lessons and equipment, not to mention a whole new sports trousseau, can keep you from an activity you just might love. Problem solved at Come Out and…
Sun 9/7 This weekend, make tracks and make a difference. In recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Build-A-Bear Workshop, the interactive stuffed animal store, is inviting kids in 10 cities to join in the Nikki’s Bear Walk-A-Thon for Children’s Cancer. Valley families step up to the plate Sunday, September 7,…
9/5-9/30 The Patriot Act may have inspired concern about American society becoming an Orwellian nightmare, but Big Brother already lives — and he looks just like the late pro wrestler Andre the Giant. Leading the conspiracy, or rather, the art movement, is Shepard Fairey, whose subversive fame started with his…
9/10-9/14 A librarian’s search takes him far beyond the card catalogue in Underneath the Lintel, the off-Broadway hit being co-produced by ASU West’s Department of Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance and the Valley’s new nonprofit iTheatre Collaborative. Hailed as “a wonderful metaphor for life’s meaning,” Glen Berger’s play tracks an obsessed…
