Much like “hilarious Islamic comedy” or “sublime Affleck picture,” the term “terrific second sequel” isn’t bandied about too much. Name one. Took you a minute, didn’t it? Don’t be ashamed — there are probably support groups for fans of Smokey and the Bandit III. Generally, creative juices are drained by…
DreamWorks’ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas pulls into port but a week before Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the theme-park-ride-inspired, Jerry Bruckheimer-produced spectacle that bears a screenplay co-written by the very men responsible for last year’s Disney-made animated flop Treasure Planet, a…
The first question on the minds of most potential viewers of Owning Mahowny is probably something along the lines of “What’s up with that spelling? Who spells Mahoney’ with a w’?” Do the marketing people think we somehow won’t get that it rhymes with “owning” if there isn’t a w’…
For all the reverence shown to horses in American culture, precious few of us stop to consider what happens to them once they slip past their prime. Suffice it to say that the answer isn’t always pretty. Keenly aware that older horses that are no longer wanted or needed, but…
Thursday, July 3 Make the most out of your long weekend on Thursday, July 3, when the Lake Pleasant Fireworks Show offers a head start on Independence Day festivities. Starting at 4 p.m., head to either side of the lake (Pleasant Harbor to the east or Maricopa County Park to…
“Freedom is just chaos, with better lighting.” Even if one agrees with writer Alan Dean Foster’s assertion, there’s hardly cause for complaint. Liberty, bedlam, and the ever-flattering rocket’s red glare — sounds like a party to us. This Friday, July 4, a score of civic celebrations light up the Valley…
7/4-7/26 This month, when First Friday coincides with Independence Day, eye lounge tempers blind patriotism with more personal interpretations of what America is all about. “Our American Life,” opening Friday, July 4, offers artistic perspectives from Linda Lewis and Rebecca Blume, two eye lounge members, as well as guest artist…
ONGOING Women, if the thought of shooting a gun triggers anxiety, consider this: In her act with the Wild West Show, Annie Oakley used to shoot cigarettes out of her husband’s mouth. That’s just one possible benefit of learning to handle a firearm at the free Annie Oakley Sure Shots…
ONGOING Behold poetry in commotion every Thursday night at Tempe’s Priceless Inn, when The Blunt Club mishmashes a spoken word competition with DJ music, fine art and intoxicating atmosphere. Hosted by Bionic Jive’s Emerge McVay, the spoken word slam carries cash prizes, the better to take advantage of the evening’s…
The curtain has fallen on another theater season, one that featured a couple of world premieres, the usual dozen-odd Neil Simon retreads, and a handful of pleasant surprises. Chief among those surprises was that the most stunning productions of the season came from one of our tiniest companies. Nearly Naked…
There’s a sign near the front door of the Beehler residence that reads, “Welcome to the house full of babies.” They’re not kidding. Two years ago, Stacey and David Beehler, after more than a decade of trying to get pregnant, became the proud parents of quadruplets. But Stacey’s only stretch…
As the Columbia Pictures logo looms large in frame till its torch becomes the focal point, we find ourselves in what appears to be a tent full of sweaty medieval warriors forging axes, and have to wonder: Did they already make another Scorpion King movie and not tell us? No,…
It’s the end of the world as we know it, and it’s all PETA’s fault. Oh, we humored those wacky vegan extremists when they threw paint at rich bitches in hideously overpriced fur coats. We laughed when they’d come on conservative talk radio shows every Thanksgiving to get mocked for…
Once in a while a film comes along that is as sound, smart, sweet and significant as can be, and Whale Rider is such a film. Fault the project on various counts if you like (I’ll try), but ultimately the tale is beyond reproach, a bane to cynics and a…
“How do his pants never come off?” Kathleen Thomas says with a laugh as, onscreen at the Arizona Center, pent-up microbiologist Bruce Banner makes his second transformation into The Hulk. Time and again, the brooding scientist burst through his clothes on his way to becoming a house-sized bundle of green…
Wet Paint Art Supply & Gallery could be one of the best things to happen to Tempe’s underground culture since Mill Avenue went corporate. Located in downtown Tempe, right across the street from Arizona State University, Wet Paint is the brainchild of artist Jess Jordan. It didn’t take Jordan long…
Tuesday, June 26 It doesn’t have to be the weekend to go out and shake your booty. Every Thursday night, Flavor pumps out house, hip-hop and drum and bass courtesy of two-thirds of the legendary Bombshelter DJs, Emile and Radar (who won “Best DJ” in this year’s New Times Music…
Imagine you’re writing a novel set in Victorian England. After spending two intense years of working — limiting yourself to reading only literature from the period, listening only to music from that time — what happens when you’re done? If you’re author Melissa Pritchard, your liberation from period fiction inspires…
6/28-11/2 “Seven,” the latest exhibition in Phoenix Art Museum’s Fashion Design Gallery, includes fashions so avant-garde that they are scarcely available outside of the Manhattan boutique that is the show’s namesake. The group of seven featured designers – Bernard Wilhelm, Bless, As Four, Boudicca, Cosmic Wonder, Imitation of Christ and…
Sat 6/28 Ever dreamed of getting up close and personal with a Laker Girl? Or perhaps soothing that freaky mascot obsession in the company of such high-flying characters as the NBA’s Hugo the Hornet and Turbo the Rocket — all the while basking in the glow of sports celebrities past…
Sat 6/28 In any civilization, art and science gleam as facets of the same jewel — the people’s progress. In our civilization, families can shine at ASU Art Museum’s Family Fun Day, where creativity and technology combine in a free day of activities and exhibits. Held in the museum’s cool…
Sat 6/28 While the first wave of hot rodders set a standard for fast cars, teens and twenty-somethings these days are building sweet rides on their own terms. Classics and muscle cars are growing scarce (not to mention more expensive), so they’ve satisfied the need for speed with souped-up four-cylinder…
