It is rare to find a film that defies one’s expectations as sweetly and satisfyingly as this coming-of-age comedy-drama from first-time feature writer-director Peter Sollett. The surprise isn’t in the plot — that would be too easy — but, rather, in the extraordinarily subtle and convincing ways the characters grow…
“I’m guessing this is pretty much the point of this movie, the reason it was made,” says Bob Hoag, sounding disappointed. The lead singer of Go Reflex and all-around impresario behind the thriving Mesa rock music scene is sitting in a theater at Superstition Springs Center. On screen, meanwhile, two…
Toe tappers all around the world decided about eight years ago that it was high time for an entire week dedicated to dance. So they put their jazz hands together and created National Dance Week, designated as the last week in April each year. They’re currently still lobbying for national…
Thursday, May 1 Film Forward, a new film series at Madstone Theaters, offers the freshest batch of independent films to hit the Valley since the Phoenix Film Festival. Featuring two debut movies every two weeks starting Thursday, May 1, the series offers the only chance to see these films locally…
This weekend’s Cinco de Mayo Phoenix Festival is set to celebrate Mexico’s 1862 Battle of Puebla victory in a big way: by piling up the world’s largest plate of nachos. Some 200,000 revelers are expected at the three-day fiesta, where the chips will be stacked so high that the Guinness…
Thu 5/1 We’ve thought long and hard about it — there’s no other puppet show quite like Puppetry of the Penis. When was the last time you saw such a ballsy performance?There’s a strong buzz about this stage show that’s selling out theaters from London to New York to Los…
Sat 5/3 Hide your heaps — Bigfoot’s a-thundering this way. Be there! Be there! Be there! — on Saturday, May 3, at 7 p.m. as Gravedigger, Bounty Hunter, Maximum Destruction, Scarlet Bandit, Monster Mutt and more roar into town for the Coors Monster Truck and Jet Car Jam at Firebird…
5/1-5/11 The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks, a powerful Japanese folktale turned children’s play, begins when a cruel lord captures a Mandarin duck because he covets his exquisite plumage. When a kitchen servant sees that the enforced captivity is destroying the bird’s beauty, she frees him, causing the evil lord…
5/1-5/31 Plump infants, a Pietà scene and a man meditating in the lotus position are among the timeless images in artist Casey McKee’s latest exhibition, “Iconoclast,” which he suggests reflects a new direction in his work. “It’s a series I’ve been thinking about for at least a year and a…
Wed 5/7 Anyone who missed the wonderful documentary Buena Vista Social Club, about the fantastic musicians and music of Cuba, has a chance to more than make up for the karmic deficit by attending what promises to be a brilliant performance by the Afro-Cuban All Stars at 8 p.m. Wednesday,…
Those of us who haven’t endured small-town life or anyone who believes that hate crimes aren’t high on the list of human failings will want to see The Laramie Project, an invigorating examination of hatred and backward thinking. And fans of first-rate theater won’t want to miss what Stray Cat…
In nature, living things prey upon each other all the time. Humanity, on the other hand, has a choice. It’s flouting this choice that turns on director Gaspar Noé. In his latest project, Irréversible, he basically swipes Christopher Nolan’s backward-narrative structure from Memento to tell a lurid tale of rape…
In Confidence, Edward Burns plays Jake Vig, a con artist whose body temperature runs a few degrees below normal. Even when things seem to go bad, when a would-be partner betrays him with a phone call or a seedy-greedy Dustin Hoffman lays maybe-gay and grubby paws all over him, Burns…
Imagine a large, dead Saint Bernard with its bones removed. Then visualize a hefty bellows inserted into it from behind, with a gorilla hopping up and down on it, causing the huge dog’s baglike corpse to twitch spasmodically, wheeze and croak. Voilà, this is today’s Nick Nolte. What’s amazing is…
Spending 33 years in Chinese prison and labor camps would fill any person’s heart with rage. Only the strongest spirit could survive such treatment. But Palden Gyatso not only survived, he continues on as a practicing Buddhist who wouldn’t wish harm on anyone. When he was finally released from prison…
Thursday, 24 You can’t help but be stunned by the incredible imagination of author Jasper Fforde, whose best-selling novel The Eyre Affair took readers on a fantastic journey with heroine Thursday Next, the “literary detective” who delves into the pages of the world’s great books to save the day. Now…
There’s a new king in town. This weekend, the city of Chandler, once a cotton-growing capital, hosts jazz royalty at the Chandler Jazz Festival. “We turn downtown Chandler into Bourbon Street,” says city spokesman Bart Salzman. From Friday, April 25, through Sunday, April 27, bands groove in five restaurants and…
4/25-4/27 One of the more interesting aspects of this particular planet’s people is the way we compartmentalize ourselves into identifiable groups. Nations are formed; flags are waved; and beliefs, customs and practices become identifiable over time as part of individual cultures. The word “culture” also can mean the enlightenment and…
4/25-4/27 Tempe’s finally found a perfect sport to host: AVP Pro Beach Volleyball hits the (imported) sand at Tempe Town Lake Friday, April 25, through Sunday, April 27. Young, tanned athletes who compete in swimwear, then go out and party at night, are so much more appropriate for Playboy’s “number-one…
4/26-4/27 The Arizona Science Center is making a big stink, and kids with a nose for fun will want to get more than a whiff. A two-day salute to the fifth sense, the center’s Sense of Smell Weekend engages little learners with hands-on activities. Visitors can make soap from unconventional…
Sat 4/26 “…My father had a foot in each country, where the mud on each boot caked the same, and the dirt sifted the same through each hand. And the earth had but one scent, and as far as he could see . . . the vista was unbroken.”So begins…
They were loud once, deafeningly so–and dumbingly so, if such a thing is possible. They wore skins of leather stuffed with cucumbers of foil, towered over dwarves who danced around a Stonehenge made of pebbles, sang about women who fit like flesh tuxedos and explored the majesty of rock and…
