With Frida — the story of profoundly passionate and uncompromising Mexican-Jewish painter Frida Kahlo — it’s evident that a few folks in marketing know how to work the demographics (it’ll be extremely PC, possibly mandatory, to gush in adoration of it), but that’s the first and last cynical comment of…
It’s possibly more ironic than Brian De Palma realizes that his latest movie, Femme Fatale, features a down-on-her-luck mother who was “replaced” seven years ago by her less benevolent, reputation-destroying, jewel-stealing doppelgänger (both are played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, who was apparently recommended to De Palma by Rollerball director John McTiernan)…
The current TV ad campaign for the sleeper hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding plays cleverly on the film’s cross-cultural appeal by substituting the words Italian, Jewish and Russian for Greek. The implication: A person from any ethnic or religious background will relate to this story’s characters, drama and humor…
Until the Brazilian dance instructors featured on an episode of The Simpsons unveil their promised “la Penetrada,” the tango will remain the world’s sexiest dance. Argentina’s native dance is enjoying a stirring surge in popularity, thanks in large part to Tango Pasión. The spirited musical has been igniting audiences worldwide…
The creative process never ends — that’s the secret behind the success of Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion, a lush, dramatic performance combining traditional aspects of the circus with dance, theater and acrobatics, staged in the Montreal troupe’s signature avant-garde style. Just as a musician improvises on a song’s theme or…
David Hans Schmidt won’t drink with me. The infamous media flack is determined to be a model parolee, so he talks me into leaving Devil’s Martini and joining him at his place, where we sip parole-sanctioned bottled water. Schmidt has been a free man for less than two weeks, and…
My favorite characters in Neil Simon’s Rumors are Charlie and Myra, because they never once take the stage. They are only ever talked about, never seen — a condition that might improve this tired farce if it were to exist in every corner. Phoenix Theatre last week joined the parade…
The Santa Clause, released at the height of Home Improvement’s popularity, played like a Very Special Holiday Episode of that now-defunct television series — what might have happened if an eggnog-saturated Tim Taylor fell asleep with visions of sugarplums in his head and woke up sporting a white beard and…
Now here’s an innovative narrative: Two shticky goofs of different races get stuck with a ridiculous mission and must overcome their mutual antagonism to save the day. Been there? Done that? You bet! Yet somehow, amazingly, the new I-Spy dishes out fresh and funny antics while simultaneously spewing forth the…
If you’re a fan of the baseball-cap-wearin’, Nader-votin’, muckrakin’, best-sellin’, corporation-confrontin’ son of a gun known as Michael Moore, all you need to know about his latest film, Bowling for Columbine, is that it’s more of the same. You know, the mix of easy humor, political pot shots, attempts (some…
If death is the great equalizer, then perhaps no other tradition is as welcoming as Día de los Muertos, Mexico’s Day of the Dead, devoted to the memory of ancestors. After all, says Carmen de Novais, “the only sure thing about life is death.” De Novais is an active member…
Nothing rose-tints Matthew Yenkala’s world more than that quintessential ritual for creatures of the night — an interactive performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. As the “self-appointed archivist and historian of all things Rocky in the Valley,” Yenkala is proud to have an instrumental role in reviving local showings…
If you’d like to see some extraordinary art by someone whose name has all but vanished from the art world, go to Vanier Gallery and look into the paintings and drawings of Jochen Seidel. Seidel has been called “the German Jackson Pollock” and “a unique link between German and American…
From the stage of Phoenix College’s John Paul Theatre, the Black Theatre Troupe has scored another triumph. The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae is a smartly executed, vividly written political satire full of sharp performances. It’s a morality play that’s never preachy; a…
Thespians, take note: Barbara Harris has moved to town, and she’s hung up her teaching shingle. Local acting students could do worse; Harris’ brief but notable Broadway career snagged her a Tony Award for The Apple Tree in 1967, and she was nominated for her role in On a Clear…
Punch-Drunk Love is a Paul Thomas Anderson film — Paul Thomas Anderson of Magnolia and Boogie Nights fame. It is also an Adam Sandler film — Adam Sandler of Little Nicky and The Wedding Singer fame. In terms of story, it has far more in common with Sandler’s previous work…
Once more, it all boils down to the stamps — which, if you have seen Stanley Donen’s 1963 comic-thriller Charade, nearly ruins the last 10 minutes of Jonathan Demme’s remake, The Truth About Charlie. But Demme isn’t at all concerned with such mundane things as shock-’em finales; he won’t be…
Listen up, retards: Killing time is over. Melt down your weapons, now, forever. Wouldn’t it be nice if that sentiment echoed around the world? Well, certainly it does, every day, but weapons have a nasty tendency of drowning out sensible words. For this reason — now more than ever –…
The word on the street is that members of a grassroots movement will be mounting a big display at Phoenix City Hall on Monday, October 28. But expect a bold artistic statement, not a political one: Artlink, the volunteer-run downtown arts organization, is holding its Sixth Annual Juried Exhibition, a…
“You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese’ in France? A Royale with Cheese.'” — John Travolta in Pulp Fiction For every word or phrase in the English language, there is an equivalent in every other language . . . right? Or is it that sometimes there are…
A year ago, architect Bill Tonnesen launched a career in modern art. His 12-month goal: to create 100 significant pieces, and to land a one-man show in a notable gallery. He chronicled his experience in the self-published Tonnesen: 12 Months to Fame and Fortune in the Art World. The book…
Much like a psychic, a cinema critic must look throug h a movie and see the other side. In the case of the new thriller The Ring — a remake of the 1998 Japanese hit Ringu — the formative forces swim into focus without effort. There’s a DreamWorks boardroom, some…
