On Oscar night, do you ever wonder why you’ve rarely heard of, much less seen, any of the nominees for Best Foreign Film? Let’s be frank. Phoenix is not a hotbed of international cinema. But this weekend, the first Scottsdale International Film Festival provides an opportunity to catch up with…
As soon as you walk in the door, you can tell that Cowtown Skateboards is run by a bunch of skateboard-loving purists. What gives us that notion? Ah, could it be the unavoidable wall-o-boards, covered from floor to ceiling in colorful, shiny new decks? Everything else in the store is…
Parents can get a bite in edgewise at Chevys because the kids will be happily occupied with an assortment of activities. Chevys goes beyond the standard crayons-and-placemat handouts, throwing in a ball of raw tortilla dough (sometimes the crayons are stuck in it) that doubles as Play-Doh when the placemat…
Never having another kid’s birthday party at home, even if the stains did come out of the rug after the umpteenth cleaning? Looking for something more memorable and, God forbid, more meaningful than cardboard pizza and head-splitting video games at the usual locales? For little ones 10 and older, this…
This wonderful store with the awkward name (most patrons just call it “Piggy” and leave it at that) has the funkiest, hippest collection of clothes for the preschool and grade-school set. Grown women have been heard requesting some of the more fashion-forward girls’ items in grown-up sizes, but the real…
The summer heat demands that you keep the kids inside, hour after pent-up hour, day after frustrating day. Don’t throw yourself under the wheels of a train. Just throw yourself near the train — in this pretty park with a restored historic train depot, an antique carousel and a clock…
Nothing against Raffi, who surely means well, but his and other children’s CDs are really not meant for adult ears. So tell your tiny tot to just grow up . . . because we happen to live in a city with a really topnotch classical radio station. Let your tyke…
We love the fact that Pure Style Kids is just across the breezeway from Three Dog Bakery — a shop offering the ultimate indulgences for Fido. Those of you making the transition from Dog Mom to Real Mom will find it much easier after a trip through Pure Style Kids…
How can one small person require so much stuff? Traveling with an infant requires more gear than a rock concert — babies should have their own roadies to help them set up when they arrive for a vacation at Grandma’s house. With Baby Boom Rentals, a visiting entourage can bring…
A small but hip section of this unassuming strip mall comes alive on Friday nights with teens and preteens sporting big shoes and baggy shorts. In addition to the 24-screen AMC theater with valet parking, there’s Coffee Society for non-alcoholic, caffeinated refreshment. As You Wish can keep artistic hands busy…
Whether you’re partial to that sweet young thing from the ’80s, Ms. Pac-Man, or you need to burn up a little testosterone with Virtua Cop 2, you can conquer the universe of your choice at Video Roundup, an independently owned video arcade that’s been around for more than a decade…
We chose Kidstop after rigorous scientific testing, which can be duplicated by anyone with access to a 3-year-old. Simply turn the child loose in any toy store while you shop for another kid’s birthday present. If the range of merchandise is good enough and the staff is helpful enough, you’ll…
New attractions here have turned a fun but standard amusement park into the ultimate kiddy attraction. Golfland/Sunsplash is a one-stop entertainment center that will manage to please vanloads of multi-aged kids with different interests. Golfland, which is open all year and charges fees in the neighborhood of $4 to $6.25…
On September 13, at 11:30 a.m., Bryce Zabel was to have met with USA Network executives about a miniseries he was pitching to the cable outlet. Zabel, creator of such television shows as Dark Skies and The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, had the conference on his calendar for weeks. But,…
Okay, kids, pop quiz. Fill in the blanks in these sentences:1) In Phoenix, the __________ have “a virtual monopoly of the gardening trade . . . perform most of the household work, and all of the laundry business.” 2) “The _________ have a faculty of locating in the most favored…
Ellie Black, who is Navajo, and Isabella Mannone-Bertuccio, who is Italian, cook for the same reasons that Mary Kay Pallo and B.J. Hernandez, who are artists, also cook: because there is something wonderful and rewarding about preparing food that is good to eat. More than anything, it is this shared…
Best Kids’ Free Fun Spot Kiwanis Park Recreation Center 6111 South All-America Way, Tempe 480-350-5201 Best Kids’ Fun-at-a-price Spot Castles-n-Coasters 9445 North Metro Parkway East 602-997-7575 Best Kids’ Restaurant McDonald’s several Valley locations…
Turf-building ranks second only to body-building as an American obsession. Our lawns have grown into a 25 million acre habit, costing roughly $7 billion a year in grass-care materials and machinery alone — and that’s not counting the chunks of lava rock strewn all over Sun City.They guzzle immeasurable gallons…
Nothing, not even the threat of world war, can discourage Phoenix Theatre’s annual tradition of kicking off the season with a big, tacky musical. This year, it’s Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s perfectly terrible Applause, which won the 1970 Tony Award for Best Musical entirely on the strength of its…
The cold-bloodedness of some entertainment journalists is a thing to be admired; they’ve balls for brains, which gets you far in this profession. The Hollywood press corps’ cynicism is the source of its strength, and God bless the famous fool who plays along, answering every crooked question with the straightest…
It’ll be 10 years this fall since the Smithsonian Institution turned down the lights on one of the most infamous art shows of the 1990s — “The West As America,” a cynical six-month exhibit that marked the art world’s first awkward introduction to the notion of political correctness. The show’s…
The silence from experimental theater lately has been deafening. Since the dissolution of oddball Planet Earth Theatre last year, there’s been almost nothing out of the ordinary — save the occasional offbeat translation by teeny Nearly Naked Theatre — happening on local stages. But there’s hope for those who want…
