New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Friday, May 20, through Sunday, May 22. For more events in the Valley, see our curated online calendar. “Reverberate Her Lines” There is no reading between here, as the message of the second annual “Reverberate Her Lines” graffiti exhibition…
Each week, we’re recapping the second season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt episode by episode. Sitcoms like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, where every episode has an A plot, a B plot, and sometimes a C plot, sometimes can’t help but come out uneven. That’s the case for “Kimmy Gives Up!” more than…
Central Phoenix boutique Frances is celebrating 10 years in business from on Friday, May 20, with shopping, live music, food, and fundraising for one of its veteran vendors. Georganne Bryant runs the shop, named for her grandmother, which is full of contemporary finds, unique souvenirs, and made-in-Arizona items at the…
Let’s break the bad news this way. Maria Bamford’s new Netflix series isn’t a disaster. It’s sometimes funny — it’s got comic genius Maria Bamford in almost every scene! — but only its finest moments bear the stamp of sensibility. Too often, this fitful, clamorous show feels Bamford-flavored rather than…
Every other year, New Times puts the spotlight on Phoenix’s creative forces — painters, dancers, designers, and actors. Leading up to the release of Best of Phoenix, we’re taking a closer look at 100 more. Welcome to the 2016 edition of 100 Creatives. Up today is 99. Andrew Pielage. Say the…
When the founding CEO of the Arizona Science Center Sheila Grinell found fiction, there was no turning back. Grinell, who retired from the Center in 2004, has turned her crosshairs on fiction writing with the debut of her first novel, Appetite – out via She Writes Press on May 17. She…
There are no pyrotechnics to throw dazzle at Childsplay’s new Peter Pan. There are no Foys in the flies of Pete, or The Return of Peter Pan; no million-dollar special effects or scenic wizardry. None are needed: This comic adventure soars on skillful writing and clever performances. The play by…
There’s some serious woman power happening in the metro Phoenix arts scene, as evidenced by several exhibitions happening on May’s Third Friday. One artist uses her own body to explore issues of control, while another offers an immersive installation that challenges patriarchal narratives. Several more are using graffiti as a…
Seven years after shuttering its first Valley location, Hustler Hollywood, an adult boutique created by Hustler honcho Larry Flynt, is re-opening across from Metrocenter Mall in northwest Phoenix, next to the I-17. The lingerie and (grown-up) toy store officially opened to the public on Tuesday, May 10, but is hosting…
The slow-moving parade of clamor and stupidity that stops up Times Square might annoy New Yorkers. But late in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Andy Schocken’s cross-cultural jam-session music doc Song of Lahore, the giddy garishness of those blocks comes to exemplify the very idea of free expression. As the Naked Cowboy butchers…
Every other year, New Times puts the spotlight on Phoenix’s creative forces — painters, dancers, designers, and actors. Leading up to the release of Best of Phoenix, we’re taking a closer look at 100 more. Welcome to the 2016 edition of 100 Creatives. Up today is 100. Nicole Olson. Even…
iTheatre Collaborative, the plucky company now housed in the Kax Stage at the Herberger Theater Center, has had a tough time sticking to its announced season the last few years. An October 2015 production of Conor McPherson’s Port Authority was canceled after the troupe didn’t receive a $5,000 general operating…
There are some pretty weird museums out there — including one dedicated to mustard in Wisconsin, a hair museum in Missouri, a salt and pepper shaker museum in Texas, and a museum of bad art in Boston. There’s nothing quite that odd here in Phoenix, but we’ve still got plenty…
In TV and movies, sex is often portrayed as this romantic and perfect thing. Rarely shown are any of the problems that can arise during sex, and it’s even rarer that there’s an onscreen sense of humor about such things. But once in a while, films and television shows portray…
In Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, the sequel to 2014’s old-people-vs.-frat-brothers comedy, Zac Efron takes off his shirt in nearly every scene he’s in. It’s a sight to behold — again and again and again, but a calculated effort, like most of this film, to appeal to the ladies. As surprising…
The first time I saw the documentary Weiner, at Missouri’s True/False Festival this past March, Donald Trump was boasting about the size of his cock during a presidential debate. Given the recent direction of our electoral politics, you might think that a film about former New York Representative Anthony Weiner…
Orenthal James Simpson always seemed a singular figure. Hardly anybody got where he got or did what he did. Certainly nobody got away with it. But of course it isn’t just the man who fascinates: It’s the image. This he shares in common with every super-grandee and megastar, every tabloid…
If it had come out 20 years ago, when its creator was Hollywood’s best-paid screenwriter, Shane Black’s The Nice Guys might have stood, for some, as more proof that the studios had lost their way. So much money lavished on bloody buddy formula, on two-fisted archetypes cracking a case, some…
In his tight, trim, health insurance thriller A Monster With a Thousand Heads, Mexican-Uruguayan director Rodrigo Plá achieves a visual style that is ice cold but also deeply human — a clever way to depict an all-powerful system that feeds on our lives and thrives on our fallibility. Plá opens…
If you’ve passed through security at your local airport lately, it’s likely you’ll take special notice of a Nathaniel Lewis installation featured in the “2015 Contemporary Forum Artists Grant Winners” exhibition at Phoenix Art Museum. His Playland Security, created in 2016 with wood, metal, and fabric, sets the experience of…
The state of Arizona recently granted more than $400,000 in funds for some major renovations of the iconic WPA Building at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. The partly state-owned building is also sometimes referred to as the Civic Building, the Floriculture Building, or State Fair Civic Building, In 2014, the Arizona Exposition and…
New Times picks the best events in the Phoenix area from Monday, May 16, through Thursday, May 19. For more things to do, see our curated online calendar. Game Night Suppose some smartypants decided to conduct a study aimed at determining the hierarchy of the days of the week, best to…
