In the world of contact sports like wrestling and mixed martial arts, Arizona has never struggled to produce world-class competitors. They include not one, but two former UFC champions — Benson Henderson and Cain Velasquez — as well as Olympic Silver medalist Townsend Saunders. To that long and illustrious list…
Dana Nachman’s Batkid Begins marches in with the mini-movie you’ve already seen. (Unless, as Bruce Wayne suffered in The Dark Knight Rises, you’ve spent months in a hole.) On a November weekday in San Francisco — a.k.a. Gotham-by-the-Bay — 5-year-old cancer survivor Miles Scott rode shotgun in a Lamborghini Batmobile,…
There’s probably only one humanist film that opens with the words, “Merry Christmas Eve, bitch!” accompanied by the proffering of a single sprinkle-dusted doughnut. In Sean Baker’s Tangerine, best friends, transgender women, and prostitutes Sin-Dee and Alexandra (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor) catch up at a doughnut joint on…
Here’s a shocker: In Pixels, his latest, Adam Sandler plays a stunted man-child who turns out to be very, very special. That’s his ecological niche: the Manic Potbellied Dream Dork, or, if you prefer, the fragile Sand-Man. Sandler films have predictable scripts: In two hours or less, he’ll transform from…
At the start of Woody Allen’s campus comedy Irrational Man, caddish professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) drives up to a new school that’s already steeled itself for his arrival. “Of course, my reputation — a reputation — preceded me,” admits Abe. Such defensiveness also applies to his tabloid-attacked director, who…
The opening of Antoine Fuqua’s Southpaw, shot in gritty, grayed-out tones, is a grim harbinger: A fighter getting ready for the ring holds up his meaty paws for the ritualistic wrapping of gauze and tape. His gloves are slipped over the wrappings, and then they’re taped on, too — but…
So you want to get into the sneaker game… It seems easy at first, just buy a few kicks and figure it out from there. Then you strike out on the weekend’s instant-sellout releases, so you get on eBay, Twitter, or your local Facebook sneaker group to see what people…
What happens in the studio shouldn’t always stay in the studio. Studio Visit Q+A is a weekly series that profiles artists in their studios. We ask them questions, they provide answers, and then we have a nice discussion about their work. This week: Phoenix artist Constance McBride. Constance McBride is…
It’s easy to hit New York City with a one-track mind, eager to explore just a small slice of the city’s vast arts and culture scene. Some go for the galleries and museums, and others to Broadway shows. But there’s a rich breadth and depth to the city’s cultural life…
The Book of Mormon is finally almost nearly just about here. Tempe’s ASU Gammage Auditorium will host a touring production of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-skewering hit from October 20 through November 8. Tickets to the show will be available starting at 10 a.m. on August 3 through Ticketmaster…
A girl whose name tag reads Lauren draws a large letter “A” on a piece of red fabric. The lines are straight and angular. At the top of the big letter, she draws a rectangular face and affixes two googly eyes. Lauren confirms that the face is a robot. Why…
You know those days where you make it through and then realize you didn’t directly spend a single cent for a full 24 hours? Yeah, we think those days are pretty amazing, too. While we can’t promise you one of those miraculously money-saving days, we can help out by offering…
Nowadays you needn’t stroll or bike your way down every street to see the riches of the metro Phoenix street art scene. Savvy street artists have taken to Instagram to share their artwork. Some feature images of their own artwork, as well as work by others. Here are 10 metro…
Brendan McCaskey’s crafting room looks like it was designed by none other than one of McCaskey’s main inspirations, Martha Stewart. After two previous coats of paint, McCaskey landed on the current shade of dusty blue to contrast with the white and wooden features including the wooden trim around the room…
Phoenix New Times’ guide to this week’s arts and culture events is here. ‘Capers Named for the Washington D.C. projects where it takes place, ‘Capers is a heartfelt, honest story about the human right to housing and struggles therein. Directed and developed by Patrick Crowley and performed by Anu Yadav…
Anu Yadav wants to start a conversation about economic inequality in America. Her one-woman show, ‘Capers, will be coming to the Phoenix Center for the Arts later this month as part of ASU’s Performance in the Borderlands series. ‘Capers focuses on the experience of residents at the Arthur Capper and…
The Arizona Biennial, which has the distinction of being the longest-running juried exhibition featuring exclusively Arizona artists, returns this month. First organized in 1948, the exhibition’s current iteration opens on July 25 at Tucson Museum of Art. More than 1,490 works were submitted, and 50 pieces were selected for the…
“ARTillery” — an exhibition currently on view at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum — is an interesting survey of weapons in contemporary culture. But it could have been a call to action in an age when simply talking about violence isn’t doing squat to end it. With more than 50 works…
Like many 18-year-olds, I thought I had a pretty good handle on the world when I graduated high school and headed off to college. I’d dated the same girl for the last couple years of high school, hooked up with a few others, and generally considered myself to be pretty…
Yes, there’s already cactus. And a grinning sunshine wearing sunglasses. But is that really enough to represent your Phoenix-ness when it comes to our favorite form of self-expression, the emoji? We didn’t think so. Here’s a set of emoji we wish would come to our phones, and soon. Demented Sun:…
“If flowers hadn’t evolved, humans might not have existed.” It’s a bold statement, but one Stephen Buchmann isn’t afraid to make. The University of Arizona professor, entomologist, and author has devoted his life studying the intimate biology of bees and flowers, but he looks at the big picture in his upcoming…
The Midnight Society Stuff from the early to mid-1990s is now, by definition, vintage. And since trends are cyclical, and you are old — but pop culture nostalgia is still pretty fun — downtown cinema FilmBar and local film collective Theater 13 occasionally team up to host a little thing…
