When it all boils down to it, comic book conventions are ultimately about just that: comic books. While it seems like most ‘cons both locally and nationally include every possible aspect of geekdom imaginable — ranging from science fiction and fantasy to video games, costuming, fan fiction, RPGs, and animation…
He is the man with the cardboard sign. She is the woman with the blanket and bedroll. She pushes the shopping cart. He is sleeping in the shadow of the church. We see them everyday. Yet, it’s easy to forget one simple truth: They have names…
Hollywood has produced many great cinematic works. Tommy Wiseau’s The Room is not one of them. “It’s a perfect train wreck,” says Greg Sestero, one of the film’s stars. But the emphasis here is perfect. The film’s so-bad-it’s-good charm has given rise to a cult following over the years, setting…
Even fans of Fifty Shades of Grey admit the book is a literary atrocity. Novelist E.L. James’ erotic reveries read like the rantings of a drunk yokel — less “His firm hands cupped my breasts” and more “Holy crap! He’s touching my boobs!” The story is simple: 21-year-old virgin Anastasia…
Ten years ago, Wellington, New Zealand, was less welcoming of vampires. When Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, two unknown comedians, walked the streets in velvet frocks and ruffles for a 2005 sketch, dudes would drive by and scream homophobic slurs. Says Clement, “We were constantly abused.” Over the next decade,…
You could go to an all-natural beauty product boutique and spend an unspeakable amount on flowers, oils, and creams all formed into bars and stuffed into tubes. Or you could just do it yourself during the Natural Beauty Workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. at Frances, 10 West Camelback Road,…
In the olden days, what month it was never mattered to movies. But today the late winter months are well-known as a weedy boneyard of mouth-breathing Hollywood castoffs, and we explore it at the cost of our patience, time, shekels, and optimism. For the love of everything holy, stay home…
Here at last is peak Anna Kendrick: In intimate long takes and in comic montage, she belts, hurts, swoons, and rages, always remaining appealingly human. You can tell, when Kendrick scraps for her big notes, that she’s not a natural, that she’s working hard, that she’s living a dream. All…
American Sniper notwithstanding, the first fresh multiplex trend to emerge in 2015 is Old White Dudes Learning How to Share Their World. First came Kevin Costner in the sour Black or White, playing a coot who discovers that black folks love their kids, too, even in South Los Angeles. Who…
Shove off, John Hughes. The DUFF, a high school comedy by Ari Sandel, opens by declaring that The Breakfast Club’s social categories are, like, way passé. Explains lead Bianca (Mae Whitman), “Jocks play video games, princesses are on antidepressants, and geeks rule the world.” Today, be ye goth kid, science…
There’s a lot of buzz about Roosevelt Street between Central Avenue and Seventh Street in Phoenix. That section of the Evans-Churchill Neighborhood, one of the more walkable parts of the city with its swell of art venues, local restaurants, bars, and indie businesses, is in another cycle of developers wanting…
When you’re friends with writer, director, and overall Hollywood weirdo Tommy Wiseau, life is certainly interesting. Just ask Greg Sestero. The actor and author of The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room (soon to be a motion picture courtesy of James Franco) has literally filled a book by recounting…
It’s no small feat follow the baseball season intently from Spring Training through the World Series but, believe it or not, there are people who want more. Some people count the days until pitchers and catchers report like an only child waiting for his birthday — they’re so excited for…
The timing couldn’t be more purposeful. Episodic play The Vagina Monologues comes to Phoenix in time for V-Day, a day of activism in the name of “victory, valentine, and vagina.” Produced by downtown Phoenix advocate Stacey Champion alongside Brooke Unverferth Campbell and Sara Santiago, the one night only show promises…
Why celebrate just one holiday when you can celebrate two? This weekend, Raven Events presents the ultimate Valentine’s Day Mardi Gras mash-up, In Love With Mardi Gras, at Talking Stick Resort, 9800 East Indian Bend Road in Scottsdale. Entertainment includes the STR8UP Band, DJ Kilo, and Robert Ray Magic. In…
The world’s oldest known fermented fruit-based beverage dates back 9,000 years. Beer is a newer creation, going back only 5,000 years to ancient Egypt, the result of an accidental pairing of grains, wild yeast, and water in a vessel subject to proper climatic conditions. Brewing is somewhat more precise these…
In the immortal and slightly paraphrased words of Liz Lemon: Love is weird and sometimes gross, but when you find it you should treasure it. They’re words to live by and also a little bit of what happens in Lisa Starry’s contemporary dance work An Unusual Love Story… David +…
Comic book nerds, cosplayers, and casual fans unite: the Amazing Arizona Comic Con is back. Event goers can expect panels from Paranormal Investigation to a fan meet-up for AMC’s The Walking Dead. Creators and artists from Marvel, DC, and IDW Comics alongside Power Rangers actors from Nickelodeon will be on-hand…
Demetri Martin is unlimited in all of the ways he’ll try to reach you. As a correspondent for The Daily Show, on his very own show, Important Things with Demetri Martin, and with comedy specials, he’s covered the airwaves. In movies, most notably in 2009’s Taking Woodstock, he’s been very…
Valentine’s Day weekend may mean heart-shaped chocolates and red roses for some, but for the diehard bookworm, it means the return of the VNSA Book Fair. The annual literary-palooza will be selling more than half a million gently used books, CDs, DVDs, puzzles, and games in nearly every category imaginable…
Things we know about Napoli: Ballet Arizona performs it this weekend. It is the first time any American company has staged the work (a.k.a. big deal, you guys). Napoli is what the locals call Naples, which is the birthplace of pizza and deserves all the thank-yous. The ballet is a…
If you’re one of the few surviving members of the human race who has yet to be voluntarily tattooed or pierced, then pat yourself on the back. You are, quite ironically, the real contrarian. Still, if you’ve been hoping to dip your pen in the inkwell, so to speak, your…
