Once upon a time, there was a city. It was not the largest city, or the smallest. It was not the richest or the poorest. But this city had a reputation, nonetheless. It was known throughout the land as dry and inhospitable — heated to unimaginable temperatures for several months…
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, art. As the Arizona Taco Festival gears up for its return to Salt River Fields on Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19, organizers of the event are teaming up with Mexico-based Tequila Herradura to host a Valley-wide art competition. The competition will showcase…
Before its regular-joe hero gets bitten by a radioactive equation and becomes the Equalizer, who’s sort of the Rain Man of puncturing Russian mobsters’ windpipes with corkscrews, Antoine Fuqua’s eye-gouging, brain-drilling, crowd-pleasing latest gives you a reel or two to remember what movies felt like back when they were about…
Terry Gilliam is a gifted, ambitious filmmaker who, sadly, may now be more famous for being misunderstood and underfunded than he is for actually making movies. The Zero Theorem isn’t likely to reverse that equation. In this half-squirrely, half-torpid sci-fi adventure, Christoph Waltz, with a shaved head and a face…
Simon Pegg has always been more like a cartoon than a real boy. He’s one part Charlie Brown to two parts Tintin, a round-faced runt who can channel both childlike depression and old-fashioned cowlicked pluck. In Pegg’s new film, Hector and the Search for Happiness, director Peter Chelsom simply allows…
The Boxtrolls is a kiddy charmer that makes you laugh, cower, and think of Hitler. That’s an unusual trifecta, but then again, this is an unusual film. If the German Expressionists were skilled at stop-motion animation, they’d have already made it. This is cartoon Caligari, a fable set on a…
Groupie has come to be an ugly word, a misogynist dig that’s used all too casually by men and women alike. A groupie is a woman who doesn’t “do” anything; she gets all of her glamour via her association with a strong man, most often a rock star. How can…
Storytelling is having a moment. The craze for first-person tales and re-tellings has swept the nation – and Phoenix right along with it. The city’s home to quite a few series, with Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s Lit Lounge a perennial favorite. On Thursday, September 25, the banner series teams…
Battle royale! Rarely is a matchup between the Arizona State Sun Devils and their perennial conference rivals, the UCLA Bruins, so juicy. One one side you have UCLA: undefeated, 12th-ranked overall, and fresh off a win against the now-Johnny-Football-free Texas Longhorns. On the other, Arizona State: also undefeated, ranked number…
Brace yourselves ladies and get ready for a night of the dirty south — and we’re not talking Louisiana and Mississippi. That’s right: Australia’s popular male revue show, Thunder from Down Under is coming to the Valley.More country than Chippendale’s and more classy than a strip joint, the traveling Aussies…
The local filmmaking scene has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade, and Running Wild Films seems to be leading the current charge forward. The latest edition of the filmmaking outfit’s FPS: Filmmakers of Phoenix Showcase shines bright this Friday, September 26.Running Wild Films might be best known…
Cars and tattoos have a lot in common. They can cost a lot or a little. They can range from beautiful and shiny to sun-faded and hideous. You can get them from a professional or some shady guy you met at QuikTrip. Mostly, though, they’re both fun to look at…
Laughter may be the best medicine, but it takes a professional to know how to administer it properly. Fortunately for those looking to step up their skills, Outliars Comedy Club is offering a prep course with a true pro. Actor and comedian Paul Brittain has played everything from a French…
Sci-fi is traditionally a geek’s game, but we have two words for anyone who thinks the genre isn’t sexy: Slave Leia. Carrie Fisher’s metal bikini is one of the standout moments of Star Wars. Furthermore, X-Men likely leaves you with visions of Mystique’s blue silhouette. And what about Total Recall?…
Art meets hotel during ARTELPHX, but don’t expect boring wall art and bland elevator music. The event brings performance and installation pieces from area artists to The Clarendon, where they’re installed throughout the midtown hotel.Turn a corner and you could find a sculpture. Pop into a room and you might…
Ladies and gentleman, it’s about to get spicy on Roosevelt Row. That’s because the third annual Chile Pepper Fest is hitting the Downtown Phoenix Public Market lot, bringing 24 different spicy dishes from some of Phoenix’s best local chefs.Although the event features a pepper market and a talent show, the…
A few too many weekend brunches can leave you feeling sluggish. Combat the eggs Benedict exhaustion with bRUNch, which is a combination running and brunch event.On Saturday, September 28, bRUNchers will have the option of a 5K or 10K run with a 9:15 a.m. check in at the House Brasserie…
Ever walked through a gallery and wished the artist was around to offer insight? Gilbert’s Art Intersection solves that problem with its Walk and Talk series, which continues this month with a look at traditional and contemporary printmaking.John Armstrong, who has collections at the Phoenix Art Museum and Scottsdale Museum…
Surprisingly, not every progressive scientific endeavor strives toward a romanticized marriage of man and machine, though some most definitely do. While it’s the Ray Kurzweils of the world who tend to snatch up scientific headlines by theorizing a hybridized trans-humanist view of the future that fascinates some and terrifies most,…
There’s a good chance your workplace’s bland lunchroom feels more like a prison than a pleasant place to dine. If you’d prefer exceptional singing to Sing-Sing, the Arizona Opera will help you break out of your midday doldrums with its brown bag lunch recital on Wednesday, October 1.Stepping out of…
Time to throw on some flannel, pick up your pumpkin spice latte and head to the east valley for the annual Fall Festival and Corn Maze. This seasonal event features a seven acre corn maze, mule rides, a grain train, barrel rides, a pumpkin patch, a spider web rope climb,…
Some might call him a scavenger, others a “picker.” The Valley prefers to think of Joe Willie Smith is an artist — albeit an unconventional one. The local talent has participated in Art Detour and events throughout downtown Phoenix, and brings a new fall gallery show to Scottsdale.“Cultural Savant” features…
