Moon director Duncan Jones’ sophomore feature, Source Code — a pseudo-cerebral, modestly budgeted sci-fi thriller with ambitions more Philip K. Dick-like in scope than the recent Dick adaptation The Adjustment Bureau — is a propulsive ride worth your popcorn dollar, not for its preposterous genre tinkering but for its refreshingly…
There is a great deal of prowling motion in Insidious: a recurring sideways dolly outside an ominous house, a trench-coat-clad cacodemon pacing outside a second-story window. It’s the restless motion of a movie stalking its prey: you, dear viewer. A married couple, Josh and Renai (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne),…
Skaters can be a rather competitive lot. Spend more than five minutes at any of the Valley’s skateboarding shops or outdoor parks and you’re bound to hear numerous taunts between teenagers who swear their tricks are the sickest around. It’s put up or shut up time for these board-riding braggarts…
Maybe repainted old furniture is your thing. You like to pretend that the skuzzy flea market on Interstate 17 is a Provencal market. But one table lamp shaped like a plaster cherub isn’t enough to satisfy. You need more. Good news: Junkrestore Vintage Market at the Simple Farm is here,…
When it comes to the seemingly never-ending debate over immigration, Alonzo Bodden is able to nimbly cut through both the hype and hate surrounding the ultra-contentious SB 1070: “If you look like an illegal alien, they can stop you and ask for papers, and they say that’s not racist,” Bodden…
What has eight arms and likes to have anonymous sex with a roomful of guys? The latest play at Stray Cat Theatre, of course–this one directed by the company’s artistic director, Ron May, and featuring lead performances by a couple of talented veteran actors. Steve Yockey’s Octopus is a post-modern…
Scottsdale Desert Stages Theater rarely sees sold out opening weekends in its quaint, 65-seat venue. That is, until now. When the community theatre chose A Raisin in the Sun for their first Actors Café production of the year, the play already had a groundbreaking history. The show chronicles the story…
Most days, the only way you’ll meet your favorite guy-on-guy porn star in the, uh, flesh, is in your fantasies. But this weekend, BS West of Scottsdale aims to make those dreams come true with the classily named Pornopalooza event, featuring loads of titillating gentlemen frolicking and cavorting with fans…
So, you really think you can dance. Maybe you can. But can you shimmy while making a room full of people laugh with you instead of at you? You might be better off leaving this one to the professionals. The ladies of She’s Got Hips productions will combine the art…
Hiking Piestewa Peak under the cover of darkness can be a bit of a precarious prospect. Just ask any tenderfoot hiker who’s forgotten their lantern and gone from tromping about the trails at night to starring on the evening newscast with a single, clumsy step. Luckily, the participants in this…
Fans of steampunk swear that the genre is based on literature that merges steam-powered technology, science fiction and Victorian fashions, such as H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine and Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. We’re more inclined to believe that gearheads with a penchant for deconstructing clocks and chicks…
Arizona State University faculty advisor Michael Stancliff is as excited about social networking as that aunt of yours who just discovered how to put photos of her prized poodle up on Facebook. Stancliff says that “justice work happens along paths of activity and organization that are dynamically at work in…
Beyonce, Gwen Stefani and U2’s Bono all have their own clothing labels, so it’s no surprise that the worlds of music and fashion were destined for a local intersection. And what better place to host such a pairing than at the Musical Instrument Museum, an eclectic space celebrating quirky music…
Make no mistake: Four Year Strong loves the ’90s. Not only is its pop-hardcore sound a throwback to genre innovator the Movielife (as well as the guys who took it to the bank, New Found Glory), but also its new covers album, Explains It All, is a love letter to…
Tie on your couture bib — it’s time for the 33rd Annual Scottsdale Culinary Festival, where the elite and effete meet to eat. Bring a hearty appetite and gorge yourself on over a dozen events featuring grub from local restaurants including Petite Maison and Ocean Prime, celebrity chef seminars by…
If you thought the rivalry between Mac and PC users was brutal, just imagine the potential for fights between punk kids in slasher film tee shirts and elitist, beret-wearing cinephiles at the 11th Annual Phoenix Film Festival. ,p> This year the weeklong event spotlighting modern, independent cinema merged with the…
It’s said that the mighty cockroach will be the only creature populating the earth once Armageddon finally dawns and mushroom clouds fill the sky. Oh, and also ornery groups of brightly dressed motorbike-riding maniacs who will pop wheelies across the charred wastelands and pull off impossible jumps over blossoming explosions…
Although renowned egghead Carl Jung may have been something of a bore and blowhard (and quite possibly a Nazi sympathizer), his contributions to modern psychology are unquestionable. Chief among them is the notion of mankind’s dual nature. For those of you who slept through Psych 101, here’s the skinny: Within…
Thanks to Charlie Sheen, our wacky world now includes such nutty notions as Adonis DNA, Rock Stars from Mars, and Tiger’s Blood. Thankfully, neither Sheen nor any of his shenanigans will be a part of this year’s Phoenix Fringe Festival. Instead, the 10-day event, which kicks off on Friday, April…
When a hot co-worker you’ve been crushing on offers to show you the “flora down under” on your first date, there are a few ways to react: test out your right hook, walk away disgusted, or get psyched for a visit to the bush. Of course, much of that reaction…
Grey Gardens: The Musical is not for everyone. One’s ability to truly enjoy this camp musical depends on one’s knowledge of (and affection for) the documentary on which it’s based, and in how well the leading ladies impersonate the famous recluses at the center of its story. Fortunately for Tempe…
Our weekend activities of late have been a bit repetitive. Hit up the local chain restaurant for the seventh week in a row, followed by a dip in the pool that feels more like a hot tub right now. No wonder we feel blah come Monday morning. A mundane plan…
