“The opener, the closer, the French film, the Italian film.” According to Amy Ettinger, director of the Scottsdale International Film Festival, these movie types are the bread-and-butter in an international fest. Even audience members who loathe subtitles, Ettinger explains, will usually turn out for a French or Italian flick. Ettinger…
When we think about fashion, we see a glamorous disguise for a super-evil media machine that manipulates us into thinking we’re inadequate pieces of poo-poo. That way, we’ll rush out and spend hundreds of dollars on the latest pair of boots to feel better. But this isn’t always true. Fashion…
The mirror image is the most compelling rival. A guy struggling with his demons is way more entertaining when the demons are physical rather than figurative. The Phoenix Suns kick off the NBA preseason by playing their own evil twin when they take on Serbian powerhouse Partizan Belgrade in an…
If you didn’t know that SMoCA stands for Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, you should either check out the cultural hot spot this weekend or give up the ghost and move to Buckeye. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, October 3, the museum kicks off the fall season with a…
Matt Tyrnauer directed the documentary about the famed Italian fashion designer. A Q&A and display of Valentino originals from the museum’s vault follows. Wed., Oct. 7, 7 p.m., 2009…
“Twisted artists,” including Ed Luce, Nick Shively, Bailey Curry, and Caleb Smith, offer art illustrating their “inner child.” There’ll also be games, coloring, and cut & builds for adults. (A work by Ed Luce is pictured.) Fri., Oct. 2, 6-10 p.m., 2009…
While we go about our day-to-day lives, some folks slink from bender to bender. Novelist Dan Fante used to be one of these people. But rather than tuck his past into the comfy confines of a closet, his skeletons dance via his literary alter ego, Bruno Dante. In Fante’s latest…
No offense to good intentions, but most fundraisers aimed at stamping out social ills are, by definition, no fun. Phoenix’s AIDS Walk, a benefit for 16 AIDS/HIV service nonprofits, itself benefits greatly from its proximity and relationship to one of the city’s truly convivial affairs, the Rainbows Festival & Street…
Hey Phoenix – show us your Wonderland! That’s the call we put out to more than 50 creative types around town. And did they ever. Check out the results in this year’s Best of Phoenix issue, on stands September 24. Viewing during these dates are by appointment only. Oct. 3-15;…
When the Diamondbacks best the Rockies in a home game or we score a gourmet dinner for peanuts during Restaurant Week, we’re proud to call Phoenix home. Other times, we wish we could go all Matrix on the city’s ass, magically replacing strip malls with microbreweries, making the light rail…
The sixth annual event features 1,500-plus cyclists cutting a 70-mile swatch through the northeast Valley. Proceeds benefit the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. Sun., Oct. 4, 7 a.m., 2009…
There’s a long list of actors who want to be musicians. Some of them form bands with bad names like Russell Crowe’s 30 Odd Foot of Grunts and Keanu Reeves’ Dogstar. Some even scored as musical one-hit wonders, such as Eddie Murphy and Bruce Willis. Few, however, have moved beyond…
Black Theatre Troupe opens its season with Ramona King’s play about a group of bake-sale mavens turned bank robbers: five church ladies who decide to stick it to the lending institution that refused their loan. Thu., Oct. 1, 8 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 2, 8 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 3, 8 p.m.;…
Why couldn’t our college professors have been as boss as Jillian McDonald, namesake of ASU Art Museum’s latest too-cool-for-school residency, “Social Studies Project 5 — Jillian McDonald: Alone Together in the Dark”? Our dubious profs always wore twee elbow patches and looked like they’d just fallen off the couch after…
The magnitude of this one is easy to understand: The ASU Football team opens its Pac-10 season with a home tussle against the Oregon State Beavers. A Sun Devils win would give the team much-needed momentum before heading into the meat of its conference schedule. OSU will be extra-motivated, because…
We all know Greg Behrendt was the mastermind behind Berger advising Miranda, “He’s just not that into you,” on Sex & the City. And he co-wrote the book He’s Just Not That Into You. And he’s probably rolling in the dough from the ensemble hit He’s Just Not That Into…
Jen Deveroux has become the hipster queen of putting on cutie-pie parties for the big-sunglasses crowd, like this summer’s Adult Swim and Tune in Tokyo. So it’s somewhat apropos that the 30-something promoter’s latest weekly gala is called Royal Filth and will take place every Saturday at the Rose and…
One of the top films ever conceived about Arizona, this 1987 character study from German director Percy Adlon stars Marianne Sagebrecht as a stranded hausfrau who finds her true calling amid the tumbleweeds and trailer parks of the desert wasteland. Co-starring C.C.H. Pounder and Jack Palance. Screens in Room 101…
Matt Brown’s House of Flying Paint presents the pancake-eating party, which also includes live painting and music by the likes of Chinaski, Joy World Entertainment Company, and Bargrass Revival. Canned-food and bottled-water donations will go to the homeless in downtown Phoenix. Sun., Oct. 4, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 2009…
Arizona State University’s Gammage hosts an evening-long hip-hop hootenanny featuring the Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA, as well as Phonte, Brotha Kam, Cut Throat Logic, Ronin Meyer, SkyWriter, DJ Meni One, Grime, and more. Sat., Oct. 3, 8:30 p.m., 2009…
Teatro Bravo presents Guillermo Reyes’ dark comedy about a sexy mama (literally) who takes on numerous distasteful tasks to please her spoiled son. Sat., Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Oct…
Following in the footsteps of Latina crossover artists like Shakira and Aterciopelados, this Mexican pop singer takes her music into directions from pop-flavored rancheras and rock to reggaeton-inspired moments. Critics may dislike this lack of focus, but that is precisely the point. Though born in Mexico, Rubio was raised in…
