The City of Lost Children begins with one of the more creepy dream sequences I’ve ever seen in a movie. A child sits in a crib in a glowingly lighted room that’s decorated for Christmas in warm Victoriana. Sure enough, Santa emerges from the fireplace; and then, seconds later, another…
Jimmy the Saint is a suave, gentlemanly reformed gangster trying to make it as a legit Denver businessman. His firm records on video–in something like the manner of a dating service–the final advice and messages of its aged or ailing clients, so that they can continue being of use to…
among the animals “Africa! Alive”: Phoenix Zoo, 455 North Galvin Parkway, in Papago Park, hosts the latest installment in its festival “The Celebration ofthe Natural World,” which continues through September. In “Africa! Alive,” continuing through February 29, kids learn about the animals of the African continent via music, mask-making sessions,…
thursday february 15 Stomp: To twist an old phrase, this London-born, Big Apple-based dance/performance-art troupe could milk the percussive possibilities of a telephone book–and undoubtedly has. The appropriately named, Doc Martens-wearing, joyful-noise-making octet brings the metaphorical kitchen sink and literally boots it around the stage at Scottsdale Center for the…
In August of 1991, in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a car carrying Lubavitcher Jewish leader Menachem Schneerson ran into two children, killing a Guyanese-American boy. Brooklyn erupted into a race riot accompanied by an explosive public dialogue that rapidly escalated into a national debate on racism that showed a despairingly large…
Except for Arizona as a setting, the current film Broken Arrow has little in common with the like-titled movie of 1950, that wonderful James Stewart-Jeff Chandler Western directed by Delmer Daves. The only other point of agreement might be their inversion of the reactionary values of their respective genres–Daves’ film…
It doesn’t take long for Actors Theatre of Phoenix to offend women, the religious, conspiracy theorists and believers in extraterrestrials during its current production of Some Things You Need to Know Before the World Ends (A Final Evening With the Illuminati). Coming across like a bad version of The Hunchback…
Georgia has been racking up the raves, and I wish I could more wholeheartedly join in. There’s no disputing that it has some forceful, occasionally even harrowing, passages, or that the performances of its lead actresses are very fine at times. But there’s something too self-assured about the film–the central…
young at heart Daddy and Daughter Sweetheart Dances: Pops and their little princesses trip the light fantastic from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday and 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Kiwanis Park Recreation Center, 6111 South All-America Way in Tempe. Friday’s ball is for girls ages 4 to 7, Saturday’s…
thursday february 8 Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities: Arizona Theatre Company presents playwright Anna Deavere Smith’s controversial take on racism and class conflict in America, based on the incident that led to the 1991 riots in New York City’s Crown Heights district. This week’s performances…
Anyone who believes that ancient Greek theatre must be stuffy and boring should take in Planet Earth Multi-Cultural Theatre’s production of Antigone. He or she will find a rare and rewarding confluence of classic and experimental theatre. Antigone is the work of Sophocles, the fifth century B.C.’s answer to Stephen…
As with Philadelphia and Salvador, the title of director Michael Hoffman’s film Restoration is meant to have a double meaning. The setting of the film is England during the 1660s–the Restoration period. But the film is also about the restoration of the hero’s soul. Said hero is Robert Merivel (Robert…
Chances are you’ve never heard of John Pierson, but if you make a point of reading the Film section, chances are you’d enjoy his book. Pierson has spent the last decade working in the independent-film industry, under the job title “producer’s representative.” This roughly translates as “the guy who gets…
thursday february 1 Parada del Sol Rodeo: Scottsdale’s annual Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned roundup is one of the world’s best, attracting many of the top ropers and riders in the field. Performances are at 1 p.m. Thursday, 1 and 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m…
the ice is right Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Walt Disney’s World on Ice presents this special-effects-laden rendition of the Grimm fairy tale. Two-time Canadian figure-skating champ Karen Preston plays Snow White, and Russian blader Serguei Tartykov portrays the handsome prince. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and…
Remember when live theatre was an event, a special occasion? Just as I was beginning to fear that those days were gone, along comes a troupe called In Mixed Company, which takes a good evening of theatre, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and turns it into a happening. Five…
Patsy Cline remains a top-selling artist more than 30 years after her death. The 1985 biographical movie Sweet Dreams (starring Jessica Lange), recent videos about her life and music, and the release of a greatest-hits album in 1992 (it sold more than four million copies) have kept Cline a prominent…
The novel Cry, the Beloved Country, written by a white South African schoolteacher named Alan Paton, was published in 1948, the year apartheid became official in South Africa. The story concerns two elderly fathers, one Zulu and one white, who become linked by tragedy–the former’s son is charged with the…
With the exception of the Western, the vampire movie may just be the most durable of all genres. It’s produced everything from cinematic masterpieces like Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr (1932) and F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) to indelible pop-culture classics like Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931) to lesser interpretations without number. Just…
thursday january 25 The NFL Experience: The 20-acre interactive theme park features more than 60 exhibits and attractions, including “QB1,” “Sudden Death” and “Halfback Option,” as well as scheduled appearances byabout 50NFL stars. The “Super Bowl Card Show” features approximately 75,000 square feet of collectibles, and the NFL Team Shop…
the ice is right Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Walt Disney’s World on Ice presents this special-effects-laden rendition of the Grimm fairy tale. Two-time Canadian figure-skating champ Karen Preston plays Snow White, and Russian blader Serguei Tartykov portrays the handsome prince. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and…
Let’s hope you never have a houseguest like the one currently visiting Theater Works, which is presenting Larry Shue’s uproarious comedy The Nerd. This guest is a nerd in the traditional sense–taped glasses, a pocket protector, and toilet paper hanging out of high-water trousers–and is inappropriate at every opportunity. In…
