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Michel Gondry on Noam Chomsky and a Brainy New Doc

Michel Gondry likes video stores. He is, after all, the director of the ultimate VHS sonnet, Be Kind Rewind, in which Jack Black and Mos Def re-create classics like Ghostbusters from plastic bags and tinsel. (Sad about the death of Blockbuster? Give it a watch.) One night, Gondry was browsing...
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Fruitvale Station Makes a Man of a Martyr

In the early hours of New Year's Day 2009, on a platform of Oakland's Fruitvale Bay Area Rapid Transit Station, a young man named Oscar Grant III was shot in the back by a BART transit officer. The officer later claimed that he meant to reach for his Taser and...
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Vintage Phoenix Artifact: WPA Murals at Downtown Phoenix Post Office

Often mistaken for two of the many murals commissioned in the ’30s by the WPA, the artworks at the downtown Phoenix post office (522 North Central Avenue) were in fact funded by the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture. Each of the murals was completed in 1938, two years after the PO first opened. […]
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13 Best Ethnic Restaurants in Metro Phoenix

Looking for something a little different to eat? Well, Chow Bella is here to help. We spent the past year scouring the Valley to find the best ethnic restaurants. Here's a list worth saving for when you're looking for some great ethnic cuisine, no matter where you are in metro...
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Prisoners‘ Men Suffer Ambitiously

If five Oscar nominees lose two young girls in the woods, will their wailing make a sound? That's the key question of Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve's prestigious puffery about a father (Hugh Jackman) and a cop (Jake Gyllenhaal) trying to catch a kidnapper. Prisoners is a dog-whistle for Academy voters keyed...
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Nebraska Is a Grand Slog Through Real America

In 1997, 87-year-old Richard Lusk flew from California to Florida to claim an $11 million prize he believed he'd won in a sweepstakes. The day after he returned home empty-handed, he had a stroke. Four months later, he bought a second plane ticket to Florida and stubbornly knocked on their...
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Thor Returns, Diminished

Among the Avengers, Thor should reign supreme. Sure, Captain America is the de facto leader, but even he — like the others — is just a jacked-up human. Thor is a god. Or if not quite a god, as he demurs, he's the next best thing: a flying titan with...
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How to Host a Baby Shower That Isn’t the Worst

Raise your hand if you enjoy going to baby showers. How about hosting them? Being the guest of honor? We're guessing based on the proliferation of online posts calling for showers to be banned and proclaiming all-out hatred for them, plus the opinion of every woman we know, that the...
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Brand Manager

Russell Brand's listed tourmates (Jesus Christ, Che Guevara, Gandhi, Malcolm X, and, um, Hitler) also serve as a killer dead-or-alive dinner party dream team. There'll be plenty of food for thought when the English funnyman brings his Messiah Complex world tour to Phoenix Saturday, September 7.The multi-hyphenate comic has had...
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Robrt Pela Heads to Sesame Street at the Arizona Science Center

I was too old for Sesame Street. When it debuted in November of 1969, I was in the second grade, and this oddball educational show wasn't yet a groundbreaking, game-changing cultural touchstone. It was a brand-new public-TV kiddy program aimed at 3- to 5-year-olds just learning their ABCs. I already...
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Top 5 Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Week

From nightlife hangs to enticing exhibitions, your weekday plans are here. "Women Who Rock" @ Musical Instrument Museum Does Taylor Swift rock? That's the consensus, as several items from the pop star, from clothing to handwritten lyrics, are part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Women Who Rock:...
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5 Must-See Movies at The Scottsdale International Film Festival

The Scottsdale International Film Festival is back in its 13th year and full of premières, special advanced screenings, and thought-provoking documentaries from all over the world. The four-night event runs October 4 through 8 at Scottsdale's Harkins Shea 14 Theatre and promises everything from all-star casts to special Q&A sessions...
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Machete Kills Is a B-movie Worth Buying

During his 2012 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Herman Cain rhapsodized about the fence he'd build on the U.S.-Mexico border: 20 feet tall with barbed wire, electricity, and a moat. "And I would put those alligators in that moat!" he cheered. For Machete Kills, Robert Rodriguez built that fence but left...
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Trick Daddy

When the Las Vegas hotel and casino of his then-residency seemingly stopped promoting his shows, The Amazing Johnathan channeled his inner Peter Gibbons from Office Space last December and simply stopped going. After 13 years of headlining in Sin City, the comic-magician’s hustling, and he’ll go for tricks and giggles...