Oh, we hope not. The Phoenix Suns’ December 17 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio represents one of the Suns’ few quality wins this season. But as piss-poor as they’ve played at times, the dudes from Planet Orange can take much of the sting away with a…
Two teams with some of the NBA’s best records — the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Hornets — battle at U.S. Airways Center. Sat., Jan. 5, 7 p.m.; Wed., Feb. 6, 7 p.m., 2008…
As one of the most prolific composers of his generation, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington wrote, throughout his long career, movie soundtracks (Otto Preminger’s 1959 Anatomy of a Murder is a great example), classical scores, and many individual tunes that are now considered American standards. More than thirty years after his…
“Jim Waid Recent Paintings” at Riva Yares Gallery: It’s easy to make the argument that we’re overstimulated. With TV, movies, and Wii, paintings really have to go the extra mile to stand out. Jim Waid’s nature-inspired paintings, while static, offer an escape into a whimsical world of fantastic landscapes and…
America! The Complete Series (RHI) Barney Miller: The Complete Second Season (Sony) Best Actress Collection (Fox) Best Picture Academy Award Winners Collection (Fox) Blonde Ambition (Sony) Butterfly Collectors (Koch Vision) The Catherine Cookson Anthology (Koch Vision) ER: The Complete Eighth Season (Warner Bros.) The Game Plan (Disney) Hawaii Five-O: The…
Not long after I arrived in Phoenix, a strange site appeared as I traveled north on the 51. The Pots Along the Freeway were like a divine apparition to a suffering saint. First, I noticed a mammoth old-fashioned campfire coffee pot standing watch over oncoming traffic. Then I sighted a…
Confessions of a Superhero (Arts Alliance) As one of those quoted on the package (“A more beautiful documentary you’re unlikely to find”), I can only reiterate my earlier praise: Matt Ogens’ doc, about mortals dressed as superheroes trolling Hollywood Boulevard for tourists’ loose change, is stunning to look at —…
Not too long ago, I lost a very lucrative job here in Arizona because I speak English. That’s right. I had a great offer from a worldwide education television channel in Scottsdale that took the job away from me when they realized Spanish is my second language — not my…
Regarding the irrelevance of Untraceable: First, torture is so 2007, and just because this drab little thriller with a flashy love of pain imagines itself a “critique of violence” doesn’t make it any less superfluous. Second of all, untraceable? Ha! You wish. While it’s true that the villain of our…
“How does this compare to other film festivals, like Cannes?” asked an inquisitive woman seated next to me at a screening on the first Saturday morning of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. I pondered the question for a moment, then replied that I was pretty sure you would never see…
There’s a point at which every fad overstays its welcome. Could it be that Guitar Hero is already just a sour note from being booed out of America’s living room? For evidence, look no further than the plethora of GH cash-in products hawked at this month’s Consumer Electronics Show in…
What I want to say about the death of Heath Ledger is . . . nothing. No speculation on why he committed suicide, if he committed suicide. No comment on the chronology, the circumstances, the known facts or lurid details of his passing. No outrage at the ghoulish gathering outside…
With its soccer-mom Stepford wives and bland strip malls, Chandler ain’t no Milan. Truth hurts. But one of the suburb’s shining lights, Bistro@Kokopelli Winery, 35 West Boston Street, brings a taste of lo stivale to Chandler with its Italian-American Festival. The fest features Chianti and Pinot Grigio tastings, sumptuous cuisine,…
Folks who are older than dirt might remember those balsa-wood airplanes sold at the five-and-dime — another fading memory. The balsas were pretty high-tech then – they flew – but now it’s all about who has the biggest stick. Joystick, that is. Big girls and boys show off their newfangled…
We’ve noticed a pattern in world-music criticism these days, especially pieces penned by American audiophiles. Anytime an album from Africa is reviewed, the terms “groove-oriented” and “polyrhythms” appear, ad nauseam. That’s good and all, but can y’all change it up a bit? Just a little? Thank you very much. The…
Your jaw will hang open, barely attached by its thin wire of muscle and vein, when you listen to Eugene S. Robinson spitting out words like that Pavlovian pit bull Spalding Gray as he recounts his many impassioned interviews with hardened cons, CIA operatives, and cage fighters. A competitive fighter…
All that glitters isn’t gold, but it’s a sure sign that you’ve been visited by Sherry Goldberg, whose sparkly landscapes are an homage to all things girly and just a tad campy. And now, with her new, 3,000-square-foot Femmes Fatales & Fantasies art gallery, Goldberg’s blinged-out glitter glamour and 3D…
The most opinionated — but almost always correct — voice in sports broadcasting may look like a pansy-ass frat boy, but don’t be misled. Cowherd’ll clean your clock if you dare to call in, but — like 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace — the idiots just keep calling. So ring him…
Jaded as we are, we thought we’d seen everything, but a sympathetic story about a skinhead? That’s the premise of David Gow’s 2006 film Steel Toes, which binds a neo-Nazi accused of racially motivated murder (Andrew Walker) to his liberal, Jewish defense attorney (the ever-fabulous David Strathairn of Good Night,…
We get that “the jazz” isn’t for everybody, but here’s something tight for even you holier-than-thou indie-rock kids: A Musical Tribute to John Coltrane. A quintet featuring woodwind player Scott Zimmer, pianist Dan Delaney, Brett Reed on vibes and percussion, bassist Ted Sistrunk, and drummer John Lewis will interpret numbers…
In our salad days, many of us used the desert as a safe haven to carpet-bomb our brains into oblivion. We’d drive into the night like frontiersmen of coked-out glory, veering off-road into the scorching abyss. Darkness would resonate around us, as if it were more tenor than color. We…
As an excuse to get loaded with half a million of your closest polo-shirted friends and at least one major airline executive, you can’t get much better than the FBR Open. The PGA Tour’s fifth-oldest and highest-attended tournament pops the cork on its weeklong drunkfest on Monday, January 28. The…
