Paintings by Xiao Shunzhi at Calvin Charles Gallery: After a few hours of viewing art, it sometimes feels as if Ive rubbed my eyeballs with sandpaper. The visual wear makes everything blurry, and the only thing that brings focus back is seeing something truly excellent. Such was the case when…
I have a vague childhood memory of being in an art museum while on vacation with my family. I don’t know where we were, but I remember approaching an old oil painting and sneakily running my finger over the rough, cracked texture of the dried pigment. I sort of knew…
Alas, there’s only so much you can do with talking bugs that hasn’t already been covered in A Bug’s Life, Antz, and The Ant Bully — though hooking up Seinfeld’s buzzed-cut Barry B. Benson with a hottie human voiced by Renée Zellweger is a first, sort of a new spin…
American Gangster is a movie with obvious gravitas and a familiar argument: Organized crime is outsider capitalism. As archetypal as its title, Ridley Scott’s would-be epic aspires to enshrine Harlem dope king Frank Lucas in Hollywood heaven, heir to Scarface and the Godfather. Or, as suggested by the Mark Jacobson…
John Cusack, who more or less began his career sneaking a peek at Molly Ringwald’s panties in Sixteen Candles, has finally become an onscreen daddy — took only, what, 23 years? But he’s not exactly the most fortunate family man in film: First, in Martian Child he plays a widower…
Too often, looking at sculpture — spying on a silent figure unaware of our voyeurism — is a static endeavor. But the blown glass and multimedia sculptures in “Figurate Esto,” influenced by Catholicism, American consumerism, and Mexican folk art, are much more engaging. In many ways, the works by brothers…
It must’ve been a scorching summer day when the game developer stared at his thermometer and realized: “Sweet sassy molassey, this would make a helluva game!” How else to explain the existence of the quirky puzzle series Mercury Meltdown? Debuting on the PSP, the original Mercury Meltdown turned Marble Madness…
No End in Sight (Magnolia) Charles Ferguson’s debut doc, easily the most important in a year full of notable fact-gathering films, assembles some of the key players behind the invasion and occupation of Iraq and seems to ask them but one question: “What went wrong?” In short: Everything. But Ferguson’s…
The Amicus Collection (Dark Sky) Angel: Complete Series Collector’s Set (Fox) Beastie Boys: The Complete Story (Video Music) Benny Hill: The Complete Megaset (A&E) A Christmas Story (Warner Bros.) CSI Miami: The Fifth Season (Paramount) The Cup (Festival Media) Day Watch (Fox) Dear Jesse (Sovereign) The Devil Came on Horseback…
“I hope people ask me, ‘Where did you find that local actress?'” Ben Affleck told Amy Ryan when he cast her as a wreck of a single mother in his directing debut, Gone Baby Gone. When Ryan showed up on the Boston set in ratty hair, muddy makeup, and a…
Rick McCallum had nothing to do with the original Star Wars. He was just 23 years old when it was released in 1977 and chasing his first job in the film industry. So, please, don’t age him unnecessarily: “I’m portrayed as 70 years old on the Internet because somebody thinks…
The Phoenix Suns will pocket this year’s Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy if: • Steve Nash grows his hair back • Shawn Marion gets over his I’m-sick-of-being-trade-bait self and plays up to his obscene salary • Coach Mike D’Antoni gets over his I’m-sick-of-being-second-guessed self and goes to the bench now and…
Remember the theater kids – er, thespians – in high school? Sure, they seemed cool at first. But after about 10 minutes of listening to them sing their lame Broadway songs in the halls and witnessing their overdone screaming fights during lunch hour, it was clear that these kids were…
Man-versus-machine interactions rarely end well for either side (witness Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000 or any Borg from Star Trek), unless the unique nature of each form is put to collaborative effect as a kind of mutual cooperation. (Witness Transformers.) Such was the thinking, perhaps, of a few California photographers in…
Say the words “top secret” and it’s a green light for spilling the beans. Look at Deep Throat, who leaked scandalous government secrets, or La Toya Jackson, who freed all the Jackson family skeletons. So you really can’t blame L.A.’s acclaimed radio-theater company Theatre Works for presenting Top Secret: The…
We’re not sure if it’s the wicked beats by DJ Senbad, the upstairs outdoor-patio ambiance in the middle of the city, the lovely and vivacious hostess, or the hot tail in attendance, but we’re mos’ definitely hooked on Solstice Saturday. The weekly shindig represents with a hedonistic heaven filled with…
Those with a penchant for driving two-wheeled contraptions over four-wheel terrain should check out the Dust Devil Mountain Bike Series Race. Registration precedes at 6:30. Sat., Nov. 3, 8 a.m., 2007…
Slobodan Milosevic was a really bad dude, but don’t let that stop you from checking out the Serbfest Food and Cultural Festival. No mortar fire — promise. Rather, there’ll be authenic Slavic music and cuisine, a bazaar, and tours of the Byzantine-style church. Sat., Nov. 3, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun.,…
Mark Grey, a sound sculptor and award-winning composer originally from San Francisco, is living for and in his art. Literally. The Phoenix Symphony composer-in-residence for the 2007-’08 season — who has presented works in big-time venues like Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, and London’s Barbican Centre –…
Want to become part of the highest echelon of hipster culture? Then you’ve got to take something considered “uncool” and make it trendy. Just look at recent successes such as the mullet and the fanny pack, which have helped pave the way for various new “so lame it’s cool” trends…
There’s definitely a double-edged sword component to First Friday. Walk into one gallery and you’re struck by work that’s more powerful than the Holy Trinity. (Well, only if you’re into that Jesus stuff.) Stroll into another space and the art may suck so hard that you’ll wanna kick it with…
So you weren’t down for celebrating the poor man’s Dia de los Muertos known as Halloween and you’re wanting to give it up to the deceased the authentic way, yes? Then hit up The Spanish Place for the Day of the Dead Celebration, part of the space’s First Friday Fiesta…
