Sat 11/13 Nothing gets the testosterone pumping like the smell of nitrous oxide in the morning. That’s why we’re heading to the “Battleground AZ” competition on Saturday, November 13, when Phoenicians and Tucsonans square off in their souped-up street racers to see who’s really smoking lightnin’. “We want to see…
Sun 11/14 Wanda Sykes really does do it all. She’s trying on a variety of gigs in her Comedy Central show Wanda Does It, including Chinese chef and prostitute. Nothing seems untouchable for Sykes, whose brand of snarky humor has given her labels she doesn’t want. When Stuff magazine recently…
11/16-11/17 These dogs are light on their feet and easy on the eyes. The Tap Dogs are pounding their way back to Phoenix and bringing their dance recital on steroids with them. The Australian boys make tapping seem like the most masculine activity in the world. There is nothing like…
When Bert Parks sang “There she goes . . .” about Ms. Senior America, he might well have meant it. The contestants at this pageant are judged on beauty, poise and continence. Insert other cheesy old-lady-pageant joke of your choice here. But seriously, folks, this Ms. Senior America stuff is…
Most articles written about The Polar Express have focused on its groundbreaking technology, which takes the process used to create Gollum in The Lord of the Rings one step further. Much as Andy Serkis’ performance was digitally mapped and reproduced via CGI, so too is Tom Hanks computer-generated here as…
The witless inanity of After the Sunset is so numbing that the sole reason for any living creature to sit through it — man, woman or household pet — is to marvel at the speed and variety of actress Salma Hayek’s costume changes. After an opening sequence in Los Angeles,…
Directed by . Screenplay by , . Starring .
Rated R.
There is something very important to know about Enduring Love that is not apparent from the title: It’s a thriller. More specifically, it’s a creepy, twisted, overproduced, and often intelligent psychological thriller with an ending all too loyal to the genre. Director Roger Michell (most recently of The Mother, a…
Sat 11/13 Looking back on the long and storied history of automobile culture, it’s safe to say no single decade mastered the art of the bold stroke more aptly than the 1950s. It was a time when real men were judged by the size of the flames on their side…
You know it’s November when Circle K starts carrying eggnog, and you know some theater troupe is in a pinch when it announces a last-minute production of A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters, that perennial stage substitute that audiences love and anyone with the slightest bit of sense runs screaming from. Love…
THU 4 We were always envious of those boys at Brophy Prep for their designer duds, sweet rides, and acne-free faces. On Thursday, November 4, we’ll continue to bow down and sing their praises, cooing “Fabulous, darlings,” and kissing their bums at the Brophy College Prep Fashion Show at The…
Debbie Does Dallas is coming to town, but her prospective admirers can leave their raincoats at home. The musical version of this infamous blue movie is not so naughty that it might attract the vice squad — although the recently formed Artists’ Theatre Project is hoping the show’s notorious name…
Arizona’s cowboy history and cactus-speckled landscape are permanent fixtures, so when we’re not grumbling about the kitschy paraphernalia and silly stereotypes that come attached, we might as well celebrate their presence. This year, we’re getting a little help from the experts at the Smithsonian Institution when Smithsonian magazine brings its…
Sat 11-6 Las Vegas . . . Atlantic City . . . Glendale? Okay, maybe this erstwhile West Valley city isn’t as synonymous with championship boxing as others, but don’t tell that to the good people at Showtime. The truthful among us would admit that there is nothing cooler than…
Fri 11/5 Hodgie Jo is a dancin’ machine. He experimented with every style of dance from jazz to break-dancing before going on to choreograph events like the Super Bowl and Special Olympics. Now, Jo brings his artistic vision to the Imation Dance Company, as choreographer for World Beat, the troupe’s…
It’s Arizona’s high standards that are screwing us. At least that’s what Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is saying about Arizona’s abysmal ranking in a national education study released last month. In Morgan Quitno’s annual Education State Rankings report, Arizona ranked 48th, just above Nevada and New Mexico. But…
Stray Cat Theatre has made a name for itself by mounting dicey material and testing untried plays by unknown authors, nearly always triumphantly. And so I wasn’t at all surprised to leave [sic], Stray Cat’s latest offering, completely charmed and still chuckling as I drove away. [sic] (the title is…
Myriad filmmakers have attempted in vain to film Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ comic book Watchmen since its initial publication in 1986, in which costumed superheroes have been outlawed and are being summarily exiled and executed by an unknown baddie. At the moment, Darren Aronofsky (Pi) is set to direct…
Writer-director Charles Shyer’s Alfie is less a remake of the 1966 film that made Michael Caine a star than it is a retooling that softens the horrific blows struck by the original; it’s sweeter, too, cotton candy spun from decades-old arsenic. The original, written by Bill Naughton (who also penned…
How does Mike Leigh do it? The years pass; film fashions come and go; Hollywood churns its commercial pap. Careers sparkle; others fizz; whom the gods would destroy, they first make famous. Meanwhile, over in England, Leigh makes his films, tracking the intricacies of the lower-class family with the patience…
Those familiar with the films of David Gordon Green (George Washington, All the Real Girls) likely have one big question about his latest feature, Undertow: Is there more of a story this time? The answer is . . . sort of. Green, who favors meditative, meandering portraits, and is often…
When was the last time you saw Paul Giamatti? And when the film ended, did you realize how much you would miss him? It was just last year that Giamatti played the hilariously beleaguered Harvey Pekar in American Splendor, a role that he occupied with slumped, head-hanging perfection. Yet as…
