Whatever else may be said about the animated kid move Ratchet & Clank, which opened last weekend, this much is inarguable: It’s full of robots. Indeed, the second of the two title characters in this sci-fi adventure, based on a video game series, is a diminutive mechanical dude of polite…
New Times picks the best thing to do in metro Phoenix from Friday, May 6, to Sunday, May 8. David Cross In the 1990s, before people were willing to offer up their firstborns for your HBO GO pass to peep the medieval soap opera Game of Thrones, the network boasted some…
Each week, we’re recapping the second season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt episode by episode. Take a seat, the performance is starting. Few sitcoms can go for very long without a single bad episode, and it’s actually a little impressive that Kimmy made it this far. But “Kimmy Goes to a Play!”…
David Cross is a man of many characters. From Arrested Development’s quirky Tobias Fünke, who suffered from a “never nude” condition that spurred him to be clad in cut-offs 24/7, to the redneck Ronnie Dobbs, introduced to the world on the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show, Cross’ knack for embracing and emphasizing…
UNION, the hyper-local shopping hub on the east side of Biltmore Fashion Park in Phoenix, has closed. The news was confirmed by small business employees, former UNION leaseholders, and upper management within Macerich, the company that owns and operates Biltmore Fashion Park and other Valley retail centers. According to sources, a…
On the surface, there has been a lot of forward movement on television for black women. We’re now able to see an incredible breadth of black female characters, including Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) on Empire, Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) on Underground and Dr. Rainbow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross) on Black-ish…
I happen to be a daughter with a mother, and I tear up just thinking about how difficult/wonderful it is to have a mom. So you might think Mothers and Daughters, from first-time feature director Paul Duddridge with a script by Paige Cameron, would be my movie. You would be…
Approaching the three-year anniversary of the Yarnell Hill Fire, two new books examine the June 2013 summer wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona, that involved 20 Granite Hill Hotshots and left 19 of them dead. They’re called The Fire Line and My Lost Brothers. The first is an extensive recount, subtitled The…
Despite the blustering rhetoric emanating from so many politicians these days, it’s hard to tell at times what each might actually do to address the challenges dealt with in contemporary culture. Fortunately, local artists aren’t waiting around for someone else to tackle these issues. Several exhibitions on view during First…
Long after the ASU Art Museum’s groundbreaking “New American City: Artists Look Forward” show came down in 2007, there was a vestige of painter Carrie Marill in the building, just above one of the baseboards in the women’s room — a bright little fragment of a Phoenix landscape, unobtrusive but…
Dry-clean your Leia cosplay and slather on those Team Arrow temporary tattoos: Free Comic Book Day rapidly approaches. Diamond Comics Distributors and ComicsPRO are teaming with publishers to bring 50 free comics to stores on Saturday, May 7. (For a full list of Phoenix-area shops that are participating, see the…
Never one to betray the courage of his convictions, Luca Guadagnino excels at the unrepentantly grandiose and ludicrous. The title alone of his previous narrative feature, I Am Love (2009), signaled operatic sweep and loony sincerity, qualities further exalted by the film’s visual ravishments and seductive voluptuousness. The Italian director’s…
Yes, teenagers can be terrifying. Anyone who’s ever crossed the street to avoid whatever angst they might hurl at you out of boredom or unfounded antipathy knows this. Some can be like doughy bread, waiting until all the neurons coalesce, while others can be a ticking time bomb. In Memoria,…
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander isn’t just a bestseller. The time-travelling fantasy about a World War II nurse and an 18th-century Highland warrior has become a cultural phenomenon, thanks to a sexy TV series, which started its second season in April. And not only has it spawned spin-offs from Gabaldon, and plenty…
Folks who’ve been following local theater for any amount of time hear Equity actor Angelica Howland’s name and think of her performances in The Yellow Boat at Childsplay. Or her turn in Quills at In Mixed Company. Or one of her personal favorites: as the sexy ingénue in The Vibrator…
Fair warning: Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8. And although you may have just purchased Amazon Prime for the purpose of sending quick gifts, we’re betting that Mom wants to just spend a little time with you … you know, in addition to the requisite present. From vintage markets and…
None of us should give a crap about anything anyone says in Elstree 1976, but such is the nature of modern fandom that we do — even those of us whose affection for Star Wars is now more an occasional indulgence than a heated obsession. Jon Spira’s documentary is a…
Good things tend to happen on the metro Phoenix arts scene this time of year, as the Valley gets an influx of visitors, locals celebrate the onset of spring, and art students mount exhibitions highlighting their best works. Ten of our favorites works shown in April came from exhibitions in…
New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from May 2 through 5. “Student Art Show” We’ve all got hang-ups. But for art students at Mesa Community College, they’re objects presented on gallery walls. The new MCC Art Gallery, located on the college’s Dobson campus at 1833 West…
Local arts advocates are fuming because Governor Doug Ducey’s proposed executive budget for the 2017 fiscal year doesn’t include a $2 million allocation requested by Arizona Commission on the Arts, a state agency charged with stimulating the arts, fostering public participation in the arts, and encouraging an appreciation for the state’s…
It’s an extraordinary feeling, being out of the city and surrounded by wilderness as the sun begins to set. The desert comes alive in a whole new way. The beautiful colors of the sun begin to fade while the moon rises to help light the way. The birds suddenly quiet…
People’s memories of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1964 Band of Outsiders (showing in a DCP restoration) tend to emphasize the obvious delights: the scene where the three young leads (Anna Karina, Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur) do the Madison in a Paris café, or the one where, with the goal of beating…
