You know that primly annoyed nice-ish guy that Jason Batemen always plays? The straight-arrow whose barely-held-in disgust suggests that universal American feeling that it’s everyone but you who is the selfish idiot? If you’ve ever suspected that the real Bateman was himself swallowing back some annoyance at the stupidity of…
It’s easy to think, based on the marketing, that the first feature film from acclaimed comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele will be a hundred minutes of an adorable kitten dressed in a do-rag and gold chain for easy laughs, but Keanu is so so much more than that…
May might be the month where you often hear the question “when is Cinco de Mayo?” — or when Star Wars continues to find relevance with streams of social media posts lauding puns as an actual form of comedy. But it’s also a great time to celebrate not only your…
Mesa has been feeling the mural love. Just last month, international street artist El Mac (Miles “Mac” MacGregor) completed a two-story mural at Mesa Arts Center. And recently, local artists worked with residents at Park Village Apartments near University and Mesa drives to design and paint murals in a trio of…
Each week, we’re recapping season one of Fuller House, episode by episode. Danny Tanner’s home, so get ready for some hugging. The eighth episode of Fuller House, titled “Secrets, Lies and Firetrucks,” is as literal as it gets, somehow nicely wrapping up a bunch of story lines that seemed to exist in…
Duane Daniels sits in a small audience chair on the momentarily empty stage of Space 55. Blue Galaxy, which he’s directing, opens April 29 — one week out, at the time he spoke with us — so Daniels can be forgiven for looking a bit tired, and he does. Or…
If nothing else, Captain America: Civil War stands as something of a corrective to this spring’s other superheroes-bludgeoning-each-other opus, Batman v Superman. While that film was severe and downcast, Civil War is expansive, at times even light. BvS strove to redefine its superheroes to fit newer, darker, borderline-sociopathic molds; Civil…
Comic shops and record stores aren’t the only local businesses that need love. Independent bookstores have plenty to offer in the age of online shopping. And on Saturday, April 30, you can show your local indie book shop some love. Founded in 2015 after a 2014 campaign in California, Independent…
New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from April 29 to May 1. Blue Galaxy The powerhouse duo of playwright Kim Porter and director Duane Daniels, which brought us 2011’s Munched, is generating significant buzz for the world première of Porter’s Blue Galaxy, with songs by Roger…
Is it too much to ask that all these holiday-themed rom-coms — Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve and now Mother’s Day — one day merge with the Halloween movies? Michael Myers might be the only one in either franchise with a truly cutting response to all the rhetorical musings about relationships romantic,…
During a Thursday night art walk in April, people strolling through the Old Town Scottsdale, just west of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, saw more than the Old West-inspired paintings and sculptures many people associate with the area. Scottsdale artist Geoffrey Gersten, who creates his paintings and other works in…
Every month, there’s plenty for geeks to celebrate in Phoenix, but that’s more the case this May than ever. With Star Wars Day on May 4, Captain America: Civil War on May 6, and Free Comic Book Day on May 7, we may as well call this month Nerd Christmas. And…
Deep breaths, Kardashianites. Blac Chyna is hosting a party at Maya Day and Nightclub in Scottsdale this weekend. Mhm, yes, that Blac Chyna, the former stripper, occasional model/video girl turned Tyga’s co-parent turned fiancée of Rob Kardashian. Which is where things, for those who do not keep up with the Kardashians, get extra…
More than a dozen dancers gathered in a dance studio with a long wall of windows overlooking a bustling city street Wednesday night, ready to share a sneak peek of a new dance work they’ll be premiering later this month. They’re all cast members for L.O.V.E., a new production created…
If you thought the billionaire played by Steve Carell in Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher was eerie, please allow me to introduce you to the real John du Pont. A dangerous concoction of lonely and paranoid, du Pont was blessed with money and mobility and cursed with the kind of childhood that…
What happens in the studio shouldn’t always stay in the studio. Studio Visit is a monthly series that profiles artists in their studios. We ask them questions, they provide answers, and then we have a nice discussion about their work. This month: Steve Gompf, whose work is currently exhibited in…
Each week, we’re recapping the second season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt episode by episode. Pop on your shants and thigh tops. “Kimmy Goes On A Playdate!” opens with Kimmy in full-on eighth-grader mode as she demands a job at a local year-round Christmas store, employing convincing arguments like “I’VE GOT…
The 2016 NFL draft is nigh upon us, and the Arizona Cardinals are looking to capitalize on a successful season by making an explosive pick with the 29th overall selection in the first round. There is a lot of talent for the Cardinals to choose from when the clock starts…
Fairy tales were meant to be oral stories. Translating the tangents of old women in far-flung villages (whose chips on their shoulders about, say, their brother’s failed shipping business might inspire long asides about the shipping industry) into written texts doesn’t always make for the most linear, easy read. In…
Like The Imitation Game, The Man Who Knew Infinity is a Great Man biopic about a man most viewers have probably never heard of. Srinivasa Ramanujan was a brilliant, self-taught Indian mathematician who in his brief time on this earth made seismic contributions to his field. That he’s largely unknown…
As fans continue celebrating the legacy of Prince, FilmBar has announced a three-film tribute to the late pop culture icon who died April 21. The downtown Phoenix independent movie theater will screen Purple Rain, a popular choice among local theaters, as both Harkins Theatres and Cult Classics screened or will…
A major spectacle will invade Talking Stick Resort Arena in June, and it’s at once a maelstrom of bright lights, colorful characters, and a hard-rock soundtrack. Are we referring to some massive arena-style concert? Nope. Think again, jabroni. It’s the WWE, which announced recently that it will return to the…
