It often feels like we watch the Oscars every year more as a matter of routine more than anything else, as usually one or two movies seem far more likely to win than the rest. While Beasts of the Southern Wild or Amor might have been the best films nominated in the…
Michael 23 has been doing some serious math. Recently, the artist and business owner (who uses the last name 23 because he’s fascinated by the number) learned that the building where he’s spent 15 years operating The Firehouse art space with his wife Joanna Lee is up for sale. So…
If you’ve wondered just why Hollywood now so aggressively courts Chinese viewers, look no further than The Mermaid. In just two weeks of release, Stephen Chow’s fantastical comedy has already brought in $430 million in its home country, making it China’s highest-grossing release ever. (It’s doing well here, too, having…
Chances are, you’ve seen Brian Stauffer’s illustrations. You may have glanced at his magazine cover artwork at the grocery checkout or while sipping your morning coffee over The New York Times. Since the mid-1990s, the Phoenix-born illustrator has provided smart and satirical cover art for major magazines including Rolling Stone, Time,…
Everybody needs a good art binge now and then, and it’s about time to rev up for the next one. It’s Canal Convergence 2016, taking place Thursday, February 25, to Sunday, February 28, in downtown Scottsdale. During 29 hours over the course of four days, Scottsdale Public Art will transform…
Unless you’ve been living without network television and/or the Internet for the past month, you’re probably fully aware that it’s awards show season. Either you’ve spent hours glued to a screen to see who will be arbitrarily immortalized in front of their industry peers, or you’re painfully annoyed by everyone…
In a September interview with GQ, Constance Wu, star of NBC’s Fresh Off the Boat, observed of the HBO series Togetherness, “It’s a show about white people.” She’s not wrong: Created by indie-film luminaries Jay and Mark Duplass, along with the actor Steve Zissis, Togetherness is a low-key look at…
New Times picks the best arts and culture events in metro Phoenix from February 22 through 26. Workin’ It Out Find yourself with a constant case of the Mondays? Seek reprieve and laugh it off during Workin’ It Out, Ernesto Ortiz and Gene Moore’s weekly stand-up show. As one of the…
“It’s taken me until the age of 45 to frame these stories about my life so they don’t have control over me,” says storyteller Molly McCloy about Mad Dog Grudges, her first-ever solo show. McCloy, a Phoenix native, will present the 45-minute spoken word piece at the Trunk Space this…
There’s something inherently chic about living in a loft. Maybe it’s the fluidity that comes with an open floor plan and high ceilings. Or perhaps it’s the wall of windows and the accompanying view. Whatever the reason, Andrew King and Andy Johnson’s urban aerie does not disappoint. The view out…
Decisions, decisions. “Should we lop off their heads or leave their heads on?” So went the discussions as Michelle Dock, gallery coordinator for The Gallery at Tempe Center for the Arts, prepared to open “Merely Players,” an exhibition featuring costumes, design sketches, and a costume shop replica. “It’s been a…
Though the practice of nail art has been around since Babylonia, the whole thing really kicked into gear over the past few years. In the Phoenix area, there are more than a few spots to get a freakishly well-done designs on your little scratchers. In case you’re not interested in…
The Queens of Quirk from Girls will be back on HBO this Sunday to kick off their fifth season. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we first met Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham), her best friend Marnie Michaels (Allison Williams), college friend Jessa Johannason (Jemima Kirke), and Jessa’s cousin Shoshanna…
The centerpiece of Hail, Caesar!’s mid-century Hollywood satire is the eponymous film-within-a-film itself, an overwrought biblical epic in which a skeptical Roman centurion played by George Clooney has a literal come-to-Jesus moment. Risen, whose plot can be described in exactly the same way, never inspires one of its own. Co-writer/director…
There is precisely one attempted coup de cinema in the Jesse Owens biopic Race, which otherwise defaults to the backlot handsomeness of other Great Men tributes from Hollywood. In 1935, Owens (Stephan James), a freshman sensation on the Ohio State University track team, returns to the locker room after practice…
Some time ago, I adopted a rule about not reviewing theater students while they’re learning their craft. But last fall, I bumped into actor/director Pamela Fields, who told me about the upcoming production of Lasso of Truth she was directing at ASU. Fields made it sound so interesting, I resolved…
New Times picks the best arts and culture events in metro Phoenix this weekend. Transition Projects Pop culture keeps shoving in our faces the idea that people of refinement go to a show and then have dinner afterward. Come on! Dinner at 8 is bad enough (as the song goes),…
This summer will mark three years since George Zimmerman’s trial ended in acquittal. After a jury found Zimmerman not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, three women launched a movement via social media using three simple words and a hashtag: #blacklivesmatter. Today, the national Black Lives Matter organization works to affirm…
We’ve all been there. You finally get around to watching this year’s nominees, and you think, “Didn’t I see pretty much this same Oscar-bait movie last year?” You probably did, thanks to the McKee/Weinstein-driven formula behind most Best Picture noms. You can even build your own! Just mix and match…
Grown-ups may wince, but Paul Dalio’s earnest, ambitious manic-poet romance Touched With Fire is a gift to the young and passionately creative, to the brains-a-poppin’ kids caught up in invention and each other and the invention of each other. You don’t have to be bipolar to get caught up yourself…
Members of the Russian feminist punk protest group, Pussy Riot, were in downtown Phoenix on February 16 for a conversation on art, sex, and disobedience at Beth Hebrew Synagogue. Pussy Riot, known for staging provocative guerrilla performances and music videos, became famous in 2012 with the arrest of three of…
February’s Third Friday is shaping up to be a great night for exploring works by local photographers, which are being shown at several galleries. But It’s also a good opportunity to see works in other media – including one that’s rather rare: hair. Here’s a look at 9 shows you…
