30 Free Things to Do in Metro Phoenix Any Time in 2015

Low on funds and high on FOMO? We can help with that. Phoenix is chock-full of free events worth freeing your schedule for, including movie screenings, open mics, and a good deal of art walks. Because saving money is always in season, here 30 free things you can do all…

5 Best Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Weekend

Iliza Shlesinger There’s a lot more to girls than sugar, spice and everything nice. There’s Uggs, glitter, and pumpkin recipe Pinterest boards, too. Just ask Iliza Shlesinger, winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing and star of her own comedy specials War Paint and Freezing Hot. Whether she’s discussing the weather…

Jorge Ignacio Torres: 2015 Big Brain Awards Finalist, Visual Art

You submitted nominations for the best and brightest emerging Valley creatives, and the results are in. Presenting the 2015 Big Brain finalists. Leading up to the announcement of winners at Artopia on May 9, Jackalope Ranch, Chow Bella, and Up on the Sun will introduce the finalists. Up today is…

7 Must-See Third Friday Shows in Phoenix on April 17

It’s all about variety this month as Third Friday April gives folks a chance to explore delicate wood burnings of moths inspired by ASU’s entomology collection, acrylic paintings on watercolor paper inspired by tattoos mirroring traditional Japanese artwork, and an immersive world of plant-laden I.V. bags inspired by losing a…

10 Things You Should Never Sext

If you’ve ever read the summaries of trashy romance novels on Amazon, then you know how tough it can be to write something both sexually provocative and not entirely silly. Sexting isn’t any different. It requires a balance of relatively blatant sexuality and cleverly crafted dialogue. The problem is that…

FX’s Hillbilly Noir Justified Was the Forgotten Prestige TV Show

No show wears its love for language and land more proudly than FX’s Justified, which ended its six-year run on April 14. Based on a novella by Elmore Leonard and starring squinty-eyed sex symbol Timothy Olyphant, the hillbilly noir never received the critical adulation or the audience one might expect…

Tempe Adventure Run

On Thursday, April 16, Tempe will be filled with people running, sliding, and glowing during April’s Tempe Adventure Run. Join the fun as participants go at their own pace from checkpoint to checkpoint, collecting raffle tickets to win up to $3,000 in prizes. The run lasts an hour, and check-in…

Welcome to Night Vale

Night Vale is a small desert town not unlike one that you’d find within miles of the California-Arizona border — with a few exceptions. Those include its mysterious hooded figures who congregate around a forbidden dog park; its Sheriff who may or may not exist; and the Glow Cloud, the…

Buyer & Cellar

You think you have a handle on where playwrights get their ideas, and then you learn that Buyer & Cellar author Jonathan Tolins drew inspiration from an interior-design book by Barbra Streisand, and you just throw your hands in the air. Apparently, a barn-size basement at Streisand’s home contains her…

Dior and I Shows How a Great House Kept From Falling

It’s nearly impossible to convince the average American citizen, especially if he’s a straight man, that haute couture has a reason to exist. The phrase isn’t just a catch-all for “really expensive clothes,” as it’s commonly misunderstood, but a specific term for clothes made entirely by hand, for a specific…

Lambert & Stamp Is the Rare Honest Rock ‘n’ Roll Film

Is it possible to be accidentally definitive? James D. Cooper’s thorough and revealing doc Lambert & Stamp is billed as the story of the managers who whipped the Who into being the Who. But once it’s sketched out, the characters and ambitions of Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert, putative New…

Little Boy Shows How Far Films of Faith Have Fallen

Did you know that there’s a new family-audience feature film that implies God nuked Japan because one plucky American moppet dared to dream? That’s no exaggeration. In the summer of 1945, the kid stands on a California dock, points his fingers magician-style out at the Pacific horizon, and screams a…

Assayas’ Latest Pits Juliette Binoche Against Time Itself

No one likes the idea of growing older, and anyone who claims as much is lying, either to you or to herself. The anxiety of aging actors is particularly acute, not necessarily because they feel the passage of time intensely, but because, having the privilege of watching their faces change…

“Other Observations”

If nothingness is somethingness and every little thing matters just as much as it doesn’t and all of this intrigues you, scares you, and also might not make any sense, then make your way to Cecily Culver’s multimedia exhibition “Other Observations.” The ASU masters of fine arts candidate presents works…

“Equal Parts”

Selves will be introspected, genders will be questioned, and some lines will probably be drawn, crossed, and erased during Frontal Lobe Community Space and Gallery’s latest show, “Equal Parts”. Local artists and curators Amanda Adkins and Ashley Macias called 22 artists to focus on the differences between genders and their…

“Mysteries from Europe”

If you love a good whodunit and are bored because it would be silly to re-re-watch Sherlock, perhaps the Phoenix Art Museum’s the place to go. Its Lyon Gallery exhibition “Mysteries from Europe” collects unsigned paintings and drawings whose origins aren’t entirely clear.Take a look from 10 a.m. to 5…

Record Store Day

In an age when most of our music consumption comes via a tailor-made, streaming feed, it’s dangerously easy to forget about the joy of the hunt; the scouring, the discovering, the nod of approval from the all-knowing record store clerk, and the joyful anticipation of putting the needle to the…