Al Madrigal isn’t just a funny man, he’s a hustler. His day-to-day schedule is spent moving from one project to another — from the East Coast to the West Coast, television, stand-up — all the while still making time for his number one priority, his family…
A West Coast showdown, Christmas raving, and airport art round out Jackalope Ranch’s top picks for things to do and see in Phoenix this week. Have at ’em, and happy holidays. Phoenix Suns vs. L.A. Lakers @ US Airways Center The first month of the NBA season often winds up…
As we brave the overcrowded parking lots and never ending checkout lines in the final days of our holiday shopping, we should really take time to remember the unspoken heroes/victims of year-end rush. Fortunately there’s an Instagram tag that does just that…
All photos courtesy of Sony PicturesAmerican Hustle, directed and co-written by David O. Russell, is undeniably the must-watch film this holiday season. With outstanding performances by an A-list cast (Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence), the period film is loosely based on the real-life Abscam FBI Sting…
The setup: For several if not most of the past 17 years, Black Theatre Troupe presented Langston Hughes’ seminal 1961 pageant Black Nativity as its Christmas show. I never got to see it, but I hear it’s rather awesome, and now it’s a Major Motion Picture. Meanwhile, BTT is premièring…
On many a night since late September, while the rest of us have been snoozing and snoring away, painter J.J. Horner and the other local artists and skaters behind Pyramid Country have been hitting the streets of the Valley with their boards and cameras in hand. The result is The…
Did the holiday season sneak up on you, too? Unlike organized gift-givers, we’re less likely to start planning for Hanukkah immediately after Yom Kippur, and prone to cramming all of our Christmas purchases into Christmas Eve. Fear not, fellow shoppers. Instead of succumbing to the annual bout of anxiety, we’ve…
Take a chill pill this pre-holiday weekend. Here are Jackalope Ranch’s top five picks for things to do in metro Phoenix. A Christmas Carol @ Theater Works Give it up to the 170 years of the greatest holiday grump we’ve known. Ebenezer Scrooge gets down in the West Valley with…
Greg Hawk and Benjamin Marx are, in the very literal sense, junkies. The two have been acquiring and selling salvaged goods to middle men and repurpose-minded retailers through venues like Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market, Hawk’s retail space, VISN ( which stands for vintage, industrial, simple, and natural), inside…
Joaquin Phoenix in Her.On this week’s Voice Film Club podcast, this paper’s film critics talk about Spike Jonze’s Her and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, in addition to the wave of films all coming out before the year’s over. Listen to it on iTunes or below on Soundcloud…
It’s said that the average lifespan of most new clubs or nightlife establishment is about three to five years. In the case of Scottsdale’s Spanish Fly, however, it didn’t even last that long. The Old Town swimming pool spot, which originally opened in 2011, closed last month and is in…
The setup: Orange Theatre Group has been working since last summer to develop an experimental theater production inspired by Federico García Lorca’s 1933 play Blood Wedding. The show is about two-thirds complete, and that two-thirds is a stunning (yet appropriately bizarre) event that’s quite unlikely to be much like anything…
I was a little unsure as I opened the heavy doors of Bentley Gallery’s reconstituted warehouse space in downtown Phoenix. The gallery’s latest show, “Gold Rush,” sets out to “shift cultural associations with the world’s most treasured metal.” The show’s official description goes on to talk about the role of…
There are some things that can never be unseen. Like any of the slew of awful, unsightly, ironic, and offensive holiday pullovers, sweatshirts, vests, and winter clothing that’s worn with pride in the weeks leading up to Christmas. And thanks to the abundance of ugly holiday sweater parties — as…
Thanks to TV infomercials, the Internet, and poor red carpet choices, society has seen its fair share of fashion hybrids: pajama jeans shortalls, boobypacks, and pantyhose as pants. But this week, the fashion industry brought faux pas fusion to a whole new level — make that two new levels…
Folk music is supposed to be the music of the people. Yet at the heart of Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis, set in New York in the winter of 1961, is a folk singer with no feeling for people. Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac, is a broke,…
The audience that shows up for a comedy is the most tyrannical of all. Their very presence is the equivalent of a schoolyard bully’s challenge: “Go ahead — make me laugh.” Which is why there’s danger in following up a hit comedy with a sequel, even nine years after the…
The best movies about con artists work a bit of flimflammery themselves. They’re not necessarily dishonest; they just can’t resist making the truth shinier than it is in real life. There may not be much behind the sparkling tinsel curtain of David O. Russell’s extraordinarily entertaining American Hustle. But what…
How stubborn was Walt Disney? He spent 26 years wheedling Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers to sell him the film rights to her book — call it determination or bullying. Travers thought he was a hack who would louse up her story with cartoon penguins. Walt thought she was a…
Three types of artists hinge on authenticity: punk bands, folk singers, and rappers. Actors, like Oscar Isaac, are phonies by definition. But the star of the Joel and Ethan Coen’s new film, Inside Llewyn Davis, gets that pressure to keep it real. In high school, he was a straight-edge punk…
If you’re like my family and me, then seeing The Nutcracker is a holiday tradition. The score is as familiar as Christmas carols, and the story as well known as a favorite bedtime book. And if you go to Ballet Arizona’s Nutcracker looking to witness the magic of the Nutcracker…
SPECIAL EVENTS Celebrity Theatre 440 N. 32nd St. www.celebritytheatre.com UrbanAZ will present A Grown & Sexy New Year’s Eve Concert featuring R&B, slow jams, and pop hits from El Debarge, Guy, and Johnny Gill. 9 p.m., $55-$75. Call 602-267-1600. Circle K New Year’s Eve Block Party Mill Avenue District, Tempe…
