Selfies at Serious Places is the Best/Worst Tumblr Ever

One man’s loss is another man’s gain. Or in this case, it’s another man’s tasteless selfie. When narcissism turns negligent, no photo blog documents it better than Selfies at Serious Places. Our new favorite Tumblr to love and hate simultaneously, this site pays tribute to the selfish men and women…

12 Labor Day Weekend Parties in Metro Phoenix

Yeah, we know. It’s really tempting. We’re mere hours away from the last three-day weekend of the summertime and your id is probably whispering seductively that it’s possible to stretch things out a little longer by calling in sick on Friday. And why not? You’ve earned it, and Labor Day…

Afterlife in Scottsdale Now Closed

Members of the 18-and-over crowd looking for late-night thrills won’t be lining up outside of Afterlife in Scottsdale this weekend, or any other weekend. The Old Town all-ages and after-hours dance club closed for good within the last week, which means the underage partiers will have to look elsewhere. Afterlife…

Closed Circuit: Secrets Not Worth Knowing

Intricate, intelligent thrillers made specifically for grownups are so rare these days that it’s tempting to award extra points to anyone who even scales an attempt. Tomas Alfredson’s 2011 John le Carré adaptation, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, may have been the last great example of an adult thriller that refused…

I Declare War: Play Guns and Real Stakes

The most revealing film ever made about kids and the appeal of violent fantasy isn’t Battle Royale or an adaptation of Lord of the Flies. It’s the shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark that a couple of Mississippi buddies put together over the course of their adolescence. Every…

Short Term 12: A Potent Story of Kids on the Edge

Like The Wire or Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s oeuvre, Short Term 12 is the kind of film that sounds agonizingly depressing on paper but mesmerizes onscreen. It’s a delicate yet passionate creation, modest in scope but almost overwhelming in its emotional intricacy, ambition, and resonance. Easily one of the best…

Brian De Palma on Passion‘s Battles — and Avoiding Sequels

Brian De Palma had a good reason for remaking the erotic French thriller Love Crime: He could do it better. “I think it’s very dangerous to remake a classic,” says De Palma. “Leave it alone.” But the 2010 corporate catfight flick about two female frenemies had a framework he loved…

Five Great Summer Movies You Might Have Missed (And Can Still Catch!)

As another summer movie season characterized by cynicism and excess draws to a close, there are few activities less valuable or interesting than complaining about it. The blockbusters arrived, flattened cities, vomited effects, deafened with explosions, made money, didn’t make enough money, pleased populist critics, displeased elitist critics, and finally…

Mapping The Apocalypse

The bittersweet beauty of David Maisel’s aerial photography, featured in the current exhibition “Black Maps: American Landscape and the Apocalyptic Sublime” at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, lies in its subversion of the legend of the American West as a vast expanse of unspoiled land mass. Maisel himself talks in…

Think Mink

While people are still flipping their lids over Orange is the New Black, we wouldn’t blame cult film queen Mink Stole if she considered it old hat. She tackled the role of Esther, devout Christian on death row, in Steve Balderson’s 2009 tongue-in-cheek homage to women-in-prison flicks, Stuck! Stole gets…

Night Moves

One doesn’t need night-vision goggles to enjoy an evening tour of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, but it would probably add a cool affect. The 90-minute tour is pretty darn cool anyway, offering a unique look at Wright’s masterpiece home as highlighted by angled and jutting shadows and…

Northern Exposure

Since the 1700s, thirsty Alaskans have been brewing their own beers and these days, the region’s namesake brewing company carries on the tradition at its highly sustainable Juneau brewery. Alaskan Brewing Company was the first craft brewery in the United States to recycle carbon dioxide.Friday, August 30, Proof Canteen at…

Abstract Arty

Who needs “good clean fun” when you can get a little dirty? Such is the premise of Splat’s annual paint party. This rave spans three stages, each designated for paint, foam, and a “clean” zone. The bash boasts a laundry list of DJs that run the gamut from hardstyle to…

Arabian Night

Frankly, we get a little bored with the whole Miss America thing — and we’re not even talking Donald Trump.Year after year, America’s most major pageant features the same old stuff: huge hair, sparkles, swimsuits. We get it.But dammit if the Miss Arab USA 2013 pageant hasn’t piqued our interest…

Picture People

Art does not exist in a vacuum, and the members and staff at Gilbert gallery and studio space Art Intersection are well aware. For creative types to thrive, they need a community. That’s why the artistic outpost has assembled a group of artists, bringing them together through its membership program…

Good Eats

If slaving and sweating over a hot grill in 100-plus degree heat falls under your definition of “labor,” there’s a different way to satisfy your cravings this Labor Day weekend — let someone do it for you at Phoenix Cooks. Benefiting Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the 9th Annual event features classes,…

Gaines and Losses

By most objective measures, the Phoenix Mercury’s current season has been a success. The Merc have rebounded from last year’s bottom table finish and looked like a legitimate playoff contender. But the team’s top brass clearly isn’t satisfied: they sacked coach and GM Corey Gaines at the start of the…

Summer Style

Call P. Diddy, because there’s another all-white party going down, and this one’s happening just in the nick of time. Before you box up those white Bermudas and boat shoes, bring them out for one last hurrah as Glendale’s The Shout House hosts its second annual White Out Party. The…

Full Spectrum

Ever since his days on the early 1990s sketch show In Living Color, Damon Wayans has had quite the colorful career. The stand-up comedian, writer, and actor has starred in such movies as Major Payne and The Last Boy Scout. He was also the co-creator, executive producer, and star of…