Like in many tight-knit clans, Curtis Axel decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by going into the family business. In this case, however, the family business happens to involve kicking much ass inside a wrestling ring. The 33-year-old WWE superstar, who’s real name is Joe…
This morning, Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul and Neil Patrick Harris (a last-minute substitute for Kate Mara, who apparently had travel troubles) announced the nominees for the 65th annual Primetime Emmy Awards…
We all know the signs for when we’ve had too much to drink — there’s the slurred speech, the diminishing lack of hand-eye coordination, and the accuracy with which one can deliver their imbibed liquid into the toilet. But a popular night club in Southeast Asia is doing its customers…
Incest, eyeball-gouging, interior decorating: If Only God Forgives is any indication, writer-director Nicolas Winding Refn is a man of many interests. He’s also put Kristin Scott Thomas in a blond wig and an assortment of cougar-mom outfits, which is either a plus or a minus, depending how you look at…
I’m standing out front of the Torch Theatre — an improv space in downtown Phoenix — on a recent Saturday night, asking the performers how improv has impacted their lives. I feel like I’m getting two shows for the price of one. The first was the one I just watched…
The world is full of lackluster movies. But the world is not full of Helen Mirren in a Marlene Dietrich fedora, or Helen Mirren in full-tilt eveningwear disposing of a bothersome corpse in a marble bathroom, or Helen Mirren firing a massive rifle-type thingie while sprawled on a picnic blanket…
There’s a gorgeous moment in Yoruba Richen’s documentary The New Black, currently playing the film festival circuit, in which two young black lesbian activists canvass an inner-city black neighborhood to drum up support for the gay marriage initiative that was on the ballot in Maryland’s 2012 statewide election. The women…
Adam Sandler is successful because he’s lazy. Not lazy in the sense that he has no ambition, or doesn’t want to work hard to maintain his status as America’s big-screen comedy king. But in the sense that Sandler has built an empire by doing the same things with the same…
Less funny than her worst SNL sketch, Girl Most Likely strands Kristen Wiig in a dreadful, disingenuous city-versus-suburbs comedy that mercilessly mocks New Jersey before turning around and celebrating its provincial trashiness over the hoity-toity snootiness of Manhattan. Fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend, once-promising playwright Imogene…
Something like half the running time of the engaging new don’t-go-in-the-basement thriller The Conjuring is devoted to showing us characters proceeding slowly into the basement, or into the maws of basement-like places we know they shouldn’t go, often with just matches or a flashlight to guide them. Twice, deliciously, they’re…
In actual life, bureaucratic systems are the only workable state-citizen interface we’ve developed that can handle the sheer multitude of smelly, cranky humanity. In comedies, filmmakers often render the infinite and otherworldly in the mundane, human terms of bureaucracy, with all the waiting rooms, Muzak, and impossible regulatory complexities that…
It doesn’t take a lot to impress us when it comes to cocktail-mixing skills. We’re still figuring out how to make a consistently decent Jack and Coke. But for those looking to truly master the malts, mixologist Matt Tobey has some things to show you.On Thursday, July 18, Tobey will…
A new crop of “ganjaprennuer” is growing out of this country’s flowering legal acceptance of cannabis. As states pass legislation allowing medical marijuana and even decriminalization, pro-pot activists are finding their once-lofty dreams of legalization a reality.Enter Doug Fine: goat farmer, NPR contributor, and author of Too High to Fail:…
Friday’s USL Pro match between the Richmond Kickers and the Phoenix Wolves is looking a lot like the plot OF an ’80s movie. The Richmond Kickers are one of the oldest American soccer clubs; the Wolves are new. The Kickers are undefeated; the Wolves are languishing at the bottom of…
You might not know it, but we owe a lot to the Belgians. We can thank them for excellent chocolate, delicious waffles, and, above all, beer. We’re not really into the history or politics behind Belgian Independence Day, but it sounds like a great excuse to show our appreciation for…
Copper State Poetry Slam organizer Jeremiah Blue is even-handed in assessing Phoenix’s stature: “We are fairly solid, in terms of slam poetry.” The city’s best slam poetry teams will see just how solid when they vie amongst challengers from around Arizona for the statewide championship on Friday, July 19.The slam…
If your glass is typically half empty rather than half full, and you’re more likely to take the cynical, sarcastic side of the everything, pointing out and embracing life’s inequities as if they were your own just for a sympathetic nod, then an evening with Richard Lewis, the perpetually pessimistic…
Getting up early to run a 5K is probably the last thing on average people’s minds in the middle of July. Granted, 3.1 miles isn’t that bad, but staying cool at home sounds much more appealing. Fortunately, Splash Mob isn’t your typical 5K. This family-friendly waterpark run keeps participants cool…
As we all-too-slowly nudge our way into the 2013-14 NFL season, much talk is being made in the office about fantasy football. But if we could, we’d give up completely on researching possible sleepers and just draft the entire Arizona Rattlers starting lineup.Let’s look at their most recent game (as…
It’s hard to improve on the simple joy of finding a vintage, upright arcade game in an unexpected spot, but the artists who contributed work to last February’s exhibition “The Artcade Show” certainly did. Their powered-up custom cabinet graphics both draw from and bolster the simple but addictive gameplay housed…
So it turns out that Brittney Griner is pretty good. The top pick in the WNBA draft is putting up some impressive numbers in her rookie season for the Phoenix Mercury, building an overwhelming case for rookie of the year honors along the way. But as far as Sunday afternoon’s…
There’s a lot of Latin food here in the Valley, but Nuevo Latino specifically means Latin American food that’s been re-invigorated for a modern clientele. It’s not exactly traditional, but it can still take diners on a culinary journey through the Latin American region.On Tuesday, July 23, the Herb Box…
