Jessica R. Metcalfe complains. It comes with the territory, being a prominent watchdog blogger and scholar who covers and studies how Native American imagery is appropriated for fashion. She calls designers and companies out on her blog, Beyond Buckskin, when they misuse Native imagery (think: headdresses on the Victoria’s Secret…
The setup: Agatha Christie may not have been the first mystery writer to maroon a bunch of strangers in a house together, tell them one of them is a murderer and some of the rest of them are potential victims, and then just let the secrets and paranoia do all…
Remind Pete Petrisko that he’s one of the pioneers of the Phoenix downtown arts scene, and he’ll likely tell you you’re “weird.” Petrisko’s big on insulting people, even when they’re paying him a compliment. And, lately, he’s also big on public art. Petrisko has been posting his new work –…
Before you start packing for nerdy adventures at San Diego Comic-Con next weekend or commit to seeing all of comedian Tommy Davidson’s five sets at Tempe Improv this weekend, read up on all your options. Here are five top picks for what to do over the next few days. Arizona…
In case you think that only American researchers are competing for the title of Professor Obvious, we’ve rustled up a study from the British Journal of Psychology, a beach read that’s stacked neatly, to the best of our knowledge, on thousands of insomniacs’ nightstands throughout the United Kingdom. What the…
Get excited, golfers, people who hang out with golfers, or date golfers, or, well, you get the idea. Because TopGolf, the driving range meets bar/lounge golf entertainment center, is coming to the Valley. The 12th TopGolf location, called TopGolf at Riverwalk, breaks ground on July 19 and is expected to…
The biggest pop culture convention in the country will lumber its way into San Diego next weekend. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world will pour into Southern California to celebrate their obsessions with their like-minded peers. If you are one of those lucky people who will…
If you’ve spent a weekend night out in Scottsdale’s nightlife district anytime in recent years, it’s probable that you’ve spied Wig Mafia in action. And it’s hard not to gawk at the two-man party crew and hip-hop team since they’re sort of eye-catching, even among Old Town’s ostentatious masses. If…
Social media has become a part of our daily routine as much as brushing our teeth or putting on shoes. The irony is that social media can stop you from having an exciting social life. Think about it this way: Every time you look down to check your phone, not…
Getting a PhD in English from Yale is not like eventually completing a stint in rehab. You don’t have to do it in order to remain insurable in the eyes of film producers who decide whether you can work on a project that involves paying hundreds of people pulling down…
The average guy on the street may know who or what Big Star is or was. But the right guy will always know — or be heartened to learn. A grand power-pop outfit formed in 1971 in Memphis by Alex Chilton, former lead singer of the Box Tops, and Chris…
If the great god of movies, whatever slippery Mount Olympus of money he resides on, decrees that summer is the time for larger-than-life 3D blockbusters, Guillermo del Toro may as well make one. His Pacific Rim is summer entertainment with a pulse. The effects are so overscaled and lavish as…
With his anxious parable I’m So Excited!, Pedro Almodóvar imagines a plane malfunction not as a pretext for thrills, as in most films, but as a metaphorical farce: The jet is Spain, and what we should fear for is not just the passengers’ lives, but the country’s. Defective landing gear…
Until 2005 or so, no one thought much about modern piracy of the high-seas variety. But then Somali pirates began attacking merchant ships with increasing frequency, seizing vessels and holding their crews hostage for outlandish sums. Danish director Tobias Lindholm’s wiry, neatly crafted thriller A Hijacking wrests fact into the…
The Way, Way Back is a crowd-pleasing summer treat, predictable in its sweetness but satisfying all the same. It’s like the multinationally branded ice cream sandwich you get on any pier in the Western Hemisphere — market-tested to appeal to as many people as possible (but that you don’t mind…
Nat Faxon and Jim Rash didn’t set out to make a comedy about divorce. Eight years ago, when the improv comedians turned actors turned Oscar-winning screenwriters started writing a coming-of-age script based on a particularly upsetting moment from Rash’s childhood, they just wanted a happy ending. Yet almost all the…
In 1997, the programmers of the Making Scenes queer film and video festival in Ottawa, Ontario, received an unmarked package in the mail. It contained a videotape of an original film and no return address or contact information of any kind. The film, a five-minute short shot on video in…
Valley art lovers can expect a cool time — weather notwithstanding — when the Scottsdale Gallery Association presents its 24th annual Summer Spectacular Artwalk this week. A creative way to beat the heat, the event includes exhibition openings, painting demonstrations, and musical street performances.Wilde Meyer Gallery presents “The Local Scene,”…
There are Frida Kahlo admirers, and then there are the Phoenix Fridas. On a scale of one to fan-girl, the 10 women behind the Latina arts and crafts group rank off the charts when it comes to the unibrowed surrealist. The latest homage to their creative inspiration comes in the…
It seems rather befitting that comedian Jim Gaffigan’s last name sounds like “gaffe again,” since the 46-year-old makes a living off of making light of one gaffe after another. Not that the self-deprecating, awkward brand of comedy is anything new; it’s Gaffigan’s circumstances that set him apart from his peers…
Along with summertime comes summer vacations. Dad loads up the Caravan with every possible item of comfort he can squeeze in like a pack rat. Mom keeps everything moving with the kids like mother hens tend to do. Then there’s the kids. They can embody any number of species while…
It’s not every day that fire meets samba meets Caribbean-infused electronica. But then again, Flam Chen isn’t your average performance troupe. For years they’ve been creating one-of-a-kind shows that fuse dance, stilt, and aerial performance. On Saturday, July 13, the troupe will première Caribbean Technology, a quintessential circus fire show…
