Welcome to the weekend, Phoenicians. Here’s how to spend it. Whitney Cummings @ Tempe Improv Don’t let her size fool you; Whitney Cummings is a comedy machine. The actress, writer, comedian, and executive television producer has made a name for herself as a former cast member of Punk’d, a frequent…
The Phoenix Festival of the Arts will return for an encore after a successful first run that drew 10,000 visitors in December of 2012. With a mission to “unify the arts,” the three-day festival, put on by the Phoenix Center for the Arts, will expand to include even more events…
A rock musical American history lesson that commences with the line “Here’s the thing about the Indians!” then segues into a song whose refrain is “Populism, yeah, yeah!” can’t be all bad. And in its brand-new, Ron May-directed Phoenix Theatre production, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is sublime. See also: -Space…
Whenever a new comic book movie hits theaters, two things are pretty certain — it will rake in an effload of cash (Green Lantern notwithstanding) and porn producers somewhere will have an utterly explicit parody of the flick out in short order. Case in point: the latest Superman cinematic adventure…
There’s always one. That dinner guest whose loose definition of “business casual” boils down to cargo pants, a baseball cap, and shower flops. Just because you paid $200 for that limited edition basketball jersey and have enjoy many an alcoholic beverage in it, doesn’t make it an appropriate outfit for…
The setup: Cheaters’ short Broadway run in 1978 put then 22-year-old playwright Michael Jacobs in the record books as the youngest documented author to open a show on the Great White Way. Jacobs went on to run a couple of the most popular TV shows of the following decade: Charles…
Things tend to be funnier when presented in a British accent, case and point: Monty Python. You know it’s true. In the case of comedian Russel Brand the English accent may or may not account for part of his ability to make us laugh…more likely it’s that he usually acts…
Artist Joseph “Sentrock” Perez feels invincible. The Arizona native, who now resides in Chicago, has reasons aplenty to feel that way, but what’s inspired the feeling this week is his winning Chicago-based shoe company Bucketfeet’s next artist contest. Sentrock submitted a black, white, red, and robin’s egg design on a…
If you happen to be friends with any of the local artists competing in Friday night’s Paint & Pátron event at Macayo’s Depot Cantina in Tempe, expect to get a call from them in the next 24 hours (if you haven’t already). Or an e-mail, tweet, Facebook shout-out, or any…
Father’s Day is Sunday, and because we at Jackalope Ranch can think of nothing sexier than a man willing to change a diaper, see the Wiggles, and sing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” we’ve compiled a list of our five favorite FILFs; fathers we’d like to… y’know. The Rocker: Josh Homme…
Jesus is back. This time, instead of appearing in a tortilla or a fabric softener stain, He’s chosen a ceramic tile at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport as His stage. The Christ’s bearded visage is facing east in a floor tile at a security checkpoint in Terminal Three, home to American,…
Move over Hollywood actresses, there’s a new mini-marvel in the media and her figure is literally taking her (and our) breath away. 24-year-old Michele Koebke is on a mission to have the smallest waist on record. The young German woman who once held a natural waist circumference of 25 inches…
Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel is a movie event with an actual movie inside, crying to get out. Despite its preposterous self-seriousness, its overblown, CGI’ed-to-death climax, and its desperate efforts to depict the destruction of, well, everything on Earth, there’s greatness in this retelling of the origin of Superman, moments…
From the peak of Anchorman to the nadir of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, the formula for studio comedies of the last 20 years has been simple: Dude acts like a dick for an hour, turns blandly sweet toward the end, and then everyone on the DVD commentary can claim to…
Judy Blume’s first novel, The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo, was published in 1969, yet it’s only now, 44 years later, that the first big-screen adaptation of her work—Tiger Eyes, based on 1981’s novel of the same name—finally opens in theaters. This is a disgrace. One can…
Last week, EW columnist Mark Harris tweeted a statistic disturbing to anyone who cares about gender equality on the big screen: “It’s now been 61 days since the last wide release of a major studio movie starring a woman.” Unfortunately, that number will only increase—to 84 days—until Sandra Bullock and…
Sometimes, there’s just too damn much to say about a movie than can fit into any one review. (Even Stephanie Zacharek’s exhaustive, excellent one.) So, here’s more: Stephanie Zacharek, our lead film critic, and film editor Alan Scherstuhl hashing over all the portentous craziness in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel…
This day and age has no shortage of “guides” for unattached gals. “The Single Woman’s Guide to Retirement.” “…to Living Alone.” “…to a Happy Pregnancy.” …To Renaissance England?That’s the topic Cora Fox, associate professor of English at ASU, discusses when she talks about Isabella Whitney, a Renaissance-era poet and one…
It was in the grown-man anthem “30 Something” that Jay-Z declared that age 30 was the new 20. That presumably made 40 the new 30. Regardless of the fuzzy math, Japanese superhero Ultraman Taro is celebrated for his big four-oh on Friday, June 14.The Five Ultra Brothers, the red-and-silver-clad protectors…
Besides access to cheap supplies and a steady day job, few things are as invaluable to newbie artists as friends and family. After all, they’re typically unending sources of support, whether it means turning out for whatever art show you happen land or as a source of cash.And starting at…
With a healthy Diana Taurasi running the offense and rookie Wunderkind Brittney Griner anchoring the low post, the Phoenix Mercury were supposed to open the season on fire and quickly put last year’s season in the rear view mirror. Instead, Phoenix has stumbled out to a slow start — including…
Arizona’s seemingly unwavering pursuit of becoming America’s most racist state is only occasionally thwarted by the potential threat of lost revenue, particular in the form of major sporting events. It took losing a Super Bowl before we played nice with MLK Day advocates, then SB 1070 nearly cost us Major…
