Please, for his own good, somebody clap Dustin Hoffman into a chastity belt. Based on what Al Pacino suffers in Stand Up Guys, and the identical humiliations visited up Robert De Niro in Little Fockers, it seems that Hollywood will not be satisfied until it has speared a hypodermic into…
Tabu is one of those truly unique movies you can get tongue-tied just trying to describe: a tragic pop pastiche? A lyrical Old Hollywood melodrama projected on a bedsheet? A celluloid curio à la Barnum’s Fiji mermaid? At such times, it’s better to stick with a simple “wonderful.” Although the…
Taz Loomans left town yesterday. For most people, that won’t mean a thing. But for those of us whose livelihood or avocation involves hand-wringing about the local state of architectural affairs, it’s proof of our worst fears: that the folks who love this city and want to help it grow…
If beauty’s only skin deep, then being a model can’t be all the globe-trotting, Tyra Banks-funded fun it’s cracked up to be. We’d imagine it’s quite the opposite: a world of disposable people who have their picture taken, walk some runways, look good for a few years and, once they…
For the first time in nearly five years, one of the foremost names in contemporary dance hits the stage at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, January 31. That’s when Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will bring to town its 18 dancers and the talents of artistic director Glenn…
Nothing says love is in the air quite like chocolate, and there’s plenty of that at the Haute Chocolate Market & Festival, an evening affair featuring local artisanal chocolatiers, live entertainment, and more.The event promises chocolate for all and includes a chocolate showpiece competition, judged by a panel of chefs,…
Bigie Meanmugg is a big-time joystick Jedi. Has been for decades. In his adolescence, the local DJ and graphic artist used to waste away hours at the old Nickel Palace arcade over on the west side, feeding five-cent pieces into such classics as Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam. However, the…
Two seasons ago, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was hoisting an NBA championship trophy over his head. Today the brazen billionaire’s Mavs are hobbling their way out of playoff contention for the first time in more than a decade. Despite some questionable moves and a failed off-season bid for marquee…
To those who were amped over FOX rebooting In Living Color in 2013, we are sorry to report that your dreams of drooling over a new crop of bootylicious Fly Girls are officially dashed.Eschew the sad lure of burying yourself in a DVD-watching marathon of the sketch comedy show, and…
It’s hard to shy away from a good fight, and none fight better than brothers. So what will we get when brothers Jim and John Harbaugh square off against each other in Super Bowl XLVII at the New Orleans Superdome? Chances are they’ll let their respective teams — Jim’s San…
It’s rarely considered newsworthy when a 40-something pro athlete flirts with retirement (especially if he doesn’t send lewd text messages to a reporter first). So we have to tip our hat to Phil Mickelson. The 42-year-old ASU grad generated plenty of controversy earlier this month when he suggested that he…
National Geographic, the official journal of the National Geographic Society, was once the king of dentists’ waiting rooms and dusty school libraries. Lucky for it and us, now the publication’s stunning visuals rock TV, the internet, and a live lecture series that brings the people behind the adventures to the…
Ubu Roi (which basically translates as “King Turd”) is one of the weirdest, grossest, funniest French plays of all the famously weird, gross, funny French plays. (Which is a lot, because France’s playwrights were especially active in the vanguards of Dada, absurdist, and surrealist drama.)Showing what happens to people when…
When reading that the equine “actors” in the stage production of War Horse were puppets, we imagined Muppet-looking creatures would help tell the tale of a boy’s horse sold into World War I battle. Thankfully, a cursory Google search revealed no such furry creatures. Instead, they’re imposing and stunning life-size…
Ideally, when a play’s scary, it’s for the audience and on purpose. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version of Sunset Boulevard is scary for producers. Apparently, it’s not enough that the design concept was prohibitively complex and costly for even the original West End, L.A., and New York productions; there’s also…
For an intimate look at work by widely celebrated artists John Baldessari, Kerry James Marshall, and Ann Hamilton, and emerging artists Luis Gispert, Chen Qiulin, and Michael Vasquez, stop by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art on Satuday, February 2, from noon to 9 p.m. That’s when art included in the…
Reality TV gets a bad rap, and usually for good reason. Fortunately for us tube-addicts, most shows aren’t as ridiculous as Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Sure, RuPaul’s Drag Race can be pretty over the top (especially when queens imitate celebrities in “The Snatch Game”). But who doesn’t love seeing…
Taz Loomans is an architect, a writer, a real estate developer, and the head honcho at Blooming Rock. She’s a first-generation immigrant (her family’s Indian), who was born in Mozambique. She says she moved to Phoenix 22 years ago, but told Jackalope Ranch last June that she hadn’t felt home…
All sorts of creatures have started to emerge from the Scottsdale canal over the past few weeks, thanks to local artists Isaac Caruso and Ashley Macias. The duo equipped themselves with rubber boots and earth-friendly spray paint to create a range of murals in the dried-up canal near the Scottsdale…
There’s nothing like love to justify that half-gallon of ice cream at 11 a.m. or the splurge on the heavily discounted day-after-Valentine’s-Day chocolate. Everybody has a few stories of romance and disaster around the day dedicated to love, but if you’re interested in hearing stories from kickass writers that tie…
Steve Wiley is Jackalope Ranch’s Parent Hood. He’s a slightly unorthodox father of five who will weigh in weekly with his mildly-rebellious views and observations. If you’d like to see how he came to write this column, watch the intro video. This week he recommends three kids’ books with phenomenal…
If you’re involved in yoga at all in the Valley, chances are you’ve heard of or met Rebecca Fritz. Fritz, a Portland native, and her husband Matthew are owners of Sutra Midtown, which they started after their passions led them to create a community retreat that catered to a healthy…
