Fans of Seth MacFarlane’s Fox mainstay Family Guy who wish he would run afoul of FCC regulations every week might be pleased with Ted, the story of a 35-year-old man and his foul-talking teddy bear. Plushies, too, might be turned on by the pot-smoking, whore-banging CGI toy ursus of the…
When Channing Tatum stood up and revealed his bare ass to the camera a minute or two into Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike — which the actor conceived of and produced based on his own experience as a teenage dancer in an all-male exotic revue — the audience in my screening…
For many, especially black people who see in her a mockery of our own grandmothers, Tyler Perry’s Madea is little more than a mammy — an insult to the matriarchal community figure that Perry claims to celebrate. And unforgivably, when compared to Flip Wilson’s Geraldine or even Martin Lawrence’s Big…
Beginning with a bilious toast and ending with a group hug, Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister, her fourth film, expertly makes us squirm for about half its running time only to soothe us with empty pop-psych declarations. In Shelton’s previous feature, the bolder Humpday, two straight guys, in a moment…
Lean, fast-moving, and filled with game-changing fight sequences that have a brutally beautiful (or beautifully brutal) quality, Gareth Evans’ Indonesian martial arts film The Raid: Redemption lives up to its viral hype and the buzz it generated at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Rama (Iko Uwais) is a rookie…
Like Amir Bar-Lev’s The Tillman Story (2010), Kirby Dick’s The Invisible War scathingly indicts U.S. military culture. Yet the focus of each documentary is vastly different in scale: one person as opposed to one gender. Bar-Lev examines the exploitation of the corpse of Pat Tillman, the highly principled pro footballer…
We get it — it’s hot. It’s really, really hot. So hot, in fact, that local gallery and boutique Practical Art is hosting its first-ever juried exhibition, “HEAT” with work from 12 local artists inspired (and angered) by, yes, the sweltering temps. The exhibition opens the Sunday, July 1, from…
When a former participant recently revealed that HGTV’s hit series House Hunters is a set-up, some viewers went ballistic. Reality check, folks: If you actually believe that shows like The Hills and Pawn Stars are fully unscripted, your IQ might be on par with Chumlee’s. There will be no confusion…
What would happen if you got more than 100 strippers in the same room and started blasting hip-hop jams? Probably the same sort of wild scene that ensued last night at Stratus during the casting call for reality show Strip Search. Dozens of ecdysiasts and exotic dancers from a variety…
You have one more week to see one of the best productions of a musical you’ll ever see anywhere, ever. Briefly, in case you’re unfamiliar with it, Spring Awakening is an adaptation of an early 20th-century German proto-Expressionist play about what happens when adolescents don’t have anyone to talk to…
When we last put the spotlight on 100 creative forces in Phoenix, it was no secret there were more than 100 individuals who were making waves in the local arts community. So as we count down to our annual Best of Phoenix issue, we’re profiling 100 more. Welcome (back) to 100 Creatives Cavin Costello…
Nora Ephron was a producer, director, screenwriter, journalist, novelist, playwright, author, and blogger best known for creating classic American romantic comedies and penning columns for New York magazine and Esquire and New York Times Magazine. She died last night from pneumonia, a complication resulting from acute myeloid leukemia at the…
The 99th rolling of Le Grande Boucle, a.k.a. Le Tour de France, the world’s most preeminent bike race, makes it annual grande depart this Saturday, June 30, from one of the great cycling towns in Europe – Liege, Belgium.Americans will once again be able to enjoy the 21 days of…
Gem features one standout piece from a local shop. Whether it’s a jacket, necklace, or handbag, it’s on our have-to-have list. What: Stella McCartney’s bold floral and citrus prints are perfect and playful for summer, and this structured linen, sequin-embellished skirt with a tulip silhouette fits the sweltering bill beautifully…
When we last put the spotlight on 100 creative forces in Phoenix, it was no secret there were more than 100 individuals who were making waves in the local arts community. So as we count down to our annual Best of Phoenix issue, we’re profiling 100 more. Welcome (back) to 100 Creatives Hugo Medina…
We maintain that summer movie season is the best three months on any geek’s calendar. Between the online discussion boards, midnight screenings and the glut of merchandising that follows, creative misfits and obsessive code monkeys have plenty of fodder to fuel their expanded universe fantasies. But there are those with…
Twilight, otherwise known as the reason paranormal romance takes up half the bookstore, is the spark that reignited fangers back into the public eye. The book’s main character, Edward is an odd vampire. Rather than facing an inward battle between his animalistic need to suck blood and his rapidly-receding humanity,…
From political and factual to emotional and intellectual, Tributaries highlights four local artists’s creative interpretation of the most basic and necessary resource: water. The exhibition, currently on view at Shemer Art Center in Phoenix, features the work of four local artists including Saskia Jorda, Melissa Martinez, Emily Stergar and Nic…
As you plan your next pool party or day at the river, it never hurts to come prepared. But there are certain aquatic accessories that might say you’re overdoing it. And while it’s nice to make a splash at the party, bringing any of the following would be the social…
Continuing Manifestos, a collection of 10(ish) life lessons and rules written by local creatives and illustrated by local designers. Up today, lessons learned by local writer Jo Novelli, illustrated below by Safwat Saleem: Read Novelli’s manifesto below …..
This morning, the official blog of the Supreme Court of the United States is reporting that Section 2(b) of Arizona’s immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as not pre-empted by federal immigration law. From the court: “It was improper for the lower courts…
