People tend to pay more to watch high-stakes sports games, but there’s something to be said for a baseball game with low impact. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to kick back with a cold brew, watch the game half-heartedly, and relax. With the MLB regular season starting next week…
Forget camping out for the midnight showing of The Hunger Games, the most crazed film aficionados are gearing up for the Phoenix Film Festival. The 12th edition of the fest begins with an opening night gala , and a screening of Robot & Frank, featuring Frank Langella as an aging…
The agave plant is commonly referred to as the century plant because of the staggering amount of time it takes to flower and subsequently die. Despite being one of the planet’s most versatile plants, it’s most often associated with tequila, which, in turn, tends to make its partying partakers blossom…
A batch of upcoming local artists — visual, performing, film, and multimedia — will showcase their work at ASU’s annual Arcapalooza. More than 50 students from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts submitted proposals to participate, and they’ll chug a few energy drinks and drag out their final…
According to legend passed down by the Hash House Harriers, a female newcomer was once invited to a hash in San Diego and, completely unaware she was about to run a trail, showed up in a red dress. Despite being mocked for her ensemble, the fabled female ran the trail…
You’d recognize her pulled, pinched, and smoothed face anywhere. Her loud and raspy voice with its thick New York accent making jokes about eyesores of outfits, unfortunate events, celebrity stupidity and, of course, herself. Sometimes they laugh. Sometimes they don’t. So it goes in the life of Joan Rivers. Rest…
Don’t let the seeming scramble of letters and numbers of Tyson Powless’ UN3EK SY5TEM (pronounced “unique system”) fool you. The graphic designer has a straightforward point of view when it comes to his creations, which draw inspiration from graffiti and his Native American heritage, as well as punk and ’80s…
It’s human nature to look back and idealize what once was. And — nostalgia be damned — it’s too easy to boil down decades to cultural touchstones. The ‘50s had poodle skirts, greasers and innocence. The ‘60s brought hippies. The ’70s gave us god-awful disco. While those all seem worlds…
You’re gonna feel like a noob if the town of Maricopa’s eighth annual Salsa Festival is your first, but you’ll be an excited, happy noob, enjoying samples from amateur and pro chefs vying for cash prizes awarded to Best Overall, Mild, Hot, and Unusual recipes for the spicy slush, for…
Jen Deveroux is nothing if not ambitious. Over the past four years the hipster party promoter has launched dozens of stylishly themed nightlife and fashion events for the trendoid crowd, some of which have flourished (Adult Swim, Tune in Tokyo) while others have fizzled (Royal Filth, Ivy League). Despite a…
For 30 Rock devotees to separate Broadway actress and singer Jane Krakowski from her ever-scheming character Jenna Maroney is a tall order. Both are successful actresses. Although, as noted in her self-made obituary, Jenna’s most esteemed credits include being a three-time Tony … Shaloub sex partner. Both beautifully belt sultry…
It might look like an epic Chinese movie is being filmed at Tempe Town Lake this weekend, but actually the droves of boats will signal the ninth annual Dragon Boat Festival: two days of paddle racing in traditional 40-foot longboats ornately adorned stem and stern with dragon heads and tails…
Bloomberg Businessweek dubbed southeast Valley town Queen Creek one of the fastest growing cities in America in 2011. The QC hasn’t gotten too big for its britches, though. The burgeoning burg honors its rural heritage with the Roots N’ Boots Queen Creek Rodeo. In addition to Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association…
In the performance world, being a triple-threat usually means you can sing, dance, and act equally well. It also means that every actress of similar age is imagining you strung up in traction when they tell you to “break a leg.” Ib Andersen is a different kind of triple-threat, a…
For avid sports fans, March means one thing: putting five dollars into an office pool to fill out a college basketball bracket that will be worthless in three weeks. Chances are good that this year was especially vexing for serious bracketeers, whose month was likely ruined around the same time…
It probably won’t be a dark, stormy night rife with thugs and drama when James Sallis brings his latest noir novel to Poisoned Pen on April 3. But Driven, his follow-up to the acclaimed pulp novella Drive (which Nicolas Winding Refn adapted into the 2011 Ryan Gosling-starring flick of the…
There’s no excuse for skipping out on a little exercise, especially when it comes in the form of a casual bike ride. Hosted by local two-wheeler purveyor State Bicycle Co., the weekly nighttime LOOPS AZ Ride provides just that opportunity. Participants roll along at a no-drop pace with a few…
Burgeoning star Lizzie Caplan stars in dark, quirky comedy Queens of Country, which was made in Cave Creek, Arizona, by local filmmaking duo Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke. Sat., March 31, 5:10 p.m.; Tue., April 3, 7:20 p.m.; Wed., April 4, 9 p.m., 2012…
We Need to Talk explores uncomfortable topics, some funny and some serious, that aren’t always easy to discuss. Tue., April 3, 12:10 p.m.; Wed., April 4, 12:10 p.m.; Thu., April 5, 12:10 p.m.; Tue., April 10, 12:10 p.m.; Wed., April 11, 12:10 p.m.; Thu., April 12, 12:10 p.m., 2012…
Even celebs have love-hate relationships with their bodies. For example, Rihanna recently confessed that she struts around naked to confront her body issues, while Kris Jenner posted a nude pic of her younger self preggo with son Rob Kardashian (as if his sisters don’t provide enough embarrassment). Body image and…
Zhang Yimou was an ideal choice to be chief director of the 2008 Beijing Olympics’s opening and closing ceremonies. With recent movies like House of Flying Daggers and Hero, the Chinese filmmaker of Raise the Red Lantern lately has proved to be a man more enamored of spectacle than characters…
Roger Ebert is a very angry man. The award-winning film critic and all-around grouch has been railing against video games as a style that “can never be art,” and has caused a community of gamers and artists debating the artistic value produced for small and large screens. The Smithsonian in…
