As much of the civilized world now knows, the latest Harry Potter director is Alfonso Cuarón, best known for the explicit teen sexual awakening movie Y Tu Mamá También. As such, it may come as little surprise that his Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban begins with the teenage…
Steve Uren is too cool to knit — or so you’d think. His thick, russet glasses offset short, spiky hair, and his tee shirt, which boasts a menacing skull with crossing swords, doesn’t exactly scream craftwork. Even his gritty last name (pronounced the way you think it is) fits his…
Don’t abandon the links just because they’re hot. Night Clubbing Not long ago, an anonymous genius came up with the inspired idea of inserting a chemical glow stick into a golf ball, and in that moment night golf was born. In addition to cooler temperatures, night golf offers a more…
From rappelling to resort pooling to ice blocking, here’s a guide to finding the key ingredient for summer survival: water. Slip Sliding Away: Ice blocking is a cheap thrill. All you need is a few friends, a towel, an ice block (available at most Circle Ks) and a hilly park…
Face it — just about everyone has a little unwanted hair. Particularly in warm weather, which keeps the hair-removal business buzzing in the Valley, year-round. Some of the more intriguing hair-removal specialists in town bared all to share their techniques — and a few tales from around the wax pot…
The whole point of summer vacation is doing nothing, or as close to it as possible. Stretching out full-length on scorching sand, a sighing emerald lawn, a porch swing, a deck chair, a chaise longue, rearranging knees and elbows to find the best pose possible for turning pages with one…
While the rest of us are roasting on the spit of yet another Phoenix summer, Laurie Notaro will be holed up in air-conditioned comfort, pounding out her fourth collection of humor essays for Random House. Which sounds cool and kind of glamorous, until you ask her about it. “Oh, God,”…
If the summer movie season is our annual time for escapism, last summer’s audiences escaped most often with the likes of Hulk, Terminator 3 and The Matrix Reloaded. Those titles, respectively, ended in a homeless and penniless hero, the end of life on Earth as we know it, and our…
We’ve even found a great Fourth of July party. Read on . . . First Friday Reacting to the touristification of downtown Phoenix, artists have long begged people to get downtown and support the art scene there. They need beg no more, as thousands of people flock downtown every first…
All events subject to change. Call venue first to confirm details. DJ/Dance Music Weekly events Acme Bar & Grill: 4525 N. Craftsman Ct., Scottsdale, 480-990-7111. Tuesdays & Fridays: Translator (hip-hop). Saturdays: DJ Jason (Top 40, hip-hop). Acme Roadhouse: 855 S. Rural Rd., Tempe, 480-517-1818. Thursdays: DJ J. Alan (house). Fridays,…
You can dress a bunch of actors in grease-stained coveralls and make them sing a lot of songs about women they’d like to bed, but give them synchronized dance moves to do and they’ll always look like a line of chorus girls. Proof of this is expertly and rather loudly…
Those seeking a spiritual counterpart to the yin of Lynne Ramsay’s masterfully moody Morvern Callar will find their yang in David Mackenzie’s exquisitely sorrowful Young Adam. Art-house aficionados may recall that in Ramsay’s recent film, a young male writer commits suicide, leaving his simple girlfriend to absorb his very being…
Charles Banaszewski — Chuck B., for the phonetically challenged — is about to embark on his grandest theatrical production yet. But for now, on a Tuesday night at Casey Moore’s pub in Tempe, Banaszewski is preparing for his role as empathetic bartender. Banaszewski, a buff and bespectacled 32-year-old upstate New…
When the Phoenix Coyotes fail and the Arizona Diamondbacks don’t deliver, it might be time to invest our loyalty in a new breed of athlete — one the average office Joe can relate to. Representing every cubicle-dwelling dweeb and hardworking, soft-bellied stiff of corporate America, the fourth annual Aeron Chair…
6/4-6/6 Attention mortals: Steer clear of Chandler this weekend, as the suburb will be overrun by vampires, werewolves and similar hellspawn . . . at least in the minds of the perverse playmakers at Tinhare 2004. Put away the pitchforks and hang up on Buffy and Willow, because the gathering…
6/4-6/5 Thirty years ago, Alice Cooper was a ghoulish rocker, hell-bent on sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Now he’s writing show tunes. In all fairness, Destiny Dancers’ Mosaic 2004, showing at the Orpheum Theatre, 225 East Adams, on Friday, June 4, and Saturday, June 5, does possess all of…
6/3-6/6 George Balanchine once opined, “In my ballets, woman is first. . . . They are not equal to men: They are better.” Well, the old Russki would be proud, as Ballet Arizona’s celebration of the legendary choreographer’s 100th birthday spotlights women — one woman, to be exact: Yen-Li Chen-Zhang…
6/7-7/28 So, young grasshopper, you have much to learn about the ancient Chinese exercise of Qi Gong (also referred to as “Chinese yoga”), a massively growing trend among those who need to chill out. Apparently, you are doing much good and, therefore, good has come to you, as Phoenix College,…
Thu 27 We’ll admit it, we newshounds are often boozehounds. Something about the crunch of the ever-present deadline drives one to drink (admitting the problem is the first step). So the Bridgeport Beer Tasting at Papago Brewing Company, 7107 East McDowell in Scottsdale, on Thursday, May 27, will quench our…
Sitting through Raising Helen is an exercise in frustration, because somewhere inside this big heap of Hollywood nothing is a something (someone, actually) worth saving and savoring. Her name is Joan Cusack, always a supporting player but never a star, no matter her grace and warmth and charm even in…
What becomes of Morgan Spurlock’s body after a month of eating and drinking nothing but McDonald’s assembly-line foodstuffs is not surprising. He bloats up, gaining nearly 30 pounds in 30 days. His sex drive peters out, among the myriad disappointments visited upon Spurlock’s vegan-chef girlfriend, who’s only too happy to…
Zac Barnholdt isn’t shy about his favorite pastime. “It’s really fun shooting people,” he says. “It’s very exciting, with the adrenaline rush and all. I mean, there’s nothing better than hunting humans.” Don’t worry — the soft-spoken Phoenix resident (it’s always the quiet ones) won’t be rolling through your neighborhood…
