10 Best Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Weekend

New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Friday, May 27, through Sunday, May 29. For more options, see our online curated calendar of events.  9 Muses Think back to the Homeric epics studied (or Sparknote-d) in high school and you may remember that history’s longest-winded writer…

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Episode 6: It’s Lillian vs. the Hipsters

Each week, we’re recapping the second season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt episode by episode. Read it before it’s cool. Last week, we talked about how the juggling of multiple plotlines can cause inconsistency within an episode. Meanwhile, “Kimmy Drives A Car!” demonstrates how a variable production crew can cause inconsistency…

The Idol Mostly Scores With the Story of a Palestinian Singing Star

In 2013, a 22-year-old Palestinian named Mohammed Assaf won the second edition of the Middle Eastern singing competition Arab Idol, a spinoff of the same popular British Pop Idol franchise that also gave us American Idol. Mohammed had snuck out of Gaza and crashed the auditions in Egypt before making…

Holy Hell Offers an Intimate Study of Sun-Kissed Cult Life

There’s reason for skepticism when you hear that a new documentary plays like a thriller. That suggests that the filmmakers have favored suspense over documenting — that the specifics of real life will be arranged according to the logic of plotting rather than reportage. Will Allen’s sunny gut-punch cult exposé, Holy…

7 Essential Disney Channel Original Movies from the 1990s

On June 24, Disney Channel will première the release of its 100th original movie, a remake of the 1987 film Adventures in Babysitting. It joins the ranks of some seriously iconic films that feature family fun and life lessons. To celebrate, Disney’s dedicating this Memorial Day Weekend to broadcasting an impressive…

How Meg McNiel Became One of Phoenix’s Go-To Tattoo Artists

Meg McNiel hunches over a small table in her Central Phoenix tattoo studio. Inside, the place is clean and virtually brand new, but it’s just another door in an old, beat-up strip mall from the outside. Although she’s only been in the space for months, the teal walls are smothered…

9 Best Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Week

New Times picks the best things to do in metro Phoenix from Monday, May 23, to Thursday, May 26. For more events, see our curated online calendar. Swipe Right for Awesomeness Gone are the days of choosing a date under the harsh light of last call. Instead, we spend endless seconds…

Alice Goes Through the Looking Glass Into a World of Formula

The guiding principle of Lewis Carroll’s classics Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is that logic does not exist. You tumble down rabbit holes and into mirrors willy-nilly, and you try to survive, feeling what you feel, having fun when you can — oh, and try not to drown…