While escaping out of the friend-zone is only slightly easier than scaling the walls to escape the pit in The Dark Knight Rises, there are times when we accidentally place ourselves deep in the friend-zone when we could’ve been so much more. We’re not saying these will work in every…
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing two-time Pulitzer Prize in Drama finalist Gina Gionfriddo. Her most recent work, Rapture, Blister, Burn has been hailed as a great feminist play. Much of our conversation revolved around where the idea for the show came from and what message…
In the opening moments of Two Days, One Night, a working-class Belgian woman named Sandra (Marion Cotillard) wakes from a midday nap, takes a phone call, removes a tart from the oven, pops a pill, and begs herself not to cry. With a sense of having arrived in the middle…
Halfway through Laura Gabbert’s documentary City of Gold, a salute to Jonathan Gold, the Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic’s brother Mark reveals a dark family secret: Gold grew up devouring iceberg lettuce and orange Jell-O. Every day, we eat. It’s a must. And those meals tell a story: The peanut sauce…
Jude Law, once so shiny-penny-clean and pretty — and with the kind of chin dimple that might have inspired Audrey Hepburn to ask, as she did of Cary Grant in Charade, “How do you shave in there?” — is only now reaching the age where we can call his face…
No matter how you end up feeling about it, there sure is a lot of movie in Mommy, Xavier Dolan’s exuberant melodrama about an emotional firecracker of a teenager who, after being kicked out of a specialized school for setting the cafeteria on fire, goes home to live with his…
This year, Sundance started a week late to bypass Martin Luther King Day. Perhaps that’s why buyers bid on films like sprinters racing after lost time. Thanks to their spending spree, every movie on this list should eventually make it to a theater near you — or at least to…
Dying in 2003 at the relatively young age of 34 from seemingly self-inflicted stab wounds to the heart (a coroner ruled the cause of death as undetermined rather than suicide), singer-songwriter Elliot Smith left behind grieving fans, a treasure trove of unrealeased songs, and more questions than answers. In Heaven…
Rugs kind of get a bad rap. It’s not good if you lie like a rug or if you sweep something under the rug. But people forget that rugs can do more than just cover that pesky worn part of the floor. They can be used as a medium for…
There is, perhaps, no issue more controversial in professional sports today than the stereotyping of Native Americans. This past year saw several major media outlets outright refuse to use the name of Washington’s football team — and the not insubstantial amount of backlash against that decision has moved the discussion…
While friends and family in other parts of the country have been busy plowing snow or staying bundled up indoors, we Arizonans have been outside enjoying some of the most beautiful temperatures of the year. This weekend, you’ll have a chance to continue the trend at the Winter Garden Party…
Last year’s Arizona Roller Derby league season featured plenty of drama as the underdog Tent City Terrors managed to win it all. This year’s season figures to be even more dramatic. With the league expanding, the rosters have been reshuffled a good bit. Because of this, the playing field is…
Choices, choices… what with the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Super Bowl, and Brewers Bowl all vying for attention; only the inaugural Brewers Bowl isn’t a spectator sport, but a participatory one with more than one dozen Arizona craft breweries serving their tasty creations. Hosted by Bad Water Brewing, one winning…
This is not a dream, fellas. Victoria’s Secret models Lily Aldridge, Behati Prinsloo, Adriana Lima, and supermodel Erin Heatherton are heading to Phoenix to host the Leather and Laces Party for Super Bowl XLIX. The two-night event will feature entertainment by Cirque acrobats, mentalist Jim Karol, and musical artists Gabe…
Kevin Hart has reached a level in his career few comedians ever do: He no longer needs an introduction. Whether they’ve seen his hilarious stand-up, TV cameos, or one of the seven (seven!) movies in which he’s had a part this past year, people know Kevin Hart. Which makes our…
Phoenix has certainly kicked off the new year on an athletic note. Between the bowls and opens, even the Suns are in the midst of an unprecedented eight-game home stand. It’s as if the world’s finest athletes are all descending upon the Valley at once. And then there’s Jim Gaffigan…
You love having the inside track on the latest shindigs. If previewing new talent aligns as one of your things, ASU Dance Presents: Emerging Artists II on Sunday, February 1, is a sequel that should appeal to the cool-chaser in you.Just because these performances are fresh out of the oven…
Notorious cornerback Richard Sherman and the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks take on two-time MVP Tom Brady and the AFC champion New England Patriots in this year’s Super Bowl XLIX. The two No. 1 seed teams take the field in sunny-and-70 Glendale, battling for ultimate bragging rights. Whether you’re…
Break up the monotony of the daisy chain with the 6th Annual Ikebana Exhibit. This outdoor event will showcase the Japanese style of flower arrangement as a means of artistic expression and meditation. The exhibit is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays, January 29 through February 1,…
The tradition of super-rad programming for YA literature continues this week at Changing Hands Phoenix, 300 West Camelback Road, with a Lunar Ball to celebrate the release of Melissa Meyer’s latest book, Fairest: Levana’s Story. Fairest is a prequel to Meyer’s bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, which includes the books Cinder,…
When Wendy Whelan said goodbye to the New York City Ballet after nearly three decades, the 47-year-old ballerina wasn’t bidding farewell to her career. On Tuesday, February 3, the lauded and lanky Whelan brings to Scottsdale her new project, Restless Creature, a suite of duets. The collaboration between Whelan and…
Fiber artists Christy Puetz and Ingrid Restemayer have created weird, beautiful things to exhibit both together and separately since they studied in North Dakota more than 20 years ago. The duo’s current joint show, “Delicate Beasts,” continues through Saturday, February 14.Puetz sculpts life-size pets and small wildlife partially encased in…
