Talk Cinema Returns with Underdog Italian Comedy The Salt of Life

​Talk Cinema – the sneak-peek film series at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts – returns this Tuesday at 7 p.m. with (spoiler alert!) quirky Italian comedy The Salt of Life. Started by renowned film critic Harlan Jacobson, the Talk Cinema series screens award-winning indie and foreign films before their theatrical…

Hunger Games: A Sneak Peek at the Super Bowl Trailer

New footage, new characters, and new drama unfolds in the latest preview for The Hunger Games, set to hit theaters on March 23. The new trailer (which will run during this weekend’s Super Bowl) clocks in at one minute, zero explosions, about 10 sentences, and plenty of reasons for YA…

Chronicle: Average Teens Become Superheroes and Stay Grounded

In our status-updated, YouTubed, and retweeted age of self-documentation, does the “faux-found-footage” genre — popularized by The Blair Witch Project, vulgarized by the Paranormal Activity franchise and cash-grabbing imitators — add commentary to the zeitgeist or merely more noise? And anyway, is there really anything left to say about a…

Get to Know a Baseball Wife: Introducing Tanya Grace (VIDEO)

Vh1’s latest reality endeavor, Baseball Wives, is based in (where else?) spring training hotspot Scottsdale. The catty crew includes Anna Benson, Erika Monroe Williams, Chantel Kendall, Tanya Grace, Brooke Villone, and Jordana Lenz. The six women have (or have had) romances with MLB players, and, as it’s “reality” telly, they…

Get to Know a Baseball Wife: Introducing Brooke Villone (VIDEO)

Vh1’s latest reality endeavor, Baseball Wives, is based in (where else?) spring training hotspot Scottsdale. The catty crew includes Anna Benson, Erika Monroe Williams, Chantel Kendall, Tanya Grace, Brooke Villone (yes, the bikini’d lady to the left), and Jordana Lenz. The six women have (or have had) romances with MLB…

We Need to Talk About Kevin: We Have a Problem Child

In Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, Tilda Swinton lives out an urban bohemian’s worst nightmare. Forced to give up her independence (and downtown loft) when a reckless night with schlubby photographer flame Franklin (John C. Reilly) results in accidental pregnancy, free-spirit travel writer Eva becomes an unhappy…

Man on a Ledge Is a Leap into the Familiar

The hero of the red-herring heist flick Man on a Ledge draws two reactions from the Manhattan throng beneath his 21st-floor perch on a midtown hotel. The first, of course, is the predictable “just get it over with” impatience of New Yorkers impeded by police barricades. The second is unlikely…

Nearing 60, Liam Neeson, Action Star, Has Finally Arrived

Halfway through last year’s rough-and-tumble thriller Unknown, assassins come calling for a man who’s suffering from amnesia (Liam Neeson). All of a sudden, he hammers down on his pursuer with a lead pipe, digs a thumb into an eye socket, and punches through targets like a heavyweight. He won’t learn…

Sundance 2012 Was Thick with the Anxieties of our Times

It’s potentially dangerous to look at the lineup of the Sundance Film Festival, which ended Sunday, as a reflection of the character of contemporary indie film, the collective American consciousness, or, well, anything. But there’s no question that the 2012 edition of the festival was stuffed with films in some…

Five Fierce Films to See Before RuPaul’s Drag Race Returns

​The fourth season of Logo darling RuPaul’s Drag Race hits television screens this Monday, January 30, promising more drama, more glamour, and (we hope) even more hot glue.  This season brings a whole new line-up of guest judges, from Kelly Osbourne to Jennifer Love Hewitt to Modern Family’s Mitchell, plus the biggest…

Nominees for the 84th Academy Awards

Our shiny, golden man is back for the 2012 Academy Awards. Nominees for this year’s awards were announced this morning, with a few surprises. We’ve listed them below, and we’re plotting award-time strategy (and perhaps a drinking game). So grab the popcorn and catch up on these flicks before February 26…

Get to Know a Baseball Wife: Introducing Erika Monroe Williams

Vh1’s latest reality endeavor, Baseball Wives, is based in (where else?) spring training hotspot Scottsdale. The catty crew includes Anna Benson, Erika Monroe Williams, Chantel Kendall, Tanya Grace, Brooke Villone, and Jordana Lenz. The six women have (or have had) romances with MLB players, and, as it’s “reality” telly, they…

Get to Know a Baseball Wife: Introducing Jordana Lenz

Vh1’s latest reality endeavor, Baseball Wives, is based in (where else?) spring training hotspot Scottsdale. The show features Anna Benson, Erika Monroe Williams, Chantel Kendall, Tanya Grace, Brooke Villone, and Jordana Lenz. The vaguely sporty premise? Six women with romantic ties to pro baseballers pick fights, form catty alliances, throw…

Of Dolls and Murder Screens Tonight at SMoCA Lounge

Well-honed powers of observation are an absolute must for any detective. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle knew this, as demonstrated by the sleuthing skills of his greatest creation Sherlock Holmes. Millionaire heiress Frances Glessner Lee also believed criminal investigators should have a similarly keen eye, which is why she helped revolutionize…

The Top Five Moments in Phoenix Film History

Close to Hollywood, with a desert landscape and shining city as adaptable to “New Mexico” as “Saudi Arabia” (just ignore that non-native cactus in the corner), the Phoenix metropolitan area has a rich history of film production. Our time in the spotlight has been bright — from 1960’s Psycho, when Janet…

Seven Favorite Spots to Catch a Movie in Phoenix

​Like us, you may be in mourning for the closing of The Royale in Mesa after only six months, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still a number of local venues for viewing independent and art-house films at decent prices (like, say, free). Sure, you’ll sometimes have to compromise on seating…

Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher as victimized woman In the first scene of The Iron Lady, which re-teams director Phyllida Lloyd with her Mamma Mia! star Meryl Streep, 80-something Margaret Thatcher is presented as a little old lady unfit for the fast-moving world outside her hermetic London townhouse. The bulk…