Mike Nichols’ new film Closer is a boiling pot of lust, mistrust and double-dealing that might well be taken for outright soap opera — or, in quite a few places, soft-core porn — were it not for the sophisticated gleam of its well-heeled London desperadoes and the vicious dazzle of…
It’s the biopic of the year: Christian Bale is cadaverous industrial rocker Trent Reznor, prone to temper tantrums, brooding, inhabiting colorless environments, and keeping your parents awake all night as he fronts the heavy band known as Nine Inch Nails. Oh, wait . . . that’s not quite right. Christian…
Ebenezer Scrooge might be the quintessential poster boy for a bad holiday attitude, but he didn’t have to fist-fight a soccer mom the day after Thanksgiving for the last limited-edition Bratz doll at Wal-Mart. And Scrooge didn’t have to buy glow-in-the-dark mistletoe nipple clamps for a gag gift party. In…
In 1976, Mark Mothersbaugh and his Devo bandmates slept in an Econoline van, drafting eccentric lyrics about the de-evolution of humans. Today, Mothersbaugh dines with Hollywood’s elite, enjoys a successful music career — and crafts eccentric works of art that decry the de-evolution of humans. Some things never change for…
Sat 12/4 Athletes of the Valley are probably used to navigating hazardous mountain terrain or dusty mountain trails, but could they manage climbing a 12-foot-high ramp covered with Crisco? Such obstacles await at the Phoenix Urban Adventure Race on Saturday, December 4, where — in addition to almost 25 miles…
12/3-12/5 Since ASU’s put the clamp-down on fraternity partying, Sun Devil brothers must find other outlets to express themselves. For example, the ninth annual Pharaoh Step Classic Stepshow, which takes place on Saturday, December 4, at the South Mountain High School Amphitheatre, 5401 South Seventh Street. Witness the Mu Eta…
Wed 12/8 There comes a time in every rocker’s life when he grows weary of performing that signature hit, night after night. Even the metalheads of KISS are bound to stop wanting to rock ‘n’ roll all night (and party every day). Not Dick Dale. “The King of Surf Guitar,”…
THU 25 Maybe we’ve lost too many of our own brain cells along the way, but we were under the impression that spliffs and phatties were followed by the munchies. On Thursday, November 25, the before-and-after scenario is flipped, when Dumperfoo’s Blunt Club at the Priceless Inn, 5014 South Price…
Camille Messina, 24, fashion designer, filmmaker, singer and hairdresser, lives with three roommates, four pets and one creepy mannequin in a quaint Tempe condo. Favorite art form: I don’t know. Fashion comes the easiest. If I haven’t done that in a long time, it makes me feel better. Music is…
The most shocking thing about Kinsey, the first film from writer-director Bill Condon since 1998’s Gods and Monsters, is how shocking it actually is. Within the confines of a standard biopic (A Beautiful Dirty Mind, you might call it), Condon refuses to play it straight — which is only appropriate,…
11/29-11/30 Marketing jingles, every sports franchise has got one. With the Suns, it’s “Working hard, playing harder.” Feh. The D-Backs? They dared ask “Is it a part of you?” Hardly. Arizona Gay Volleyball’s war cry? “Balls, Sand, and Sweat.” Now that’s a slogan. Not only is it laced with double…
Sun 11/28 There once was a time when silly things like the time of year and the weather announced the beginning of ski season. That was until 1949, the year Warren Miller released his first ski-related epic. In the more than half a century since, his work has served as…
Being thankful isn’t enough. We — every one of us fortunate enough to be alive during this scary, exciting time — want dessert besides. We want this Thanksgiving to be about pie, not about gratitude for our diminished waistlines. It’s been more than a year since low-carb guru Robert Atkins…
If you’ve ever gone line-dancing with a gaggle of amputees on crank and hallucinogens, you know something of the feeling engendered by viewing Alexander. This broad, bold and ambitious film by Oliver Stone presents itself as a fairly straightforward endeavor, but its rhythms quickly go strange while its participants hobble…
As the year stumbles toward its conclusion and critics begin penning their best-and-worst compendiums, here’s a holiday contender fit for the all-time Naughty List. Based on the John Grisham novel Skipping Christmas — which, face it, is less a novel than an impulse item stacked on bookstore checkout counters –…
According to Israeli singer Achinoam Nini, a.k.a. Noa, if you’ve heard her music, well, that’s downright un-American. No, really, unless you’re Jewish or European, you probably haven’t heard of Noa, despite her distinguished résumé, which includes performances for the pope and Bill Clinton, and alongside Quincy Jones and Sting. “My…
Provided you somehow fight off a T-Day invasion by the extended family with the usual gourmet gorge-fest, relieving your ravenous relatives (not to mention snuffing out the usual psychodrama), you’ve still got yet another dilemma: They’re clamoring for some post-gluttony goings-on. Forestall a potential family feud with a good old-fashioned…
Thu 11/25 As the joke goes, they do celebrate Thanksgiving in Great Britain — only on September 6. Why? Because that’s when we Yankee blokes, back in 1620, fled jolly old England. (Ba-dum-cha!) But seriously, folks, desert-dwelling Britons (wanna-bes, that is) will celebrate T-Day with a party of their own…
Fri 11/26 Graduates of the “new school” of punk rock often have difficulty receiving validation from “old school” punks, the people who remember punk as the ultimate anti-commercial loogie hocked in the face of disco and self-indulgent ’70s guitar rock. Luckily, co-ed band Tsunami Bomb has received that validation, participating…
THU 18 The NHL’s on strike, or haven’t you noticed? We can’t blame you, unless you’ve got some underage hockey-lovin’, howlin’-at-the-moon misfits itching to get out of the house and onto the ice tugging at your heartstrings. If so, we know of just the right remedy, thanks to (and because…
11/19-11/21 Ninety-nine red balloons in the sky might have been a big deal in the ’80s, but that’s nothing compared to the hot air of the new millennium. Witness the 2004 Arizona Balloon Festival at Tumbleweed Park, 2250 South McQueen in Chandler, and you’ll see what we mean. The festival…
11/20-11/21 We’ve swallowed the notion that a swath of desert near Gold Canyon transforms into a Tudor-style village every spring for the past 16 years. So it’s no surprise the medieval merrymakers at the Devonshire Renaissance Faire have fooled us with their intricately crafted illusion that a 24-acre park in…
