Second Beat Improv Theater Opens Tonight in Central Phoenix

Sam Haldiman never expected to come back to Phoenix. The Arizona native first began performing improvisational comedy nearly two decades ago, studying short form improv at Jester’Z in Mesa. From there he relocated to the improv capital of the country, Chicago, where taking an intensive summer course turned into an…

The State of Action Filmmaking, 2017

In the ’80s and ’90s, there were action movies. They starred muscly guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, or martial artists from Jean-Claude Van Damme to Cynthia Rothrock, or actors who were dedicated to the physical demands of the genre, like Bruce Willis or Wesley Snipes. They mostly told…

Molly Haskell Follows Spielberg From Boyhood to Responsibility

Almost all of the history of American movies flows into Steven Spielberg, and the movies that have come since can’t help but be in response. As a storyteller and as a cultural figure, his closest precedent isn’t John Ford or David Lean, but Dickens, another age’s popular titan, beloved more…

Your January TV Watch List: The Six Shows We’re Counting On

New year, new us! JK, new year, same ol’ us: watching TV and hiding in a hole from the bitter January cold and impending doom. The only solution? Watching all the television! You can take the day of the inauguration off to protest, but I expect you back under the…

Meet Dr. Ordovich, the Multimedia Artist Who Dabbles in Dreams

Merging worlds appears to be Dr. Ordovich’s modus operandi. Described by himself and fellow artists as “gypsy punk” and “Tim Burton meets Tom Waits meets Boris Karlov,” Ordovich, the nom de guerre of Randall De Souza Clarkson, is an accordion-playing, world-traveling illustrator, author, and musician. He debuts his first collection of multimedia work…

Isabelle Huppert Faces the Worst in the Curiously Beautiful Things to Come

One reason why Isabelle Huppert makes suffering so compelling onscreen is her sheer … well, “unflappability” isn’t quite the right word. It’s a kind of ironic distance, perhaps: The actress can convey curiosity, bewilderment and coolness all at once, even as she deals with the most agonizing of circumstances. But…