M.V. Moorhead, Author at PHOENIX magazine

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The PHiXRenowned Conservationist Jane Goodall Visits Arizona Science Center for Documentary Debut

M.V. MoorheadJune 3, 2023

For many of us, it would be hard to find a more alluring title than that of the new IMAX movie at Arizona Science Center: Reasons for Hope. This is especially true considering the person offering the reasons: Dr. Jane Goodall. Directed by David Lickley, the 45-minute film features the globetrotting Goodall presenting four different success stories from the world of environmental activism and conservation. As an example of Reason One, the hope she derives from...

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The PHiXCatch These Classic Films at Local Cinemas This Month

M.V. MoorheadMay 20, 2023

For those who can’t find much to their taste among current cinematic offerings, the coming days offer two iconoclastic movie classics onscreen here in the Valley, one from the ’80s and one from the ’70s. This Saturday night Cult Classics shows John Carpenter’s 1988 They Live; there are two shows, at 9:30 and 9:35 p.m. at Landmark Theatres in Scottsdale. Tickets start at $16. The “They” of the title are skull-faced, pop-eyed aliens who invaded...

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The PHiXArizona Theatre Company’s ‘Pru Payne’ Shines a Light on the Complexities of Dementia

M.V. MoorheadApril 3, 2023

“Keep your mind active.” We’re often told that this is a key to long term cognitive health: doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku or Wordle, reading, writing. But being a famous, award-winning critic and essayist hasn’t kept Prudence “Pru” Payne from one of the scourges of aging: dementia. The title character of Arizona Theatre Company‘s Pru Payne, at Herberger Theater Center through April 16, is an aesthetic conservative. The dour, caustic Pru insists that the critic’s role...

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The PHiXPhoenix Film Festival Returns with More Than 250 Documentaries, Dramas and Fantasy Films

M.V. MoorheadMarch 23, 2023

When it comes to this year’s Phoenix Film Festival, slated from March 23 to April 2, executive director Jason Carney has an opinion: “I think from top to bottom, this is the best we’ve had. It’s on the level of any film festival out there.” Then he makes a qualification. “Except for South by Southwest [in Austin]; we’re not trying to compete with that. But any regional film festival.” No argument here. The schedule for this year’s...

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The PHiXNo Festival Required Launches Valley’s First Architectural Film Showcase this Spring

M.V. MoorheadMarch 9, 2023

Still from The Proposal, a film by Jill Magid Steve Weiss loves film, and he loves architecture. He also loves Arizona. So, it’s only natural that Weiss would get around to launching the Arizona Architectural Film Showcase. The all-day series presents three indie documentaries on architectural themes on Saturday, April 22; two of them during the day at Phoenix Center for the Arts Third Street Theater, and a third as an outdoor screening that evening...

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The PHiXCatch an Indie Flick at the 4th Annual Peoria Film Festival This Weekend

M.V. MoorheadOctober 13, 2022

Will it play in Peoria? The classic question, deriving from the vaudeville theater, asks whether a given act will appeal to middle American audiences. It originally referred to Peoria, Illinois, but it could just as easily be applied to its namesake city in Arizona. The programmers of the Peoria Film Festival will learn the answer to that question this weekend, with regard to the festival’s slate of features and shorts. The fourth edition of the...

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The PHiXUpcoming Cinephile Celebrations: National Cinema Day and Anniversary Screenings of ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ and ‘Nosferatu’

M.V. MoorheadSeptember 2, 2022

This Saturday, September 3 is National Cinema Day. Multiplex chains across the Valley, from Harkins to AMC to Cinemark to West Wind Glendale 9 Drive-In, are slated to observe the event by offering an admission price of $3 per person all day. It’s been quite a while since a movie ticket was that cheap even at a discount theater, let alone a first-run house. But aging pop culture curmudgeons who can’t find much new these...

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The PHiXPhoenix Film Festival Returns to Harkins Scottsdale this Thursday

M.V. MoorheadMarch 29, 2022

While the big story on Oscar night was, of course, The Slap, among the minor stories was the winner for Best Picture: Sian Heder’s comedy-drama CODA. As with Mesa native Troy Kotsur’s award for Best Supporting Actor for that same film, the win has a local angle here in the Valley: CODA was the Opening Night selection in last year’s Phoenix Film Festival. As PFF Executive Director Jason Carney crowed on Facebook after the win:...

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The PHiXFootball Star Kurt Warner Hosts Screening of His Biopic in Tempe

M.V. MoorheadMarch 18, 2022

On the short list of unambiguously beloved sports heroes here in the Valley, along with Larry Fitzgerald, Shane Doan, Luis Gonzalez and a few others, there’s only one – so far – that has had a big-time Hollywood biopic made about him. Quarterback Kurt Warner, who in 2009 led the Arizona Cardinals to their only Super Bowl to date, is the title character of American Underdog, last year’s saga of the struggles and triumphs of Warner...

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The PHiXFormer Local Reporter Debuts Two Arizona-Based Indie Films

M.V. MoorheadMarch 9, 2022

Seth Landau, maker and star of the YouTube series Cards Brah, has reached out beyond the persona of fanatical Cardinals geek into full-blown cinematic auteur. The writer-producer-director-actor has two independent movies releasing this spring. One, the comedy Take Out, is now available on Tubi; the other, the cult-themed shocker Bryan Loves You, comes out on Blu-ray on March 22. What’s intriguing is that both of these low-budget indies were shot well over 10 years ago....

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The PHiXThis Weekend’s Solo Theatre Festival Spotlights Local Actors and Playwrights

M.V. MoorheadFebruary 9, 2022

For unfortunate reasons, solo theatre has had a renaissance these last two years. A show with a lone actor onstage is relatively inexpensive to produce, doesn’t require constant COVID testing to rehearse, and can be performed online quite effectively. It may be that even when/if our society returns to comparative “normality,” this form will remain a staple. Friday and Saturday night, Arizona Actors Academy serves up the second of the two weekends of its Solo...

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The PHiXTop 5 Moments in FilmBar History

M.V. MoorheadJanuary 21, 2022

Among the week’s various disheartening tidings came the news that FilmBar, Phoenix’s hip repertory cinema and watering hole, was closing its doors permanently. It’s truly a loss to the Valley’s arts and social scene; during its nearly eleven-year run Downtown, the place expertly programmed a mix of cool non-mainstream screen fare – foreign flicks, weird indies, documentaries, neglected classics. Many of us will remember FilmBar fondly as the place to see marginal but fascinating stuff...

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The PHiXPhoenix Film Festival Returns August 12-22

M.V. MoorheadAugust 9, 2021

Slated for March but pushed back by you-know-what, the 2021 Phoenix Film Festival is now scheduled to open this coming Thursday, August 12 and run through Sunday, August 22. It’s a slightly less extravagant affair this year; fewer screenings, fewer special guests, no party tent, and all Harkins COVID protections will be observed. But the focus, we’re assured, is on quality more than quantity, with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Cases in point: This...

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The PHiXLocally Filmed Documentary Sheds Light on Autism

M.V. MoorheadJune 14, 2021

Playing this Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon at Sedona International Film Festival is In a Different Key, a wide-ranging yet intimate documentary about autism. Directed by Caren Zucker and John Donvan, based on their book of the same title, the film – much of which was shot here in the Valley – throws a wide net. There are sections attempting to define what autism is, and isn’t; the painful, often horrific early treatments of these patients; the social, racial and economic implications of the diagnosis; the differing perceptions of...

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The PHiXCatch a Citizen Kane and Mank Double Feature This Weekend

M.V. MoorheadApril 30, 2021

If you haven’t ventured out to the multiplexes since the shutdown, you could do worse – if you’re fully vaccinated, that is – than to re-christen yourself as a moviegoer with Saturday’s double feature at Harkins Scottsdale 101. First up is the 1941 Orson Welles masterpiece Citizen Kane at 3:30 p.m., followed by 2020’s Mank at 6 p.m. Directed, produced, co-written by (though to what extent is debated) and starring Welles in his feature debut,...

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