The Norwegian directing team of Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg, whose biopic of World War II resistance fighter Max Manus was a huge hit on home turf, have turned to another native hero for "Kon-Tiki." One of the most-vaunted escapades of the 20th century, Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 Peru-to-Polynesia expedition by raft gets glossy big-screen treatment in this efficiently told action-adventure. Delivering visual drama and understated character study, sometimes in disappointingly formulaic fashion, the feature has its incisive moments but falls short as both epic and intimate portrait.

"Mud" has the feel of a classic, although it's perhaps not enthralling enough to be one. The third and most elaborate feature to date from writer-director Jeff Nichols seems to have been adapted from a novel that doesn't exist -- something by James Lee Burke, perhaps, or Cormac McCarthy, or some other specialist in frequently violent tales about the challenges to masculinity and the forging of new identities that face rural people who belong to a sprawling modern world -- who might be hanging out in a supermarket parking lot one moment and falling into a creek full of deadly cottonmouths the next.

Much like recent arthouse films “Weekend” and “Keep The Lights On,” “North Sea Texas” is a realistic portrait of gay life and romance – not the frequent clichés one may find on TV’s “Modern Family” or “The New Normal.” Adapted from the novel “This is Everlasting” by Flemish writer André Sollie, the film follows a young teen growing up along the Belgian coast as he falls in love with a neighborhood boy. Unlike the star-crossed lovers at the heart of “Brokeback Mountain,” this story luckily has a more hopeful ending for its burgeoning protagonist.

The Spectral Artists will host their 32nd annual art show celebrating the talent of local artists.

“I’ll always have part of my heart there,” director Sam French says, discussing his move back to Los Angeles after working for nearly five years in Kabul, Afghanistan. It’s a Wednesday afternoon and French is swamped with interviews following the recent Oscar nomination for his live-action short film “Buzkashi Boys,” a portrait of two young teenagers living in modern-day Afghanistan who dream of playing the dangerous blood sport “buzkashi.”

"Warm Bodies," the latest permutation of the zombie screen phenomenon, places heart over horror and romantic teen angst over sharp social commentary.

Even people without coffee tables enjoy coffee table books as gifts, especially if they’re thoughtfully chosen rather than hastily snatched from a store shelf at the last minute.

Certified Professional Photographer specializing in business, lifestyle, senior portrait, family and commercial photography.

Capture the detail of life’s moments that makes them forever indelible. Babe specializes in portrait, artistic, scenic and commercial photography.

If you hang a portrait in your home, it is as if the person in that portrait is living with you. The art can have a personal connection with its viewers through the eyes of the person in the painting.

Arizona ranks fifth worst overall for conditions for children and families, according to the 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The economic recession has taken a terrible toll on children: conditions worsened in seven of the 16 indicators in Arizona since 2005. Despite the tough economic times, Arizona showed improvement in several key areas, including the teen birthrate and the child death rate.

So ever since I gave my two weeks notice I started wondering what will I miss most about working for a daily/weekly newspaper. It’s been in my blood for more than 30 years after I started giving photos of football games to The Chandler Arizonan my junior year in high school.

LOS ANGELES — Some of Oliver Stone's best-known and most-celebrated films — including "Platoon," ''Wall Street," and "Born on the Fourth of July" — focus on complicated men. But his latest, the violent drug thriller "Savages," has a couple of formidable females at its center: Salma Hayek as the stylish, ruthless leader of a Mexican drug cartel and Blake Lively as an Orange County princess who must find a resourcefulness she never knew she had.

“Brave” is Pixar’s first feature with a strong female character at its center. And while it’s not among the animation powerhouse’s best films from a storytelling perspective, it is undeniably beautiful. Among its more appealing visual elements is the wild mane of long, red curls on the head of Scottish princess Merida.

“Brave” is Pixar’s first feature with a strong female character at its center. And while it’s not among the animation powerhouse’s best films from a storytelling perspective, it is undeniably beautiful. Among its more appealing visual elements is the wild mane of long, red curls on the head of Scottish princess Merida.

Like a lot of kids, Jennifer White grew up with pets.