Author: Chad Swaney
Chad Swaney, DPJ's Insecure Critic, describes himself as the human equivalent of Burton Barr Central Library. He's contemporary, but likes to be situated among the timeless. He's a bit too ambitious and probably spends too much time thinking instead of being practical. Like the library, he tends to attract the homeless. Chad is currently a doctoral student at Pepperdine University, studying social technology and learning. He spends his free time writing, but rarely sending, provocative tweets, and organizing the weekly Downtown Friday Nights (#dtfn) events. He can often be spotted at The Lost Leaf discussing anarcho-capitalist political philosophy, or at Lux frantically writing a paper about situated learning in a community of practice.
The Insecure Critic | Losing My ‘Religulous’ at St. Francis
What better way to reflect on ‘Religulous’ than our very own holy-sounding St. Francis, Aaron Chamberlin’s creation on Camelback Road just east of Central.
The Insecure Critic | ‘The Informant!’ a.k.a. How I Survived the Clarendon Parking Lot
‘The Informant’ is an intriguing and well-executed period piece, while Gallo Blanco Café offers the best brunch for your money in Phoenix.
The Insecure Critic | Cookies and Cream ‘Extract’
I was hoping for was a fun, sassy romp with some great characters and clever antics, and I got that in ‘Extract.’
The Insecure Critic | ‘Babette’s Feast’ Comes Home
So, I am doing something fun this week. I am reviewing a movie that I have never seen before, ‘Babette’s Feast,’ and also talking about my recent foray into cooking at home — let’s call that ‘Chad’s Feast.’
The Insecure Critic | ‘Juno’ and Delux — Now I Feel Pregnant
Today’s combo pack is ‘Juno’ with Ellen Page and Michael Cera and high-end burger joint Delux.
Miyazaki Gives Us Another Masterpiece
In a world where animation has come to mean glossy, 3-D Pixar films, it is refreshing to see a movie that represents the painstakingly hand-drawn vision of a true artist. The modern master of animation, Hayao Miyazaki, presents Ponyo, a contemporary fairy tale that is a blend of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and… Read more
Brüno: All of the tasteless jokes with none of the reflective commentary
I must admit that I anticipated Sacha Baron Cohen’s newest creation, the story of flaming Austrian fashionista Brüno, with some trepidation. Of his three primary characters–clueless Kazahk Borat, jungle-music obsessed Ali G, and of course, Brüno, it was the flamboyant walking stereotype that I thought was the least interesting or funny of the trio. Ali… Read more
A Public Enemy…of the audience
If you are like me, and have fond memories of Johnny Depp’s spellbinding performance in Edward Scissorhands or Chrstian Bale’s masterful work in American Psycho, then you will love Public Enemies—well actually you will love about three minutes of it. The three minutes of screentime that Bale and Depp share are brilliant, but sadly they… Read more
Gays to provide fodder for pro-family propaganda
In spite of all of the bad economic news, Valley gays are giving pro-family groups a reason to smile. The 2009 Phoenix Pride Festival will sashay into Steele Indian School Park this Saturday giving activists from groups like Americans for Truth About Homosexuality plenty of opportunities to capture footage of scantily-clad revelers in a variety of suggestive situations, to be later edited into videos with captions like Could This Be Your Child’s Teacher? that will be distributed to righteously indignant church members.
Is Photography a crime in Phoenix?
When writer and amateur photographer William J. Nash-McAdam and a friend drove from Mesa to Downtown Phoenix today to take photos of the cityscape, they never imagined they would end up as subjects of a Homeland Security investigation.
