Kevin Macdonald’s Washington thriller is a bellows designed to puff up the most beaten-down reporter’s chest. Compressed from the highly regarded BBC miniseries first telecast in 2003, State of Play is an effectively involving journalism-cum-conspiracy yarn with a bang-bang opening and a frantic closer. There are more than a few…
This much is for sure about the makers of the new Zac Efron picture 17 Again: They know their audience. Scientifically engineered for maximum shriek-and-squeal value among Efron’s legion of distaff tween fans (and no small number of lonelyheart cougars and gay men), the movie opens on His Zackness’s sweaty,…
It isn’t strange that in 1942 a major American playwright would be concerned with the possible extinction of humanity and pondering what it would take to save the human race, but it is odd that Thornton Wilder chose to do all of this in a comedy. Luckily, The Skin of…
Sunsets and Margaritas is so energetic, jolly and good-natured, and presents such an appealing political and familial viewpoint, that it seems coldhearted not to like it, like kicking away a friendly puppy as it darts at your feet. But there are too many unfunny jokes and plot turns in this…
Any stage director worth his salt knows that it’s all in the timing. Without it, the stars won’t align onstage or backstage and – horrors – the moment will be mediocre. In the world of theater, that’s the kiss of death, a point the accomplished local director José Mercado, known…
Gudrun Gut’s career spans decades. The pioneering electronic/experimental music artist was briefly a member of seminal noise band Einstürzende Neubauten, then went on to co-found the groups Mania D, Malaria! and Matador. On her own, she’s produced film scores, videos and radio plays; she also started two record labels, Moabit…
Everybody wants to be an artist, but most people are afraid to try. That’s one reason local artist Brittney Wilson opened Canvas and Cocktails late last month at 249 Clayton Street in Cherry Creek North. (Another reason: to show her dad that an art degree does count for something.) Offering…
In the life of every wealthy standup comedian, there comes a day when he must rise from his leopard-skin-covered armchair, remove his double-paned monocle and haughtily proclaim to his many docile servants, “I wonder what the poor people are laughing at tonight?” That was the question ringing in the minds…
Not that long ago, mom-and-pop record stores were common – but no more. Today only the strongest continue to survive, and many of them are struggling due to a consumer shift from physical products to the virtual kind. Record Store Day aims to slow this slide by tempting customers with…
For their first date, my dad took my mom, whose name is Sandy, to the drive-in to see Grease. The movie was a constant in my house. I watched it during every sleepover and listened to the soundtrack while I rollerskated in my basement. I’m pretty sure I knew every…
“Traditionally, teahouses in China have been kind of a center of community, a place where people gather and talk and share ideas,” says Greg Fellman, who runs the Seven Cups teahouse. So it follows that when Fellman met Asian-art historian Gina Hander at the Rocky Mountain Tea Festival last year,…
The inaugural Scandinavian Film Festival is a modest affair in terms of numbers — just four films, only one of which is feature length. But it makes up in freshness what it lacks in width and breadth. The centerpiece flick, You, the Living, from director Roy Andersson, was described by…
You learn one thing right away about the people behind the TACtile Textile Arts Center: They do not take the fiber arts lightly. Indeed, they diligently give such community-oriented, functional arts the same attention that a good seamstress gives her stitches. So when they decided to present an exhibit promoting…
In 1972, Colorado became the first and last site to ever turn down the Olympics, after a statewide vote put the kibosh on holding the 1976 Winter Games here. But this weekend, Colorado gets back in the game at the Red Bull 1976 Games at Copper Mountain. Created by Red…
Where to start? The massive undertaking that is Doors Open Denver is a growing, morphing creature that’s constantly finding ways to provide new experiences for Denverites curious about their city. At least 10,000 folks attended last year’s DOD events, according to Pauline Herrera of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs,…
I’m always on the lookout for wise women, whether I’m hoping to emulate them or just wishing a bit of their knowledge might rub off on me. So I was excited to find the day-long Wise Women of the South West symposium, which was inspired by the photography exhibit Return…
Prepare for a total nerdgasm when Starfest brings Battlestar Galactica super-hottie Katee Sackhoff, aka Starbuck, to town this weekend. But everyone’s favorite Cylon-killing sexpot is just the start of the awesome action, since this year’s Starfest is really four cons in one. Horrorfest, Gamefest and Comicfest join the usual cast…
On keyboardist Wayne Horvitz’s 2006 Gravitas Quartet album, there’s a song called “One Morton” – the address of the rehearsal studio that Horvitz and his wife, singer Robin Holcomb, rented when they first moved to New York. For several years at the end of the ’70s, some of downtown’s avant-garde…
If you’re happy with your Bud Light, then more power to you. But if you’re interested in the rise of craft breweries across the county over the years and ways that these small businesses battled mega-brewers for shelf space, then check out Beer Wars, a documentary airing simultaneously in 440…
Peter Ustinov once called comedy a “funny way of being serious,” and that certainly holds true for the stylings of D.L. Hughley, a comedian who gained superstar status after the 2000 release of The Original Kings of Comedy. Hughley has written and acted in a variety of productions, hosting D.L…
There’s a lot of great Jewish comedy in this country, which Susannah Perlman discovered while performing comedy/music acts of her own. “I kept on running into really wonderful acts — comedy and music, spoken-word, burlesque — and I kept coming across really wonderful women, who happened to be Jewish, who…
There are few forms of folk music more soulful than Fado (fado means “fate” in Portuguese), in which a vocalist is backed by two guitarists, one traditional and one classical, to create a people’s music full of melancholic symbolism and saudade, or longing. Fado has fallen in and out of…
