Colorado — and its prominent place in romantic notions about the Old West — has achieved celebrity status. It’s one of the reasons we’re invaded year-round by armies of scenic paparazzi seeking to hunt down picturesque landscapes and take candid photos of them. It might be an embarrassment to some,…
An O. Henry Christmas. Amid the cascade of Christmas Carol remounts, Hallmark Card family shows and limp holiday parodies, this musical arrangement of two O. Henry short stories — “The Last Leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi,” created by Peter Ekstrom — is a refreshing option. “The Gift of…
Siren. Icon. Muse. You can apply any or all of those labels to Catherine Deneuve, but trying to make any one of them stick is trickier than lighting a match in a rainstorm. Ask her about her five-decade career in movies, and she will pointedly deny ever thinking in terms…
You don’t have to have been raised on colonial Brit Lit, classic melodramas, Westerns or war movies, or Gone With the Wind to figure out the likely outcome of Baz Luhrmann’s Australia within its first fifteen minutes, but any or all of the above will help. Tightly wound and corseted…
Sometimes I don’t understand the decision-making at Germinal Stage Denver. I’ve had some of the most stimulating evenings of my life in this homey, cozy, unchanging little theater where — as the website blurb assures us — the actors are never more than thirty feet from your nose. I’ve seen…
To brand, then dismiss, Four Christmases as a disappointment would be giving it too much credit — never, for a second, did this New Line Cinema cast-off scream or even whisper decent in the run-up to its opening. The story of couple Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) —…
Gus Van Sant has never been what you’d call a risk-averse filmmaker, but he directs his Harvey Milk biopic so carefully, there might be a Ming vase balanced on his head. Van Sant’s steps are deliberate, his posture is straight, his attitude is responsible, and his eyes are fixed firmly…
Earlier this summer, a project that was dedicated as “finished” in 2006 was finally completed. It’s the 16th Street Pedestrian Bridge, by Carter & Burgess, that crosses I-25 and connects the trendy Highland neighborhood to the ultra-trendy Platte Valley. The white-painted steel bridge is handsome enough, even if it’s hardly…
Adam Helms. This solo in the MCA’s Paper Works Gallery is the New York artist’s first museum show anywhere. In his works on paper and in a monumental sculpture that conjures up a shooting blind, Helms explores political themes, especially armed struggle. He takes images of different radical and extremist…
If you like your holiday shows with a liberal dose of fabulousness, then you’re going to just love tonight’s third annual Holy Shit It’s Christmas program, dahling. “It’s just a typical drag show,” demurs diva Jasmine Rice — who, along with the Ladies of the Lake and other assorted special…
It’s no secret: I love independent retailers. They’re what make a neighborhood a neighborhood — and besides, they’re a gritty and practical-minded bunch with a collective creative streak and an empathetic nose for what makes their customers tick. Their shops and boutiques, sprinkled throughout the city on cheerful, small-time commercial…
“Vegans, vegetarians and omnivores welcome!” says Mike Stabler of Rocky Mountain Animal Defense’s first-ever Turkey-Free Thursday dinner, taking place today at 1 p.m. at Highlands United Methodist Church, 3131 Osceola Street. Govinda’s Buffet, run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, will cater the feast. “They worship cows,” says Stabler…
Never has there been a more delicious word combo than “chocolate” and “festival,” so thank your lucky stars that the 19th annual Creede Chocolate Festival starts today. More than seventeen business owners and individuals will offer samples to taste and judge in hopes of winning the Taster’s Choice Award. Typically,…
Yes, you could go to the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver or Santa Fe Drive for your fine-art fix. But wouldn’t you rather include some live, scantily clad women? After all, what’s better than going out for a night of the ol’ bump-and-grind at Wish Nightclub,…
To hell with Black Friday. I’m not going to go bust the doors open at the mall tomorrow morning. Nope! And to hell with Turkey Day, too. Bombs away! I’m going to bundle up the family and go shopping today at the massive crown jewel of north Stapleton, that Mexican-game-show-style…
Chef Jamey Fader at Lola, 1575 Boulder Street, likes what happens when people meet over the spectacle of food. That’s evident in his changing menus as well as in the preparation and presentation of his beautiful and delicious everyday dishes. But even with seasonal menus, there’s still a certain strain…
To me, nothing says “holiday season” like lights. Once Daylight Savings ends, nothing keeps my spirits up during these short days and early nights as much as the luminous displays that pop up all over town. And this evening flips the switch on the granddaddy of them all: Downtown Denver’s…
Date nights are great in theory, but how many dinners-and-a-movie can one couple really enjoy before it becomes a chore? Thanks to Lakewood’s Belmar, we won’t know the answer to that question for another couple of weeks. Date Night at Belmar offers two-for-one ice skating and dining at participating restaurants…
It’s time to pull out your gear and wax down your board, because the fifth annual Premature Jibulation happens today. Echo Mountain — located less than an hour from downtown Denver at 19285 Highway 103 in Idaho Springs — hosts the early-season, jam-format jib contest presented by the Rome Snowboard…
Competitors, get ready: The third annual Colorado Cutthroat Connection Fighter Frenzy tournament is on. To succeed, you’ll need catlike reflexes, quick thinking and the kind of meticulously conditioned thumbs you can only get from years of intensive controller training. A deep, instinctual knowledge of Halo 3, Soul Calibur 4, Super…
After battling the crowds at the stores on Black Friday, even cheery holiday lovers can find themselves bogged down with the bah-humbugs. Leave it to the Denver Center Theatre Company’s annual production of A Christmas Carol — and adjunct events — to help warm your already-weary heart. Directed by Bruce…
The African American Leadership Institute has a lot to be proud of. “We’ve graduated more than 220 adults and served more than 10,000 youths in our youth program,” says board chair James Ellis. “And we’ve done that with only two employees, which is absolutely incredible, but I think what it…
