About nine years ago, in a humble nightclub, urbane British folk singer Billy Bragg reappraised twentieth-century politics — as is often his Socialist wont — by means of an intriguing correlation. Might it be, he postulated, that contemporaries Leon Trotsky and Harlan Sanders were not merely striking doppelgangers, but, in…
Before we see anything in Croupier, the new film from director Mike Hodges and screenwriter Paul Mayersberg, we hear the grainy whir of the ball spinning around the rim of a roulette wheel. When the image of the wheel appears, the sound drops out, to be replaced by the affectless…
The latest designs from the top fashion houses are trashy. And we’re not talking about the current collection of see-through slip/dresses hanging off of slutty-looking models. These really are trash. Some of the fashion world’s most elite designers have forgotten all about silk and sequins, turning instead to garbage to…
A fumbling reviewer once threw David Sedaris a backhanded compliment by declaring that his writing was void of trenchant social commentary: “He appears to have little interest beyond his own life and his family.” “It’s so true,” Sedaris says, laughing. “When I read that, I felt a little sting of…
Ironton Studios & Gallery, which opened in April, is a hard place to find — unless, of course, you work in the freight-hauling trade or some other light-industrial pursuit that might bring you to the corner of 36th Street and Chestnut Place. Actually, it’s not far from Coors Field, but…
Two interesting shows are now located back-to-back at the Edge Gallery. In the front space is Quaternion, an exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Kimberlee Sullivan; in the middle space is a very strange display of sand paintings by Roger Beltrami titled Echoes From the Canyon. Sullivans pieces have…
Engaging performances, strong production values and some admiring nods to Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film mark Hunger Artists Ensemble Theatre’s pleasant production of Much Ado About Nothing. William Shakespeare’s dark-edged comedy, which Branagh adapted, directed and starred in to deserved acclaim (along with his then-wife Emma Thompson), centers around two pairs…
The plot might be hokey and the performances uneven, but on the strength of an eclectic score, fine orchestral playing and some poignant episodes, the Denver Opera Company’s production of Patience and Sarah is more than a high-minded conversation piece about sex and sexuality. The 1998 work, which is receiving…
There exists deep within any man who once read comic books and collected them–protected them, actually, with plastic sleeves and cardboard backs and boxes that fought off the yellowing of time–the mythical being known as The Fanboy. A long time ago, The Fanboy pored over every issue of Worlds Finest…
The title of the 1971 Gordon Parks detective movie Shaft worked as a double entendre; when it presented Richard Roundtree’s “black private dick,” John Shaft, as a superstud at whom women of every race threw themselves, it wasn’t hard to believe. The joke changes when the name is given to…
Kikujiro, the latest release from Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano, will likely come as a surprise to his American fans — possibly even a disappointment — if they walk in unprepared. But in fact, the movie is altogether worthwhile, so just get yourselves prepared. Kitano initially attracted attention when his first…
It’s the year 3028, and man…is an endangered species! (Haven’t we heard that before — like, just last month?) This time around, though, the threat is a little more intimidating than those effeminate, Xenu-worshiping Conehead psychologists in platform boots. The villains in Fox’s new animated spectacular Titan A.E. are the…
Watching people in a bathroom might not sound like art, but for Denver artist Cinthea Fiss and her Los-Angeles-based partner Kelly Hashimoto, it’s the perfect way to explore the line between the public and private spheres. Fiss and Hashimoto’s video installation “Buck Stop: Pro-Vanities in the Bathroom,” along with the…
Now in its 24th season, the Colorado Renaissance Festival gallops into gear this weekend, bringing a castleful of activities harking back to the Middle Ages. And while there’s plenty of family-style olde-world entertainment (petting farms, medieval arts and crafts, food and toys), adults can revel in the bawdy humor of…
Among the pleasures of Golden’s Foothills Art Center — other than the wonderful old church and parish house it occupies — are several shows that are a part of its regular schedule. One of these, the North American Sculpture Exhibition, or NASE, can be counted on to be one of…
Its no understatement to say that without Phil Bender there would be no Pirate co-op. One of the founders of the group in 1980, Benders the only one to stick around. And stick is a good word to use, since hes the glue that held the place together during difficult…
Kenneth Hoyle might be a ’60s idealist who began his career in the Peace Corps, but during the last couple of decades, he’s become well versed in the cloak-and-dagger office wars that define most every adult’s working life. Spurred on by the lure of regular promotions and raises as well…
Prodded to share his emotions with the woman he’s just slept with, a no-nonsense cab driver utters the immortal line, “Feel is a big word.” Like most of the ten urban dwellers in David Hare’s The Blue Room, the cabbie and his one-night partner are relative strangers who seem more…
His name appears in almost every book written about Groucho Marx, so much so, he has been given the appropriate appellation by members of the Marx family: Wesso. But Paul Wesolowski is of no relation to the famous clan. Hes a man in his 40s who lives outside Philadelphia and,…
Literary critics often call Hamlet “the first modern man” because he’s preoccupied with the nature of self and the consequences of action. But in a spellbinding new take on Shakespeare’s great tragedy by independent filmmaker Michael Almereyda, the melancholy prince also takes on the trappings and attitudes of postmodern man…
How does a film critic — or any film viewer — come to terms with Matthew Barney’s Cremaster films? The thirty-something Yale graduate has apparently been a major figure in the New York art scene for nearly a decade. I say “apparently,” because my aversion to the New York art…
Apart from mass cultural annihilation, Beatniks, Hee Haw, some dumbass sports and the freak shows of Boulder, most pop-culture trends are not homegrown, but imported to America after prolonged cultivation overseas. Take that novelty food tofu, for instance, dubbed le curd du soy by uncredited Belgian sailors exploring China centuries…
