How do you like to celebrate the impending Christmas holiday? For lots of Denver bar-hoppers, it made lots of sense to don Santa suits — and other Christmasy nonsense — to hit the town’s taverns en masse, as similar groups are known to do in cities like New York and…
Guys, 2013 ruled! I don’t know about you, but I fell in love, went tanning, went to Starbucks a lot, visited a porn palace in San Francisco with my family, continued my quest for landmark status of Casa Bonita and entertained the idea of writing about how Dunkin’ Donuts is…
All photos courtesy of Sony PicturesAmerican Hustle, directed and co-written by David O. Russell, is undeniably the must-watch film this holiday season. With outstanding performances by an A-list cast (Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence), the period film is loosely based on the real-life Abscam FBI Sting…
When I’m traveling, adventure seems so much easier to fall into. I spent a good portion of 2013 on the road touring with my band, Lust-Cats of the Gutters, and without the pull of day jobs and responsibility, I’m much more likely to say, yes, let’s jump that fence. But…
As a cosmetologist and make-up artist for more than a decade, Amanda Hume says she’s fielded questions from customers about what, exactly, the products she was using were made of. When she represented large cosmetic companies, a quick glance at the ingredient — including many chemicals she could not identify…
Though it may be tempting to stay inside and watch holiday specials on YouTube, there’s plenty to do in Denver this week between viewings of the Pete and Pete Christmas episode and the Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special. Our top three events include a concert with tacos, an evening of orchestral…
You can find art all over town — not just on gallery walls. In this series, we’ll be looking at some of the local artists who serve up their work in coffeehouses and other non-gallery businesses around town. Colorado native and outdoorsman Greg Marquez of Artquez can’t get enough of…
It may seem downright unChristmasy to be talking about the dead, grateful or not, at this time and season. But if you’ve got an eccentric, contemplative, bookish, introspective type on your shopping list, then I have a suggestion: Dayton Foster’s The Dead Do Speak To Us…of Love, Life & Death…
On January 30, the second annual Westword Whiteout will kick off Denver’s 2014 fashion season at the McNichols Building. The evening — which raises funds for the American Transplant Association — will include live music, specialty vendors, classic cocktails and some of the city’s top designers in a signature runway…
There’s nothing stuffy about Adam Lerner, whose whimsical yet intellectual sensibility propels everything that happens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, where he’s the museum’s director and “Chief Animator.” The same goes for his annual holiday message to MCA visitors, supporters and friends. This year’s greeting, entitled “Caffeinated History,”…
If you’re not yet in the holiday spirit, this weekend will get you there. Denver’s stocking is stuffed with festive events, from Santa conventions to Christmas tuba concerts to holiday burlesque, and none of these activities will cost you more than $10. Check out the Westword calendar for more events,…
Smiles for the frowners / Salutes to the uppers / Boosts for the downers / May the day be the bowl of cherriest / And to all, the Merriest! — June Christy My Westword cohort Josiah Hesse just wrote a screed about why you should boycott Christmas — and I…
Headed for the hills for the holidays? Here are a few suggestions for how to make the most of the winter break on the slopes, including big news from CBMR, one of Colorado’s best worst-kept secrets. See also: Get the Edge on winter fun in Colorado…
While there are dozens of great markets and fairs highlighting Denver’s burgeoning artisan and craft scene during the holidays, Kalina Ross wanted more. The event planner saw a need for something other than just a place for shoppers and creators to cross paths — she wanted to see direct connections…
Joaquin Phoenix in Her.On this week’s Voice Film Club podcast, this paper’s film critics talk about Spike Jonze’s Her and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, in addition to the wave of films all coming out before the year’s over. Listen to it on iTunes or below on Soundcloud:…
Designer, seamstress and girl-about-town Baily Rose makes dreamy, dressy dresses that are truly one-of-a-kind and wrap themselves around your personality like a bed of ethereal fairy clover. Really. And because the holidays are nigh and the days are short, she’s opening the doors of her Maison de Rose for Don…
I don’t love anything/ no, not even Christmas/ especially not that — Belle & Sebastian It’s not so much that I hate Christmas. I like what Dickens was about in A Christmas Carol, putting forth the idea that charity, celebration and sincere human connection are more important than wealth and…
In less than two weeks, 2013 will come to a close. That means it’s time for that most joyous of traditions — the year-end list! Everywhere you turn, lists of the best, the worst, the most and the least are springing up, informing you about all the cool shit that…
After five weeks of competition, on Tuesday night at Suite 200, six designers competed for bragging rights and a $1,000 prize in the finale of the In the Cut fashion competition. The finalists — Lisa Wear Designs, Maddie Haenel, Parasite Eve Designs, Robbi Sayuri, Sno Couture and Moderne Madame –…
The best movies about con artists work a bit of flimflammery themselves. They’re not necessarily dishonest; they just can’t resist making the truth shinier than it is in real life. There may not be much behind the sparkling tinsel curtain of David O. Russell’s extraordinarily entertaining American Hustle. But what…
The audience that shows up for a comedy is the most tyrannical of all. Their very presence is the equivalent of a schoolyard bully’s challenge: “Go ahead — make me laugh.” Which is why there’s danger in following up a hit comedy with a sequel, even nine years after the…
Gifted is in many ways a standard family drama, complete with child-parent misunderstandings, sibling squabbles and the perpetual battle between wife and mother-in-law. But the interest level is decisively heightened by the fact that this is a mixed-race family — and we all know the fascinating stuff that happens when…
