Robert Mangold. The dean of Colorado sculpture, who’s been working for more than half a century, is the subject of this strong solo with the epic title Colorado Gold: The Many Facets of Robert Mangold at Z Art Department. The show represents something of a chaser to the major Mangold…
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. The opening moments are pulse-poundingly exciting — music, live wrestling, flashing lights, tons of adrenaline from an already hyped-up audience. But the actual scripted beginning of the play is quiet, as a Puerto Rican kid called Mace describes his lifelong fascination with pro wrestling…
As someone who was in college when Napster happened, I’d love to see a period piece re-creating teen life during the last moments before technology began to change media consumption, communication, and the whole of social ritual. I wish The Perks of Being a Wallflower, written and directed by Stephen…
Early on in Rian Johnson’s time-travel thriller Looper, Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) sits at a diner and chats with his self from thirty years in the future (Bruce Willis). When the younger Joe asks the older one about the specifics of temporal displacement, the latter dismisses the question, telling his interlocutor…
Casting a tapered, vase-slender silhouette and speaking in a Transylvanian accent with a touch of Borscht Belt, Hotel Transylvania’s de-fanged Count Dracula is introduced in an 1895-set prologue while serenading his infant daughter. No menacing carnivore, this Nosferatu has sworn off fatty human blood, is more scared of humans than…
“Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ‘Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed. — William Shakespeare, Othello As The Value of Names…
The aspen aren’t the only things that turn golden in the fall. The cultural scene also glitters, as arts groups large and small, high-brow and low-, celebrated and secret, start their new seasons. To get straight to the art of the most exciting events in the months ahead, we went…
“Death wasn’t being responded to as a public health problem,” David France says. “It was dealt with with sniggers. It was left to religious leaders to explain or respond to the epidemic. And they responded by calling it the wrath of God.” He adds: “That’s the hostility we all saw…
“I hate realism,” director Genndy Tartakovsky said last week over the phone. “In America, especially, we’re very narrow-minded as far as animation goes. There is only one kind of movie, and that’s that big, family-oriented, four-quadrant, please-everyone kind of film. But if I wanted realism, I’d watch a live-action movie…
Nobody in their right mind could refute the fact that Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the hardest-working, hardest-rocking bands in the world. The recent Hall of Fame inductees are currently touring in support of their tenth studio album, I’m With You, which, while released in 2011, has produced…
Lowry Beer Garden, which opened in the old Hangar 2 building in Lowry in May, was built to celebrate German beer-drinking culture — a culture that wouldn’t be complete without brats and streudel, oompah music, lederhosen and Oktoberfest. So, beginning today, the open-air Garden will begin a three-day Oktoberfest with…
Forget rock stars. When it comes to banging heads, no one partied like the Romans, something you can try yourself tonight at Bacchus Raucous: A Party in Pompeii, at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The bash is being held in conjunction with the new DMNS exhibit A Day…
In his band, the Decemberists, songwriter Colin Meloy tells rich fantasy stories through songs that are often inspired by myths and the macabre. He’s brought the same sensibility to his children’s book series, The Wildwood Chronicles. Beginning with Wildwood, which came out last fall, and continuing with the newest installment,…
“This year, our Full Moon Harvest Festival falls right on the night of the full Harvest Moon,” says Jennie Nevin, founder of Green Spaces Colorado; that fact wil shine a little extra light on the third annual music fest. This year’s lineup includes Signal Fire, Lunar Fire, A. Tom Collins,…
Today’s Color Me Rad 5K at the Botanic Gardens at Chatfield takes a runner’s high to a whole new level with a hyper-hued splash of fun. Throughout this unique race, fitness junkies of all ages and athletic levels will encounter “color bomb squads” at every turn, as rainbow-tinted explosions of…
Empowerment to the people is what today’s Blacktop Festival is all about. From self-publishing to self-discovery through art, the first annual DIY street party showcases musicians, dancers, comedians and artists who have found success through self-made means. “We were really interested in turning people on to the DIY idea —…
Because it’s an island, Iceland has always been isolated from the bustle of the rest of Europe, a fact that allowed it to form its own cuisine and culture. And over the course of four days, Denver (which also recently landed direct flights to the republic) will highlight a variety…
For Now Showing, the fall arts guide inserted in the September 27 issue of Westword, we asked dozens of luminaries on the local arts scene — including winners of the Westword MasterMind awards — to answer three questions: – Aside from your organization (or yourself), who is doing the most…
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released five years ago, ending an adored, epic series that kept devoted fans buried in books for almost ten years. Tomorrow, J.K Rowling’s first “adult” novel, The Casual Vacancy, will finally be available. Will the magic and mystery that Rowling fans have come…
Lee Camp’s fine with making you uncomfortable. It’s his stock in trade. On camera — most notably in his stints on Good Morning America, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and various FOX, MTV and CNN shows, Camp gives audiences a this-is-how-it-really-is take on current events ranging from corporate excess to political…
Though John Larroquette gave up alcohol for good thirty years ago, the Emmy and Tony award-winning actor still makes a point of relating that journey at public appearances. This Friday, September 28, Larroquette will be the keynote speaker at a luncheon fundraiser for Arapahoe House, a non-profit organization serving individuals…
His Magnet Mafia partner may have moved to San Francisco, but Harrison Nealey’s sticking with Denver. He’s been working on commissioned sculptures for artists at Demiurge, and that inspired him to put together Beauty Is, a solo show that opens Friday, September 28, at Division West. We recently caught up…
