I had a great time at Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s Crazy for You, and now I’m trying to figure out just why. First and foremost, I suppose, were the songs. You know how it is with musicals, especially those from the first half of the twentieth century, on which this show…
The Big Bang. Sometimes it’s nice not to have to think too much, to just settle back and watch a couple of frenetically energetic guys working really hard to earn your good will — and your entertainment dollars. Oh, and to make you laugh. The Big Bang posits the following…
With all the excitement — and criticism — caused by the unveiling of Daniel Libeskind’s Frederic C. Hamilton Building, the inaugural exhibits installed inside have gotten lost in the crossfire. Now that the smoke is beginning to clear and it’s Thanksgiving week, I thought it would be a good time…
A couple of years ago, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy opened a funky gallery dedicated to showcasing artists who were doing experimental work. This gallery is called Capsule (554 Santa Fe Drive, 303-623-3460), and it was the immediate successor to Murphy’s boutique, Pod. But, as they say, all good things must come…
Colorado Classic Architects, et al. Many of the finest buildings in town were done by firms with offices right here in the Mile High City, and they’re the subject of Colorado Classic Architects, a handsome and informative exhibit in the Western Art Gallery on the fifth floor of the Denver…
An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount) This isn’t exactly the kind of DVD you buy to watch again and again; the ending doesn’t get happier, and there are no twists to decipher with repeated viewings. The producers hope instead that you buy it and share it; it’s less movie, after all, than…
Guitar Hero gave party games a much-needed kick in the ass. No one expected this rhythm game — sold with a miniature plastic guitar — to play to sellout crowds. But it became the most addictive game of the year and one of the most attractive to non-gamers. The reason…
American Slapstick (Image) Alias: The Complete Fifth Season (Buena Vista) Boston Legal: Season Two (Fox) The Cry Baby Killer (Buena Vista) Devil Times Five (Code Red) Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist: Season Two (Paramount) Fall Out Boy: Solid Gold Uncertainty (Music Video Dist.) A Fish Called Wanda: Collector’s Edition (MGM) Freedom…
This is the last weekend of the Denver International Film Festival, and dressing for such an occasion is no easy task. You want to look hip in case you get caught by any of the roving paparazzi, but you also want to be comfortable because, well, you’ll be on your…
Uncle Sam could really use a facelift. Maybe a hip replacement. A haircut and a new suit wouldn’t hurt, either. Come to think of it, the old boy should probably just hang up his star-spangled hat — he’s more than 150 years old, for chrissakes — and consider getting out…
“Growing up in Aurora, people used to always say I lived in BFE,” recalls Dave Shirley. That’s “Bum Fuck, Egypt,” for those of you who didn’t grow up in the ‘burbs. Instead of being offended, however, Shirley — of locally based Rattlebrain Entertainment — took the idea and ran with…
The sweet smell of chocolate-chip cookies in the oven always makes me feel like a kid — watching, waiting as my mom moved each soft, buttery batch from cookie sheet to cooling rack. They were always baked for some upcoming holiday or party, and I’d have to wait for one…
If there’s any area in Denver where a posse of clowns roaming the streets could seem remotely commonplace, it would have to be East Colfax Avenue. That’s a big part of the reason RAFT Colorado (Resource Area for Teaching) boardmembers decided to hold their annual Clown Crawl fundraiser on the…
If you’ve been to the Denver Book Mall recently, you may have noticed a miniature Christmas tree festooned with baby books and miniscule wire-rimmed glasses. And if your fingers just itched to take that tiny tree home — or another titchy Tannenbaum with different themed decorations — then you need…
Every year, I have grand plans for all the homemade gifts I’m going to make. You see, my mother was Ms. Crafty when I was growing up, and she always had beautiful baskets overflowing with home-canned peaches and jellies and sourdough starter. Or quilts she’d made, afghans she’d crocheted, scarves…
By all rights, 2002’s Die Another Day should have been the final James Bond film. It was packaged like a cynical best-of concert coughed up by an aging dinosaur and offered no new material of consequence. Yet here we are at the franchise’s very beginning with the third attempt to…
Fast Food Nation, directed by Richard Linklater from Eric Schlosser’s 2001 best-selling exposé of the McDonald’s conspiracy, is an anti-commercial. It’s designed to kill desire and deprogram the viewer’s appetite, but one might wish that his movie had honed its satiric edge. Still, as blunt as Fast Food Nation is,…
When a red-blooded, macho, flag-waving, Bush-voting American country-music fan looks at a gorgeous blonde who also happens to make his kind of music, one doesn’t normally expect him to pay particular attention to the actual substance of her conversation. Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines didn’t think anyone would either,…
Having animals act like humans on film is a storytelling device as old as time, so maybe it’s a little unfair to get tired of it just now. But back in the day, wise old owls didn’t sing “Boogie Wonderland.” And whereas we used to give animals human souls, now…
For Your Consideration pulls off the neat trick of skewering the movie industry while remaking it in its own image. The latest ensemble comedy by Christopher Guest and company may take place in Los Angeles, but its imaginative provenance lies somewhere between the La La Lands of Entourage and Mulholland…
The Denver International Film Festival continues through this weekend with the much-anticipated screening of Heath Ledger’s new flick, Candy, on Friday, November 17, at 9:30 p.m., and Saturday, November 18, at 9:45 p.m. Ledger and Abbie Cornish play unbelievably gorgeous heroin junkies in this don’t-try-it-at-home melodrama adapted from Australian author…
The morning after I saw tempOdyssey, I was at the Boulder Farmers’ Market buying chicken parts for stock. “These are probably still warm,” said the poultry man, handing me a plastic bag of feet. “The chickens were running around on them yesterday.” This was an image I didn’t particularly want…
