See also: Ten milestones in competitive gaming
10) The Kong Off 3 Denver may never host a Super Bowl, but we've got the next best thing -- the Donkey Kong world championships! This isn't some chumped-up, self-proclaimed "world championship," either -- it's fully sanctioned by Twin Galaxies, video gaming's high-score keeper of record. The 1up will play host to 22 of the world's best Donkey Kongers, including Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe (you have seen The King of Kong, right?), not to mention current champion Jeff Willms and Hank Chien, winner of the first world championship. With so many of the world's top Kong gamers in attendance, there's every chance a new record or two will be set, and don't you want to say you were there? Of course you do.
Kong Off 3 starts Friday, November 15 and runs all weekend at the 1up, ending at 8 p.m. Sunday with an awards presentation. Admission is free for spectators. All ages are welcome until 7 p.m., then it's 21 and up only. For more info, including a full schedule, visit the official Kong Off website.
9) The Visitor Italy has a curious cinematic legacy, thanks to the habit of ripping off other, more popular films and giving them that special Italian touch. That "special Italian touch" consists of cramming in as much blood, sex and insanity as possible on a shoestring budget. Perhaps no film epitomizes this quite so much as The Visitor. Featuring an all-star(ish) cast of slumming character actors (including Shelley Winters, Glenn Ford and Lance Henriksen) and a plot that mashes up everything from The Omen to Star Wars, The Visitor is a must-see for all fans of shitty movies.
See The Visitor at 10:10 p.m. Friday, November 1, or 10 p.m. Saturday, November 2 at the Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets are $10. For tickets and more info, visit the http://drafthouse.com/denver/littleton.
8) Running of the Leaves Con Bronies may be one of the newest, and possibly most inexplicable, corners of fandom, but they've already got their own convention here in town. Whether you're a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a cosplay fanatic (a big part of MLP fandom), or just a fan of the inimitable joys of cons, Running of the Leaves Con has you covered. Technically this starts October 31 with a rave, but the real con stuff doesn't kick off until November 1, so you won't miss much pony fun if the calendar has already flipped.
The con starts at 4 p.m. Thursday, October 31 at the Ramada Plaza Northglenn, and runs through Sunday. Tickets are $35. For tickets and information, including a schedule of events and guests, visit the Running of the Leaves Con website.
7) Carrie: The Musical Stephen King's classic tale of high school, hormones and telekinesis gets set to music for the stage. It's also been updated to a modern setting, so you won't have to worry about being distracted by all those bell bottoms and feathered bangs when things get bloody. And they will get bloody -- director Colin Roybal promises that the ending is "even more horrific in our production."
See Carrie: The Musical at 7:30 p.m. any Friday or Saturday all month, starting November 8 at the Bug Theatre. For more information and tickets ($20), visit the Equinox Theatre website.
6) Zero Charisma At long last, tabletop gamers get a movie! Okay, technically we got a movie back in the '80s, with the abominable Mazes and Monsters, a film that saw Tom Hanks losing his shit thanks to his involvement with a role-playing game. Zero Charisma pits a metalhead game master with no life against a hipster newcomer for supremacy of the gaming group, which beats RPGs driving you nuts by a wide margin.
See Zero Charisma at 7 p.m. Saturday, November 2 at the Sie FilmCenter. Tickets are $7, or $6 for Denver Film Society members. For more information, visit the Denver Film Society website.
5) Horrorhouse Fest 2013 A haunted house in November? Why not? This is not your typical haunted house, anyway. Not only is it located in a bar (score!), it also incorporates a film festival. Short films from Ryan Policky, Tim Schultz, Richard Taylor and Zack Beins, and Chad and Max Smith play a part of the haunted house experience, then when it's all over you get to watch ThanksKilling 3, the latest installment in the world's premier Thanksgiving-based horror franchise. They're promising an experience "hard to describe, but difficult to forget," which sounds about right for a haunted bar film festival featuring a Thanksgiving horror movie.
Horrorhouse 2013 happens Saturday, November 16 at 8 p.m. at 3 Kings Tavern. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit the Horrorhouse 2013 Facebook event page.
4) The Hero's Journey: A Symphonic Tribute to Comic Con Geek culture has come so far that even the fancy folk who run the Colorado Symphony are taking notice. The Hero's Journey: A Symphonic Tribute to Comic Con is a night of geekdom's most cherished music, from movies, television and games, reinterpreted for a full orchestra. More than twenty of the most famous musical themes from the wide world of nerds will be performed, and the symphony even brought along a theremin player so they can do the original Star Trek theme without cheating. Score!The Hero's Journey: A Symphonic Tribute to Comic Con happens at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, November 16 at Boettcher Concert Hall. Tickets start at $25. Visit the event page at the Colorado Symphony website for tickets and additional info.
3) Rocky Mountain Con Another brand-new con for Denver? It's like Christmas came early! The newest addition to our big-ass geek family is for fans of comics, anime, gaming, toys, cosplay and sci-fi -- so pretty much everything geek. Guests include comic artist Arthur Suydam (artist for Marvel Zombies and lots more), Mike Baron (creator of Nexus) and many more. Plus, some of the proceeds go to benefit Aurora Rise, the charity set up for victims of the Aurora theater shootings.Rocky Mountain Con happens Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10, at the Crowne Plaza DIA. Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 at the door ($15 advance, $20 door for single-day passes). For tickets and additional info, visit the Rocky Mountain Con website.
2) Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor The good time-traveling Doctor turns fifty this year, so Who fans get a birthday treat in the form of Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor showing in theaters. The fiftieth anniversary special episode features Matt Smith, David Tennant, Jenna Coleman, Billie Piper and John Hurt and runs a full 75 minutes, with an additional ten minutes of behind-the-scenes content thrown in. That's a lot of Doctor Who, plus it's in 3D at select locations!
See Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor at 7:30 p.m. Monday, November 25 at select locations across the Denver metro area. For tickets, additional info and a list of theaters, visit the Fathom Events Dr. Who anniversary event page.
1) Fantastic Fest 2013 tour The Alamo Drafthouse's Fantastic Fest is one of the coolest genre film festivals in the world. Of course, if you can't afford to make it down to Austin once a year to enjoy it, that doesn't do you much good... until now. Eight of the fest's audience favorites are going on the road, visiting an Alamo Drafthouse near you and, hey! There's an Alamo Drafthouse near us! Borgman, Cheap Thrills, The Congress, Confession of a Murder, Big Bad Wolves, Journey to the West: Conquering The Demons, Why Don't You Play in Hell and Grand Piano are all making the journey, representing some of the standout films from this year's fest.
Fantastic Fest 2013 tour visits Denver from Friday, November 15 through Sunday, November 17 at the Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets are $10 per film. For tickets and additional info, visit the Fantastic Fest 2013 tour page.
Follow @WestwordCulture
