Best Film Series for Boss Hepcats 2016 | In a Lonely Place | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
Navigation
Support Us
Search

Best Film Series for Boss Hepcats

In a Lonely Place

There's no better guide to downbeat and noirish cinema than James Ellroy, the demon dog of American crime fiction (L.A. Confidential, The Black Dahlia). Since he relocated to Denver last summer, he and Alamo general manager Walter Chaw have been curating a dynamite monthly series, called In a Lonely Place, that blends the familiar and the obscure, from a quiet Kurosawa police procedural to a frantic 007 romp, from the much-revered Vertigo to the seldom-seen Man-Trap. Regardless of how hard-boiled you like your movies, Ellroy's rants and ruminations as he introduces each offering are worth the price of admission.

Best New Super 8MM Film

Tiny Cinema's Moonglow

Filmmaker/carnival barker/world traveler/dapper fellow Davey B. Gravey (aka David Weaver) has spent the past few years delighting small audiences with his mobile Tiny Cinema, a trailer with four seats and a projector that plays short, silent 8mm films while Gravey plays a live score on a guitar. Not one to let the decline of Super 8mm filmmaking keep him from shooting a brand-new original feature, Moonglow, he premiered it for the teeny masses this year at Leon Gallery.

graveystinycinema.com

Best Film Series for Theater Lovers

Sie FilmCenter

In the Sie's case, we're talking about multiple series. For instance, catching current performances of the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain or the Royal Shakespeare Company without having to leave Denver is such a great idea that fans of National Theatre Live and Live From Stratford-upon-Avon are finding that they have to move quickly to snap up tickets to the upcoming "live" shows. Recent broadcasts have included Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet and Frankenstein and Rosalie Craig in As You Like It, presented in such grand scope that you feel as though you're in the rich folks' box. And, yes, a series of operas by leading companies will be broadcast to Sie patrons this spring, too. Too often, Hollywood lets you down, but the Sie? Never.

Best Recurring Classic Film Series

Scream Screen

Last year's Best Bloodthirsty Host, Theresa Mercado, entered her reign without a horror series to call her own and a question mark as to when she would be able to once again affect the nightmares of Denver movie fans. To that end, Mercado met with the minds at the Denver Film Society and birthed Scream Screen, a quarterly film series that takes a stab at the deep cuts that make horror hurt more, including (to date) salutes to the giallo cuts of filmmaker Dario Argento, the blood-red side of French horror, and the subset of films known as "When Animals Attack." Mercado has stepped up her hosting duties, as well, with amazing full costumes and interactive bloody good fun with the audience.

Best Mini Film Festival

CineLatino

With the arrival of the Denver Film Society's CineLatino Film Festival, Denver's celebration of one of its largest subsets exploded in new and creative ways. By its second edition, the fest had hit a solid stride and showed an impressive array of diverse programming — touching down in Mexico, Spain, Paraguay, Peru, Brazil and beyond. The experience was so great that the fest's co-founder, JoAnna Cintrón, was chosen as the 2015 Coors Light Leader of the Year. Along with the award, Cintrón and the Film Society received $25,000 to help take the festival to even greater heights. ¡Qué bueno!

Best Film Festival

Denver Film Festival

For 38 years, the Denver Film Festival has been the strongest brick in the wall of Colorado film fests, and for very good reason. The Denver Film Society has always been intensely proactive in seeking out the very best movies from around the world, and pulls in over 250 of them for audiences to pick and choose from over a span of twelve days. In addition, almost equal numbers of filmmakers and actors come here to celebrate those works along with viewers, creating a world-class experience right here in the Queen City. Here's looking forward to the 39th edition and beyond.

Readers' choice: Denver Film Festival

Best Movie Theater — Programming

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

When the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema put down stakes in Colorado, it took a while for locals to warm to the theater chain's food-at-the-movies concept and intense no-talking policies. With acceptance came an awareness that the Alamo has an even more intense love for movies, operating under the notion that programming from more than a century's worth of classics is just as important as showing new popcorn pictures. New creative manager Steve Bessette spent the past year successfully planting his feet into some big programming shoes, and executive chef Seth Rexroad was given carte blanche to expand his special movie feasts, which pair great films with original menus. Clearly, it's time to get with the (Alamo) program.

Readers' choice: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Best Movie Theater — Food and Drink

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

The food-at-the-movies concept has been around since the birth of the concession stand, back in the '50s, but the idea of eating a whole meal at the movies is still a relatively young one. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema chain has long been the leader of the pack in figuring out how to serve food to audiences while maintaining a great film-going experience — from a staff well versed in the art of ninja service to menus that cover a range of culinary tastes. And you won't soon forget the Alamo after trying one of its special-menu craft dinners or movie-influenced feasts.

Best Movie Theater — Comfort

United Artists Denver Pavilions 15

In 2015, Regal Entertainment Group made a big change at the multiplex atop the Denver Pavilions: The company reduced the number of seats in the auditoriums and replaced them with ultra-plush recliners, at the same time ushering in an era of reserved seating at the theater. The new seats provide a level of comfort that you've probably never felt at a cinema before: At the push of a button, they recline to a near-lying-down position, while a little swivel table keeps your popcorn, candy and drink at a safe distance and out of your lap. Even a bad movie looks better from this angle.

Readers' choice: Alamo Drafthouse

Best Web Series

Behind the Smile

The Black Actors Guild has been entertaining the Mile High City on stage and in classrooms since 2009, when a group of students from the Denver School of the Arts created the versatile theater company. Over the past half-decade, the troupe has produced full-length theater shows, taught youth acting classes and absolutely killed it on stage with its regular Show Ya Teef improv show, which has been running for more than two years. Recently, the Guild introduced some of its best work to date with the web series Behind the Smile. Addressing race, class, relationships and intimate connections between friends with subtle humor, Behind the Smile captures what makes the group so irresistibly watchable: its sheer amount of raw talent. The series is part reality show and part fictional behind-the-scenes look into the lives of these young comedians, actors and improv masters, who make up one of the best acting ensembles in the Denver spotlight right now.

facebook.com/blackactorsguild

Best Of Denver®

Best Of

Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our terms of use, our cookies policy, and our privacy policy Westword may earn a portion of sales from products & services purchased through links on our site from our affiliate partners. ©2024 Denver Westword, LLC. All rights reserved.
Do Not Sell or Share My Information
Powered By Foundation