Academy Awards

Oscar party roundup: where to watch this weekend in Denver and Boulder

With the 85th Annual Academy Awards going down this Sunday, February 24, you can certainly stay home and catch the Hollywood action from your couch and wallow in Joan Rivers' bitter, pre-show fashion commentary. But while watching the Oscars with Joan and your cat may be fun, discussing the best and ... More >>

Five things I freaking hate about the Oscars -- thanks to the Academy!

MGM studio exec Louis B. Mayer started the Academy Awards in 1929 as a way to bolster the image of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- and assist in mediating labor disputes. From that modest beginning, the awards ceremony has grown into one of the world's biggest annual media events. ... More >>

Thank the Academy

3 things to do for free this week, November 12-15, 2012

Broke after the weekend? The fun doesn't have to stop. Among the free events on the calendar this week are a screening of an Academy Award-winning film with the director on hand, a solar eclipse-viewing party complete with free snacks, and a workshop on how to get started writing your novel. For a f ... More >>

Simon and the Oaks looks like a good movie but never really feels like one

10 things to do for $10 this weekend, August 17-19, 2012

Face it: You're not going to see The Book of Mormon this weekend without dropping some serious cash for scalped tickets...and even if you get lucky in the daily lottery, you'll pay $25 for that seat. But there are plenty of other entertaining activities in town that you can enjoy on the cheap. From ... More >>

Anime Instincts

Share your worst bridesmaid dress (or your worst story), win tickets for Bridesmaids

Some of us hate Bridesmaids, if only for the fact that it likely was one of the reasons Kristen Wiig decided to leave SNL. Oscar nominations will do that to an actor/writer. However! We found a pair of tickets to see the movie at Film on the Rocks on Tuesday night at Red Rocks, and we know that man ... More >>

Colorado on Screen

Catch the Stars

John Hickenlooper celebrates Colorado's Oscar, Grammy wins

Years before he won an Academy Award, filmmaker Daniel Junge was a barback at the Wynkoop Brewing Company -- and yesterday his former bosshosted a reception to celebrate not just Junge's recent Oscar win for best short documentary, Saving Face, but also Ryan Tedder's Grammy -- a real double whammy f ... More >>

Reader: Saving Face Oscar win hits close to home

Saving Face may be set in Pakistan, but the crew behind the film is from Colorado -- and they brought an Oscar back to this state after winning the best short documentary award. The team included co-directors Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, producer Allison Greenberg, editor/producer Davis ... More >>

A day in the life of an Oscars novice, by Saving Face producer Alison Greenberg

Alison Greenberg was a producer for Saving Face and is manager of foundation and donor relations for the Denver Film Society. She wrote this first-person account of her trip to the Oscars with the crew of Saving Face, a documentary which won the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short. BY ALISON ... More >>

Video: Robert Downey Jr. Tebows at the Oscars

Video below.​Love or loathe Tim Tebow as you may -- but there's no denying the cultural impact of The Chosen One. Prime example: At last night's Academy Awards ceremony, presenter Robert Downey Jr. preceded his trip to the stage with a little preparatory Tebowing -- one of several Colorado mo ... More >>

Saving Face and The Descendants link Colorado to Oscar wins

Colorado-based filmmaker Daniel Junge won an Oscar tonight for Saving Face, the short documentary film that follows a Pakistani plastic surgeon dedicated to performing reconstructive surgery on women who've been attacked with acid. Read an interview with Junge about Saving Face.

Daniel Junge on his Oscar nomination, Saving Face, and the Colorado film industry

​This isn't Daniel Junge's first trip to the Oscars. The Colorado-based filmmaker was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010 for his documentary The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner; this time he's nominated in the Documentary Short category for Saving Face, a film that follows a Pakist ... More >>

Reel Social Club brings fashion and film together over mimosas this Oscar weekend

​Red carpet appearances by designer gown-donning stars are just as much a part of the Academy Awards spectacle as the Oscars themselves. In advance of this coming weekend's 84th annual ceremony, Denver FilmCenter's Reel Social Club is celebrating this marriage of fashion and film with it's Seam To ... More >>

The Oscars: Five Denver area watch parties

Hollywood's biggest night is coming up on Sunday, and in honor of that most hallowed of cinematic traditions, we've compiled a list of the five best places to watch the Oscars in style.

The 2012 Oscar-nominated short films offer something for everyone

Top ten Backbeat posts of 2011

By now, anyone who's ever blogged -- which is likely most of you reading this -- knows that the stories that took the most time, the really important ones, were often around the bottom when it came to traffic, pageviews, unique visitors, etc. Meanwhile, the ol' bacon Nativity scene is doing gang-bus ... More >>

Star Gazing

Starz Denver Film Festival: The Descendants is a small story that made for a Big Night

"The Descendants."​The Starz Denver Film Festival's Big Night has become a showcase for future Academy Award nominees -- Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours and The Last Station among them. And there's little doubt this streak will continue. The odds of The Descendants failing to generate awa ... More >>

Ten people who should host the 2012 Oscars

At least they make decent movies.​Is it time to already begin thinking about next year's Academy Awards show? Well, if you're like most Americans -- and critics, the venerable Roger Ebert among them -- who watched last night's show, then the answer is "yes." The hipster hosts, 28-year-old An ... More >>

Oscars 2011: Live-blogging the self-congratulatory golden phallus ceremonies

They've been doing this for EIGHTY-THREE years?!?​ There are a lot of things more important than watching and liveblogging the 2011 Academy Awards - but none of them are things we have to do today. Look for our recap after the show!

Oscars 2011: The red-carpet fashion of the stars

Black Swan's Natalie Portman.​The best part of the annual Academy Awards is arguably the red-carpet fashion, and this year, stars were showcasing a variety of couture gowns. Bright reds and tangerines dominated the pre-Oscar parade, with some purple trimming and light, ethereal dresses to coun ... More >>

10 things to do for $10 this weekend, February 18-20, 2011

​Money is stupid. It really just gets in the way of having a good time and causes more harm than good. Thankfully, provided you're into dance parties, art shows, reading or writing, this weekend has plenty of opportunities to enjoy life on the cheap. That is, provided you're willing to spend a ... More >>

The Eagle is a thunderous, old-school boys' adventure

Now's the time to see these Oscar-nominated short films

Oscar nominations for Best Picture: 2011 vs. 2010

​The Academy Award nominations are out and they're pretty much what you expected: The King's Speech, Black Swan, The Social Network, etc. This is the second year of the expanded ten movie Best Picture category. And as these things go, the ten nominees are not a bad indication of what stuck wi ... More >>

Cast your nominations for the 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards

​It's that time of year again, when chefs from all over the country send out e-mails begging their loyal customers to nominate them for a James Beard Foundation Award, otherwise known as the "Oscars of the food universe."

Focus in on Mountain Films

Oscar Wild

Flick Pick

Flick Pick

Big Screen Bash

See all five Oscar-nominated best picture films in one day.

Small Packages

Short is sweet at the Aspen ShortsFest.

Oscar Night Done Right

Neighborhood Flix has the perfect party planned.

Going Green

The M's

Tuesday, April 25, hi-dive, 720-570-4500.

Gay Caballeros

You won't be able to quit this Oscar party.

Short 'n' Sweet

A ceiling fan and a potted plant in love? Yep, it's Oscar season.

Jack Twist

Mayan Theatre

Flick Pick

Oscar Shorts 2005

Flick Pick

Golden Film Festival

Flick Pick

City of God

Flick Pick

Starz FilmCenter

Best Independent Video Store -- Avant-Garde

Video Station

Up the Academy

The Oscar telecast has, for a decade, been Gil Cates' golden moment

AND THE WINNER WAS...