Treetops Glisten

If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, why take your chances in Denver when merry and bright and white are guaranteed up at Winter Park? The free Christmas Eve festivities begin at 4 p.m. with Christmas carols by the bonfire at the base of the Zephyr lift, then continue at…

Hollywood in the Rockies

Glitzy Aspen will get even glitzier with the twentieth annual Aspen Film Academy Screenings, which sparkles tonight with a showing of the Coen Brothers’ new film, True Grit. The fest, which is open to everyone, will feature eighteen buzzworthy movies before it ends on January 1, including Rabbit Hole, The…

A Merry, Gory Christmas

Nothing reeks of holiday spirit like obscene phone calls, home intrusion and a couple of dead sorority girls. Luckily, Black Christmas — the 1974 precursor to the slasher-film genre — fills all such festive requirements. As part of the Denver FilmCenter’s Watching Hour series, the Bob Clark classic (Clark is…

Happy Horror Days

“There’s no better programming for the holidays than a little Japanese ghost story,” says Denver FilmCenter programmer Keith Garcia. So anyone who’s looking for a break from Christmas overkill will feel right at home viewing the Japanese horror flick Kuroneko, made in 1968 by Kaneto Shindo, during its one-week holiday…

Big Country

Born in Sweden, the transitional early-twentieth-century painter Birger Sandzén came to the United States expecting to be here only a few years. But instead, he settled in Lindsborg, Kansas, a small town with a reputation for being a “Little Sweden,” where he taught and later ran the art department at…

Feast of Fail

For many, the very act of showing up to Christmas dinner requires a certain amount of improvisation. So does opening presents, as it’s not easy to act impressed with a bad gift. But those gifts are the inspiration behind the Groupmind Foundation’s Improv Combo Platter, which takes its material from…

Merry Saturday!

If you’re Jewish and looking for something to do today, Heebonism 2010 is the do for you. Organized by E-3 Events, a not-for-profit organization that hosts social gatherings for young Jewish adults in Denver, it will be the largest Heebonism party to date. “We supplanted the notorious Matzoh Ball three…

O, Festivus Pole

Feeling disillusioned this holiday season? Well, there’s a holiday for that, too. A Festivus for the Rest of Us was originally a Seinfeld plot arc, but it’s gained a very real following outside the sitcom. Rick Gold, who’s also a co-founder of Denver Flash Mob, is hosting his second Festivus…

Feeling Blue

Denver comedian Josh Blue has been out of the local circuit for quite a while now, keeping busy with tours and television and headlining shows across the country. But he’s back in town tonight for a hometown gig at the Comedy Works. “I’m excited to come home and perform in…

Merry Christmas. Now here are some crappy sweaters

Once a year here at Westword, the overlords let us out of our “blogging cage” and send us home for a four-day weekend, equipped with homing devices so we don’t try to escape. We’ll be gone until Monday and the blogs will be quiet (we’ve still got you covered on…

Festivus and ten more made-up holidays for the Holidays

Tomorrow, Rick Gold will host a traditional Fesitvus celebration at the Shag Lounge. There, you can commune around the Festivus pole, air some grievances and perform some feats of strength. There will also be a ($5 maximum) gift exchange. In honor of disillusionment everywhere, we present 10 more alternate celebrations…

10 things to do for $10 in Denver this Christmas 2010

Just because it’s Christmas this weekend doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of activities to take part in on the cheap. Whether you’re looking for something to do on Christmas day or if you’re interested in getting away from the family this weekend, we’ve got you covered with dance parties, light…

Ten great Japanese horror movies

This list might have just as easily been titled Ten great Japanese horror movies in the vein of Kuroneko, since we’re only dealing with a certain type of horror film here. Kuroneko, which premiers at the Denver FilmCenter on Friday, is a more subdued, fantasy-driven horror than the type people…

Little Fockers is this week’s most ridiculous trailer

It’s been ten years since the first installment of Meet the Parents paired Robert DeNiro as an overbearing, somewhat menacing father-in-law with Ben Stiller as an awkward, you know, every character Ben Stiller ever plays. But get this: His last name is — this is hilarious! — Focker. Ten years…

Get on the 2011 Westword Artopia guest list

Not to toot our own horn or anything, but it’s already time to start gearing up for Westword’s Artopia on February 19, that epic, five-venue block party of art, music and awesome. This year, the folks over in marketing have told us we can put a pair of people on…

Blue Christmas: Craigslist’s most depressing missed connections

For the lonely, there’s probably not much lonelier than Christmas, that time of year when we’re supposed to be basking in the warmth of family and loved ones, but instead we’re watching It’s a Wonderful Life for the third time and eating TV dinners seasoned with the bitter salt of…