Damien Hirst. You’d have to be living under a rock — or have absolutely no interest in contemporary art — not to know that Damien Hirst is a superstar, and that everything he makes is worth millions of dollars apiece. The tight solo at MCA Denver (formerly known as the…
Eurydice. Playwright Sarah Ruhl has created her own magical, eccentric, gutsy and entirely original interpretation of the Orpheus-Eurydice myth, one in which the Lord of the Underworld is a comic-fearful shape-changer, ruling over a place populated by people of stone; Eurydice’s father, already dead, longs for her from the Underworld…
Ballerina, a documentary that premieres at Starz FilmCenter on Friday, March 27, may not be an especially daring piece of work, but its subject matter is so fascinating that the results are regularly compelling anyway. Director Bertrand Normand’s look at Russia’s Kirov Ballet is primarily a celebration, and the five…
Just when we thought the “bromantic comedy” had overstayed its welcome, the genre reaches its high point with I Love You, Man. The subtext is finally the text; it’s right there in the title. The movie delivers an absolutely complete, fully realized, delightfully novel redo of the hoariest of forms:…
Whether it’s the amnesiac super spy of the Bourne franchise or the weary law-firm fixer of Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy specializes in characters who wear so many masks that, memory loss or no, they scarcely know who they are anymore. Guided by instinct, his soldiers of fortune patrol a ruthless…
In a list of the great rivalries in the history of mankind, the enmity between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison would have to rate somewhere near the top. Tesla (a native of Croatia) began his life in the United States as Thomas Edison’s assistant until Tesla took seriously a statement…
It’s quintessential Colfax: Nestled between a head shop and a boutique selling wigs, Sompong’s Beads & Jewelry appears small from the outside. But its contents belie its appearance. Walking in the door, you’re assaulted by rainbows of beads — strings containing every shape, size and color of bead draping the…
If there was ever a food that could entice me to enter an eating contest, oysters would be it. In fact, I’m pretty sure I could win the eleventh annual competition at Jax with the right teammates. Every year, Jax Fish House throws an oyster-week celebration that comes with great…
There’s nothing better than a crisp day at the pitch, watching gladiators bludgeon each other in smash-mouth fury over a bit of ball. No, this isn’t the return of the XFL; this is rugby — British style. The annual Six Nations Championship will see England vs. Scotland, and last year’s…
Some guys eat, sleep and breathe football. They die a little on the inside the morning after the Super Bowl, and they resort to watching arena football and reruns of old games on ESPN Classic all spring and summer. Other guys — the former players — are simply not content…
Vintage wine tastings, vertical coffee tastings and single-origin chocolate tastings are all so 2008, and I can’t wait to only see them again on I Love the ’00s in ten years on VH1. But an absinthe tasting? Now I’m listening. Ever since the anise-flavored herbal liquor made with wormwood was…
“Beneath the paving stones — the beach!” went the rallying cry when artistic agitator Guy Debord and thousands of other leftist, avant-garde students took to the streets of Paris in 1968. Not only did they nearly take down the French government in their mop hair, loafers and form-fitting sweaters, but…
Our record-high temperatures of late have everyone flushed with spring fever, and if you like to greet each impending season in style, head to Fresh, the Fashion Denver Spring Fashion Market, where you can browse the wears of over thirty local fashion and accessory designers. Brandi Shigley, founder of Fashion…
Blending history, science and geopolitics, Tom Zoellner’s Uranium: War, Energy and the Rock that Shaped the World delivers a gripping look at one of the most amazing and poorly misunderstood substances in all of creation. “The history of uranium is one of greed and scientific genius and paranoia and fear…
Everyone’s favorite human-vampire love match is coming to DVD: Stephanie Meyers’s best-selling Twilight book series, which hit the big screen last year, will be released for home viewing tonight. And to turn the release into an event worthy of such characters as Bella and Edward, Borders stores across the country…
Shuttle opens on Friday, March 20, for what’s likely to be a token theatrical run in an advance of a DVD release — and it’s lucky to receive even that much attention. Written and directed by Edward Anderson, who wrote the script for the 2008 Demi Moore underperformer Flawless, the…
The idea behind the old green slogan “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is pretty obvious. Reduce the amount of packaging and/or waste you consume. Reuse what you can, and recycle what you can’t reuse. Well, the Harris Park Art Cooperative is taking that idea one step further with its Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle…
Explore the intersection of American and Iranian culture at Dialogue, a collaborative art exhibit presented by IRUS Art. The pieces on display were created by teams of artists split between the U.S and Iran, in media as diverse as paintings and interactive audio sculptures, and include a wall of works…
Poetry is hard — hard to read, hard to write. That’s why I admire the way poets like William Carlos Williams make it look easy by, for example, investing plums with complexity and transcendence. One of Williams’s modern-day literary descendents, Mark Doty, will read and discuss his own deceptively simple…
Does the idea of making a hollandaise make you shudder? Does coq au vin sound like some sort of disease? If you’re not a master of August Escoffier, the father of classical French cuisine, French Food for Springtime is the perfect class for you. Brought to you by the Alliance…
Back in the ’60s, my mother had an older co-worker named Aida whose nephew was Chet Helms, a San Francisco free spirit whose Family Dog Productions included Denver’s Family Dog concert hall for a couple of explosive years. It was through Aida that my brother and I came to possess…
They say tomorrow is always a new day, but if you happen to be a struggling artist or cultural nonprofit in Denver, that just might be true: You still have time to register for tomorrow’s fourth annual Create Denver Expo, hosted by the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs to provide…
