Near the beginning of The Counterfeiters, a fact-based Holocaust drama by Austrian filmmaker Stefan Ruzowitzky, we meet Jewish money forger and former jailbird Salomon Sorowitsch (brilliantly played by Karl Markovics), packing to flee Berlin in 1936 with a suitcase full of fake money. We know from an opening coda that…
For the crime of obliterating high culture, for the crime of getting off on vicarious degradation — and, above all, for the crime of sitting through any movie that resembles the one he’s (re)made — Michael Haneke sentences you (me, us) to Funny Games. Scratch that: to a second fucking…
You’ll know in the first few minutes exactly what Patapon has going for it. There’s the goofy premise, which casts you as the tribal god Patapon, lord of a band of creatures called, imaginatively enough, Patapons — little savages that are basically eyeballs with arms and legs. Then there’s the…
…And Justice for All: Special Edition (Sony) Appleseed Ex Machina (Warner Bros.) August Rush (Warner Bros.) Bee Movie (DreamWorks) Black Widow (Fox) Dan in Real Life (Buena Vista) Def Comedy Jam: D.L. Hughley (HBO) Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes Volume 3 (Fox) Hitman (Fox) Housewife, 49 (Acorn) Lil’ Bush: Resident…
Over the last few years, Curious had become somewhat peripheral on the mental map where I chart the progress of Denver’s serious theater companies. Curious’s casting was often uneven, and its choice of material occasionally poor. With last month’s 9 Parts of Desire, however, the company moved into strong focus,…
I really don’t know why I get such pleasure out of returning to Heritage Square Music Hall again and again to watch pretty much the same kind of entertainment — though obviously with variations — but I do. The current production, The Baseball Show, is actually a remount of Take…
Contrived Ending. This play is local author Josh Hartwell’s homage to the movies and, in particular, to the old-fashioned art house. All the action takes place on a beautifully detailed and realistic facsimile of a cinema lobby, and the play actually sounds and feels like a lot of movies — Reality…
The Society for Photographic Education (www.spenational.org) will hold its 45th annual national conference at the Adam’s Mark Hotel this weekend, bringing about a thousand professionals in photo-based occupations to town. It’s too late to register, but there are limited day and sessions passes available, as well as an Exhibits Fair…
Kazillionaire, arts donor and fine-art photographer Laura Merage has gotten a step closer to opening what she calls an “art incubator,” dubbed RedLine, by forming a board of directors. The seven-member group includes Merage and two other artists, Lori Bauman and Tom Guiton, and four administrative executives, Sue Renner, Bruce…
George Carlson. Put together by curator Ann Daley, who has shaped and defined the Western collection at the Denver Art Museum, George Carlson: Heart of the West deals with the career of an accomplished neo-traditional artist who looks to the century-old Impressionist style for inspiration. The Carlson exhibit includes nearly…
Craig Conner, proprietor of Pablo’s on 6th, has a theory regarding the meaning of life: “Each consecutive moment represents a much smaller part of your life. If each moment passes more quickly, you should seek greater meaning; your actions should have a thoughtful purpose.” Conner put his theory into practice…
The red carpet, paparazzi, an art show, funny awards, clever advertisements and really great wrap-it-up music: These are things you won’t find anywhere near a typical student film screening at the University of Colorado in Boulder. “Nobody wants to come to the student screenings,” says film student Tony Castle. “If…
Calling all otaku! Anime, manga and other Japanese pop-culture pursuits are the order of the weekend at Anime Wasabi, starting tonight and continuing through Sunday at the Holiday Inn DIA, 15500 East 40th Avenue. Besides rubbing elbows with other devotees of Gundam, Dragonball and the like, there’s plenty to feed…
I once had a stupid dog that almost drowned every morning trying to get at those swimming kibbles in his water bowl. He used to tilt his head, crouch down and then plunge his snout into his water dish — always managing to smash his nose on the bottom. But…
No matter how hard they tried, for a good seven years or so, plenty of Americans couldn’t forget that George W. Bush was president of the United States. But with all the excitement about the ongoing slugfest between Democratic hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton over who will challenge presumptive…
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and you’re bored. You already had your fill of green beer over the weekend, when everyone else seemed to be celebrating, but now that the day of green is actually here, there’s no one to pinch and you’d rather not engage in another drinking marathon with…
Bob White got into art by accident. He started a vinyl and CD business in 1998. In the process, he taught himself graphic design, and soon he’d replaced his original concept with a design company that did advertising for small businesses. As he snapped and edited more and more pictures,…
The waters of Chile’s Patagonia region are under threat from hydroelectric dam projects that would mar the pristine beauty of the earth’s most beloved land’s end. Tonight, Global Response — an environmental action and education network based in Boulder — jump-starts its campaign to protect Patagonian rivers and wilderness areas…
There’s something unbelievably catchy about Irish music, whether you’re listening to a sad ballad about a young man never to return from battle or a rowdy, rabble-rousing drinking tune. And since tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, what better way to get in the mood than by attending a concert tonight…
I fell in love with vintage fashion at a young age. Growing up in the ’80s (full of neon) and ’90s (flannel), it was easy to see the beauty of a bias-cut ’30s gown or a voluptuous ’50s dress. Sadly, many vintage finds start to show their age — in…
Cassettes defeated eight-tracks. VHS trumped Beta. And Blu-ray recently overtook HD-DVD — which makes the timing of Disney’s Magical Blu-Ray Tour mighty fortuitous. “Blu-ray has now become the high-definition standard,” Disney Blu-ray spokeswoman Andi Matheny says of the display, which debuts today. “And we’re letting the average person really experience…
While there are plenty of Democrats in Hollywood, there’s nothing democratic about the film industry. The silver screen begins to look more like an iron curtain when one considers that most movie options are pre-ordained by a coterie of producers and executives. So when a few local deciders from the…
