Gary Culig is back in town tonight and will pull on a pair of striped stockings and the pointy velvet hat belonging to the snarky elf in David Sedaris’s The SantaLand Diaries — for the eighth year in a row. “It would be weird not doing it,” Culig says. “I…
It’s the little things that count — at least in Shana Colbin Dunn’s little corner of the world. And the jewelry rep raised in New York City knows her accessories inside and out, so her decision to open an accessories boutique was, well, an act of Kismet. The theme works…
When the St. Julien Hotel ballroom was in need of a custom holiday revue show, Kim Franco was the obvious person to talk to. The former Cabaret Diosa singer and dancer didn’t hesitate in her decision to create a ’30s-era extravaganza with the Naughty and Nice Holiday Revue. “We have…
Back in 1997, Jimi Bernath wanted to warble some Beatles songs to commemorate the December 8 anniversary of John Lennon’s death — and he wound up doing so with a little help from his friends. Nine years later, Bernath’s annual Beatles Sing-Along has become a December tradition that continues today…
Ski resorts are grooming their runs and revving their chairlifts. Boarders are waxing their rides and testing their boots and bindings. It’s official: The season of sliding down mountain slopes and catching mad air has returned. But believe it or not, there are people who live in Colorado and have…
Holiday celebrations can pretty much be placed in two categories: the “this-is-my-favorite-time-of-year” fetes, during which people swill eggnog and sing the same holiday carols over and over and over again; and the “holidays-are-just-an-excuse-for-corporate-America-to-make-money” non-events, where gift buying is vehemently opposed and Christmas trees are hated on with a vengeance. But…
Be afraid. Be very afraid — but before you fire up the fear factory, take some time to think about what, exactly, should terrify you. Vox Feminista’s Oak Chezar explains: “We’re supposed to stay in fear. We’ve traded all our freedoms for security, we’ve gotten rid of the Constitution and…
Denver-bred filmmaker Kim Roberts describes the maiden theatrical run of Wilderness Survival for Girls, which can be seen this week at Starz FilmCenter, as “a really risky venture.” That’s appropriate, since the movie, which she wrote and directed with her husband, Eli Despres, was a gamble from the beginning –…
“T.I.A.,” mutters Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), slouched across a bar in Sierra Leone. It is 1999. As the West obsesses over Clinton’s blow job, the West African nation is mired in a savage civil war. Our hero, a world-weary soldier of fortune, has struck up a conversation with Maddy Bowen…
From its wink-wink, nudge-nudge movie-within-a-movie opening to its bold-faced quoting of such classic Hollywood farces as The Lady Eve and His Girl Friday, Nancy Meyerss The Holiday wants us to know that its different from the kind of romantic-comedy pabulum that fills the multiplexes these days. And it is different;…
Apocalypto has a faux-Greek title and an opening quote from historian Will Durant that ruminates on the decline of imperial Rome. It may seem an odd way to comment on the supposed end of an imaginary, unspeakably barbaric Mayan civilization — but WWJD? Mel Gibson means to be universal. Not…
Deep in the outskirts of industrial Los Angeles, an unnamed Actor (Morgan Freeman) wonders if the time has come to break a four-year hiatus of doubt and indecision and get back in the game. Not that his destination, the set of a tiny indie by “a director so young he…
Sorry to harsh your buzz, but that four-dollar latte purchase of yours often yields little or almost nothing for the African bean harvesters who made it possible. No mere Western guilt-inducing harangue, Black Gold is a highly informative documentary by British brothers Marc and Nick Francis. Its calmly accumulated details…
From its unappetizing title to its use of a narrator Lockstock, a police officer who pontificates humorously about exposition, metaphor and politics for the benefit of a quintessentially Dickensian orphan named Little Sally Urinetown is a self-consciously anti-musical musical. The songs are tuneful, varied and appealing, and almost every one…
With Season’s Greetings, estimable and prolific English writer Alan Ayckbourn has created an antidote not only to the usual Christmas saccharine, but also to all of the half-baked, skit-filled attempts to make the holiday hip. The play shows a dysfunctional middle-class family gathering for their annual celebration. These people have…
The Big Bang. Sometimes it’s nice not to have to think too much, to just settle back and watch a couple of frenetically energetic guys working really hard to earn your good will — and your entertainment dollars. Oh, and to make you laugh. The Big Bang posits the following…
I’m sure you’ve all heard more than enough about the Denver Art Museum’s Frederic C. Hamilton Building. That’s too bad, because there’s even more to say about it in light of the show that just opened at Sandy Carson Gallery. Daniel Libeskind: Inspiration, Process and Place is filled with drawings,…
In the past few weeks, there’s been a plethora of news relevant to Denver’s art and architecture scenes. Denver’s Creative Spaces Task Force, which is dominated not by artists but by city employees, was launched last January with much fanfare. I wasn’t too excited, because I knew from past experience…
Breaking the Mold. In 2003, Connecticut collector Virginia Vogel Mattern donated some 300 pieces of contemporary American Indian art to the Denver Art Museum. For one of the special shows inaugurating the new Frederic C. Hamilton Building, Native Arts curator Nancy Blomberg has selected over a hundred works for the…
Last Saturday it was beyond cold outside, but inside Trax things were heating up for the 22nd Annual MAX Fashion Show. Every year Max Martinez hosts the extravaganza that showcases the spring looks that will be available in his boutiques. This year, Missoni, Chloe, Narciso Rodriguez and Diane Von Furstenberg…
A Special Cat’s Pajamas Report from Susan Froyd, Westword’s own Night & Day editor — and shoe aficionado. Clark’s Indigo Mademoiselle, $93.95 As a former San Franciscan, I always thought that I could safely say I’d left my heart there. In my bedazzled mind, there’s no city on earth more…
Denver’s fashion-power couple. Tran and Josh Wills are always on the go. Not only do they have three lovely children to keep up with, they are the owners of The Fabric Lab boutique at 3105 East Colfax Avenue and are now partners in the new Belmar venture A++, along with…
