One of the weakest and most ridiculous aspects of popular culture is its narcissistic now-ness. There’s often no then or later, and without past experience or the messy knowledge of life, modern entertainment media often seems poached in a neurotic teenage brainpan, entranced with its own ignorant tunnel vision. A…
Low — which is to say no — expectations can be a wonderful thing: Expect nothing, and maybe you’ll get that little outta-nowhere sumpin-sumpin that turns an otherwise unfulfilling occurrence into a vaguely rewarding experience. It’s not like Invincible boasts the most promising of credentials: a first-time filmmaker (Ericson Core,…
A first-time feature film about a failed indie rocker, his beautiful girlfriend and his sanctimonious nature-boy brother on a road trip: There are so many ways that The Puffy Chair could have gone wrong. But it doesn’t — not once. Like Funny Ha Ha, the casually raw 2002 faux-cinéma-verité indie…
There’s a fine line between artistic genius and pretentious wankery, and most cineastes will tell you that the films of Matthew Barney exist right around that line. Those who like his work usually admit that it’s almost too insufferably pretentious to bear; those with no patience for it generally acknowledge…
Snakes on a Plane represents the ideal of contemporary major-studio filmmaking, which is to say, major-studio marketing. Who needs word-of-mouth screenings or critics when you can sell the four-word pitch as written on a napkin? It points to a future that takes all the guesswork out of movie-going. A major-studio…
So you know how Parker Posey nearly always plays sarcastic, uptight smokers? In The Oh in Ohio, she finally stretches a bit: Here she’s a sarcastic, uptight career woman…who doesn’t smoke! Also, she wears her hair down, whereas it’s usually pulled back into some kind of tightly wound style more…
A one-night Denver premiere of Texas filmmaker Turk Pipkin’s Nobelity is scheduled at the Starz FilmCenter. A documentary that has been getting good buzz at film festivals and private screenings, it features conversations with nine Nobel laureates — including deceased nanotech pioneer Rick Smalley (Chemistry, 1996), cancer researcher Harold Varmus…
In a few weeks, the fall art season will get under way, and as I look into my crystal ball, I see an unprecedented tsunami of exhibitions and events. (I feel like I’m drowning already.) The October opening of the Frederic C. Hamilton Building at the Denver Art Museum is…
The Stay Gallery (3519 Brighton Boulevard, 303-408-3057), run by the husband-and-wife team of John and Amy Bodin, only recently opened; in fact, the current exhibition, UNDERGO, is only the third show to be presented there. UNDERGO is a solo featuring Justin Beard, one of Denver’s most interesting young artists, and…
CHAIN REACTION. For the third time in two years, there’s a major show in town addressing how traditional Chicano art has progressed into what’s been dubbed post-Chicano art. This latest effort is CHAIN REACTION: Chicano/a and Latino/a Art in Colorado, which is being presented in the Vida Ellison Gallery on…
For most people, the words “role-playing game” conjure images of sweaty Dungeons & Dragons-obsessed weirdos, wearing cloaks and screaming “Lightning bolt!” at each other. But even non-RPG players gave the genre a try when Final Fantasy VII debuted back in 1997. The beautiful graphics and heart-tugging story made it an…
Veronica Mars: The Complete Second Season (Warner Bros.) Any concept along the lines of “high school hottie solves crimes” is bound to make for watchable TV, but who would have expected this? Equal parts 90210 teen soap, murder mystery, and comedy, Veronica Mars pulls you in with its sharp writing,…
The Apartment (Lions Gate) The Bill Cosby Show: Season One (Shout! Factory) The Blue Light (Pathfinder) Conviction: The Complete Series (Universal) Dances With Wolves: Extended Cut (MGM) Film Geek (First Run) House, M.D.: Season Two (Universal) Invasion: The Complete Series (Warner Bros.) Just My Luck (Fox) The Maid (Tartan) On…
Dozens of adult film stars will show off their very fine body of work at the third annual Adult Filmstar Ball, which runs from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. tonight at La Bohème Gentleman’s Cabaret, 1443 Stout Street, and is second in size only to the AVN Awards (the Oscars…
Is it any surprise that City Auditor Dennis Gallagher, who holds office hours at Common Grounds and has a brew named after him there, would single out coffeehouses as the key to civic engagement? He sees their rising numbers as a demonstration of the human connection and how people choose…
As it turns out, the rectilinear lines, corrugated frontages, mammoth spaces and ship’s-prow semblance of the new Colorado Convention Center aren’t the most digestible architectural appetizers. After just one year in the shiny new digs, Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation — Denver’s annual glutton-fest charity event — hiked…
Need an excuse to party? Here’s one: The Colorado Humane Society is celebrating its 125th birthday today. Get gussied up in your finest evening attire and head over to the Adam’s Mark Hotel, 1550 Court Place, where you can celebrate with dinner, entertainment, a silent auction and much more. The…
Cocktails — like food, fashion, film and everything else that’s good in life — have life spans, eras, and some are better than others. One need look no further than a LoDo happy-hour menu to see that we’re well past the golden age of glamour when it comes to inebriants…
I’ve been a fan of Deb Henriksen since I caught one of her first fashion shows two summers ago. Her styles were innovative but still wearable, her sensibilities completely down with the skater chick who can hang on the half-pipe and still look good at the after-party. Project Runway only…
Spending a night out with the girls is always problematic: Even if you can manage to shed the boy friends, boyfriends and husbands for a night, there’s always some creepy guy at the bar who wants to paw at you and ask for your phone number. And you can forget…
I’ve always wanted to enjoy traditional golf, but at the tender age of six, I accidentally nailed my younger brother in the head with a driver. He had failed to inform me that he was walking behind me while I practiced. We both cried, he got stitches, and my lucrative…
A winning tale of sex, real estate and more or less immaculate conception, Quinceaera, as you might expect from a white-made drama about Latino life in Echo Park, threatens to be all about a pregnant teenager and a prodigal cholo in the hood. Yet this saucy, rowdy, heartfelt and terribly…
