A Netflix Doc Digs at the Truth Behind the Foxcatcher Killing

If you thought the billionaire played by Steve Carell in Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher was eerie, please allow me to introduce you to the real John du Pont. A dangerous concoction of lonely and paranoid, du Pont was blessed with money and mobility and cursed with the kind of childhood that…

Prince’s Music Comes Back to Life In Spike Lee’s Girl 6

It’s been two weeks (or a little over eleven hours and fourteen days as “Nothing Compares 2 U” lovingly time stamps) since we lost our sweet Prince, and many of us have worn out our DVDs and VHS copies of Purple Rain. That film, though based on Prince’s life, was written…

Den-Ex Film Fest Celebrates Denver’s Experimental Fringe Saturday

Denver’s a pretty great film town, but that doesn’t mean that all of cinema’s many niches and genres are equally well represented. You can always catch a blockbuster film at any neighborhood multiplex, and plenty of arthouse, indie and repertory fare is available around town. But the weird stuff is…

Captain America: Civil War Is Comic-Book Cinema Without the Wonder

If nothing else, Captain America: Civil War stands as something of a corrective to this spring’s other superheroes-bludgeoning-each-other opus, Batman v Superman. While that film was severe and downcast, Civil War is expansive, at times even light. BvS strove to redefine its superheroes to fit newer, darker, borderline-sociopathic molds; Civil…

While Viva Finds Beauty in Cuba, Its Characters Seem Adrift

The lure of everything Cuba is strong. It’s in the news, on top of everyone’s travel list and in our movie theaters. But the recent films about Cuba aren’t exports from the still-embargoed country. Most come from visiting filmmakers. Irish director Paddy Breathnach captures a gorgeous portrait of Cuba with…

The Ten Best Geek Events in Denver in May

Despite the snow showers, May is here. We can assume the flowers will arrive shortly, but in the meantime we don’t have to wait for some great geek events to pop up! This month offers up everything from the obligatory Star Wars celebrations (May the Fourth be with you!) to a celebration…

Photos: A Game of Thrones Fan Fest at Stoney’s

Music by Daenerys and the Targaryens, costumes and the first episode of Game of Thrones Season Six gave fans a taste of free blood shots, gore and new story lines at Nerd Riot’s GoT Watch Party at Stoney’s on Sunday night. Like what you see? The party continues weekly on Sunday…

The Ten Best Film Events In Denver In May

April showers are about to give way to May flowers both on the ground and on the big screen, where the first of the summer movie season offerings will soon pop up.  In chronological order, here are the best film events in Denver this May. 10. Denver Silent Film Festival…

Tale of Tales Bites Into the Tangential Madness of Fairy Stories

Fairy tales were meant to be oral stories. Translating the tangents of old women in far-flung villages (whose chips on their shoulders about, say, their brother’s failed shipping business might inspire long asides about the shipping industry) into written texts doesn’t always make for the most linear, easy read. In…

As It Saves the Sitcom Once Again, Amazon’s Catastrophe Is Anything But

The second season of Amazon’s Catastrophe might do for the #TGIF-style family sitcom of the late ‘80s and ‘90s what the first did for the ailing rom-com: open-mouthed resuscitation on the operating table after one too many Garry Marshall–fueled heart attacks like Valentine’s Day. (Or New Year’s Eve? It doesn’t…

Tom Hanks Waits for Meaning, Connection and a King

Don’t hold it against Tom Tykwer’s A Hologram for the King that its best scene is also its first. As Alan Clay (Tom Hanks) strides down a suburban street singing a modified version of Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” (“You may find yourself … without a beautiful house ……

Elvis & Nixon Is as Two-Dimensional as That Famous Photo

Elvis Presley once watched Dr. Strangelove three times in one night at a Memphis movie theater. After that, he made them play the last reel several more times, marveling at it. It’s fascinating to wonder about: Here’s this country’s biggest musical star, the leading man in movies he knew were…

Too Bad Midnight Special‘s Gripping Parental Drama Is on the Run

In Jeff Nichols’ gripping domestic thriller Take Shelter, Michael Shannon played a family man convinced that Armageddon was upon us. But even as the character’s visions compelled him to take more and more extreme precautions, the film remained fixed in the world of the real. It was a portrait of…