If you grew up in the ’80s, John Hughes probably influenced your life only slightly less than your parents. His films dominated the era and, in many ways, helped define it. His true genius didn’t lie merely in documenting a particular period of time (though he did that brilliantly), but…
Getting lost on a long holiday weekend is about as American as apple pie, but there’s no better place to do it this Labor Day than at the Chatfield Corn Maze, which opened its labyrinthine paths to the public on September 3, courtesy of the Denver Botanic Gardens. Eight acres…
In recent years, the tattoo industry has moved on from stereotypes of social deviance and freak-show connotations to become an art form that many people respect. (It’s much more difficult to find a tattooed lady in a sideshow these days.) A generation ago, tattoos were considered social suicide in certain…
Buntport Theater’s newest adaptation, Indiana, Indiana, which kicks off its ninth season, is a change from the somewhat zany performances for which the company is best known. “This is new because it’s a drama,” says Buntport player Evan Weissman. “There’s no attempt to make it a comedy.” It’s the Faulknerian…
Hey there, Unpublished Fiction Writer. Yeah, you with the vintage typewriter and dog-eared copy of Robert Brewer’s 2009 Writer’s Market: Whatsa matter, pal? Got more rejection letters than pages in that manuscript? Having nightmares where everyone in your life says, “It’s not right for me,” even out of context? What…
The gift book of the year? Hands down, we predict it’ll be The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (Random House, $50), the coffee-table-worthy companion tome to the latest Ken Burns doc series, which debuts on PBS later this month. That series will tackle the birth of the national park system…
In the world of 20th-century composition, George Crumb stands alone. Known for reimagining the roles of instruments in the modern orchestra and freeing the musical score itself from its rectangular bonds, he’s a Pulitzer Prize winner who’s whimsically written for marbles pinging among piano strings, amplified violins and musicians who…
Back in August, the funny improv folks who call themselves Monkey’s Uncle found themselves without a zoo to call home: Their longtime gig at Jazz @ Jack’s, they learned, was up. Happily, the silly simians grabbed a vine and swung over to a new island – the Avenue Theater –…
It’s hard to believe that twenty years ago, many people felt photography wasn’t an art form, especially since it would be easy to argue that today it’s the preeminent one. This naysaying of the past was partly the product of the medium’s mechanical aspect: Many people had the naïve view…
Big-Lots.This show comprises some very big abstract paintings by Wendi Harford that are strong and artistically ambitious. Harford earned a BFA at the University of Denver in the 1970s, where she studied with the late Beverly Rosen, and there are subtle references to her mentor’s influences throughout the show, but…
Ghosted, opening this week, is a collection of potentially intriguing elements — emphasis on “potentially.” The action moves between Germany, the home of artist Sophie (Inga Busch), and Taiwan, the birthplace of her lover, Ai-Ling (Huan-Ru Ke), whose death prior to the start of the film leaves Sophie vulnerable to…
If you remember Woodstock, you probably weren’t there,” the expression goes. And if you were, can you please stop gassing on about it? Aquarian Nostalgia™ is the most oppressively sanctimonious and dull stripe of reminiscing. Sure, the three free days of peace and music at Max Yasgur’s farm passed without…
Finally, there’s a vampire movie worthy of the title The Hunger — even if it arrives under the more potable name Thirst. Carnal appetite, not a parched palate, is the accelerant that fuels this perverse, prankish and merrily anti-clerical exercise in bloodletting from Park Chan-wook, the South Korean director whose…
Frederick Knott’s Dial ‘M’ for Murder started in the early 1950s as a ninety-minute BBC production, enjoyed successful West End and Broadway runs, and eventually became a celebrated Alfred Hitchcock movie. It’s one of those stylish, intricately plotted murder plays, though not a whodunit. We know early on that the…
I’d have to assume it’s unanimous – we’re all glad to see DJ Jason Heller’s byline back in these pages — but Westword’s not the only venue to welcome back a conquering hero: In the last couple of months, Hella’s also been back behind the turntables at the hi-dive, again…
How Stephanie Shearer, the entrepreneur behind Pandora Jewelry and Soul Haus, obtained the storied EZE Mop building has already been detailed in these pages (go to westword.com/2009-04-16/news/the-city-should-clean-up-with-this-plan-for-eze-mop/2 for that saga), but the next page is a whole ’nother story. According to plan, Shearer and her husband, Chris Bacorn, recently opened…
“You don’t have to pack your bag to take this trip.” That’s the mantra Sharon Rudden of Tennyson Street’s Studio 52 keeps chanting in introduction to the second annual Tenn-Low Turismo, a neighborly scavenger hunt hosted by the Berkeley District Merchants Association to showcase businesses concentrated on or between Tennyson…
Ghosted, opening this week, is a collection of potentially intriguing elements — emphasis on “potentially.” The action moves between Germany, the home of artist Sophie (Inga Busch), and Taiwan, the birthplace of her lover, Ai-Ling (Huan-Ru Ke), whose death prior to the start of the film leaves Sophie vulnerable to…
Every writer should have a friend like Brian Polk, creator of the local zine Yellow Rake. “It’s essentially in existence because a lot of my friends, even professional writers, didn’t have an avenue for creative writing,” Polk explains. “A lot of these people would write stories, and they’d just be…
In Colorado, we’re lucky to get to dine on posole, tamales and sopaipillas as often as pizza, burgers and pie. Thanks to our neighbor to the south, it’s not hard to find spicy New Mexican green or red chile on the menu. But the Spanish Colonial influence on our town…
Ruby Ann’s Great Big After Church Sunday Social at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret is a chance to liven up your Sunday afternoons with a little singin’, rollickin’, doublewide Southern fun. “After church on Sundays in the South, we’d get together with some food and singing and gossiping, and basically you get…
The book as an object of art — or artist books — became popular in the latter part of the twentieth century and includes everything from small-edition letter-press books of poetry to weird, one-of-a-kind book-like objects that don’t necessarily have text or illustrations. Need to know more? Tonight’s closing reception…
