New in Town

She’s too thin. She’s a bobblehead. Her forehead doesn’t move. Where has that Jerry Maguire girl gone, the one we once knew and loved? Did the Oscar from Cold Mountain ruin her forever, or is Kenny Chesney to blame? It’s not easy being America’s Sweetheart. Nor any easier being Lucy…

Sundance Festival

The crowds were thinner, the temperature warmer, and Barack Obama’s name mentioned so many times that you might have thought he had assumed leadership not just of the free world, but the Sundance Institute, too. Otherwise, it was business as relatively usual as the Sundance Film Festival turned 25. If…

Otto at Starz FilmCenter

Even as an ardent, tireless fan of zombie cinema, I’ve never seen anything quite like Otto; or, Up With Dead People. Existing in some heretofore undiscovered common ground between the arthouse and the grindhouse, Otto is a tale of a young gay zombie in a cruel world that’s as dead…

Final Days

When it comes to adaptations of Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend, Will Smith can suck it. The 1964 Last Man on Earth (aka The Damned Walk at Midnight) may not be well known among today’s horror fans, but it’s a seminal classic that stands head and shoulders above the…

Frost Bite

Don’t underestimate the snowmen around Nederland and Eldora. According to local legend, these angry Front Range ice cubes are more bad horror flick than good-natured Frosty. Tales of the Screamin’ Snowman describe a mysterious creature with a Yeti-like shriek that leaves no footprints — just plowed paths leading into the…

Making their Mark

Like millions of Americans, Michael Chavez took a break from work on January 20 to watch the presidential inauguration. The Foothills Art Center curator had already planned an exhibit to reflect what people were thinking about at the turn of an administration, but he was still overcome by the magnitude…

Cash for Cash

One of the ironies of hospital care is how little life there is inside a building that’s all about trying to save lives — or at least make those who are dying more comfortable. Page and Tess Phillips found this out in early 2007, when their infant son, Cash, was…

Yes, We Can!

You may have explored the liquid assets of Pabst Blue Ribbon, the pale lager that’s seen a revival in recent years, but can you make art out of it? The three-year-old PB-Arts Contest is betting that you can, challenging Pabst lovers to incorporate the iconic PBR can into artwork in…

Light Entertainment

First of all, 7dancers spokesman Lee Prosenjak notes, there are actually eight dancers in the cast of Passengers, but that’s not what makes this travel-themed production so different. It won’t be performed on a stage or even in a set area, but will instead trek through the expanses of a…

Suit Up

Who knew wearing pajamas could be so profitable? Denver’s Road Home has already collected more than a half-million dollars in donations through its annual PJ Party, and planners are hoping this year’s incarnation will do well, too. “We know that the economic crisis right now is definitely hitting people hard,”…

Moneky Men

“The Bible is a book. It’s a good book, but it is not the only book.” So said Henry Drummond, the Clarence Darrow character played by Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind, the film that fictionalized the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, pitting science against religion in a twentieth-century courtroom battle…

Thinking Outside the Ox

The Chinese New Year is the biggest, best and most colorful of the traditional Chinese holidays, celebrated not just by the Chinese, but by many of the cultures they’ve influenced during their long and storied history. Here in Denver, there are plenty of opportunities to celebrate the Year of the…

Well Versed

You just naturally expect Design After Dark, the annual benefit for the Denver Art Museum Design Council, to be a little cooler than other glitzy fundraisers: uptown enough for society bigwigs (or at least the ones with artsy pretensions), downtown enough for the rest of us cutting-edge design groupies. And…

Landmark Play

The final piece of August Wilson’s ten-play chronicle of the twentieth-century African-American experience, Radio Golf is the story of progress and greed versus tradition in the historic Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It’s set entirely in the office of a development company, where a young African-American developer — who’s also…

Paul the Apostle

There’s only one actor from generations past who can still make my heart skip a beat: Paul Newman. I’ve mourned him quietly since he passed away on September 26, because I’ve yet to find another leading man who can bring such nuance and conflict to a character — and no…

Collage Education

Just about anything local artist Lauri Lynnxe Murphy does is a-ok with me. Whether it’s making art, promoting art or teaching it, she’s always in the driver’s seat, full of purpose and brimming with creativity. And now she’s offering a class so propelled by what drives her that I (and…

Fine China

Some of my favorite Chinese New Year memories revolve around China’s many fantastic culinary contributions to the world: Buddha’s Delight, moon cakes, dumplings and any number of other treats. But while Chinese food may be the most easily accessible link to this holiday, the country’s traditional dance, song and other…

Dream Weavers

There are thirteen member societies at the non-profit TACtile Textile Arts Center, each of them specializing in arts as old as the hills, yet somehow completely contemporary in a time when doing for yourself is back in style. They embroider, tat, knit, bead, weave and quilt; know their way around…

Not-So-Secret Lives of Animals

One of Colorado’s more remarkable citizens, Dr. Temple Grandin first distinguished herself in her chosen field of animal science and as an advocate of humane treatment of animals. She went on to further garner attention as a best-selling author and lecturer, unique in that she is also autistic and unafraid…

Heart Beat

Valentines go 3D – with an added Latin inspiration – when the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council hosts its annual fundraiser, Milagros del Corazon, a laid-back evening of classical guitar music, snacks, drinks and bidding scheduled this year for Friday, February 13. But the event’s lifeblood must circulate through your…

Fin Art

It’s a well-known fact that behind every great artist’s print, there’s usually a great printmaker to serve as master technician, problem-solver and perhaps as a muse, as well. We Coloradans have been lucky enough to count one of them, Bud Shark of Shark’s Ink studio in Lyons, as one our…