Remember the 1985 movie version of the Parker Brothers whodunit board game Clue, with its pre-DVD-era gimmick of multiple endings? Well, Vantage Point is like that, only instead of multiple endings, it gives us multiple beginnings. Oh, and Vantage Point, to the best of my knowledge, isn’t supposed to be…
Let’s just get it out right now: “Devil May Cry” is a weak-ass name for a wicked action game. But what’s in a name? In three previous outings, the brutal, hella-challenging series has consistently delivered some of the greatest hack-and-slash thrills in the genre. Sure, the setup’s as old as…
Margot at the Wedding(Paramount)Margot (Nicole Kidman, or someone who looks just like her) is a fiction writer whose tales are based, uncomfortably and unkindly, on the real-life family for whom she seems to care very little. Hence sister Pauline’s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) late discovery that Margot’s a “monster” — late…
Black Water (Sony) Catacombs (Lionsgate) Chaos (Lionsgate) Cops: 20th Anniversary Edition (Fox) The Death of Adolf Hitler (Koch Vision) The Easter Bunny Is Comin’ to Town (1977) (Warner Bros.) The Final Inquiry (Fox) Gangsters: The Ultimate Film Collection (Universal) German Expressionism Collection (Kino) In the Valley of Elah (Warner Bros.)…
Is there anyone who doesn’t remember the two central figures in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men — quick-witted, enterprising George and his friend Lennie, who possesses a child’s mind in the body of a hulking, preternaturally strong man, and who tends to kill small, smooth-furred things like mice and…
It’s amazing what legs a lighthearted spoof can have. Little Shop of Horrors got its start in 1960 as a seventy-minute black-and-white movie, featuring Jack Nicholson in a small role and shot by director Roger Corman in two days — either on a bet, or because he still had three…
A Body of Water. In Lee Blessing’s play, two middle-aged people wake up one morning in a beautiful house near a lake — or perhaps the shimmering they glimpse through the windows comes from more than one lake or inlet; they’re never quite sure. They have no idea who or where…
There’s another big blockbuster show coming that’s guaranteed to bring throngs of the great unwashed masses to the Denver Art Museum. They’ll be drawn to the place by the one-two punch of Old Masters and Impressionists, whose paintings and drawings are being showcased in Inspiring Impressionism, opening this weekend. Oh,…
The blockbuster Inspiring Impressionism (see review), at the Denver Art Museum (100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, 720-865-5000, www.denverartmuseum.org), posits the idea that the widely admired style both signaled a clear break with the past and, strangely enough, represented a straightforward continuation of Old Master traditions. Another show at the DAM,…
Clyfford Still Unveiled. A master and pioneer of mid-twentieth-century abstract expressionism, painter Clyfford Still was something of an eccentric in the artist-as-egomaniac stripe. His antisocial behavior led to a situation where 94 percent of his artworks remained together after he died — a staggeringly complete chronicle of his oeuvre that…
The year is 1950; the location is Harmony, a small town in Alabama. Piano player Tyrone Purvis (Danny Glover) is the proprieter of the Honeydripper lounge, but he’s on the brink of losing the joint, and everything that can go wrong for Purvis is going wrong for Purvis. He owes…
Four years ago, Westword added a very special component to Artopia: the MasterMind awards. Recognizing that the local arts scene needed a little fertilizer to really get going — and growing — we created a program that every year honors five cultural visionaries, artists and organizations alike, that are working…
Harry Potter’s reign has come and gone, but you can still get the kids to read with the right material. A good place to look for that next magical kid-lit fix is the work of N.D. Wilson, and there’s no better time to start than 4:30 p.m. today, when Wilson…
Pop quiz: You’re throwing a raging kegger with your underage bros, and Officer Busybody comes knocking on your door. What do you do? a) Invite the officer in to take a look around; b) Step outside and close the door; c) Tell the five-oh to take a hike; or d)…
Even as the culturati flocked to an acclaimed Impressionism show at the Denver Art Museum circa 1999, the event’s co-curators, DAM’s Timothy Standring and London’s Ann Dumas, were considering an ambitious sequel. More than seven years later, Inspiring Impressionism has finally arrived, and those who take in today’s debut will…
All hail Freddie Mercury of Queen. Nearly sixteen years after his death, his music lives on in a wide array of locales, ranging from football stadiums, where “We Are the Champions” remains de rigueur whenever trophies are being hoisted, to tony joints like Boettcher Concert Hall, the setting for tonight’s…
Ollin is like a Greek myth wrapped in colorful Aztec garb. Packed with omens, an operatic opening, spoken-word poetry, dance and visual art, this interpretive retelling of the conquest of Mexico by Spain is kabuki theater married to the myth of Quetzalcoatl. Physical meets metaphysical as the two cultures famously…
The ladies of Firehouse Quilts do it for free: They make snuggle-sized quilts that are donated to various agencies, from local fire departments to victim advocacy organizations, for children who just happen to need something cuddly and homemade to hug. And now they’re putting out a call to sewing enthusiasts…
Too much of a good thing? Never! Especially not in Denver’s select independent retail wilderness, where lasting long enough to make it can often be a financial struggle. And in the case of these Westword Best of Denver recipients — the Broadway craft supply and hip-wear emporium Fancy Tiger and…
As both an artist and an art entrepreneur, Denver’s Jimmy Sellars makes it a point to keep his eye on the international, and thanks to the wonders of the Internet, it’s been a doable task. But that also makes it possible for him to easily pair a local painter and…
During the last Oscars party I can remember, ten of us crammed together on a questionably stained rug about two feet from an iPod-sized TV screen. We ate stale potato chips. Thankfully, there was lots of Pabst. This year, there’s more to be thankful for than cheap beer (not the…
This week, the Iliff School of Theology and a number of community co-sponsors will host several special guests — nine of them, to be exact. Fifty years ago, the Little Rock Nine integrated the first Arkansas public school, despite the attempts of angry mobs and a misappropriated National Guard presence…
