Is your toddlin’ tyke all “Thomas” this and “Thomas” that, chugging around in an engineer’s cap and blowing the whistle every five minutes? Then have we got a Christmas gift idea for you. Southern Colorado’s Rio Grande Scenic Railroad took a cue this year from the Durango-Silverton narrow-gauge line (which…
The moon is in its first quarter tonight, which means the stars are aligning and the time is auspicious for Keystone’s tenth annual Luna Chase Snowshoe Race. Participants will travel atop the Peak to Peak Trail, at more than two miles above sea level, for this adventure race suitable for…
“By performing holiday pieces you haven’t heard before mixed with more familiar pieces arranged in a way you haven’t experienced, we’re bringing a fresh perspective to traditional holiday music,” says Tom Morgan, artistic director of Ars Nova (or “New Art” in Latin). In other words, if you’re looking for a…
Let’s face it: With the onset of winter and the arrival of snow, there are more competition-and-music combination platters in the high country than you can shake a ski pole at. But this year, Telluride’s Jeep King of the Mountain and BaseCamp Music Experience is arguably the best of the…
Flea-market fiends need not fret: The monthly Punk Rock Flea Market, a collaboration of Suburban Home Records and Vinyl Collective and 3 Kings Tavern, is going as usual down this month. From noon to 5 p.m., stop by 3 Kings at 60 South Broadway and peruse the clothing, the art…
Like the classic Riverdance duality of a rigid upper body and fluid legs, the Irish heart embraces a love of life matched only by its maudlin sentimentality. It’s this emotional crossroads — played out on the dock of Cobh (pronounced Cove) in County Cork — that The Christmas Revels: An…
When I moved to Colorado, I took a job as a server at Gunther Toody’s. I lasted one week. Why such a short-lived serving career, you ask? The answer to that question is two-fold. Reason one: Three days into my training, I was tested on the menu. One of the…
You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen, right? And Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitzen? And of course you recall the most famous reindeer of all: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Rudolph was invented by Montgomery Ward ad men, but immortalized by Rankin-Bass in 1964. It’s a beloved…
In anticipation of tomorrow night’s new episode of Project Runway (looks like there will be drama, drama, drama!), here’s a quick recap of last week’s antics: In a challenge that Heidi Klum described as “thwee designers reinterpreting thwee outdated looks,” teams set out to make over the poodle skirt, overalls,…
It’s become something of legend, of course, even if YouTube has stolen some of its mystery these days. Only a few years ago, all you could find of the Star Wars Holiday Special were bootleg tapes traded at comic-book and sci-fi collections, sold like contraband spice. (This transaction was even…
Too bad we don’t have an IKEA in this town, because I can’t tell you how often this happens to friends of mine with kids. — Sean Cronin…
View all the fabulous fashions in this comprehensive slide show by Jim Narcy. The Cat’s Pajamas and friends were out in force at last night’s Frock Out: Independent Designers Challenge at the Central Library. All things considered, the event was a smashing success with nary a runway tumble or wardrobe…
Most newspapers have a weekly feature in their Entertainment section that highlights the upcoming television worth watching. It’s a vestigial remnant of the old days when TV grids used to run daily, with a small bit recommending something good that evening. But now, with the strike, the Rocky Mountain News…
Casting Nicole Kidman as The Golden Compass’s glacial, intractably smooth megalomaniac Mrs. Coulter is no less inspired for being obvious. Indeed, she was the first and only choice for director Chris Weitz, who adapted this first installment of Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy. Despite the book’s description of the…
There are comedies of discomfort, and then there’s Margot at the Wedding, Noah Baumbach’s scalding followup to The Squid and the Whale. An immersion in sibling malice and simmering resentment, with one of the most infuriating characters in recent movies holding us under, Margot tramples the commandment that only the…
Re-reading Ian McEwan’s Atonement last weekend, my first thought was: I hope to God that Joe Wright — whose broadly grinning Pride & Prejudice made a mess of Jane Austen two years ago — doesn’t screw up this wonderful novel about lust, love, loss and what art can do to…
For a game that’s considered Microsoft’s premier 360 title this holiday season, it’s amazing how sloppy Mass Effect is. Graphical glitches distract from otherwise fascinating character designs and alien vistas, constant stops and stutters lengthen load times, and the inventory system must be the worst in history. And just as…
The Girl Next Door (Anchor Bay)If the horror of Saw was a poblano pepper, this here is the habañero. Derived from Jack Ketchum’s infamous novel, sometimes word-for-word, The Girl Next Door — based on a true story — is a sort of Hostel meets Stand By Me: A group of…
Battlestar Galactica: Razor (Universal) The Best of Crank Yankers (Paramount) Bob Hope: MGM Movie Legends Collection (MGM) Erik the Viking: The Director’s Cut (MGM) Exiled (Magnolia) The Flash Gordon Collection (Passport) Tyler Perry’s House of Payne: Volume One (Lionsgate) Ingmar Bergman: Four Masterworks (Criterion) Lady Chatterley (Kino) Law & Order:…
To turn Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice into a play, writer Jon Jory chose an approach somewhat reminiscent of reader’s theater, and the current Denver Center Theatre Company production maintains the style. The story of the vulgar Mrs. Bennet’s attempt to marry off her five daughters — and how, despite…
For many years, the Denver Center Theatre Company presented A Christmas Carol every holiday season, but this year, artistic director Kent Thompson has replaced it with a big song-and-dance-laden musical: White Christmas. Both shows are sentimental, feel-good fare; both feature protagonists who learn to renounce their own cynicism and hard-heartedness…
La Cage Aux Folles. This is a big, splashy musical with lots of big, splashy song numbers. But unlike many such musicals, La Cage Aux Folles also has heart, humor and a good story to tell. In a time of intense mean-spiritedness and prejudice, it carries a message of tolerance…
