I’m not a big fan of collaborative works. Art is such an individualistic thing, it repels cooperation. Almost every piece I’ve seen of this type has failed to come together. But having said this, I’ve got to point out that JACK BALAS and WES HEMPEL at Robischon Gallery has a…
Artist (and Westword contributor) Patti Cramer is something of a Denver icon. She’s been the subject of innumerable solos, and her work is in many collections in the region. Cramer first emerged on the local scene back in the 1980s as part of a generation of neo-expressionists — which also…
Andy Warhol’s Dream America. Hot on the heels of its smash hit, Chihuly, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center is presenting yet another blockbuster devoted to the work of a household name in contemporary art: Andy Warhol’s Dream America. The exhibition was curated by Ben Mitchell of Wyoming’s Nicolaysen Museum…
It’s amazing, really, the amount of sheer hard work and the level of perfectionism required to keep this bright bouncing balloon of a farce aloft. You get Scott Weldin’s sets — an elegant, intricate bourgeois living room in shades of beige, complete with patterned wallpaper, crystal chandelier and three oval…
No false advertising here: The show’s about naked boys singing. The real thing. The full monty. Seven of them, some younger, some a little older, a couple more buff than others, flaunters and flirters and would-be hiders, and every one of them gallantly baring his body and showing his all…
Ain’t Misbehavin. Five terrific performers and a slate of Fats Waller songs. How can you go wrong? Ain’t Misbehavin’, a jazzy, bluesy Waller showcase that brings the world of 1930s Harlem to life, is often staged in a broadly presentational style, with lots of humor, shtick, dancing and acting out,…
It’s been 85 years since Douglas Fairbanks slashed his way into the top tax bracket as the masked hero Zorro, and Hollywood still can find no reason to shut down the franchise. Technically speaking, The Legend of Zorro, starring Antonio Banderas as the guy with the sword and Catherine Zeta-Jones…
Writer and director Noah Baumbach has made three light films, one so slight (1997’s party-hopping Highball) that it didn’t see release until five years after its completion (and even then it snuck onto video-store shelves credited to a pseudonymous writer and director). There was nothing in his filmography — not…
Talk about striking while the iron is hot: It’s been only a year since Saw became an instant cult hit as well as a topic of debate among horror fans. Was it an innovative new classic, or did the occasionally lackluster acting and ludicrous final twist doom it to also-ran…
The Weather Man, starring Nicolas Cage as a disappointment of a son and a failure of a father, was screened for critics in the spring, before its April release was pushed to October, ostensibly to allow for the off chance that Cage or Michael Caine (as Cage’s father) might be…
Does Steve Martin have multiple personality disorder — or is he just brilliantly in tune with some things and wildly out of touch with others? Shopgirl, the movie based on Martin’s novella of the same name, is one of the most schizoid films in recent memory. It opens with crystalline…
A dozen years before The Corpse Bride got her not-so-pretty little hooks into Johnny Depp, Hollywood wizard Tim Burton gave moviegoers a labor of love in the exhausting puppet animation process. To many, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) is every bit the equal of Bride. It’s a characteristically dark fantasy…
Rob Sanchez is a haunted-house connoisseur. He should be: His grandparents operated one of Colorado’s first-ever scare sites back in the ’60s and ’70s. “That’s what got me into the industry,” says Sanchez, who operates Haunted Denver, the city’s largest directory of spooky attractions. “My mother’s parents had a turkey…
Thursday, October 27 Lupus is a chronic, potentially life-threatening inflammatory disease that affects various parts of the body. Not funny at all. But you know what is funny?: Laughs for Lupus. Keeping with the laughter-is-the-best-medicine approach, Comedy Works presents Gary Gulman, the popular star of Last Comic Standing, as well…
Life without machines. To some, it’s a dream; to others, it’s a nightmare. But for Jason Vance, the man behind the cybernetic rock extravaganza Captured! By Robots, technology serves as both jailer and liberator. “I’m working for the robots, but in a way, I’m working for myself, too,” says Vance,…
SUN, 10/30 Walking the line between sanity and madness — or pretending to do so — helps give Halloween its juice. Stripping that path down to classic literature heightens the experience in ways that slasher movies can’t, because written words conjure up images unique to each individual’s cranium. The scare…
SAT 10/29 Tom Noel is no stranger to Fairmount Cemetery, the final resting place of some of Denver’s most noteworthy names. Back when he was a grad student in history at the University of Colorado at Denver, Noel — aka “Dr. Colorado” — worked at Fairmount, Denver’s second-oldest cemetery, as…
SUN, 10/30 The Walnut Room, 3131 Walnut Street, hosts the weekly Entertainment Industry Night to give film and music laborers a place to belly up to the bar with their own type. Most Sundays they bring in DJ K-Nee, and every fourth Sunday they feature “Movieoke,” where cinephiles can act…
FRI, 10/28 Quick, somebody in the audience give me a profession. Don’t ask, just do it, because I’m going to act like I’m somebody in that profession, and then my partner, who will come on stage later, will have to guess what I’m doing. What do you mean, why? Because…
It’s ugly to watch a grown man gush over a puppy. The kissing. The cooing. The “widdle-doggie” talk. Embarrassing stuff. So it was with trepidation that I approached Nintendogs, the cuddly dog-rearing sim for Nintendo DS. A million and a half people have already adopted virtual pooches, making the game…
Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 (Warner Home Video) There’s good reason to be skeptical of an eight-disc Batman set that forces you to buy the campy Joel Schumacher movies (Batman Forever, its title a veiled threat, and Batman & Robin) when all you need are the dark Tim Burton…
The Adventures of Superman: The Complete First Season (Warner Bros.) American Movie Musicals Collection (Columbia/Tristar) Batman Begins (Warner Bros.) Bruce Lee: Ultimate Collection (Fox) The Care Bears: Big Wish Movie (Lions Gate) The Coen Brothers Collection (Universal) CSI New York: The Complete First Season (Paramount) Dark Shadows: The Complete Revival…
