Repo Man Saved My Life — See the Film Friday

Call it coincidence or kismet, but sometimes life gives you what you need. Sometimes what you need is a job repossessing cars to break you out of your teenaged ennui, and sometimes what you need is a mysterious Chevy Malibu with a trunk full of god knows what. More likely,…

Playbill: The English Bride, Sunset Boulevard and a Jane Austen Tribute

Ladies first: Three local productions opening this week in Denver feature great women’s words and roles, showcasing a prize-winning contemporary playwright, the noir drama of Norma Desmond’s fall from the spotlight and the influence of literary light Jane Austen. Here’s where to here them roar: And Toto too Theatre Company,…

Tale of Tales Bites Into the Tangential Madness of Fairy Stories

Fairy tales were meant to be oral stories. Translating the tangents of old women in far-flung villages (whose chips on their shoulders about, say, their brother’s failed shipping business might inspire long asides about the shipping industry) into written texts doesn’t always make for the most linear, easy read. In…

Seven Things that Make City Park Residents Very, Very Mad

City Park and City Park West surround what’s arguably the heart of Denver, and without a doubt the core of the impressive Denver Parks system. The two neighborhoods combined cover ground from Downing to Colorado Boulevard, and 23rd to Colfax avenues. (It’s important to include City Park West in this…

Peak Thrift Is Packed With Surprising Finds — Including Its Mission

If you peak into Peak Thrift in northwest’s Denver Chaffee Park neighborhood, you may be rewarded with a cool, unexpected find: a hip vest, some DIY crafting tools, Lena Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl. But what’s perhaps coolest about this store is its social mission. All proceeds support Peak Thrift’s parent…

Surviving Denver’s First Lantern Fest Was a Real High

Children screaming, smoke, a war zone at times, and also, utter bliss. The inaugural Lantern Fest in Denver held high hopes and was the first in the state this year as the Colorado Springs two-night event last weekend was cancelled due to a snow storm (it’s been rescheduled for May 20…

As It Saves the Sitcom Once Again, Amazon’s Catastrophe Is Anything But

The second season of Amazon’s Catastrophe might do for the #TGIF-style family sitcom of the late ‘80s and ‘90s what the first did for the ailing rom-com: open-mouthed resuscitation on the operating table after one too many Garry Marshall–fueled heart attacks like Valentine’s Day. (Or New Year’s Eve? It doesn’t…

The Five Best Standup Venues in Denver — 2016 Edition

Denverites have no shortage of places where they can drink drink beer and watch local comics, but for the uninitiated there’s little sense of quality control. Denver also has plenty of spaces where the efforts of skilled comedians and passionate venue owners dovetail in giggly harmony, but most shows are…

Three Things to Do for Free in Denver, April 25-28

Enjoy the end of April by wrapping up some bargain entertainment. You can enjoy a concert with amateurs and pros alike, find out your booze IQ and meet an important figure on Denver’s comedy scene. As always, visit the Westword calendar for more events. We Are Change Open Mic featuring…

Hannibal Buress on His Tour DJ, Edinburgh and the End of “Why?”

Since inauspiciously starting out by habitually bombing at Chicago open mics (a developmental stage every comedian must endure in their own city) all the way through to the heights of his current fame, Hannibal Buress’ jokes have had a rhythm and sensibility unlike anyone else in comedy. After gaining a…

Reader: Why Isn’t the Hotel at DIA on Your Awful Architecture List?

Michael Paglia just revealed “The Hateful 8,” eight examples of the kind of disappointing architecture — or is that n’architecture? — that you see all over Denver these days.  But did he leave out some important, awful buildings? Anyone riding the free A Line train to Denver International Airport yesterday…