Truth Traces the Journalistic Misdeeds That Brought Down an Anchor

The most effective scene in James Vanderbilt’s brisk, outraged Truth is one that will be familiar to anyone who has ever sat in a room where editors and reporters are breaking down an investigative story. The reporters — here, 60 Minutes researchers played by Dennis Quaid, Elisabeth Moss and Topher…

Nasty Baby Finds Kristen Wiig Playing Serious Without Shrinking

Thirty-six-year-old Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Silva, the writer-director and star of the comedy Nasty Baby, is himself an enfant terrible. In eight years he’s made six eclectic films, his own wicked twists disguised in what looked like the usual arthouse tropes. The Maid, his American breakthrough, looked like a benign Latin…

Photos: Cosplay and Everything Geeky at MileHiCon 47

Sci-fi nerds of every stripe turned out last weekend for Denver’s oldest and most literary sci-fi convention, MileHiCon. Photographer Danielle Lirette was there to capture all the action — and the costumes. Now see Westword’s full MileHiCon 47 slide show…

The Mayday Experiment: Post #50, the Year in Pictures

This is my fiftieth post — after one year, two months and about seventeen days of building the tiny house. The structure is now finished, and the next step is the stairs and siding. To mark this milestone (and because I am working on a large-scale commission with an insane…

Another 100 Colorado Creatives: Michelle Ellsworth

#6: Michelle Ellsworth Michelle Ellsworth ushers performance beyond the 21st century with a multimedia flourish that’s distinctly her own. Movement, installation, video, text and web design are among the tools she wields in producing fascinating, funny, sharp-witted works that dissect modern problems. A professor in dance and interdisciplinary arts at…

Review: Tribes Sounds Off on the Meaning of Family and Belonging

To paraphrase Tolstoy, all happy families are alike; each dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way. The family at the center of Nina Raine’s Tribes is dysfunctional in a highly verbal, entertaining and also dismaying way. Father Christopher is a writer and critic whose loud carping spills over into…

Sandra Bullock Embraces the Political Dark Side in Our Brand Is Crisis

David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis is a horror film wrapped in fast-talking political comedy. Watching Sandra Bullock, as ruthless campaign manager Jane, flog her uncharismatic candidate for Bolivia’s next president, I snickered at her knowing quips. Asked by an off-screen TV interviewer (the film’s awkward framing device) to…

Room‘s Story Is Taken From the Tabloids but Stripped of Sensationalism

Lenny Abrahamson’s shattering drama Room borrows its fictional plot from the tabloids and strips it of sensationalism. Seven years ago, Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) snatched seventeen-year-old Joy (Brie Larson) and stashed her in his backyard shed. Two years later, she bore their son. The door stayed locked. Now five, Jack…

Painter Anna Peckham Finds Inspiration in the Outdoors

You can find art all over town — not just on gallery walls. In this series, we’ll be looking at some of the local artists who serve up their work in coffeehouses and other non-gallery businesses around town. Anna Peckham lived in Alaska until she was four years old, and…

Three Things to Do for Free in Denver This Week, October 26-29

Halloween is still days away, but this week is a grab-bag of free, fun events, including comedy shows and satirical lectures. Check out the Westword calendar for more activities, and drop us a comment if you have information on another great free event. Humor Lecture Series: Kalup Linzy at Rocky…

Bill Feldman’s Liberty Wristband Unties the Hands of Dog Walkers

It’s no secret that some of the best ideas and inventions are cooked up right in (usually) sunny Colorado. In this series, we’ll be exploring the latest products coming from the state’s makers, builders and innovators. Bill Feldman came to Denver last February to hawk Liberty Wristband — his invention…

Street-Style Special: Ashley Brown Displays Effortless Chic

Six weeks ago we flew to New York for New York Fashion Week, and we’re still thinking about some of the stylish individuals we met there. Broadcast standards manager Ashley Golden Brown, for example, spotted at the Brooklyn Bridge Park in DUMBO during the Essence Street Style block party.  “Essence…

Gallery Sketches: Three New Shows in Denver October 23-25

Change is in the air at Ironton Gallery this weekend, while nearby at Rule, Jacob Feige plays perceptual tricks. And at Belmar in Lakewood, Valkarie Gallery brings whimsy into the mix, just in time for Halloween. Here are the details. Andy Sweet: Essence Ironton Studios and Gallery October 23 through…

As Rocky Horror Turns Forty, the Show Must Go On…and On

In the fall of 1991, Jennifer “JP” McPherson was putting on her makeup and rounding up the Transylvanians for their midnight production at <em>The Rocky Horror Picture Show</em> at the Esquire Theatre. She was the cast manager for the troupe and was about to take the stage as a very pregnant…

It’s Showtime! Tickets for the 38th Denver Film Festival Now on Sale

Start lining up your favorite babysitter, packing to-go meals and stocking up on eyedrops, because tickets for the 38th annual Denver Film Festival, which runs from November 4 through November 15, are officially on sale today. This year’s schedule, which boasts over 250 films from 39 different countries, is a…

Another 100 Colorado Creatives: Bree Davies

#7: Bree Davies Give longtime Westword contributor Bree Davies a soapbox to stand on, and she’ll have something to say. We love her here because she is fearless about speaking up for Denver DIYers, neighborhoods enbattled by unwelcome change, modern feminist values, bad human behavior and other hot-button issues, no matter what…