Literary Calendar: Three Book Events in Denver for the Week of February 16-22

Paint the town read! This week’s literary picks include two offbeat books about history and a supreme foodie memoir introduced over a five-course wine dinner. Keep reading for the delicious details. Joel Christian Gill, Strange Fruit, Volume I: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History Tattered Cover LoDo 7 p.m. Wednesday, February 18…

Barber TeJay Mora’s on the Cutting Edge of Art

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. TeJay Mora’s art appears, well, just about everywhere. That’s because this quirky…

Noah Van Sciver on Saint Cole and the Endless Grind of Modern Life

After tackling the life of a young Abraham Lincoln for his first graphic novel, Denver cartoonist Noah Van Sciver turned to a more accessible, but no less dramatic, subject for his follow-up: the modern American working class. In Saint Cole, Van Sciver explores the plight of the average man raising…

Three Things to Do for Free in Denver, February 16-19

Although the official holiday is today, this is also Mardi Gras week, which calls for some real celebration. So we’re going to let the good times roll as we to kill some brain cells, take a look at our bodies and mark  a reason to wear a tuxedo — or…

Gallery Sketches: Three New Art Shows in Denver for February 13

This week’s openings include recent work from Colorado legend Clark Richert and a former student, an emerging artist solo in a living room, and a curatorial takeover at David B. Smith Gallery. You don’t have to wait until First Friday to see new art; keep reading for the details. Matthew…

Five Queer Ways to Brighten Up Valentine’s Gay

When you’re different from others based on who you love, you spend a lot of time thinking about Valentine’s Day and what you’re going to do to celebrate it like a gay rock star. But if you’re still thinking about it now, you’ve waited too long — most of February…

Street-Style: Actress Mehry Eslamina Shows What’s In Her Bag

Los Angeles native Mehry Eslamina is a professional actress who’s  lived in Denver long enough to call herself “a Denver gal.” She’s currently in <em>Appoggiatura</em> at the Ricketson Theatre. We spotted her outside the Denver Performing Arts Complex, rocking a furry Betsy Johnson jacket, and stopped to chat with Eslamina about…

Chain Reaction Brewing Hosts a New Comedy Night and a New Beer

Denver’s comedy scene is never far from booze. Pretty much every night of the week, in bars across the city, a young comic takes the stage, microphone in one hand, half-full pint of beer in the other. Comic Steve Vanderploeg has closed the gap between comedy and beer by starting…

Shaun of the Dead Is Your Perfect Valentine’s Date Movie

Valentine’s Day is upon us and despite our reputations as loveless losers, plenty of us geeks have to navigate the tempestuous waters of providing adequate romance to keep our sweetie satisfied. That’s never easy, but for Denver-area geeks this year, there’s a tailor made option just waiting. The Alamo Drafthouse…

The Ladies Of Burlesque As It Was Want to Be Your Valentine

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and you can knock yourself out getting those dinner reservations and then finding some kind of activity that will leave you and your loved ready for zzzzzz instead of xxx by the time the night is over. Or you can put your trust in the…

Broomfield Artist Combines Love and Luck in New Exhibit

Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day are back-to-back this year. While the two dates might not seem to have much in common, artist Tom Cross is taking advantage of this opportunity to launch his new exhibit, Friday the 13th Valentine – Unlucky and Love. “Some folks talk about love and…

Five Events for the Single Denverite on Valentine’s Day

No matter how secure you might be with single life, Valentine’s Day always reminds you that one can be a lonely number. Rather than hosting a solo marathon of every season of Grey’s Anatomy with a two liter of Riunite California Red and a box of chocolate you bought for…

Chicano Brings the Brown Power Movement Back at Museo de las Americas

Challenged to create an art show to enhance History Colorado’s companion exhibit to 1968, El Movimiento — a straightforward visual history of the local Chicano rights movement that flourished in the barrio areas of Denver decades ago — Maruca Salazar of the Museo de las Americas came up with a street-smart answer…

Jupiter Ascending Is a Grand, Gaudy, Fascinating Mess

“You ready for another miserable video game?” I heard one critic crack to another as I settled in for Jupiter Ascending. “Maybe in March we’ll see this year’s first good movie,” his pal said back, as if Girlhood, Hard to Be a God, Amira & Sam, Timbuktu, Joy of Man’s…

Fresh Off the Boat Is Quietly Revolutionizing the Network Sitcom

(Heavy spoilers for the pilot; very light spoilers for episodes 2 and 3.) There’s more than one way to start a revolution. You can get high off your own sense of righteousness and authenticity, as celebrity chef and Fresh Off the Boat memoirist Eddie Huang recently did by calling one…

Twists and Turns Keep Kingsman‘s Setups From Being Too Familiar

Those more devoted to the genre can debate whether Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service is the best comic-book movie of the last few years. What’s beyond argument, however, is that Vaughn has whipped up the most interesting one — and the only one to make ferocious, unsettling art out…