The end of the year — and the most expensive part of the year — is upon us. Between buying presents and traveling, the money seems to fly away. Fortunately, this week you can get a meal, have a beer and influence civic health — all for free. Check out…
Fashion shows with intricate hairstyles, theatrical mak-up and haute couture are always a feast for the eyes. When the spectacle is for a good cause, it makes the entertainment a charitable effort. This is the case with Denver’s Red Ball, now in in its sixth year. We spoke with Jeff…
You can go to the mall. No one’s going to stop you, if you’re so inclined. And some people really do like the camaraderie of burning off Thanksgiving dinner by freezing to death in line to get into some big-box store and grab a doorbuster deal. But in the interest…
Ski Cooper near Leadville, and Sunlight Mountain Resort, near Glenwood Springs are both opening today. Ski Cooper got so much snow recently, in fact, that it is opening two weeks early. They join many other Colorado mountains that have already opened for the season. We profiled them all in The…
Don’t worry if you’ve been too naughty for Santa to bring you anything good, because December is full of great stuff for every geek girl and boy. You won’t even have to leave any cookies and milk out to enjoy all the great nerd fun that Denver has in store…
The Starz Denver Film Festival is over and the holidays have begun. This December, expect a flurry of films, including holiday fare, movies made by luminary students, one geared for people with sensory disorders, a few wildly experimental films, a Technicolor classic and a social documentary. Whether you’re a Scrooge…
Whether you’ve been staunchly making merry since Halloween or crankily sneer at the holiday cheer each year, December is unquestionably dominated by its traditions. Driven by consumerism, religiosity, and compulsory family bonding; for many, December is a month spent in frantic shopping malls and airports. This year, amid economic anxiety, polar vortexes and heartbreaking news reports, people might find themselves in dire need of a laugh. Entertainment is usually an afterthought in December, typically limited to agreeably mediocre Hollywood spectacle. Denver comedy, however, bundles up and trudges on through the month. While we may have fewer high-profile visitors than last month’s banner programming calendar, we have a proliferation of locally-produced showcases, including two live sketch comedy shows, for fans to enjoy. Our city’s comedy clubs and theaters are hosting on-the-rise comics and international TV stars with a devoted cult following. With events geared towards all sorts of audiences, ranging from the family-friendly to the 420-friendly, Denver comedy runs the entire giggle gamut this snowy month. So brave the polar vortex and take a break from the seasonal doldrums at one of these fine comedy shows.
Show and Tell is taking today off — as you no doubt are. But the fun won’t stop after you’re done feasting. When you’re not chatting with your relatives or sneaking off to party in the woods with your old high school buddies, there’s plenty to do around town this…
Minor spoilers for the second episode of The Comeback’s sophomore season. It’s no mystery why The Comeback, which returned for its second season this past Sunday after a nine-year hiatus, never became a big hit for HBO. Other mockumentaries like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Modern Family have thrived,…
Can profundity be accidental? Marshall Curry’s documentary Point and Shoot is a study in naifdom that seems to think it’s about something else: masculinity, honor, war. But it’s mostly about the way Americans of means see the wider world as a self-help proving ground, an exotic backdrop against which to…
Let’s get this out of the way now: Kristen Stewart is fine in Camp X-Ray, the tough-minded/soft-hearted drama that packs America’s sweetheart off to Guantánamo Bay. The fact that such casting seems unlikely might be part of why she succeeds. Tasked with patrolling a cell block of detainees for twelve…
The third-greatest scourge of the earth, right after online comments sections and bedbugs, is the unfunny comedy sequel, which may be why you think you should skip Horrible Bosses 2. The miraculous surprise is that Horrible Bosses 2 isn’t terrible at all. It’s looser, breezier and more confident than its…
The du Pont family made its fortune selling gunpowder during the War of 1812, and soldiered on to invent everything ever worn by a cop: Kevlar, nylon, polyester, synthetic rubber. If you’ve cooked on Teflon pans, that money’s theirs, too. That means you’ve supported American patriotism, or at least heir…
Bob Knox and Michael Clapper. The William Havu Gallery is presenting simultaneous solos: Bob Knox: Real Abstract, which is made up of paintings, and Michael Clapper: Portals, which comprises sculptures. Knox is a New York artist; Clapper lives in Denver. The paintings mark various points of progression in Knox’s self-appointed…
Tales of the Old West continue to make up a significant portion of our cultural narrative, mostly because we still like to comfort ourselves with stories showing that ours is a land of opportunity. Making the trek to the American frontier promised a new life — or at the very…
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that you can always come home to and expect everything to be pretty much the same: the Macy’s parade, the football, the turkey, the stuffing, the pumpkin pie. The faces around the table might change from year to year, but the sentiments do not:…
There’s no better way to celebrate the holiday season than by touring a city aglow with shimmering lights, and the Grand Illumination, which takes place at multiple venues downtown, is Denver’s biggest synchronized lighting event. Beginning tonight at 6 p.m, the city will switch on more than 200,000 lights at…
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Sand Creek Massacre, and there will be ceremonies and programs for much of the day at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado, just outside of Eads. Monument Hill will be closed to the public in the morning while tribal…
Forget about Santa for a moment: Tonight’s Downtown Littleton Elf Crawl is focused on the unsung heroes of Christmas, Santa’s little helpers. The inaugural event includes ten different stores within walking distance of each other; anyone who registers gets three tickets that can be used at any of those establishments…
For anyone looking to stuff stockings with affordable handmade jewelry and pet treats, the second annual Small Business Saturday Artisan’s Market at Wazee Union has got you covered. More than forty local small businesses and artisans will come together in the heart of the River North Art District to sell…
Experimental filmmaker Vincent Grenier’s work resists the idea of pristine, untarnished nature — something that, in any case, is difficult to find. “Nature has been almost totally mediated by human interventions,” Grenier notes. “All the forests in the Northeast, for example, are young forests, as the area was completely deforested…
There are lots of ways to spend the Thanksgiving weekend in Denver, but many families end up at the annual Rocky Mountain Auto Show, which kicks off the official holiday season with a welcome distraction from Black Friday shoppers and fleeing skiers. Billed as the “Crème de la Chrome of…
