I went on vacation last weekend. By vacation, I mean that my boyfriend and I drove ninety minutes outside of Denver to spend the Fourth of July weekend in the beautiful mountain town of Estes Park because nature and the city are not far apart in Colorado, which is why…
So, you’ve got a kid, huh? Whether it’s your own rambunctious preschooler or the bratty nephew you’ve been charged with keeping alive for the next five hours, the most important thing is leaving your house where valuables are liable to be destroyed and seeking refuge on somebody else’s property. In…
#69: Andy Juett Andy Juett came to the local comedy scene via radio, and has blossomed into a booster, standup comic, producer, stage host, behind-the-scenes guy and co-owner of the High Plains Comedy Festival, which kicks off its second year in August. But he also rolls out comedy shows all…
Baby, it’s hot out there, but that shouldn’t keep anyone from seeking out new words, whether spoken aloud or written in books. Local slam poets are entering the final stretch before heading off to this year’s national competitions, literary poets are still staging readings and authors are bringing their juicy…
Although Union Station’s public grand opening ceremonies have been postponed until July 26, the 112-room Crawford Hotel will open on time — and that means in time to host some of the big-bucks guests at the Great Hall Gala July 11 before opening to the public on July 12. Not…
Families gathered around the streets of the Highland neighborhood for the annual Fourth of July parade last weekend. Westword photographer Brandon Marshall was there and he captured all the pint-sized patriots, flags, and parade participants. Take a look at the photos below and then scroll through our complete Highland Fourth…
Independence Day started early in Denver, with a fireworks display at Civic Center Park on July 3. Westword photographer Jake Shane attended the festivities. Check out some his photos below and then view the entire Civic Center fireworks slide show. See also: Photos: Words and history entwine in art at…
We sure got lucky with that extra long weekend. There was almost too much to see and do. This week doesn’t have to slow down, but we probably need the rest anyway. Here’s three things to check out that are pretty mellow and real easy on the wallet. Browse through…
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. “I just wanted to make a city,” says artist Linda Gleitz. In…
Janus FilmsOn this week’s Voice Film Club episode, film critics Alan Scherstuhl, Amy Nicholson and Stephanie Zacharek race through the latest (and the most terrible) Transformers movie (2:01), Earth to Echo (13:14), and Tammy (16:30). They then discuss Life Itself (21:54), a film about the life of the late Roger…
Ever wonder what the plans are for a construction site that has popped up at the end of your block? Have you been curious about a new face being put on an old building downtown? For close to a decade, Ken Schroeppel has been answering these questions, documenting Denver’s development…
Art & Writing, one of Eric Matelski’s favorite shows to curate, currenty fills the rooms of the historic Milheim House, a stately Denver Square from the turn of the last century, complete with a wraparound porch, that’s now home to Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Conceived as a side trip of the…
Growing up in an East Texas trailer park gave Michael Mayes an edge on the other singers trying out for the role of Joseph De Rocher, the convicted murderer and rapist in Terrence McNally and Jake Heggie’s opera Dead Man Walking. It’s a part Mayes knows well; he grew up…
This is one of the busiest weekends of the summer by far. If you didn’t make it on a camping trip, check out these staycation ideas. They’re all practically free. Go to the beach, learn about new lifestyles or check out a ballgame. You’re free to do any or all…
There are a lot of great, geeky Christmas movies. Halloween? Shit, that holiday was practically made for geeks, and the list of geek films tied to holiday is fantastic. But Independence Day? There’s exactly one movie tied to that holiday that any self-respecting geek should give a shit about it,…
Mark Ruffalo’s great gift, besides those scruffy good looks and that prickish, hung-over charisma, is capturing the essence of the guy who’s spinning toward a crash but trying to angle himself back. His greatest performance, in Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me, is a slow-motion skid-out, a portrait of…
Earth to Echo is a slender kiddie flick about a quartet of preteens and their palm-sized alien pal that’s at once bland, well-intentioned, and utterly terrifying regarding the mental development of modern children. As in the most honest kids films, our five-foot heroes admit to being isolated, unhappy, and cowed…
It’s kind of happy-sad, like watching a kid you knew as a toddler graduate from high school: Chris Evans, seemingly destined to be a boy forever, is now officially a grownup. In Bong Joon-ho’s futuristic snowbummer Snowpiercer, the Korean director’s first English-language film, Evans plays the leader of a group…
The Merry Wives of Windsor isn’t one of Shakespeare’s best plays. I read somewhere that it was written in response to the desire of Queen Elizabeth I to see the fat knight in love, and the plot is slight. This Sir John Falstaff isn’t the one we know from the…
Northern New Mexico is renowned for its vibrant art scene, and lots of attention has been paid to it, especially with regard to the region’s art history. In the early twentieth century, artists began to go to Taos and Santa Fe, initially attracted by the unique scenery and the colorful…
It’s a relief, after the wretched Identity Thief, to see movies whose makers love Melissa McCarthy as much as audiences do. Identity Thief’s comic centerpiece was predicated on the idea that McCarthy having sex is a hilarious grossout, like she’s the pie Jason Biggs once had to diddle. Half an…
Horror, like porno, can be judged only by its effect on your pulse: If you jerked in your seat, it served its function. Biology requires us to react to jump scares, just as it urges a lonely man to thrill to a great set of tits. But triggering a coronary…
