The Black Forest fire, which started June 11 northeast of Colorado Springs, has been deemed the costliest in state history, taking out more than 500 homes and many other buildings. Surely, the loss of every house represents a tragedy for the people who lived there. But in one case, the…
David Mazza. It was only last summer that Randy Roberts, director of Z Art Department, shifted gears: Although he initially showcased the work of historic artists — that is, dead ones — Roberts has increasingly turned to contemporary artists who are still alive and kicking. Demonstrating this new direction is…
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The cast for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the first offering in this year’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival, has many strengths. When did you last even notice who played First Fairy? Or Peter Quince? When the former is Nicole Bruce and the latter Greg West, you notice and…
A sommelier can incite intimidation, scorn or trust, depending on who’s drinking and who’s pouring. Rarely, at least in America, do we take full advantage of proximity to those nerds with corkscrews. Somm follows four young men training hard to be Master Sommeliers, of which there are only 200 worldwide…
Surprising proof that Hollywood still can craft a memorable studio comedy — even if it doesn’t realize that itself — Roland Emmerich’s White House Down stands as a singular achievement in parody, its auteur’s intentions be damned. It’s not just a pitch-perfect attack on every risible plot point afflicting today’s…
Until 2005 or so, no one thought much about modern piracy of the high-seas variety. But then Somali pirates began attacking merchant ships with increasing frequency, seizing vessels and holding their crews hostage for outlandish sums. Danish director Tobias Lindholm’s wiry, neatly crafted thriller A Hijacking wrests fact into the…
The Colorado Shakespeare Festival staged a pretty good version of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) five years ago — so I’m not sure why the CSF decided to bring it back this season. The show, written in 1987 by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, does make…
Among the revelations you’re likely to experience during the course of Gideon’s Army, Dawn Porter’s vital, moving new HBO documentary (premiering July 1) about the struggle of conscience waged by public defenders in the deep South: “Everyone is so young.” Not just the suspects — mostly black and mostly broke…
Before he was one of cinema’s finest dramatists (All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Volver, Broken Embraces), writer-director Pedro Almodóvar was a provocateur and a satirist. The 63-year-old filmmaker harks back to that past with his first comedy in nearly 25 years, I’m So Excited!, a lighthearted, ensemble-driven bit…
If you’ve never seen Sandra Bullock blow a peanut shell out of her nose, and you’d like to, The Heat is your movie. That’s not meant sarcastically: It’s one of the highlights of this often dismal but occasionally inspired comedy from Paul Feig, director of Bridesmaids, which pits Bullock’s hoity-toity…
Forty years ago, two Danish boys with a Super 8 camera, some LEGOs and a lot of free time unwittingly launched a film movement. Today, that film and many more made in the decades since will be on display at the Longmont Museum’s LEGO in Motion: Animation Festival, a showcase…
First impressions often turn out to be accurate, which is what the folks at Weed Dating are counting on as they host their singles event tonight. But rather than sit in a bar and motor through multiple dates, as traditional speed dating dictates, potential Weed matches will meet eyes across…
Elitch Gardens Historic Theatre is bringing back its Film on Fridays series this year, beginning tonight with Forbidden Planet, starring Walter Pidgeon, who performed on the Elitch Gardens stage in Take Her, She’s Mine, back in 1964. “All of our films feature Elitch stars in some of their best movie…
There’s already a deafening buzz around the Denver Art Museum’s Untitled #58 — Getup: This installment of the monthly last-Friday art soiree will be like the gift wrap around the long-awaited live Soundsuit performance, a ticketed event for which dancers will don the fabulous art-to-wear artworks of Nick Cave, whose…
Editor’s note: The July dates are sold out. Additional performances are scheduled for August 2-3. An unusual collaboration has been brewing between choreographer Candess Giyan of Daughter Cells and Denver artist/gallerist Sabin Aell for more than a year, and it’s been an intense process of personal bonding. The level of…
It’s a long and winding road for Tails of the Painted Cats, a roving tour of locally created fiberglass cat sculptures that makes its way to the Festival of Felines today at the Cat Care Society. The annual fundraiser for the shelter begins months in advance, when a call for…
The members of Buntport Theater Company do not shy away from challenges. That should have been obvious with the Buntport Versus series, when the troupe attempted to beat another group or individual at an activity that they had spent years mastering — from burlesque to comedy to magic tricks. That’s…
Far from a novelty act or a Smothers Brothers ripoff, twin brothers Randy and Jason Sklar have spent the past two decades inventing their unique brand of two-man standup comedy. The brothers are best known for the heralded sports-comedy show Cheap Seats, on ESPN, and recently starred in the Freakonomics-style…
In his efforts to rebrand the Aurora Cultural Art District on East Colfax Avenue, ACAD managing director Tracy Weil is hoping to interest both the adjacent community and the metro-area arts community at large in taking a second look at the close-knit district where, he notes, affordable spaces can still…
People who own dogs know that furry friends are more than just pets: They’re family. And sometimes it’s difficult to leave the pups at home, especially when you’re almost out the door, and they turn those big brown eyes on you. Tonight, thanks to the Denver Outlaws, you can attend…
Running is the perfect metaphor for independence, when you think about it: It’s the sport of loosening up everything and getting into a rhythm and going as far as you body can take you — like five kilometers, or whatever comes first. That must be why Independence Day week is…
Assemblage artist and activist Jimmy Descant — better known as the Rocketman, for the shiny retro missiles he builds from pieces of old junk — is a fixture in the high-country art colony of Salida who represents the freer side of art-making, politics and living life. That’s a reputation he’d…
