Welcome to a new column called Geek Speak, in which we take on an aspect of geek culture each week. After years of hype, numerous setbacks and rampant rumors of a troubled shoot, the big-screen adaptation of Max Brooks’ World War Z, the greatest zombie novel of all time, is…
In the history of TV talk shows, few characters made as big a splash as Morton Downey Jr. For two years in the late ’80s, his uniquely repulsive charisma and unabashed abrasiveness made him the hottest thing out there. Then, as fast as he had risen from obscurity, he was…
With its story of lost pirate treasure, its great characters and its unforgettable dialogue, The Goonies is still a fan favorite nearly thirty years after its release. And the film’s perfect blend of high adventure and heart, not to mention a timeless message about perseverance and friendship, made it an…
Big ideas deserve a big audience, and TEDxMileHigh is doing its best to bring both to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House today. As the local, independent version of the world-famous TED talks, the organization is gathering Colorado’s best and brightest minds for a daylong festival of thought, an exploration of…
Local filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe has a passion for pop culture. His work has tackled pop cultural phenomena as big as Star Wars and as small as the strange case of the octopus that correctly predicted Germany’s World Cup games a few years back. He’s also hard at work on…
Just like they play sports, most people play video games for fun. But also just like they play sports, some people play video games competitively, both professionally and in organized amateur leagues. Yes, really. All over the world, big-money tournaments take place constantly, offering the top gamers a chance to…
Yes, there will be pro Halo players and fanatical Street Fighter fans jockeying for the top spots at today’s C3 Fighter Frenzy Campus Tour — but even if gamers only touch their PlayStations when it’s time to belt out “Don’t Stop Believin’” for Rock Band, they’ll find something to love…
The social upheavals of the 1960s and ’70s were fueled by a potent blend of sex, drugs and rock and roll, but only a few select groups elevated that combination to a religion. The Source Family documentary shines a spotlight on one such group, and a strange, fascinating piece of…
In just its second year, Denver Comic Con is poised to take the pole position among the region’s many fandom conventions. Sporting a stellar lineup of geek-culture icons, including Wil Wheaton, George Takei, Colin Baker, Chris Ware and last-minute guest William Shatner, as well as hundreds of panels, cosplay, an…
In just its second year, Denver Comic Con is poised to take the pole position among the region’s many fandom conventions. Sporting a stellar lineup of geek-culture icons, including Wil Wheaton, George Takei, Colin Baker Chris Ware and last-minute guest William Shatner, hundreds of panels, cosplay, an independent film series,…
The social upheavals of the 1960s and ’70s were fueled by a potent blend of sex, drugs and rock and roll, but only a few select groups elevated that combination to a religion. The Source Family, a documentary directed by Maria Demopoulos, reveals one such group and spotlights one of…
Nerd. Geek. Dork. By whatever name, these poor, unfortunate souls with bad haircuts, unflattering clothes and few social graces are everywhere. Especially pop culture. Few films have captured the ideal of the awkward, disastrously uncool teen like Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse, in the character of Dawn Wiener. The…
A lifetime of music fandom and a voracious appetite for new things has given me a wide-ranging (if sometimes shallow) knowledge of musical styles, forms and history. Despite that, there are holes. Big holes. And some of those holes are, well, embarrassing. I’ve decided the time has come to fill…
The film of the Czech Republic may not have the cultural cachet of the cinema of such powerhouse nations as France, but there’s still plenty to enjoy. And cinephiles can now check it out at Czech That Film, a program of five recent films showing this week at the Sie…
Adolescence has rarely looked more awkward, unpleasant or emotionally painful than it does in Welcome to the Dollhouse, Todd Solondz’s 1995 black comedy about the horrors of being the least cool kid in junior high. The film’s unapologetic and unromanticized take on the casual abuse that kids heap on each…
Robots are everywhere. From helping us find cat videos on the Internet to assembling other robots (yeah, that can’t end well), they’ve become almost as ubiquitous in real life as they have been in pop culture for years. This Saturday, the multimedia art exhibit Let’s Pretend We’re Robots opens at…
In just more than forty years, video games have evolved from technological novelty to cultural staple. That transformation is chronicled in the Aurora History Museum’s “Growing Up Gamer”, a look back at the history of video games as home entertainment that documents not just gaming’s origins but its impact on…
On the surface, Darren Aronofsky’s bleak masterpiece Requiem for a Dream, the screwball musical nun-comedy of Sister Act and a spaghetti Western from Thailand don’t have much in common. In the eyes of Denver Film Society programming director Keith Garcia, they all share one important trait: They’re good movies that…
A young woman with a supernatural talent for finding things goes looking for trouble and discovers it in the form of a monstrous man who uses children for his own dark ends. This is the plot of Joe Hill’s new novel NOS4A2. The best-selling horror novelist’s third tale delves into…
A young woman with a supernatural talent for finding things goes looking for trouble and gets it in the form of a monstrous man who uses children for his own dark ends in Joe Hill’s new novel NOS4A2. The book delves into a world where certain special people can make…
With Red Moon, noted author Benjamin Percy dives into genre fiction with a story about werewolves that live among us, feared and reviled and relegated to the fringes of society. The book fuses literary muscle to a skeleton of horror to create a rare breed of werewolf novel that offers…
At this point, the zombie genre has seen it all. Fast zombies. Slow zombies. Smart zombies and stupid zombies. Zombie love stories. Animated zombies. Hell, there’s even a zombie musical or two. But just when you think there’s nothing new under the undead sun, someone finds a fresh twist on…
