Alex Gibney will be ready if the power grids fail. “We have a place in Maine now,” the director says. “We just installed solar panels. We can fish. We have water. With a little bit of Sterno, we’ll probably be OK.” After a long career dredging up the dark side…
James DeMonaco’s Purge series, about a near future in which all crime is legal for one annual 12-hour period, began as a disturbing setup for basic genre thrills: 2013’s franchise-starter was essentially a home-invasion thriller with a dystopian twist. By the time Purge: Anarchy rolled around a year later, the…
A wiener dog is the perfect mascot for Todd Solondz’s films. Dachshunds are ridiculous, funny without trying, but that zero-dignity waddle belies a much fiercer purpose: to hunt and kill small prey. Solondz’s body of work, stretching from coming-of-age cringefest Welcome to the Dollhouse to his newest, Wiener-Dog, has the…
Stanley Kubrick once sent his friend John le Carré a letter about why he couldn’t adapt one of the author’s books. “Essentially,” he wrote, “how do you tell a story it took the author 165,000 (my guess) good and necessary words to tell, with 12,000 words (about the number of…
In one of many throwaway gags in The Secret Life of Pets, a group of dogs gathering for an all-important rescue operation is momentarily sidetracked by a butterfly, which sends them into a riot of leaping and yelping. Pets are easily distracted, you see. And you know who else is…
Sometimes a movie seems like it was more fun to make than it is to watch. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is one of those movies. Zac Efron and Adam DeVine are Dave and Mike Stangle, two troublemaking brothers with a knack for walking the tightrope of party-makers/breakers. With…
For Tree Stories, their intelligent group show at Michael Warren Contemporary, gallery co-directors Michael McClung and Warren Campbell have put together what are essentially three interconnected solos. In their discrete spaces, Meredith Nemirov, Jeff Baldus and Gwen Laine all focus on trees — deconstructing them in paintings, sculptures and photos,…
I didn’t want to see the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s production of Troilus and Cressida. I had seen the play once before — and read it as a student — and vaguely remembered the plot, though almost no details. Still, I knew it was a problem play that sits somewhere between…
With the release of Warcraft last month, not only is the circa 2004 game getting a boost, but so is the story of World of Warcraft’s most famous player, Leeroy Jenkins, who rushed into battle in a move immortalized in the 2005 video “A Rough Go.” Two years later, Joel Warner…
#74: Gemma Danielle Artist Gemma Danielle’s intricate mandala work intersects with her mastery of the healing arts as a Reiki practitioner. For her, both are spiritual, referencing inner energies and meditational journeys. And now she shares these visual therapies on a larger scale in public murals, most notably her Urban…
June has come and gone, and with it, gay pride month, but the reverberations of the tragic mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12 — which took the lives of 49 and wounded 53, all from the Latinx and LGBTQ communities — continue to move…
The Fourth of July flew right by, so there’s no time to waste if you want to enjoy the summer. This week’s calendar boasts plenty of free fun and games, including a movie at Denver International Airport. Check out the Westword calendar for even more events, and let us know…
The Fourth of July lands on Monday, which means a long weekend of celebrations this year. There are dozens of ways to fill the time, from serious fireworks displays and red, white and blue picnics to neighborhood block parties and choral-themed festivals. Here are our thirty favorite parties and places…
Lets take a moment to remember the late great Bill Cunningham, who passed away this week at 85 and was a an inspiration to the fashion and art world, photographing fashionistas all over New York. Many believe Cunningham was the grandfather of street-style, and likeCunningham we attempt to capture the…
Bud+Breakfast is opening a new location in the mountains of Grand County this weekend, marking the company’s fourth marijuana-friendly bed-and-breakfast in Colorado. Located about an hour and a half from Denver in Parshall, Camp Bud+Breakfast was set up in partnership with Aspen Canyon Ranch, in a ranch setting where guests…
As weed-smokers across Colorado prepare for a long weekend of revelry and patriotism, here are some ideas for how to create some new Fourth of July traditions to make your holiday an elevated experience. Water Indica users in particular will understand this: There’s nothing like diving into a pool or…
As Denverites roast their way through international hot dog month during the high plains heat, opportunities abound to chortle away the evenings in air-conditioned comfort. Fittingly for a month named after an Emperor, July has a legion of comedic delights ready to lay siege to our city’s sweaty audiences — everything…
The Emmy award-winning Colorado Inside Out is offering another blast from the past at 8 p.m. tonight on Colorado Public Television with “Time Machine Special: Circa 1876.” Colorado became a state in 1876, the same year the nation celebrated its centennial — which explains this state’s nickname. It’s a little…
Sure, July is all about fireworks and celebrating the launch of the American endeavor, but when it’s time to take a break from all the backyard pyrotechnics and flag waving, you’ll be happy to find a month well stocked with geek fun. From the greatest fan film ever made to…
With The Stoner’s Coloring Book, Jared Hoffman has created the first adult coloring book designed specifically with stoners in mind. Hoffman, a graduate of Cornell University now living in Brooklyn, worked with artists around the world to compiled over forty illustrations designed for “high-minded” individuals. Hoffman’s goal was not just to…
Hot dogs, hamburgers, fireworks and heat will always stamp our memories of summer, but it may be those moments we spend inside the refuge of our favorite movie theaters — scientifically cooled by refrigeration — that leave our minds and imaginations racing like a kid headed toward a water slide…
Pack as much fun as you can into the weekend — Monday is a holiday, when you can nurse that hangover while watching fireworks. There’s plenty of First Friday art and free music, and even a Canadian dance party to keep you busy until July 4. Here are our ten…
