Howl at Starz

This December 17-23, James Franco stars as the young Allen Ginsberg – poet, counter-culture adventurer and chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career, the poem HOWL. Meanwhile, in a San Francisco courtroom, HOWL is on trial. Prosecutor Ralph McIntosh (Strathairn) sets out to prove that the book should be banned, while suave defense attorney Jake Ehrlich (Hamm) argues fervently for freedom of speech and creative expression. The proceedings veer from the comically absurd to the passionate as a host of unusual witnesses (Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams, Alesssandro Nivola) pit generation against generation and art against fear in front of conservative Judge Clayton Horn (Bob Balaban).

HOWL is simultaneously a portrait of a renegade artist breaking down barriers to find love and redemption and an imaginative ride through a prophetic masterpiece that rocked a generation and was heard around the world.

Everything Is Terrible comes to Starz FilmCenter

The bizarro geniuses behind the popular blog Everything is Terrible make a One Night Only appearance at the Starz FilmCenter with their new creation of pop-culture-gone-supernova: 2EVERYTHING 2TERRIBLE II: TOKYO DRIFT.

Check it out Saturday, August 21st at 8:30pm - tix are $12.

Win free passes to see Word is Out

I've got five pairs of free passes to see the groundbreaking gay documentary 'Word is Out' at Starz FilmCenter for the first five people to email me at drewdenver@aol.com with 'OUTSpoken' in the subject line. Be sure to include your name in the email.

'Word is Out' plays through Thursday, December 24 and is brought to you by the fine folks at Cinema Q, Denver's only ongoing GLBT film series.

Don't you forget about John Hughes

The Starz FilmCenter will be presenting a tribute to director John Hughes on September 4-6 with six of his greatest cinematic masterpieces - 'Some Kind of Wonderful', 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', 'Sixteen Candles', 'Pretty in Pink', 'She's Having a Baby' (just smile and nod), and 'The Breakfast Club'.

Grease vs. High School Musical

The Starz FilmCenter presents an Old School/New School musical battle royale when heavyweight champ 'Grease' takes on hungry young upstart 'High School Musical' on Friday, May 29.

Challenge Day comes to Starz FilmCenter

Teen Files 15 Minute Preview from Rodrigo Torres on Vimeo.

Challenge Denver brings out the red carpet at the Starz FilmCenter on May 12th, from 11:00am - 2pm, for the Student Film Festival, a one day event bringing awareness to Challenge Day; an anti-bullying program that has been brought to nearly 3000 students in 7 Denver Public Schools. The Festival will screen seven films by students sharing their own words on the impact of Challenge Day. Reina Guiterrez, principal of Hamilton Middle School said, "Challenge Day is heartfelt. It is engaging and reflective. Challenge Day should be required."

This academic year, 20 Challenge Days were held in 7 DPS schools - Denver School of the Arts, Manual, and South High Schools as well as, Kepner, Hamilton, Rishel, and Grant Beacon middle schools. Each school was given the opportunity, skills and equipment to create a short (5-7 minutes) film that expressed their own Challenge Day experience.

"We see miracles every Challenge Day - so we thought what better way to share this and end oppression in our schools than giving the young people, so impacted, a voice and means of expression through film?" stated Betsy Leighton, Executive Director, Challenge Denver.

Participating in the film festival are Challenge Day founder Rich Dutra-St John, Academy Award winner Donna Dewey, Mayor John Hickenlooper, Denver Scholarship Foundation, Denver Film Society, and over 200+ DPS students in celebrating the work of Challenge Day in opening hearts, transforming lives, and creating safe schools where every child can feel respected and loved.

"The work of Challenge Denver has been an extraordinary model that we hope can be followed nationwide," said Founder of the nationally recognized Challenge Day, Rich Dutra-St John.

Vampire versus vampire at Starz FilmCenter

The vampires of 'Twilight' take on Louis, Lestat, and Claudia from 'Interview with the Vampire' at the next Old School/New School screening at Starz FilmCenter.

'Of Time and the City' premieres at Cinema Q this Friday

From the original voice of British auteur Terence Davies ('Distant Voices, Still Lives') comes a visual poem about the director's life in Liverpool from 1945 to 1973- 'Of Time and the City'. It is a very personal portrait of Liverpool, beyond its Beatles and its football clubs, the home of the writer's birth, where youth and inspiration weave his own story into the recent history of the city with fascinating found footage and a lyrical soundtrack. The visual poem is played out against a backdrop of densely packed urban living and backbreaking domestic labor. But Davies counterpoints the slums with beautiful, soaring music and lifts us into the world of fantasy and collective emotion which makes the misery of life bearable. For lovers of Davies' previous work many of his themes from his earlier narrative pieces thread through this film—Catholicism, homosexuality, violence, death, loss, the glory of cinema, outsiderness and childhood. Narrated by Davies.

Blast from the recent past: Baskit underwear and G-Force hockey

Well, I posted about both Baskit underwear and G-Force hockey team yesterday and that reminded me of the time I shot some video of Baskit underwear models gettting adjusted at a screening of the G-Force a few months ago. Enjoy.

Local sci-fi thriller 'Ink' premiers at Starz on Friday the 13th

This looks like it could be good.

"Ink" screens tomorrow night at the Starz FilmCenter, and it was shot and produced entirely in Denver.

Starz is also noted for its Cinema Q program, one of the few, if not the only, ongoing GLBT film series in the country.

The next film coming up for Cinema Q is 'Of Time and the City' starting on March 27.