Movies come home to Colfax

I remember going to the Ogden Theater as kid, in it's waning days as a movie house.

Well before the era of home entertainment, my family drove down to Colfax Avenue here in Denver to catch a matinee of Gulliver's Travels in it's technicolor animated glory.



To this day, even when thinking of the more sordid reputation Colfax has deservedly earned over the years, I always remember that afternoon fondly.

I bring this up because it looks like movies will be screening full-time on Colfax again, perhaps as soon as this weekend.

It seems I wasn't too far off the mark last week when I wrote about the Neighborhood Flix theater over at the new Tattered Cover complex.

A glitch with an image here on the blog led me back to their website today, and lo-and-behold, it has transformed. There are now movie listings and menus where there were just conceptual drawings last week.

Colfax has a new movie palace.

I can't wait to have some popcorn there. It brings back fond memories of the old one down the street.

The new wave of cinema in Denver

It's going to be a blockbuster winter for art house movie lovers here in Denver. There are shiny new screens on the horizon, sooner than you think!

While people love the historic Mayan Theater, the truth is that it's a lovingly renovated relic of the past. The "lovingly" part alone puts it at the top of the heap of junky, dilapidated movie houses where foreign and independent films have to unspool right now.

Thankfully, those days are coming to an end, not a day too soon. Two new theaters are about to shake things up a bit.

Over on Colfax, if you drive past the new Tattered Cover, you might notice a shiny new sign that's recently gone up for the Neighborhood Flix theaters. Long promised, and ever-delayed, it's a sign of progress that this three-screen theater will soon actually open. They're going the cinema cafe route, hoping to create a viable center for film buffs to hang out. The concept looks great. You can sign up on their mailing list on their website for opening details.

That one I knew about, but last night, just randomly checking upcoming movie listings, I found a little surprise from Landmark Theatres. There's a new upscale six screen, stadium seating theater opening up December 7 at the new Landmark development down in Greenwood Village. They call it a "gift to moviegoers." I call it about time, considering the dilapidated state of their current theaters. Maybe they'll finally put the Chez Artiste nearby to bed, way long after it's expiration date.



Both of these are great news!

With the stalled renovation of the Starz Film Center, it looked bleak for us independent cinema fans. I love the movies they show, but frankly, having been in nice modern theaters elsewhere around the country, I've been much more apt to wait for a dvd than suffer again though a miserable experience in a rickety matchbox.

Smaller movies shouldn't have to be second-rate. Now they won't have to be.

Pass the popcorn. I'm there.

Sign of the times: No Prince Charming for this Cinderella

When's the last time you caught a flick at a drive-in? Better question: Have you EVER been to one?

I think I vaguely remember going to the Cinderella Twin in Sheridan (a Denver suburb) a few times as kid. I know for sure it will be jarring to drive past it when the iconic signs and screens come down soon.

There is something nostaligic just knowing there's one in your city, but then again, there were once great movie palaces downtown too, and they're pretty much all gone now too. It was just a matter of time before a developer took advantage of the Cinderella Twin's ideal location.

Sheridan's chief building official summed it up succinctly for The Rocky Mountain News: "The nostalgia of that site - the city tried to be sensitive to the whole issue," he said. "But the shopping center that it was named after is gone. It's time to move on."

So if you want a local drive-in experience, you better go soon.

Me, I'll stick to stadium seating and surround sound at home. I will, however, remember it fondly