Babies

Last night the St. Anthony Health Foundation in conjunction with the Denver Film Society’s Women+Film program hosted a Citywide Baby Shower at the Starz FilmCenter to benefit Bloom, a comprehensive prenatal care program for teens created by the Certified Nurse-Midwives at St. Anthony Central Hospital. With a donation, we were treated to a reception and an early screening of the film, Babies.

Babies simultaneously follows the lives of 4 babies from around the world: Mongolia, Japan, Namibia, and San Francisco. It was interesting how different and yet similar their lives are. One baby lives in a yurt on the plains of Mongolia and another in a hut in Africa, but they both share the same look of pure joy when they stand on their own for the first time.



If you find babies adorable and entertaining, then watch this movie (it opens this weekend). If you don't really enjoy them, then you should probably skip it. Have to say though...these babies were pretty funny.

The Horse Boy

Last night, Danny and I went to the Rocky Mountain PBS Community Cinema event at the Starz FilmCenter. Community Cinema is a free event, open to all that gives a sneak peak of an upcoming episode of PBS’s documentary series Independent Lens, followed by a panel discussion. Its goal is to start conversations, at the event and following it.

Last night, the screening was of The Horse Boy. The Horse Boy is about a family with an autistic son named Rowen. They discovered that the only time Rowen was calm was when he was on the back of a horse, so they decide to do something crazy...they go to Mongolia, the place where horses were first domesticated, in search of shaman healing. The movie follows their journey, both physical and emotional.



The story was incredibly moving, and the strength of the parents (and any parent of an autistic child) left me without words. As simply a woman who is planning to have children, I was on the verge of tears throughout the entire screening. I was imaging being in their place...the lengths you would go to as a parent to help your child...the emotional ups and downs...the desperation....the strength...the hope....I literally have no words. I can only hope that if something like that happened in my life that I would find the strength somewhere.

The panel discussion following the screening was equally as fascinating. It was made up of a shaman healer, a representative of the Autism Society of Colorado, and a DU professor who studies hipotherapy and other animal therapies. First of all, I found it so interesting that there is a practicing shaman in Denver. But, one of the most shocking facts revealed during the discussion is that Colorado ranks 51st in the US for funding for people with disabilities. The majority of Autism Society of Colorado's funding comes from private donations, and awareness is key. Did you know that autism is an epidemic? According to the CDC, 1 in every 169 eight year old children in Colorado have an autism spectrum disorder. Chances are that you know someone who has a child who falls within the spectrum.

The whole event left me wanting to do more and do something to raise awareness, even if it's a small thing (like talk about it here). PBS is going to broadcast The Horse Boy sometime in the month of May, so check your local PBS listings for the date and time. It's a wonderful film and such an inspiring and deeply moving story.

And, if you'd like to make a donation to the Autism Society, then do it! Donations are crucial in the Autism Society's ability to serve the autism community, and even a small donation could make a big difference in someone's life.

Circle of Life

For my 10th birthday, I invited boys to my party. We were going to go to the movies, and because boys were coming, I picked a movie I thought they would like (I can't remember which). Surprise, surprise, the boys didn't show which meant we could go see the movie I really wanted to see - The Lion King. I had already gotten the soundtrack and knew the words to all the songs before we even got in the theater.

Weekend Recap: Not too much

We had a relatively lazy weekend. We had a decent amount of stuff go on during the week and have company coming next, so we decided to take the opportunity to get plenty of couch time.

Friday night, we went to the Denver Theatre Company's production of Othello. It was performed in the Space Theatre of the Denver Performing Arts Center, and it was a perfect setting for this play. It's a small theater in the round with raised seating all the way around, so the stage itself is in the center. Instead of looking up at a stage from an auditorium, you are watching from above and get the feeling that you eavesdropping on the characters, not watching a play. The performance was excellent (much better than my last Shakespeare experience). John Hutton who played Iago was wonderful, as was everyone else down to the actor who only had a few lines. This is a long video, but here is a collection of clips from the play to give you a taste, and if you're in Denver and have a chance before it closes on Saturday, go see Friday night, we went to the Denver Theatre Company's production of . It was performed in the Space Theatre of the Denver Performing Arts Center, and it was a perfect setting for this play. It's a small theater in the round with raised seating all the way around, so the stage itself is in the center. Instead of looking up at a stage from an auditorium, you are watching from above and get the feeling that you're eavesdropping on the characters, not watching a play. The performance was excellent (much better than my last Shakespeare experience). John Hutton who played Iago was wonderful, as was everyone else down to the actor who only had a few lines. This is a long video, but here is a collection of clips from the play to give you a taste, and if you're in Denver and have a chance before it closes on Saturday, go see Othello.

Also well-worth mentioning is the costuming. This production was set at the turn of the century instead of the typical Shakespeare time period, and all the costumes are made specifically for the play. The costumes of the female characters were beautiful, and as a lover of clothing, I was always excited for a costume change so I could examine detailing of the new piece. I'd go see it for the clothing alone. It makes it that much more that the performance was so good.



And, a hilarious video of how the story would have been different if Desdemona had had a sassy, gay friend...

Saturday started with some coffee and cheesy potato goodness (mmm....) and was followed by some movie and tv watching which lasted for about 6 hours. Saturday night we headed to Sobo 151 to watch the Avs playoff game...and that's all we'll say about that except that Sobo 151 had great food and was a lot of fun.

Sunday, we made it out of the house by 2 to catch a showing of Waking Sleeping Beauty which was about how basically every one of my favorite childhood movies came into existence. I came home and told Danny that we would have to have a Disney movie marathon. He wasn't as excited about the idea as I was...

And, that was our weekend. Not too much although we did actually leave the indoors at least once a day which is pretty good for a lazy weekend.

An Education

The snow was falling Sunday afternoon which can only mean one thing - go see a movie! We are lucky enough to be a short walk away from the Starz FilmCenter which is a lovely seven-screen independent moviehouse and the home of the Denver Film Festival in the fall. Funnily enough, it always seems to be snowing when we go there. We're not sure if it starts snowing because we decide to see a movie or if we decide to see a movie because it's snowing...

Sunday we went to see An Education, and I am now in love with this movie. Its 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 3 Oscar nominations are definitely justified. The movie is about a 16 year old girl living in England in the 1960s who is working hard to get an education so she can go to Oxford when she meets a charming older man who shows her a different life. The movie is beautiful, and the acting is wonderful.

Also, the fashion in this movie is to-die-for fabulous. Seriously. Dying.














(When I go to Paris, this is what I'm wearing.)





Go see this movie.

This makes me so happy

movies i really want to see

away we go

500 days of summer

paper heart

funny people

food, inc.

adam

the time traveler's wife

this is not a love story