The Watching Hour

Hey Denver, what's your favorite scary movie? Before you head up to watch SCREAM at Film on the Rocks tomorrow night, read my latest Watching Hour column about why it's as great and enduring as its final girl Sidney Prescott.

Twenty Years Later, Scream Remains the Slasher Genre's Great Last Gasp Twenty years ago, director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson took us to the small California town of Woodsboro, where a horror-movie-obsessed masked killer was stalking and killing a group of teens who grew up watching slasher-film greats. This week, that film, Scream, celebrates its twentieth…

It's been a while, Constant Watchers, but the passing of Prince brought out the need to remind everyone of a Watching Hour title someone needs to program ASAP. http://www.westword.com/arts/princes-music-comes-back-to-life-in-spike-lees-girl-6-7877619

Prince's Music Comes Back to Life In Spike Lee's Girl 6 It’s been two weeks (or a little over eleven hours and fourteen days as “Nothing Compares 2 U” lovingly time stamps) since we lost our sweet Prince, and many of us have worn out our DVDs and VHS copies of Purple Rain. That film, though based on Prince’s life, was written...

Tonight at the Sie FilmCenter don't miss week 3 of Scream Screen Presents: When Animals Attack! when Stephen King's CUJO hits the big screen. Show is at 9:30pm but come by at 9pm for a special lobby performance by rock gods Cadaver Dog who'll put a hard rabies bite on your ears! Get your tickets here: http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/reserve.aspx?id=41248&FID=84

This Saturday night at the Sie FilmCenter, Theresa Mercado's Scream Screen returns with WHEN ANIMALS ATTACK! a 4-film series reminding us that all of God's creatures can have the Devil in them from time to time. Things kick off with George Romero's delicious MONKEY SHINES at 9:30pm and DJ Tanner (ie: Keith Garcia) playing crazy animal themed music before in the lobby starting at 8:30. Free collectible buttons for the first 50 viewers through the door! Tix here: http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=28110&FID=86

When I started The Watching Hour, some 10 years ago during my run as Programming Manager for the Denver Film Society, my aim was simple: shine a light on films that deserved to have a spotlight thrust upon them on their path to becoming "cult classics". These "neo-cult" films, as I always called them, I brought to the big screen to attract an audience of cinematic risktakers and film lovers with open minds who wanted to enjoy one of their deep cut favorites with others or just have their minds blown with something new. These weren't the usual "midnight" fare that get overscreened every other week, ad nauseum. I always longed for the series to bust outside of the walls of the Sie FilmCenter and, now that I've explored new paths as a writer for Denver Westword, I think I found the perfect way to share my programming with the masses and scratch that itch of returning the energy, memory and fun of my beloved series to life once again. So now, I present the new vessel of The Watching Hour as a regular column on Westword.com where I will continue to keep tossing neo-cult gems your way but on YOUR schedule. Sometimes the film discussed is playing in town, usually it will be available at our local video stores (yes, we still have those and you should use them) or in some form of streaming via Netflix, Shudder, or YouTube. My column kicks off with my reflections on the underseen POPCORN (1991) the last pure slasher film of the '90s before SCREAM shook everything up in '96. The film is screening tonight at the Alamo but if you can't make that show, no biggie, there are other ways to check it out. So, Constant Watchers, welcome back to the Watching Hour. Please read and share, and gather your pals together for viewings in your own home or at your local repertory house, the canon is great and I have so many more films to show you.

Popcorn Serves Up Salty, Buttery Frights Tonight Popcorn is a truly rare gem in a vast, picked-over field of rocks: a fun, smart slasher film that was released during a time when we all thought we’d never scream at a slasher again. Well, break out the earplugs: Popcorn is showing Wednesday, January 27, at the Alamo Drafthouse. For...

Good evening, Constant Watchers. Have you missed us? We've missed you. The Watching Hour has been asleep for a good while but the hibernation is over and we're coming back in a new way to celebrate all of the neo-cult films that you need to be feeding your peepers. Will this be a new film series? No, but this time we're putting the onus on YOU to check out these amazing films and a brand new way to get the message out. How will this look? What's behind the mask? You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out...

Good afternoon, Constant Watchers. What films are you watching these days? Any exciting discoveries?

Tonight and Saturday at 10pm you get a "Bonus" Watching Hour! Don't miss Steven Spielberg's DUEL, curated and introduced by Kickstarter backer Chris Graves. It'll be on 35mm and is a wild ride so be sure you catch it (and don't get run over by it)!
Tickets here: http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=25757

Dear sweet ol' Madonna is 55 years old today and in honor of that, the 30th anniversary of her first album release AND the "season finale" of The Watching Hour wherein Keith Garcia says goodbye and packs up the Watching Hour for a hibernation and reinvention, just like Madge!) we will be presenting DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (on 35mm!) tonight and Saturday at 10pm at the Sie Film Center. C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c'mon!
Tickets here: http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=23363&FID=73

Tonight and Saturday at 10pm at the Sie Film Center don't miss one of the most fun horror comedies to hit the screen! It's GRABBERS, the tale of an island village besieged by blood thirsty aliens who hate alcohol so the town decides the only way to stay alive...is to get totally wasted. So grab a beer at Henderson's Lounge and keep the beasts at bay!

Tickets here! ---->>> http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=25737

Close Encounters of the Animated Kind Festival http://conta.cc/13ta9Ev

Close Encounters of the Animated Kind Festival Including: Wild Life, Sunday, Madame Tutli-Putli, Ryan, The Danish Poet, Lipsett Diaries and Edmond Was A Donkey  More Info

Dear Constant Watcher,
In case you hadn't heard the new through various channels I (Keith Garcia) will be moving on from the Sie FilmCenter after nearly 10 glorious years of programmin' and moving over to the Alamo Drafthouse Littleton to be their Creative Manager. With my departure The Watching Hour will be taking a break and cocooning so that it can emerge in some fashion as a new scary looking butterfly/beast. That said, let's make these last three weekends of The Watching Hour THE BEST EVER!!! August 2nd & 3rd: OVER THE EDGE - August 9th & 10th: GRABBERS - August 16th & 17th: DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN which will double as both my goodbye party AND a celebration of Madonna's birthday and 30 year career. Dress accordingly:
http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=22628

The Watching Hour Join us at the Sie FilmCenter EVERY Friday & Saturday at 10pm for something completely different! Get ready, constant watchers, to venture to a place where cinema cracks open to reveal its hidden core. A primal place where the fantastic meets the terrifying, where you’ll see things you thought exist...