MOVIES
The title is as scary as “March of the Penguins” is warm and fuzzy, but “Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride” is just as good a family movie. Seriously. Burton returns to stop-motion puppeteering for this inspired tale of a nervous Victorian-era groom who accidentally weds himself to a recently deceased jilted bride. Burton’s trick is to make the underworld lively and colorful and kind, while Victorian England is dank and threatening. Frequent Burton collaborators Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter bring life to the voices in this rich fantasy.
– MICHAEL BOOTH
VISUAL ARTS
Sure to give the Foothills Art Center greater prominence in the Denver metropolitan area is the addition of the Dickinson Sculpture Garden, an 8,600-square-foot plaza with patios, walkways, benches, trees and, of course, sculptures. To celebrate the opening of the $300,000 project, the center at 809 15th St. in Golden, is holding a free family picnic and garden festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. Included will be art demonstrations, children’s activities and hot dogs and soda. 303-279-3922 or foothillsartcenter.org.
– KYLE MACMILLAN
POPULAR MUSIC
The last time Franz Ferdinand came through town, their brand of indie disco was just beginning its mainstream assault. Since then, Scotland’s top hipsters became so overexposed that they circulated off the playlists of most music nerds. But the reason to check out Tuesday’s Fillmore Auditorium show with Pretty Girls Make Graves and Cut Copy is that the group’s new album, “You Could Have It So Much Better,” drops next week, making Denver the perfect date for flaunting highly-anticipated new material. 8 p.m. $27.50 via Ticketmaster.
– ELANA ASHANTI JEFFERSON
TELEVISION
Cybill Shepherd smartly reprises her role as Martha Stewart in the CBS movie “Martha Behind Bars,” at 8 tonight on KCNC-Channel 4. Just in time for the domestic diva’s TV blitz in daytime (“Martha”) and primetime (“The Apprentice”), the movie reviews her prison term. Watching Martha (Shepherd) teach her cellmates to make origami cranes is a hoot.
– JOANNE OSTROW
STAGE
Two one-act plays by prominent local playwrights Melissa Lucero McCarl (“Carlene Yakkin”‘) and Terry Dodd (“O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie”) are being staged together at the Buck Center, 2004 W. Powers Ave. in Littleton. “Carlene,” starring Sheila Swanson McIntyre, is a monologue by a world-weary gal sitting alone in a bar in Truth or Consequences, N.M. “Bury,” starring Laura Norman, is the haunting tale of a cowgirl who comforts a lonely driver trapped in his overturned van. Final performances 3 p.m. today and Oct. 9, and 7:30 p.m. Oct 8. Tickets $10-$25; call 303-730-4616.
– JOHN MOORE
CLASSICAL MUSIC
The insistent, almost primal rhythms of the opening section of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” can frequently be heard on television commercials and elsewhere. Audiences will have the opportunity to hear the choral work in its entirety during concerts this week with conductor Jeffrey Kahane and the Colorado Symphony. Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday (note the unusual day) and Friday and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in Boettcher Concert Hall at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. Tickets $15-$65. 303-623-7876 or coloradosymphony.org.
– KYLE MACMILLAN
NIGHT LIFE
There are attractions at the 24th annual Great American Beer Festival beginning Thursday at the Colorado Convention Center besides the nearly 1,700 types of brew. Just watching the waves of giddy beer lovers wander from one booth to the next with increasingly slurred commentary is a show that’s worth the ticket price. But this annual belly-up convention also promises live music each of the three days of the festival, and beer cooking demonstrations featuring some of Denver’s top chefs. Tickets are $35-$50 via Ticketmaster.
– ELANA ASHANTI JEFFERSON
