Movies
Susanne Bier’s “Things We Lost in the Fire” has a powerful trio of actors – Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro and David Duchovny – to tell this powerful story about grief, addiction and the glimmers of recovery. Berry and Duchovny are touchingly believable as Steven and Audrey Burke, married more than a decade with two children. Their happiness is destroyed one night when Steven is killed. That leads Audrey, in a move that seems at first destructive, to invite one of her husband’s old friends, Jerry Sunborne (Del Torro), once a lawyer and now a heroin addict, to live with her and the children. Bier’s film asks questions about intimacy and why is it so elusive and her impressive performers work lovingly and with emotional courage to answer.
Lisa Kennedy
Classical music
In 2003, German pianist Markus Groh was forced to cancel his performances with the Colorado Symphony because of illness, and a last-minute replacement was called in. In a weird twist of fate, Groh will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Denver and this time, he’s the substitute. He will take the place of Krystian Zimerman, who suffered a leg injury. Groh will appear at the University of Denver’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., as part of the Friends of Chamber Music’s new piano-recital series. The program will consist of works by Brahms and Liszt. Tickets are $30. 303-388-9839 or .
Kyle MacMillan
Television
“60 Minutes” got the first interview with Valerie Plame Wilson since “Plamegate.” The sitdown with Katie Couric was taped recently and airs tonight at 6 on KCNC-Channel 4. The former covert CIA operative and her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, accuse the Bush administration of leaking her identity to the press to punish them after Wilson claimed that the White House massaged to its advantage the intelligence on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. The investigation into the leak resulted in the conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice of Lewis Libby, the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. Could be better than “Alias.”
Joanne Ostrow
Theater
“My Old Lady” continues a string of small, successful stagings at Golden’s Miners Alley Playhouse, which is gaining in reputation for simply telling solid stories. This one is Israel Horovitz’s 1996 family-secrets character study. A dead man has bequeathed to his long-estranged American son a valuable Paris apartment. Only an old lady is living there, she’s not going anywhere, and guess what? Sonny is on the hook to pay her fees – a cool $3,000 a month – until she dies. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 27 at 1224 Washington Ave. in Golden. $18-$20 (303-935-3044 or .).
John Moore
Popular music
Is modern-day hip-hop tragedy the fact that gangbanging MCs get shot down annually – or the truth that hip-hop pioneers such as Public Enemy exist in a world that has largely forgotten about them, save for the fact that Flava Flav is a hit on VH1 “celebreality” TV shows? One of the most important hip-hop groups in the short history of the genre, Public Enemy pioneered so much of what makes up FM radio today. From fierce, banging production to the thoughtful rhymes that have since been labeled “conscious,” P.E. helped start it all. Public Enemy plays the Boulder Theater on Thursday, and Denver hip-hop troupe the Flobots will open the show, especially exciting since their new LP, “Fight With Tools,” is one of the year’s most exciting local releases.
Ricardo Baca
Art
It does not seem too much of an overstatement to use the word “legendary” in relation to Lucy Lippard. For four decades, she has been a major force in the art world as a critic, historian and curator. One of her most recent projects was organizing “Weather Report: Art and Climate Change,” a massive, multimedia exhibition running through Dec. 21 at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St. Lippard will also present a free lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Wolf Law Building, 2450 Kittredge Loop Road, on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus. 303-443-2122 or .
Kyle MacMillan
Night life
One of the most creative places in music today is the crossroads of indie and electronic. Among the acts with the biggest beats – including LCD Soundsystem, Justice, Flosstradamus, M.I.A., Girl Talk and others – is MSTRKRFT (pronounced “masterkraft”), a DJ/production duo that likes its beats heavy, its synths warped and its vocals chopped. The Toronto group is one of the hottest commodities on the indie DJ circuit.They’re playing the Church on Thursday. info: .
Ricardo Baca
