On The Inside at
UPTOWN DISCS

Ever since I have become a proud owner of a DVD player, I have been searching for a store with all the films I want to see on disc. Too my dismay, the only way I could see DVDs was to 1.) rent from Blockbuster, which seems to have 50 copies Cast Away and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon on its shelves, or 2.) I would have to buy them. All of this changed when I came across Uptown Discs at 310 17th street, near the corner of 17th and Grant.

Uptown Discs has over 1,700 DVDs for rental, (compare that to 200 Ð 300 that your local video store has), and everything is for sale as well. With deals such as 60 DVD rentals for 30 dollars a month, or a 3 night rental for under $4, it's tough not to bring your business here.

But anyone can have 1, 700 copies of Traffic, what I'm looking for is selection. My first day at Mike Brodeur's store I tested them. I asked if they had any copies of Robocop. Suddenly they turned the tables on me and presented me with the unedited rated X version of the film! How about the unrated version of the indie hit Requiem for a Dream? No problem. What about Army of Darkness? Brodeur shows me a 1 of 4,000 collector's edition DVD with numerous alternate endings. I am silenced.

There are so many films here, that one can get lost on what film you initially came in to rent. I asked if they had the Special Edition of The Doors, when they had taken me into a second room filled with more films that were mostly japanimation, musicals and cult favorites like Plan 9 from Outer Space.

How would you like to make a big Italian dinner and watch the entire Sopranos box set during a snowy night? Or maybe getting into the Halloween spirit and watching all The Nightmare on Elm Streets? Uptown rents all its box sets including The Kubrick Collection and The Oliver Stone Collection.

"One of the coolest features about Uptown Discs is that we offer rental to purchase plan," Brodeur said. "If you rent a movie and decide to buy it, we'll subtract the rental fee, and all you pay is the difference." Brodeur will order in any title upon request. "I've ordered numerous foreign films like Il Postino and odd films like Gummo."

Still there is one final test that no video store has been able to pass, and that is a print of a bad 1970's horror movie called The Boogey Man, (most stores don't even carry it on VHS). I asked one of the employees, Tim, if he had heard of my request and after a long pause he asked, " Pan and Scan or Widescreen?" Enough said.

~Neal James

Film Notes

The Denver Film Society is currently preparing for its 24th annual Denver International Film Festival, which will be at the Tivoli theaters on Auraria Campus from Oct. 11 through the 21. This was originally scheduled to be the last festival before construction begins to turn the Tivoli theatres into the Starz Encore FilmCenter, the new permanent home of the Film Society and all its festivals. However, to ensure construction doesn't interfere with the 25th anniver-sary festival in October of 2002, the remodeling has been pushed back one year. Construction is now scheduled to begin in November of 2002.

The Film Society held an orientation meeting at the Tivoli Sept. 15 for festival volunteers. Film Society media representative Britta Erickson said a lot of Auraria students are volunteering this year as a result of on-campus advertising.

"It was a chance to sign up to become a volunteer and learn the different areas they will be working in," Erickson said. "We had a great responseÉ which is fabulous; we can't have a festival without volunteers."

Among the highlights of this year's festival are appearances by Richard Linklater and Peter Buckdanivich to receive awards. Linklater, whose directing credits include Slacker and Dazed and Confused, will be given the John Cassavetes Award for achievements in independent film. Bucklanivich will get the Lifetime Achievement Award. Best known for directing The Last Picture Show, Bucklanivich's newest film, The Cat's Meow, will be the closing night feature. Other films of note include the Coen brothers' new movie, The Man Who Wasn't There and a five-hour documentary by Jonas Mekas titled As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty.

Of local interest is If I Could, parts of which were filmed at Auraria campus and which features University of Colorado at Denver student Theresa Marasco. The film played at both the Women's International Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival, winning awards at each.

--Chris Ward

Local Arts

It was hard to write this column this time. In the midst of all that's going on, the "news" I cover just didn't seem very important. And for a while it wasn't. I do believe, however, that art has a very real ability to be salve -and a cathartic. It can help us heal.

David Griffin has an interesting show up at Core New Art Space, through September 30. Griffin happened to be gallery sitting when I showed up to peruse, so I was able to pick his brain at length. Much of his paintings span several panels creatively attached, and many of them layer realistic and abstract elements. Several intriguing pieces emphasized the abstract, leaving realistic renderings to the background. The reverse of what the brain expects. Griffin says he has been attempting to bring the abstract and realism to such a point of ten-

sion and balance, so the viewer pauses and reconsiders reality. Drawing upon the Buddhist concept of the veils of perception, he points out what we consider the most lifelike portrait of a tree: leaves, branches, green, may in fact not reveal its truest nature. Believe it or not, this makes a lot of sense when you look at his work. It's a nice way to lose yourself.

101 Vampires update: Some of the venue problems that plagued curator Kathryn Charles were chronicled here, but it appears all is "go" now. The multimedia event has attracted forces as diverse as Saint Joseph's Hospital (which will be recruiting plasma and platelet donors), CHAC, Colorado Ballet, and Metro State, as well as local artists of note, including Hal Gould, Mark Sink, and filmmaker Gwylym

Cano. The opening reception will be at GOOG, 765 Santa Fe Drive, on October 5, from 6 -11: 30 pm

A bundle of joy -Arts supporters and graph-ic designers Monica and Tyler Aiello have a new baby boy, Quinn August Aiello, born September 14. According to his parents, "he has the sweetest disposition imaginable." Not that they're biased. But, to their credit, they have a little girl, Anise, who really is a charmer, so they know good disposition. It's amazing how babies always bring joy and hope, and that's what many of us need right now. --Kimberly MacArthur Graham