What is the Colorado 150 Film Festival?
Colorado turned 150 this August, and to celebrate there is a statewide festival screening 150 movies most connected to Colorado. Presented by Denver Film and co-created with Switchboard Strategies, it runs 161 screenings at 34 venues in 20 Colorado cities, most of them single-screen theaters, opera houses and drive-ins rather than multiplexes. Festival director Rob DuRay put the reason for that plainly: “These theaters are often the cultural heart of a town.”
A film was selected to be screened if it was at least partly shot, set, or made by people from Colorado. Some fun movies like Dr. Strangelove and Dumb & Dumber made the cut.
Where can I see Colorado 150 Film Festival screenings in Denver?
Denver screenings run at three venues: the Sie FilmCenter on East Colfax, the Denver Botanic Gardens, and MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater in Northwest Denver. The Sie sends off Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me on August 28 and 29, with two 9:30 late shows and a Saturday matinee at noon. On August 31 the Botanic Gardens screens Stagecoach, the 1966 remake that earned its spot by filming around Boulder and Nederland. After that, it is Sunday matinees at the Holiday Theater, 2:00 PM, every week into the middle of October.
| Date | Film | Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, August 28 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me | 9:30 PM | Sie FilmCenter |
| Saturday, August 29 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me | 12:00 PM | Sie FilmCenter |
| Saturday, August 29 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me | 9:30 PM | Sie FilmCenter |
| Monday, August 31 | Stagecoach | 7:00 PM | Denver Botanic Gardens |
| Sunday, September 6 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | 2:00 PM | MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater |
| Sunday, September 13 | Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead | 2:00 PM | MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater |
| Sunday, September 20 | BlacKkKlansman | 2:00 PM | MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater |
| Sunday, September 27 | Red Dawn | 2:00 PM | MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater |
| Sunday, October 4 | True Grit | 2:00 PM | MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater |
| Sunday, October 11 | Misery | 2:00 PM | MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater |
If you’re planning to catch any of these, keep in mind that tickets are sold directly through each individual venue rather than a central festival pass. The official schedule links directly to every box office, but it’s always smart to double-check showtimes with the theater before heading out.
Which movies made the Top 150?
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid finished first, True Grit second and The Shining third, out of a field of more than 600 candidates that was narrowed by survey. The full Top 150 reaches from 1920 all the way to 2023, and around 25 of the titles came out in 2010 or later.
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- True Grit (1969)
- The Shining (1980)
- BlacKkKlansman (2018)
- The Hateful Eight (2015)
- City Slickers (1991)
- Dumb & Dumber (1994)
- Badlands (1973)
- Dr. Strangelove (1964)
- Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995)
Four of the ten play in Denver before the run ends: Butch Cassidy on September 6, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead on the 13th, BlacKkKlansman on the 20th, and True Grit on October 4. If I make it to just one, it will be Butch Cassidy: the number one film on the list, on a Sunday afternoon, leaving your evening wide open.
Is it worth driving outside Denver for a screening?
If you want an excuse for a quick mountain getaway, a few regional screenings are worth the trip. Breckenridge hosts Misery at the Eclipse Theater on October 13 and The Shining at the Riverwalk Center on October 23, ideal for a crisp fall weekend in the high country.
Closer to Denver, Boulder’s Boedecker Theater at the Dairy Arts Center has two documentaries in September, Porcelain War on the 14th and Untethered on the 29th, and the Ent Center in Colorado Springs screens South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut on September 10.
If you are out exploring neighborhoods around Denver this fall and want to check the local housing market, browse the current new listings or request a home valuation.
Call me at 303-210-6156 or reach out through karinjacoby.com. I have been selling homes in Littleton and across the Denver metro area since 1999.
— Karin Jacoby, Dream Realty