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11 days of cinematic bliss
By Joe Nguyen
nguyejos@mscd.edu

Courtesy of Miramax Pictures Jude Law in Breaking and Entering. This is the opening film at the 29th Starz Denver Film Festival.

From Nov. 9-19, Denverites will have the opportunity to stuff themselves with movies before filling up with turkey.

Now in its 29th year, the Starz Denver Film Festival will feature more than 200 films over the span of 11 days, including two world premieres and eight U.S. premieres.

Oscar winners Anthony Minghella and Tim Robbins will receive achievement awards for their lifetime accomplishments.

New at this year’s festival is the Sprint Mini-Film Competition. UCD students will compete for a $1,000 prize for the best 60-second short.

With the plethora of films slated this year, there’s bound to be something for everyone. As the festival tag line says, “Your seat is waiting.”

Opening night
Breaking and Entering
120 minutes
8 p.m.
Nov. 9
Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Performing Arts Complex
$75 for film premiere and party, $25 for film only.

Minghella (The English Patient) reunites with Jude Law and Juliette Binoche in this story about the complexity of love. Law plays Will, a landscape architect who opens a new office in North London that becomes the target of a teenage thief. Will finds himself drawn to the thief’s mother, played by Binoche.

Minghella will be presented with the Mayor’s Career Achievement Award following the movie.

Big night
An Evening with Tim Robbins
7:30 p.m.
Nov. 16
Buell Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex
$40 for program and party, $15 for program only.

Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption) arrives in Denver to share his experiences as an actor and director. Rocky Mountain News film critic Robert Denerstein will interview him onstage. Following the interview, Robbins will receive the 2006 John Cassavetes Award.

Closing night
Rescue Dawn
125 minutes
7:30 p.m.
Nov. 18
Buell Theatre at the Denver Performing Arts Complex
$45 for film premiere and party, $20 for film only.

Christian Bale (Batman Begins) stars as a German-born pilot who volunteers for the Vietnam War in director Werner Herzog’s latest film. He is immediately shot down and captured by Laotian soldiers, who put him in a prison camp. Rather than endure the torture in the camp, he convinces other American soldiers to join him in an escape attempt through the jungle.