High Five A field guide to the underground film scene

Sure, Colorado isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of the film industry, but it’s still a great place for film fans to live. In addition to the excellent work of the Denver Film Society and the relatively large number of independent film-oriented theaters, there are also plenty of smaller, lesser-known film series and recurring events in the Denver/Boulder area. These off-the-radar film series and showings offer everything from Hollywood classics to cutting-edge modern cinema,  with much of it costing less than a typical matinee screening at the local megaplex. To get you started, The A.V. Club has rounded up five of our favorite cheap and free local film options.

The International Film Series
Boulder’s longest-running film program—it’s been around since 1941—is dedicated to bringing eclectic works from across all genres to discriminating audiences, and it does a great job doing so. Under the direction of Pablo Kjolseth, the IFS has screened everything from French New Wave classics to modern monster movies. The spring season kicks off this Wednesday, Jan. 25, with a screening of Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia and includes everything from a program of Sundance shorts to a Quentin Tarantino retrospective.
Cost: $6-$7
Location: Muenzinger Auditorium, CU Boulder campus

See You Next Wednesday
Do you like scary movies? Josh Hartwell does, and he launched the monthly film series See You Next Wednesday a few years back to share that love with fellow horror fans. Every month, Hartwell hosts a showing of a classic horror movie—The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, and Black Christmas are a few past selections—complete with a trivia contest, free popcorn, and cheap beer. The events are relatively low key and intimate, too, so the screenings can be a great place to meet people who appreciate arterial spurt as much as you do. The series is currently on hiatus, but the next season starts up in April.
Cost: $5
Location: LIDA Project/The Laundry on Lawrence

Film at Ubisububi
The Ubisububi room in the Thin Man hosts one of the more underground (literally) film series in Denver—it’s in the basement, see. The informal series is a labor of love for film aficionado Gio Toninelo (who is also the curator of the GI Joe Film Festival) and reflects his wide-ranging tastes. The programs have included everything from steampunk and dystopian sci-fi to retrospectives on directors such as Wim Wenders and Kar Wai Wong. The current program tackles the work of Lars Von Trier, with Europa showing Jan. 25.
Cost: free
Location: Ubisububi room, Thin Man Tavern

Fresh City Life
In Denver, the library isn’t just a place to borrow books. Under the umbrella of its Fresh City Life program, the Denver Public Library offers a number of cool programs, including film programming. February kicks off a series called Sex, Lies And Celluloid: Old Hollywood, Bad Romance, which features films that subvert the month’s typical Valentine’s Day mushiness with tales of romance gone horribly, horribly wrong. It kicks off Tuesday, Feb. 7 with The Great Lie. There’s also the Knit Flix, a socially oriented program that offers a chance to watch a movie in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere (meaning people can and will comment about the film and have side conversations) while you work on your knitting or other crafts.
Cost: free
Location: Central Library

Tattered Cover Film Series
If you’ve been meaning to brush up on the classics, but don’t know where to start, this is the series for you. One Sunday a month, the Tattered Cover sponsors a free screening of a classic film at the Denver FilmCenter/Colfax, hosted by Colorado Public Radio film critic Howie Movshovitz. That means not only will you have finally gotten around to seeing all those important movies you’ve heard so much about, but you actually have a shot at understanding what all the subtext meant. Bonus! Next up, on Feb. 5, is Au Revoir Les Enfants.
Cost: free (suggested $1 donation)
Location: Denver FilmCenter/Colfax