Glover Story

Movie-goers familiar with actor Crispin Glover's eccentric oeuvre won't be surprised to learn that his directorial debut, 2005's What Is It?, which he'll host as part of a multimedia program that begins a three-night run this evening, tends toward the bizarre.

According to Glover, the film chronicles a young man "whose principal interests are snails, salt, a pipe and how to get home" — and if that's not unusual enough, he adds that "most of the actors in the film have Down syndrome, but the film is not about Down syndrome at all." Instead, the flick stands as his reaction against major studio timidity, "wherein anything that can possibly make an audience member uncomfortable in any way whatsoever is necessarily excised."

Of course, Glover financed What Is It? with money he earned acting in mainstream movies. Does that give him any special satisfaction? "Yes," he replies, chuckling. "One hundred percent."

The What Is It? presentation begins at 8 p.m. tonight and tomorrow and at 7 p.m. Sunday, at Starz FilmCenter in the Tivoli. Admission is $20; due to graphic subject matter, no one under eighteen will be admitted. Learn more at 303-820-3456 or www.denverfilm.org — and read our complete interview with Glover at blogs.westword.com/latestword.
April 18-19, 8 p.m.; Sun., April 20, 7 p.m., 2008