Another Great Colorado Movie Theater Shuts Down

Movie goers, movie lovers, across Colorado really have to take a hard look at how they embrace films, after another great theater has closed.

Many movies are "bubble gum fare" for the masses: Marvel, Pixar, big comedies, for example. There's nothing wrong with those, but there also needs to be places to see films that don't fit into those categories.

With another classic movie theater coming to an end, you have to wonder "where" will it end?

As of August 8, 2024, a small 3-screen movie theater in Denver (near Colorado and Hampden) Chez Artiste, ceased to exist. It had been around, in some fashion as a movie theater, since 1974, according to Denver Gazette.

Art-House Movie Theater Closes in Denver, Colorado

While you may see AMC, Metrolux, and Cinemark, and Hawkins theater across Colorado, the places to go where you're not inundated with "extras," places where you just want to see a great film, such as Chez Artiste are dwindling.

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Many of us drop upwards of $30 to go see a blockbuster movie at a Cinemark or Metrolux (maybe spring for the IMAX,) while these little art-house theaters are disappearing into Colorado's history.

Blockbuster Movies Dominate

Deadpool & Wolverine, for example, comes out and takes up many of the available screens at your local [Cinemark] theater; those theaters aren't, generally, going to be saving (maybe) more than one screen for independent films, let alone a foreign language one.

Chez Artiste, originally University 2, was the kind of theater to hit up when you wanted to see a movie that's different; one that will probably be up for an Academy Award; great FILMS.

I remember seeing "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" there in 2002, about ten years before they went through a big renovation. It was the only theater showing the film, which is terrific.

RELATED: Movie About a Colorado Legend Gets 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

Yes, you can point to places like The Lyric Cinema in Fort Collins, but they lend themselves more to a younger/college crowd; Adult Coloradans that enjoy theaters like Chez Artiste, need to visit them, more.

It will be missed.