Film

[click "Play" to listen to Erika Gordon speak about Sunday at the Palm]

 The Telluride Film Festival's Sunday at The Palm series continues this weekend, March 14, 4:00 pm, with a film that brought critics to their knees:

"BEAUTIFUL!"
- New York Times

"MAGNIFICENT! ENCHANTING!"
- Variety

"PURE MAGIC!"
- Hollywood Reporter

"Is it too early to announce the most beautiful film of 2009?"
"It's hard to imagine a more transporting cinematic experience!"
- Chicago Tribune

"Azur & Asmar: The Prince's Quest (2006, 99 minutes, PG), the whimsical, epic animated feature from award-winning director Michel Ocelot, is the story of two boys raised as brothers. This masterpiece premiered as part of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 . It had its American premiere in 2008 in New York.  The opening was meant to run for one week, but sold- out shows triggered a second week of screenings. When those sold out, a third and final week got tacked on before the film made the rounds to other lucky American cities.  Now "Azur & Asmar" comes to Telluride on the big screen to enchant children of all ages.

Aneducation_smallposter Crazyheart_smallposter Three movies on tap this week at Telluride's Nugget Theatre: "Valentine's Day"  (rated PG-13) also showed last week and features an large ensemble cast telling stories of people in love, people who want to be in love, people who are NOT in love, all in the 24 hours of Valentine's Day.

"Crazy Heart" (rated R) is the vehicle for Jeff Bridges' boozed up has-been of a country singer, for which he won Best Actor in the recent Academy Awards.

Speaking of the Oscars, Carry Mulligan was nominated for Best Actress for her role in "An Education" (rated PG-13) which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival last September. If you missed it last Fall, hie thee to the Nugget.

See below for showtimes and the Nugget website for trailers and reviews.

by Shannon Mitchell

IMG_5495 Passes to the 37th Telluride Film Festival (September 3-6, 2010) are now available to the public.

The audience at the 36th annual Telluride Film Festival was the first in the world to view a number of Academy Award-nominated films including Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air,"  "Bright Star," "The White Ribbon" and "The Last Station."

Purchasing a pass allows the moviegoer complete flexibility throughout the four-day Festival. Pass-holders are able to move from theatre to theatre, event to event at their leisure while taking in the beauty of the Telluride surroundings.

[click "Play" to hear Susan's interview with host David Oyster]

DISCREET CHARM poster Cinematheque, the highly successful collaboration between the Telluride Film Festival and the Wilkinson Public Library, continues its "All About Food" series Monday, March 8. The pre-SHOW reception starts at 5:30 p.m. Curtain up at 6 p.m.


Created by Telluride Film Festival co-director Gary Meyer, “All About Food” began February with the Academy Award-winning "Babette's Feast." Lucky patrons stayed after the screening to enjoy the first ever “Wilkinson Feast,” a fine dining experience prepared by Chef Bud and served inside the library walls. 

Valentinesday_smallposter Youthinrevolt_smallonline The Nugget Theatre in beautiful downtown Telluride has three movies on the schedule for the week of Friday, March 5-Thursday, March 11.

"Youth in Revolt" (Rated R) features a laid back Nick Twist (Michael Cera) whose parents have split, each having taken up with a differently inappropriate partner. On a trailer park vacation, his mother and her crude boyfriend flaunt their sexuality and Nick meets Sheeni (Portia Doubleday). Nick is on a mission to lose his virginity... Then the fun begins.

An all-star ensemble cast pairs up, or not, on one day, "Valentine's Day." The movie is rated PG-13. Many people who saw "Valentine's Day"  loved it. The critics, not so much. So go, and make up your own mind.

Drparnassus_smallposter Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (Rated PG-13) has a great cast and an intriguing, if confusing story. And real life intervened to make this movie even more of a house of mirrors: during the filming Heath Ledger, one of the principals, died. The solution: bring in Johnny Depp and others as alter egos. Should be interesting.

See below for movietimes, and the Nugget website for trailers and reviews.


Frozen_smallposter Wheninrome_smallposter2 Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing three movies the week of Friday, February 26 through Thursday, March 4. For showtimes see below; the Nugget website has trailers and reviews.

"When in Rome" gets higher marks from viewers than from the critics. "War and Peace" it ain't, but the principals are attractive, and if you can accept enchanted coins from the fountain, you'll probably have a good time.

"Frozen" is an indie film (rated R) which has its three boarder protagonists stranded on a chair lift after everyone else has gone home. Again, viewer response has been largely positive. Be glad you're warm in the Nugget and not up over Awesome Rock when darkness sets in.

Edgeofdarkness_smallposter Avatar Telluride's Nugget Theatre has "Avatar" as a return engagement and opens "Edge of Darkness" for the week of February 19-25.

James Cameron's "Avatar" creates its own world and philosophy and will undoubtedly take home a basket of Oscars. It is worth seeing for a number of reasons: compelling story, great special effects, just to see what all the fuss is about. Rated PG-13.

Mel Gibson has to take on the corporate world and the US government single-handedly in "Edge of Darkness" to learn why his daughter has been murdered. Not surprisingly, the movie is rated R, for violence.

See below for showtimes, and the Nugget website for reviews and trailers.

[click "Play" to hear Erika Gordon talk about "Why Oz?"]

Wizard11x17 Telluride is sorta kinda like Oz, only our denizens are taller. And we are not plagued by witches – although switching around a consonant or two could be a game changer.


"The Wizard of Oz (1939)" is as much a part of American culture as burgers, beer and baseball. The Library of Congress named "The Wizard of Oz" the most-watched film in history, and the movie is often ranked among the "top ten best movies of all times" in  critics' and popular polls.The perennial fantasy film from MGM during its golden years is the Telluride Film Festival's Valentine to the community. "The Wizard of Oz" is the featured film on Sunday, February 14, part of the Festival's ongoing Sunday at the Palm series hosted by outreach/education liaison Erika Gordon.


Thebookofeli_200911301232 Avatar The Nugget Theatre in Telluride is showing "Avatar" and "The Book of Eli" the week of Friday, February 12-Thursday, February 18. Note that the Telluride Film Festival is presenting "Me and Orson Welles" on February 18.

"Avatar" has garnered eight Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture, and is rated PG-13.

Denzel Washington stars in "The Book of Eli" and it's his job to prevent A VERY IMPORTANT BOOK from falling into the wrong hands in this post-apocolyptic Western. Plenty of action, rated R.

For showtimes, see below, for trailers and reviews, see the Nugget website.