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Film

[click "Play" to listen to Erika Gordon's remarks about "Ponyo"]

Ponyo.11x17 The Telluride Film Festival's Sunday at the Palm series continues Thanksgiving weekend, Sunday, November 29 4 p.m., with a rare treat for the holidays: magic and joy. Unbridled joy that sweeps up like a giant tsunami into ecstatic reverie in the newest award-winning film from animator extraordinaire Hayao Miyazaki, who won an Oscar for "Spirited Away." The film "Ponyo," (2008, 100 minutes) a sorta goldfish – actually some half-human, half-fish daughter of a powerful wizard (Miyazaki's persona?) –  desperately wants to become a little girl after she meets a little boy who loves her.


"Ponyo" takes some inspiration from "The Little Mermaid," by Hans Christian Anderson, but there is nothing macabre about Miyazaki's tale, no one dies and only a few tears are shed.

24 November, 2009 /
[click "Play" to listen to Susan's conversation with host Seth Berg]

11-16 TFF Poster final A handshake between the Telluride Film Festival and the Wilkinson Public Library developed into a popular local's film club, Telluride Film Festival Cinematheque. Last season, Telluride Film Festival director Gary Meyer  based his programming on the theme of the French New Wave. (Not a hairstyle.) This season, the subject is film noir, flicks with chicks who put the mythological sirens to shame and hapless heroes whose lives are one bad hair day.

The next FREE program in the noir genre occurs Monday, November 16, starting at 5:30 p.m. for the pre-SHOW reception. The evening is double-billed as it would have been in the 1940s and 1950s when film noir was in its heyday. First up is Stanley Kubrick thriller "The Killing" (1956, 83 minutes), considered by buffs to be the director's most perfectly crafted film.

15 November, 2009 /

Wherethewildthingsare_smallfinal Capitalism_smallposter The Nugget Theatre in Telluride is showing "Where the Wild Things Are" Friday, November 13 through Wednesday, November 18. There are two screenings nightly, plus a matinee on Saturday. "WWTA" is based on the wonderful Maurice Sendak children's book, and the critics have raved about the integration of live characters and the special effects "Things" who are animated (inhabited) by the human actors who provide the voices.

On Thursday, November 19 there will be two showings of Michael Moore's "Capitalism: a Love Story." Moore's films often irritate, but they inevitably make us think.

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

12 November, 2009 /

Cloudywithachanceofmeatballs_200903271022 Lawabidingcitizen_200908111655 Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing "Law Abiding Citizen" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" the week of Friday, November 6 through Thursday, November 12, with a free showing of "The Lives of Others" on Thursday. See below for movie times. See the Nugget website for trailers and previews.

"Law Abiding Citizen" stars Jamie Foxx as an assistant DA who accepts a plea bargain from a killer in order to convict the murderer's accomplice. Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) witnessed the killing of his wife and daughter and takes matters into his own hands when the killer is released fro prison after ten years. That's when things get interesting. Rated R for violence.

05 November, 2009 /

Zombieland_smallposter Couplesretreat_smallposter2 Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing "Couples Retreat" and "Zombieland" the week of Friday, October 30-Thursday, November 5.

"Couples Retreat" (Rated PG 13) takes place in Bora Bora. Couple 1 is having some marital difficulties and for reasons of economy talks Couples 2-4 into joining the fun. Everyone gets therapy, as it turns out. And even the "happy" couples need it.

I won't say too much about "Zombieland" (Rated R for zombie violence) except to quote Roger Ebert: "...not many zombie comedies can make me think simultaneously about 'Psycho' and 'Garfield.'" He liked the movie, by the way.

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

29 October, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Erika Gordon on Halloween at the Palm]

100 This weekend in Telluride, "boo" does not signify displeasure. It is an exclamation tied to a holiday that is a very big deal in town. Because Telluride has a dirty little secret: denizens love any excuse to dress to kill. And that goes for the gnarliest of jocks to the littlest of kids. We are basically all pagans at heart.

Dress rehearsal for the weekend's derring-do – you won't want to miss KOTO's Halloween bash at the historic Sheridan Opera House – is Telluride Film Festival's Sunday at the Palm Halloween Celebration. The event takes place on October 25, 4 p.m., and features a phantasmagorical line-up of of children's short films based on the theme of Halloween and Autumn, when kids and kids-at-heart get to test drive their costumes. Here's a taste of the backstory.

24 October, 2009 /

Fame_smallteaser Theinventionoflying_smallposter The Nugget Theatre in beautiful downtown Telluride is showing two films this week, October 23-29, with a bonus matinee on Saturday, "No Impact Man," which tells the story of a man who decides to make no environmental impact for one year, without taking into consideration that his wife would rather go shopping.

"Fame" is a remake of the 1980 movie, and follows the lives of young people with the aim of dancing, singing, playing, acting their way to FAME.

Imagine a world in which no one lies for any reason, until one man finds that he can get what he wants (maybe) by not being so truthful. That's the premise of "The Invention of Lying" and the result should be interesting.

For reviews and trailers, check out the Nugget website. See below for schedules. Note that the 8:30 movie on Wednesday, October 28 has been cancelled.

22 October, 2009 /
10-19 TFF The Telluride Film Festival Cinematheque is a program of free films, food and discussion produced in conjunction with Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library for cinephiles in the greater Telluride community who want to enjoy the art of filmmaking all year 'round, not just  Film Festival weekend. The event is programmed by Telluride Film Festival co-director Gary Meyer. The next program is Monday, October 19.

Last season, the theme was French New Wave. This second season, the subject is film noir, a genre that emerged post WWII in the late 1940s when the mood in the country was dark. Post war malaise is the result of the atrocities of war and deeper understanding of the human nature's dark underbelly.

A defining characteristic of film noir is fatalism, one small step that leads to doom: an "ordinary Joe" protagonist, a predatory femme fatale.
18 October, 2009 /

9big Intheloopbig The main movie at Telluride's Nugget Theatre for the week of October 16-22 is the animated "9" with one showing next Thursday of "In the Loop."

"9" (Rated PG 13 for animated violence and scary situations) paints a picture in somber tones of a post-apocalyptic world. The machines have won and it is up to nine handmade puppets to meld their strengths to prevent the total end of humanity. The effects are meant to be worth the price of admission. Showtimes are 7:00 pm nightly except for Thursday, October 22 at 6:30.

"In the Loop" (not rated) is a smart movie about how words matter, especially in the world of politics. In this case careless words push the US and Great Britain toward war with an unspecified Middle Eastern country. "In the Loop" shows at 8:30 on Thursday, October 22.

(editor's note: TIO apologizes for posting this article late. We are on the road and a few things slipped through the cracks. Mea culpa.)

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

17 October, 2009 /