Culture

by Jim Bedford

 
True-grit-poster-coen-brothers Thegreenhornet_smallposter The Nugget Theatre in beautiful downtown Telluride has two movies on the bill for the week of Friday, February 11 through Thursday, February 17, 2011. And the snow is really, really good in Telluride, too!

TRUE GRIT (PG13), starring Jeff Bridges, continues all this week. Nominated for a fistfull of Oscars, the Coen brothers do a brilliant re-make of the John Wayne classic.

Also playing is the THE GREEN HORNET (PG13), directed by Michel Gondry, telling the story of Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), heir to his late father's fortune, who teams up with his late dad's assistant Kato to become masked crime fighters.

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

[click "Play" to listen to Susan's conversation with Jeff Elliott]

 

 

122015_extralarge Minor White was a major American photographer. Just how good, how influential is evidenced in the work of one of his former students. Jeff Elliott's moving show, "Another Face of Islam," is on display in the Daniel Tucker Gallery at Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts.

In Minor White's perspective one does not photograph something simply for "what it is", but "for what else it is." In creating his series of images of the Islamic world, Telluride local Jeff Elliott claims to have abandoned any notions of photo-documentation, choosing instead to use his eye to capture the "depth and serenity of the Islamic faith." Not what Islam is, but all that it is in form, spirit, light and the influence of the Muslim world.

Put another way, like White's images, Elliott's photographs are not about record keeping. Not about a "Kodak moment." They are as interpretative, magical and powerful as any abstract painting. And just as capable of delivering a gut punch – albeit with a velvet glove.

[click "Play", Tracy speaks with Buntport's Erin Rollman]

 

 

by Tracy Shaffer

CNPS-web.sflb For the first time in its six year history, Denver Center Theatre Company has included a local theatre company in the upcoming Colorado New Play Summit. Buntport Theatre Company is a zany/brainy collaboration of theatrical inventors, who have consistently delivered Denver’s most original theatre for the past ten years. Taking on Hamlet, Kafka, Ovid and O’Neill, Buntport has proven itself a true mix of the ridiculous and the sublime.

[click "Play" to hear Tracy speaking with Bruce K Sevy]

 

 

by Tracy Shaffer

CNPS-web.sflb It's that time of year again! Writers and artists, actors, directors, agents and theatre buffs from around the country will descend on Denver next week for the Colorado New Play Summit. Denver Center Theatre hosts it's sixth annual playwright lovefest, February 10-12, with staged readings of new works by commissioned playwrights and scripts submitted for inclusion. This year marks the return of two "rock star" writers, Octavio Solis and Michele Lowe, along with Lisa Loomer, Samuel D Hunter, Lloyd Suh and a commissioned piece by Denver's award-winning Buntport Theatre. The white hot Octavio Solis, who brought us the glorious "Lydia" in 2008, brings the much anticipated script, Cecilia Marie, to town for a staged reading and the equally scorching Michelle Lowe has her "Map of Heaven" on the Denver Center boards for its world premiere production. Ms. Lowe won the 2010 Francesca Primus Prize for her previous Denver debut, 2009's Inana.

[click "Play" to listen to Seth Berg's discussion of two "Depression Era" films]

 

2-7 TFF Telluride Inside... and Out goes out on a limb with a prediction: the five-star Wilkinson Public Library should attract its biggest audience ever for the upcoming installment of the Telluride Film Festival Cinematheque's  "Films of the Great Depression."  The momentous event takes place Monday, February 7, 5:30 p.m. for pre-SHOW snacks.

Telluriders are no exception: Americans love anti-heros to death. Indiana Jones, Dirty Harry, Michael Corleone, Tony Soprano, select members of the cast of "Broadway Empire," Bill the Vampire in "True Blood," Dexter of Showtime fame, and the countless no-counts who inhabit the world of reality TV are just a few examples.

 Whoever said "You can't have it all," never met Telluride local Amy Boebel, who is into building things – a family (she is the mother of two successful young adults) and businesses (see below)  – sometimes from building materials (ditto).

Amy's resume suggests her appetite for challenging situations began well before Telluride and rock and ice-climbing, twin passions. Successful careers in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors range widely from managing director of The Maryland Ballet to founding partner, MarketTech, software to facilitate trading commodities. Amy is now board chair of the Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities, the non-profit which founded and hosts the town's monthly First Thursday Art Walk, when Telluride's  art venues and stores stay open late until 8 p.m. to strut their stuff.

This Thursday, February 3, the Stronghouse Studios , 283 South Fir, features a show of Boebel's latest work, "Lost For Words," a collection of female icons, sculpted out of lath and wire, tulle, nails and tarp, covered in paper, maps, words, and phrases. The event is part of Art Walk and includes an artist's reception with chocolate and champagne from 5 - 8 p.m.

D300 Passing Through 2m It's getting to be a habit with Telluride locals – and that's a good thing. We are talking about the Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities' First Thursday Art Walk, a stroll about town that showcases our fine arts scene. Galleries and other arts venues, located in and around Colorado Avenue (Main Street), plus retail stores, stay open late until 8 p.m.

New to Art Walk 2011, many local restaurants offer Art Walk Specials, including The Cosmopolitan, La Cocina de Luz, La Marmotte, The Llama, The New Sheridan Chop House, and Pescado.

Free Art Walk brochures, available at any participating venue (and our hotels and coffee shops), offer a self-guided map of the participating establishments which include:

Thedilemma_smallposter Truegrit_smallteaser The Nugget Theatre in beatiful downtown Telluride has two movies on the bill for the week of Friday, February 4 through Thursday, February 10, 2011.

"True Grit" (PG13) plays solo through Sunday. Nominated for a fistfull of Oscars, "True Grit" is a re-make of the John Wayne classic, starring Jeff Bridges in the role of Rooster Cogburn.

Joining the program from Monday through Thursday, it's "The Dilemna", (PG13), a buddy-flick about secrets: What do you do when you think your best bud's wife is foolin' around, but telling him may bust your important presentation and maybe sink your joint automobile design company?

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