Culture

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.

Telluride will have the opportunity to see some Shakespeare tonight, October 29. The Aquila Theatre Company is bringing the Forest of Arden to the Palm Theatre stage in a single performance of "As You Like It."The romantic comedy is built on mistaken identities,...

IMGP0683 Blue Lake Pass, on the south shoulder of the Telluride region's Mount Sneffels, is a narrow, sharp saddle between Gilpin Peak and Mount Sneffels, with rocky ridges extending off each mountain. The view to the West is into the Mount Sneffels Wilderness Area; to the northeast, to Teakettle Mountain and  little Coffeepot Mountain. East access is via wildflower-filled Yankee Boy Basin on this favorite local hike.

"Blue Lake Pass" is one of three large-scale environmental installations by part-time Telluride area local, artist/architect Maya Lin, selected from her recent traveling museum exhibition Systematic Landscapes.

Telluride Inside... and Out happened into the show on a visit to Chelsea last Thursday, October 22.
[click "Play" to hear Peter Meineck on Aquilla Theatre]

AYLIFinal-24 As we like it: the Palm Theatre in Telluride brings New York's Aquila Theatre Company to town with its production of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" on Thursday, October 29, 6:30 p.m. "As You Like It"  is one of the Bard's greatest and most discombobulating comedies. It takes a sailor to untie the knots that result from plot twists and turns.

Here's a road map to "As You Like It": Rosalind, daughter of a banished Duke, is forced to flee court and enter the Forest of Arden when her life is threatened by her power-hungry uncle and his henchmen. Accompanied by her cousin, Celia, Rosalind gets all tricked out as a man for safety's sake. The disguise proves handy as Rosalind tests the devotion of her noble suitor Orlando, also forced into hiding by a bloodthirsty sibling. In the guise of a man, Rosalind teaches Orlando the ways of the heart. Some of the Bard's most poetic language flows through a cycle of merry and melancholy misunderstandings, gender bending, and mistaken identities among the court exiles and forest natives. In the end, love conquers all and justice wins the day. "As You Like It" contains the famous monologue that begins: "All the World's a Stage..." comparing life to a play.

[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.

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.

IMG_0454 Cold, snow and wind are pre-empting fall in Telluride and elsewhere in America. Telluride Inside...and Out is in Pittsburgh, where rain washed out plans for grandkids' soccer games. On Friday, however, we visited the extraordinary Carnegie Museum, whose must-see permanent collection – two Van Goghs in one of the Impressionist galleries are worth the price of entry, not to mention one of the best of Monet's waterlilies series – includes a new Alex Katz, given star billing in the lobby. The Alex Katz depicts trees in fall, irresistible given TIO's ongoing coverage of the colors of a season fast coming to a close.

When it comes to the arts, Telluride puts its money where its mouth is, lending support in substantive ways such as an artists' cooperative known as the Stronghouse Studios. Pittsburgh has the Mattress Factory, an artists' co-op and museum featuring installation art in room-sized...

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.